6 Star Green Star Office Design V2 Rating
Sydney, NSW
Sitting just below the sky scraping Sydney Tower in the city’s CBD is a new development which has achieved the highest green star rating from the Green Building Council Australia. 100 Market Street is part of leading international developers, Westfield’s, Sydney redevelopment project. The $600 million office building is part of an overall construction of a mixed used staged development, and in March 2010 the development achieved a Green Building Council of Australia score of 49, awarding the project a 6 Star Green Star Office Design v2 rating, recognising world leadership in innovative sustainability. A 5 Star NABERS Energy rating was attained for its sustainability running to the core of the building. Refurbishing this development based on a 5 Star NABERS Energy rating reduces the greenhouse gas emissions of this building by 30%.
The project’s architecture was designed by Westfield along with the construction and the project management; the structural and civil engineering was done by MPN Group, and the landscape consultants were Land Design Partnership; the building surveyor was the Gardner Group.
The refurbishment project covers an area of 30,000 sqm over 10 floors. An important feature of this buildings sustainable design was the refurbishment of 90% of the previous existing building structure and base. Ensuring nothing was left to waste or went to landfill meant that over 80% of all waste from the demolition and construction process was recycled.
Within the interior materials with a low Volatile Organic Compound (VOC’s) were used such as paints, carpets and low formaldehyde timber products. VOC’s are chemicals which give standard paint its strong odour, the gases from these chemicals can be emitted for years after the painting has been done. Low VOC paints eliminate the building users coming into contact with these toxins, creating a more naturally healthy indoor environment. Wood products low in Formaldehyde were also chosen. The use of this chemical in products, particularly within a commonly used space like a commercial office building can cause cases of minor allergy reactions to a heightened level of cancer in people who have consistently come into contact with it. By using a low formaldehyde timber product in this office buildings structure eliminates any risk of a chemical reaction within the surrounding people and the environment.
Levels of natural daylight have been improved by 20 times with the demolition of the pre existing floor plate, façade panels and atria light wells have been put in the floor plates place. A highly transparent façade adds emphasis to drawing in the surrounding natural light. The façade is made up of a double glazed, single skin; along with architectural design, a façade works to control the flow of air and heat through the building. This can significantly impact on the buildings need to use air conditioning systems, which can minimise the energy consumption of the building.
The indoor environment has been designed to be further improved through the integration of a Carbon Dioxide Monitoring and Control system. This works to record information on CO2 levels as a means of modulating outdoor air ventilation, the goal being to save energy consumption and keeping ventilation rates at a healthy level.
The indoor atmosphere is additionally supported through the application of high Thermal Comfort levels; which plays an important an intricate role within HVAC systems.
Water management is achieved through the installation of 48 water meters; these are connected to a Building Management System (BMS); by connecting the two systems together the BMS works to monitor leak detection, which can significantly cut down on unnecessary levels of water consumption. These meters will manage water consumption running throughout the bathrooms, cooling towers, irrigation systems, major tenant areas, car wash and food preparation facilities.
A black water recycling system has also been implemented; Black water is waste from a building or households toilet system, the water is soiled and therefore cannot be put straight back into the buildings water supply. This treatment facility works to separate black water from grey water, which can be instantly recycled and treated with chemicals ensuring its reusability again. Once this process is completed, the recycled water can be used in the buildings toilet and amenities system, and can be used for landscape irrigation. Stormwater is also recycled through a filtration and treatment system; hot water is provided to the buildings third level via solar power generation.
The buildings cooling towers facility provides cooler air for the development through a heat rejection system. Waste heat is taken from the atmosphere through the cooling of a water stream; this rejection allows a small amount of the water being cooled into an air stream, which then acts to cool the water stream down. This process of the heat moving from the water to the air stream increases the temperature of the air, which is then released into the atmosphere.
Energy is produced through a trigeneration system. This system is a method of producing vital energy such as electricity, heating and cooling for a building from one original fuel. For this development, this system has been specifically designed to connect with a generator in order to establish the buildings heating and cooling loads from the absorption chiller. If the building requires any further heating or cooling, an electrical chiller is set to work and heating can be created through a gas fire boiler.
A sub-metering system monitors specific areas energy consumption. This form of energy management is highly successful as it records and measures the electricity use of a single unit or tenancy rather then the entire building; this can pin-point exact places of over consumption and enable individuals to specifically make cut backs.
The overall sustainable design successes of this development is leading by example for the Westfield Sydney development ; shortly following will be the 85 Castlereagh Street, also by Westfield which will be completed in 2012 and is aiming to achieve a 6 Star Green Star Design rating.
