Te Rangihīroa College has just been awarded a six Green Star – Design & As Built NZv1.0 Certified Built Review Rating from the New Zealand Green Building Council (NZGBC) – the highest rating possible.
Te Rangihīroa College has just been recognised for world leadership as a green building.
The New Zealand Green Building Council (NZGBC) has awarded Te Rangihīroa College a six Green Star – Design & As Built NZv1.0 Certified Built Review Rating, the highest rating possible.
The Green Star rating system assesses the sustainability of projects at all stages of the built environment life cycle.
The system rates buildings against a range of environmental impact categories, and aims to encourage leadership in environmentally sustainable design and construction.
To achieve a six-star rating the building must score more than 75 out of a possible 100 points in the Green Star system.
Property and Campus Development Associate Director Planning and Development, Gordon Roy says, “This is a fantastic achievement for the University and testament to the quality of design, construction and management on the project.
“It’s not an easy achievement but underlines our commitment to a long-term vision of our built environment and a sustainable future.’’
The project, which began in 2018 and finished in 2023, targeted numerous environmental initiatives that count towards the Green Star rating system, but also underline sound commercial and sustainability goals for our University, he says.
These include:
- Increased energy efficiency and reduction of greenhouse gas emissions associated with building operations
- Increased thermal performance of the building envelope
- Peak electricity demand reduction
- Water use reduction
- Low light pollution
- Minimising indoor pollutants
- Enhanced indoor environment Quality
- The building is located near the campus, with lots of facilities nearby as to encourage users to use sustainable modes of transport such as walking and biking.
- 3 EV chargers are provided to encourage staff to use electric vehicles.
- Ongoing commissioning and tuning of the building in use.
Te Ao Māori concepts and the cultural narrative for the building that were such a key feature of its design link strongly to its sustainability and were also recognised in the Green Star rating.
“The real value however is for our students living in this sustainable building, benefiting from a healthy environment, with a strong focus on wellbeing,” Gordon says.
Opened in 2024, Te Rangihīroa College had already achieved a Five-Star Green Star rating and now has the ultimate award.
Last year Te Rangihīroa College won an Excellence Award in the Multi-Unit Residential Property category at the annual Property Industry Awards, while this year it won the Aotearoa Construction Project of the Year award at the Project Management Institute of New Zealand (PMINZ) awards.
Te Rangihīroa (Sir Peter Buck) graduated from Otago in 1904 in Medicine, and later received an MD in 1910. Te Rangihīroa was the first Māori medical graduate from a New Zealand university.
- Kōrero by Kerry Dohig, Communications Adviser (Projects)
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