400 George Street achieves 5 Star Green Star rating

400 George Street, one of the new generation of office towers in Brisbane's CBD, developed by Leighton Properties and Grosvenor, has been awarded the coveted 5 Star Green Star - Office Design rating from the Green Building Council of Australia (GBCA).

Leighton Properties Director Andrew Borger said the project team's holistic approach to sustainability showcased industry best practise with far reaching benefits for tenants.

"This achievement recognises the significant scope of the project's sustainability initiatives ranging from water and energy savings to indoor environment quality, sustainable materials, transport and innovation," Mr Borger said.

Graham Livingstone, Development Director, Grosvenor added, "400 George Street's design achieved 65 points - exceeding the required 60 points to gain 5 star accreditation. We are delighted with this 5 star outcome and, together with Leighton Properties, are proud of our team's outstanding commitment to sustainability which brought us in well over the required points."

The Green Building Council of Australia's 5 Star Green Star - Office Design rating is awarded to projects that showcase Australian excellence in environmentally sustainable design.

The outstanding points of difference are the innovations designed into 400 George Street. The 'green' design initiatives include a smart approach to construction that will save 40,000m2 in materials (similar to the building's commercial space) and a revolutionary air-conditioning system that will alone save 700,000 litres of water and 100,000kg of carbon dioxide every year through recycling.

The building is also designed to achieve a 5 star Australian Building Greenhouse Rating (ABGR) and is predicted to reduce green house gas emissions by 2,604,000 kg of carbon dioxide annually.

Research* into buildings and occupants' health, commissioned by Grosvenor and Leighton Properties, shows that sustainable building design can directly contribute to improvements in the bottom line of tenants' businesses.

"The 5 star design of 400 George Street is expected to directly contribute to as much as a 15 percent boost in employees' productivity through its environmentally friendly work environment," Mr Livingstone said.

"The building's unique design will offer employees 50 percent more fresh air than a typical office building as well as extensive views of the CBD and Roma Street Parklands," he said.

400 George Street encourages employees to ride to work through cycling facilities providing approximately one bike rack per ten employees and extensive change room facilities.

The landmark, 34-storey (43,000 square metres) development benefits from its location within the CBD's North Quarter precinct providing easy access to public transport, restaurants and retail.

The North Quarter precinct is injecting more than $4.1 billion of commercial property over the next five years into Brisbane's CBD.
Construction (by Thiess) on 400 George Street is moving ahead strongly and is expected to be above ground by the end of February, leading a wave of regeneration for the North Quarter precinct.