Green is good

From Bayleys: The secret is out. Green buildings work.It's no surprise either. Green rated buildings

deliver a multitude of benefits. From addressing climate change,

to creating healthier, more engaging work environments as well as

improving the financial metrics of buildings.The recent green construction

movement had its origins in the

1990s, initially as a fringe activity but

increasingly, over the past two decades,

it has gained main-stream status.

The UK and US were the first to lead the

charge with momentum growing more

rapidly amongst other OECD countries

in the 2000s and beyond.

In NZ the movement really kicked up a

gear in 2005 with the formation of the

NZ Green Building Council (NZGBC) and

in 2006 NZGBC became the 6th member

of the World Green Building Council

(currently 100 members). NZGBC began

offering 4 to 6 Green Star ratings in

2007 for “design”, 2008 for “built” and

2009 for “interior” projects. From 2018

the NZGBC plans to streamline the

process further and phase out “design”

certifications, focusing instead on “built”

and “interior’ certifications.

Seen as a third party quality-assurance

to owners and added value to buildings,

the adoption of green building standards

in NZ has been market led rather than

regulation driven as in some European

countries and other parts of the world.A concerning environmental impactDespite representing just 3% of the

world’s landmass, the built environment: uses 40% of the world’s energyemits 30% of the world’s carbon footprintuses 14% of the world’s drinking waterOverlay this with the fact that the world’s

urban population is:increasing by around 70 million per

year, andby 2050 almost 70% of the world’s 9.7

billion population will live in citiesThis means more buildings will be

needed along with increased sustainable

building management.

In short, the future of buildings and the

future of sustainability are becoming

inextricably linked.Green at homeIn Auckland almost half the green Star

rated office buildings are located in the

CBD and the other half spread across

the broader metro area. The nine CBD 'built' rated buildings total 132,000m²

and represent around 10% of total CBD

Stock (and 22% of prime grade stock). The Auckland CBD is currently in the

midst of a new development cycle with

five office projects totalling around

80,000m²

currently under construction.

To date four out of five projects have

been registered for either Green 'design' and/or 'built' rating status.

Unlike the previous construction cycle

where a construction cost premium

was attached to green features, this has

all but disappeared as environmental

features increasingly become standard.Read more in the document published by Bayleys and the New Zealand Green Building Council on the Bayleys website. Link to document: Green is good (PDF)

Story by: Trends