Aiming to be the first 5-star green design educational building in New Zealand, the new $30 million student services building at Waikato University has seen the 'greenness' of the construction process aided by expertise from Fletcher Construction, the main contractor for the project, and Firth who is supplying the concrete. The site features a new 'green' concrete mix, GreenCrete®, incorporating recycled aggregate and fly ash from Huntly Power Station, replacing 20% of the cement content.
"When discussions were first held regarding the Green Star rating
of this project we wanted to try to obtain at least a portion of
the three points awarded toward the overall rating of the building
for the concrete," said Tony Brown, Project Manager for Fletcher
Construction. "This was virtually unheard of in the industry so we
decided to talk to Firth to see what they could come up with in a
mix design in the hope of maybe picking up one of the rating
points. Alison Durning and Paul Donohue went away to work on a
solution. The mix design Firth came up with has meant we have
gained two of the possible three rating points, which has been
ground breaking for the industry."
With construction well over the halfway point the foyer and an
impressive 11+m waterfall feature, which was constructed in
sections from self-compacting concrete, has been installed and is
now operational. Alison Durning, Waikato Sales Manager for Firth
explains, "the water feature divides the existing building from the
new extension. Self-compacting concrete was used with Ueriti pebble
to achieve the illusion of 'tear drops falling from the sky'. The
walls have been sand blasted and sealed, which has made the
textured areas very smooth. It's a double first for us using Ueriti
and exposing the aggregate in self-compacting concrete. To date we
have supplied approximately 900+m3 of GreenCrete® to Fletcher
Construction."
"We have a very good working relationship with
Alison and the guys at Firth and have worked through things
together," adds Tony. "We have a very good finished product at a
very a high standard."
Energy saving features of the new building include a large photo
voltaic panel on the roof, a wind turbine (also roof-mounted),
regenerative drive motors on the lifts and rainwater harvesting.
Carpet, ceiling tiles and furniture will also be made from recycled
materials.
What is Green Star?
Green Star New Zealand is the country's first comprehensive
environmental rating system for buildings and was created to:
- Establish a common language and standard of measurement for green buildings
- Promote integrated, whole-building design
- Raise awareness of green building benefits
- Recognise environmental leadership
- Reduce the environmental impact of development
For more information on the Green Star rating system go to the
Green Building Council website www.nzgbc.org.nz
