Energy performance is key in Aotearoa's first triple green certified building
Environment Canterbury's main office in Christchurch has become a green building pioneer, with the organisation the country's first to achieve not only a 5 star NABERSNZ rating, but a Green Star Performance and Net Zero Buildings
certification as well.
The organisation's commitment to benchmarking and improving performance has been ongoing, with Environment Canterbury successfully using the NABERSNZ rating system for the past four years.
Overview
Achievements
- 5 NABERSNZ Whole Building
- 4 Green Star Performance
- Net Zero™ Buildings certificaiton (CarboNZero pilot)
Building Profile
| Owner | Environment Canterbury | Kaunihera Taiaoki Waitaha |
| Address | 200 Tuam Street, Christchurch |
| Total floor area | 7,236m2 |
| Staff over 5 floors | 650 |
| Number of computers | 433 |
| Total energy use | 756,376 (kWh/year) |
| Energy intensity | (kWh/m2/year) |
| Indicative GHG emissions (kg CO2-e/year) | 104,450 |
| GHG intensity (kg CO2-e/m2/year) | 14.4 |
Why NABERSNZ
NABERSNZ benchmarks an office’s energy efficiency. There are 3 kinds of ratings - base building, tenancy and whole building. Ratings are prepared by NABERSNZ Accredited Assessors and considers the annual energy use and other variables. Ratings are valid for a year – many are rating annually to monitor energy
efficiency and make improvements.
"Our annual NABERSNZ assessment of our building’s performance encourages us to constantly fine tune and improve our energy usage."
Debbie Harris,Team Leader Land & Property, Environment Canterbury
Debbie Harris says as part of ongoing efforts to improve theenergy performance at 200 Tuam Street work is underway to upgrade the Building Management System with a fault detection and diagnostic system.
“This will use interactive dashboards to prioritise building operations through, but not limited to, potential savings, urgency, energy and comfort impacts.”
Zerometric director and assessor, Adam Benli, says the energy efficient systems installed at 200 Tuam Street at the time of construction including its ground water heat pump system, efficient light and solar PV array have contributed to the strong NABERSNZ results.
"The shift to a 5 star rating is in part due to an improvement in occupancy of the building. The pandemic had previously impacted the occupancy rate of the building due to more occupants working from home. This has since improved. That’s the great thing about this benchmark. It doesn’t just examine kWh per m2, it also factors in how well the building is used."
Adam Benli, NABERSNZ Assessor, director of Zerometric