When Floth Sustainable Building Consultants moved into new office premises they saw an opportunity to really “walk the talk”.
In an interview with Architecture and Design, Floth said, “The drive was not to increase project budget but focus more on conscientious design that would be better for the building over its entire life.” The result is a building that pushes the boundaries in environmental sustainability. To date the building has been awarded the 6 Star Green Design, As Build v1.1, 6 Star NABERS Indoor Environment Rating and the WGBC Asia Pacific Award.
Material selection was obviously critical. Floth wanted finishings and furnishings that would maximise building life and sustainability outcomes. They utilised whole of building LCA to inform the selection of materials and the recycling of demolition and construction waste.
The LCA approach enabled the project to achieve a “sustainable products value” of 13.7% of construction cost, which is 4.7% beyond the corresponding Green Star credit’s maximum credit requirements. A third-party peer reviewed LCA even predicted a 252% cumultative reduction of its environmental impacts in accordance with the Green Star rating tool, which is 122% beyond the maximum credit criteria.
For a more complete summary of the ecological and sustainable initiatives employed check out the recent article in Architecture & Design.