It’s not easy being green when you’re 17 levels high and made of glass, like UTS Central (Building 2). Yet, despite the sustainability challenges presented by the university’s latest landmark, which opened in August 2019, the building has just achieved a 5 Star Green Star rating for design and construction excellence.
A glass façade hasn't stopped UTS Central from achieving a strong sustainability performance.
Awarded by the Green Building Council of Australia (GBCA), Green Star environmental ratings assess buildings across nine key criteria, from energy and emissions to water.
UTS Central’s rating captures both the design and ‘as built’ aspects of the project, and as Benjamine Duncan, UTS Head of Sustainability (acting), points out, the result is the outcome of UTS’s focus on anchoring sustainability within all elements of our learning and teaching, research and campus operations.
“UTS aims to be a leader in sustainable practices,” she says. “We’ve made a commitment to ensure each of our new buildings achieves a 5 Star Green Star rating, a benchmark we’ve met and, in some cases, surpassed.
“Across our construction projects and on-going campus operations, we continue to strive for improvements in efficiency and sustainability performance. By incorporating new innovations and initiatives, with smart investments we can deliver on our sustainability objectives.”
UTS Central incorporates a number of energy-saving measures that ensure it’s a green building (rather than a giant greenhouse!), even with the glass façade – chosen for the striking sense of openness and transparency it brings to the heart of campus.
These measures include custom-made automatic sunshades on the building’s sunny northern side and adjustable louvre blinds within a closed-cavity façade on all upper levels. Its world-leading plastic-free food court has also won plenty of sustainability plaudits, while rehomed trees feature on the levels 8 and 17 terraces.
UTS has worked hard to create a building that attains the high-performance standards required and we’re proud to see that recognised.
– Benjamine Duncan, UTS Head of Sustainability (acting)
However, within the scope of the criteria assessed for the Green Star environmental ratings, the building’s highest scores came in the management and materials categories. In fact, the building scored a stellar 13 points out of a possible 14 for management and 12 from 14 for materials choice and use.
The strong outcome in the management category represents a big tick for the sustainability of construction processes and strategies, as well as ongoing practices – such as waste management – that ensure the building is operating at optimum sustainability performance.
In the materials category, UTS Central’s performance reflects its lower ‘cradle-to-grave’ environmental impact, with points awarded for using responsibly sourced steel, timber products and other construction materials.
Elsewhere, the building won points for indoor environmental quality including well-lit spaces, and the use of construction products and furnishings that emit low levels of air pollutants. Innovation, energy-metering integrity and financial transparency were among other influential factors.
As Benjamine Duncan explains, delivering a building against the Green Star certification standard requires a genuine commitment by the project team to deliver great outcomes for the community, building occupants and the environment.
“Using Green Star holds us accountable to a high level of environmental quality and performance in various aspects of building design, construction and operation,” she says. “The certification program is rigorous and independent. UTS has worked hard to create a building that attains the high-performance standards required and we’re proud to see that recognised.”