Wollongong Council building awarded First 5 Star Green Star Performance rating

Wollongong Council building awarded First 5 Star Green Star – Performance ratingWollongong City Council’s Administration Building is the first Australian building to achieve a 5 Star Green Star – Performance rating, the highest of its kind.The Green Building Council of Australia (GBCA) said the 13-storey Administration Building has achieved the highest Green Star – Performance rating in Australia to date.The GBCA’s CEO, Romilly Madew, said the rating “represents ‘Australian Excellence’ in building performance”. “We applaud Council for taking the lead to demonstrate that investing in older buildings can deliver dividends – both in terms of environmental sustainability and efficiency,” Madew said.”The building meets best-practice benchmarks for a range of environmental impacts, such as energy and water efficiency, but also for factors that affect human health and productivity, such as material selection and indoor environment quality.”Last year the council adopted the use of the GBCA’s Green Star – Performance rating tool in its bid to improve the building’s operational performance in terms of sustainability.The council has been upgrading the building over the past 10 years, a process that has included the introduction of management practices to enhance the building’s sustainability performance and the replacement of ageing equipment to meet the compliance standards of modern buildings.The changes to the building’s operation have led to energy efficiency gains of 55 per cent and water efficiency gains of 85 per cent, based on the Green Star – Performance rating tool’s calculations.”Council estimates that the energy efficiency gains alone in the building are saving $200,000 in electricity costs each year when compared with 2007-08 consumption,” the GBCA reported.Wollongong City Council Lord Mayor Councillor Gordon Bradbery OAM said, “This is not just about gaining financial sustainability, but ensuring that we have an efficient building that will consume less water and electricity, reduce the waste it generates and the emissions it releases and provide an enjoyable and healthy workplace for our staff.”The council is now developing a Sustainable Building Strategy to guide future improvements on the operational sustainability of existing buildings, as well as influence how new buildings will be designed, constructed and operated.