161 Castlereagh Street receives 6 Star Green Star Design rating

The Green Building Council of Australia has awarded Grocon’s 161 Castlereagh Street development a 6 Star Green Star – Office Design v2 rating, making it the largest office building in NSW to achieve this result.

Grocon also built the 6 Star Green Star office tower in Sydney at 1 Bligh Street.

161 Castlereagh St/242 Pitt Street will be the new home to ANZ and Freehills from 2013. Although originally designed as a 5 Star Green Star building, Grocon has worked steadily during the past year to upgrade its status to 6 Star.

Grocon CEO Daniel Grollo said the efforts made by those on the 161 Castlereagh St project were outstanding. “We are always trying to push ourselves to the limit in terms of sustainability and this result is another demonstration of that approach,” he said.

“With the zero carbon Legion House also set to get underway soon, I believe we are leading the way in Sydney in terms of sustainable approaches to building.”

Some of the features that have pushed 161 Castlereagh Street from 5 Star to 6 Star Green Star include:

• 2 x 450 kilowatt tri-generation plants, generating electricity, heating and cooling for the air conditioning and hot water systems.
• A high-performance thermally shielded glass exterior, allowing in maximum light and acting as excellent insulation.
• Environmentally friendly but high-strength concrete and a finely engineered structure to reduce the amount of reinforcing steel required.

Grocon has also worked extensively with Carter Holt Harvey and the Australian timber industry to develop new high-strength plywood certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), which has been used in jumpform building systems on the project.

Chief Executive of the Green Building Council of Australia, Romilly Madew, said the 161 team had also been the first project team to use pre-assessment of Green Star credits to gain its rating.

This is a new process being tested under the Green Star Revolution project which has the potential to reduce the need for expensive buffer credits.

“Grocon continues to reinforce its reputation as one of Australia’s leaders in green building,” Ms Madew said.

“The green innovations on 161 Castlereagh Street will challenge our industry and set new benchmarks for sustainability.”

Grocon has also won a raft of sustainability awards this year, primarily for its Pixel building in Melbourne, currently considered the greenest building in Australia.

Pixel has received the Premier’s Sustainability Award in Victoria, the Best Sustainability Award nationally from the Master Builders’ Association (MBA) and The Australian Property Industry’s President’s Award.

Media Contact:
Jane Wilson
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