Green expertise contributes to major award win

Beca green building
expertise contributes to major award win

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Meridian Energy's new 5-star rated green building on Wellington's Queen's Wharf, with eco-friendly features, has won the Kensington Swan Green Building category at the 2008 Property Council New Zealand Awards.

Created in partnership with Dominion Funds, Studio Pacific Architecture, Fletcher Construction, Dunning Thornton, Maltbys, Mallard Cooke and Beca, the Meridian building sets new benchmarks for green building design in New Zealand. Using the New Zealand Green Building Council's GreenStar Commercial Office rating tool it received New Zealand's first 5-star rating for a new building, the highest rating possible.

The project brief requested the incorporation of as many eco-friendly principles as possible and aimed to create a building which uses 60% less energy and 70% less water than comparable buildings.

The building's highly glazed façades, designed to access views and natural light, presented a challenge to providing a comfortable office environment while still realising the environmental performance targets. Beca's environmentally sustainable design (ESD) team, together with Studio Pacific Architects, developed an innovative solution using active 'climate responsive' facades as a key architectural and environmental component of the building.

Beca carried out extensive 3D computer simulation analysis to help inform and refine the façade design. The façade automatically adapts to suit the prevailing weather, allowing the building to be operated using natural lighting and natural ventilation whenever conditions allow.

Other sustainable building principles incorporated into the building include rainwater recycling, solar water heating, chilled beams and energy recovery systems.

The Meridian building also won the GIB Commercial Office category.

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