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Green Buildings In Sydney
Posted by Big Gav on April 24, 2008 - 8:43am in The Oil Drum: Australia/New Zealand
Green buildings are an important component in the transition to an energy efficient future, so I think its worth pointing out new developments that make energy efficiency a design priority.
The City of Sydney has outlined a vision for 2030 that aims to redevelop a lot of areas on the city fringes in a sustainable way. The first development to fit into this new scheme of things is a project planned for the old Kent (CUB) Brewery site, to the west of Central Station, known as Fraser's Broadway.
The project will be designed by Jean Nouvel and Foster + Partners, along with a number of local firms, and is aiming to be the first 6 green star development in the country and the first to achieve carbon neutrality.
Interesting features from a sustainability point of view include :
* a gas-fired, co-generation electricity plant (which they call a "trigeneration plant" as it provides heating, cooling and electricity)
* a waste-water recycling plant combined with rainwater capture
* green rooftops
* smart metering
* solar powered lighting in public spaces
* reducing vehicle traffic by directing cars into an integrated basement and underground road system
* limited parking provision within the precinct, car share schemes and integration into the inner city bicycle network
* recycling of 90% of all demolition waste
Obviously when it comes to property development in Sydney you need to take all these claims with a (very large) grain of salt, but it is encouraging to see these ideas being talked about at least - and with a bit of luck most or all of them will actually eventuate.
Cross posted from Peak Energy
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Carbon neutral must be defined in a strange way. To try to neutralise the CO2 emitted by the CHP system perhaps they could grow a tangle of vines down the side of the building, irrigated by 'wastewater'. Will we still have natural gas by the time the building is ready for demolition? I suspect the treated water is only grey not brown. Everything seems to be backed up eg perhaps mains electricity helps with the AC in hot weather.
To me a 6 star green building would be completely disconnected from water, sewage, gas and mains electricity, with only phone connections. Better still let the employees work from home in between sessions of backyard farming.
I must admit I don't see how its carbon neutral, even if it is very energy efficient.
I think they'd need solar panels on all the rrofs, plus a wastewater / biogas plant feeding the cogeneration system.
Maybe a few wind turbines too.
Still - as far as Syndey property development goes its a big step forward.