Industrial buildings showcase sustainability beyond the inner city
Two “triumphs” in green building in Sydney’s south west achieve 6 Star Green Star ratings, demonstrating that high quality workplaces are no longer the preserve of people in the CBD.
Nick Scali, Phoenix Transport and Survitec’s new state-of-the-art facilities, located in Frasers Property Australia’s Horsley Drive Business Park in Wetherill Park, have been awarded 6 Star Green Star As Built ratings from the Green Building Council of Australia (GBCA).
Located at 3 Burilda Close, Nick Scali’s 12,700 sqm building services its national furniture business. Phoenix Transport and Survitec’s combined 14,333 sqm facility is next door at 2 Burilda Close.
A 6 Star Green Star rating represents world leadership in sustainable design, construction or management practices.
Frasers Property Australia has developed more than 1.9 million sqm of office and industrial buildings that are certified or registered under the GBCA’s Green Star rating system.
According to Frasers Property Australia’s executive general manager for commercial and industrial, Reini Otter, higher Green Star ratings in industrial facilities can “deliver direct and tangible benefits to customers” by reducing total occupancy costs and operating expenses, while also boosting employee health and wellbeing.
While most of Sydney’s Green Star certified buildings lie within the CBD, Otter says “minimising energy, water use and creating high quality internal work spaces should not just be reserved for inner city areas”.
Most Green Star rated industrial business park facilities across Australia are designed to a 4 Star standard. Frasers Property says a 15,000-20,000 sqm 4 Star Green Star facility can expect annual average energy savings of between $1.-$1.75 per sqm when compared with a standard building.
Investment in “targeted initiatives and technology” can up the rating to 6 Star, with savings of an additional 165 per cent over a 10-year term. In some cases, a cash flow positive result for the occupant can be achieved from the first year, Frasers Property says.
The GBCA’s chief executive officer Romilly Madew says the 6 Star Green Star As-Built certification “cements Frasers Property’s standing as a frontrunner” in industrial sector sustainability.
Madew says the projects are “a triumph in green building”, and points to their solar arrays, electric vehicle charging points, “sophisticated” energy monitoring, smart lighting and “super-efficient” heating as examples of why they “represent a new era of industrial buildings”.
Horsley Drive Business Park is a 20.4-hectare site in Wetherill Park. Frasers Property has entered into a development agreement with Western Sydney Parkland Trust to deliver an industrial estate with a mix of facility types and expects to complete the entire development in June 2018.