First food warehouse to achieve five-star green award

The award winning Ceres Organics' building at 82 Carbine Rd, Mt Wellington.

A large two-level Mt Wellington precast concrete warehouse and office complex has become the first building of its type in New Zealand to gain a five-star Green Star rating for excellence.

Ceres Organics' building at 82 Carbine Rd was awarded points for innovation under the Green Star rating, including for the stringent carbon foot printing used by Ceres to measure the building's impact.

Only two other buildings in New Zealand have been certified under the Green Star Industrial tool, and this is the first food warehouse to gain the rating.

The 5500 sq m building was developed for Ceres Organics by Norak Properties Ltd. The Green Star accredited professional was Paul Jurasovich, senior project architect and sustainable design consultant at Williams Architects.

An announcement from the New Zealand Green Building Council (NZGBC) says sustainability was integral to the project from the outset.

"The building is oriented to make the most of passive solar heating and natural light. Built on a brownfield site, the project incorporated material recycled from the former derelict building. Concrete was chosen for the bulk of the building structure to give good thermal mass, helping it stay cool in summer and warm in winter. The need for mechanical air conditioning and artificial lighting is minimised through natural ventilation and daylight harvesting."

Noel Josephson, managing director of Ceres Organics says the sustainability design complied with the company's business "which is organics".

"The design and construction of our new building to house 80 staff had to have low environmental impact. We're over 40 per cent more efficient in terms of energy use than in the previous building we occupied."

Alex Cutler NZGBC chief executive says it is encouraging to see Green Star being used on an industrial project. "It's particularly exciting to see that they're tracking energy use and carbon which gives a very clear picture of real life performance. The benefits of a sustainable building accrue year on year in terms of lower energy and water use, less waste and better staff satisfaction."

Sustainability features of the building include:

• solar hot water system;
• rainwater collection system, with low water usage fittings;
•fully automated building management system (BMS) to monitor lighting, CO2 levels, and water and energy usage;
• energy efficient LED lighting;
• dedicated recycling area to minimise the volume of waste that goes to landfill;
• low-VOC, sustainably sourced materials; and
• substantial greenery in the office environment.