Dandiiri Contact Centre (formerly Joint Contact Centre)

Project Team

Building Owner and sponsor
Karen Lyon-Reid - Executive Director
Terry Flynn - Director, Portfolio Group
Graham Messenger - Manager Major Projects
Alberto Vides - Project Director

Project Services
Mark Dohnt - Project Manager
Stephen Sims - Principal Consultant/Design Architect
Susan Mezger - ESD coordinator/submission reviewer for Green Star OD v2
Lisa Britzman - ESD coordinator/submission reviewer for Green Star OI (integrated fitout)
Justine Ebzery, Nick Dazeley & Susan Mezger - Project Architects
Justine Ebzery, Alysha Woodland & Liz Spooner - ESD coordinator/submission reviewers for Green Star AB v2
John Aitchison - Principal Drafter
Elise Crocker, Caroline Brumpton & Michelle Wilson - Interior Designers
Len Taplin - Chief Engineer
Ronan Carney - Electrical Engineer & Modeler
Glen Kay - Electrical Engineer
Ray Haskell & Stephen Misson - Mechanical Engineers
Don Fraser & Greg O'Brien - Structural Engineers
Ted McDonald - Quantity Surveyor

External Consultants
Aaron Nunn, Niloo Tara - Civil Engineers (City Design)
Richard Cox - Hydraulics Consultant
David Matheson -Landscape Sustainability Officer (City Design)
Ben Doughty - Landscape Architect
Ron Rumble, Paul Johnson - Acoustics Consultants (Renzo Tonin & Associates)
Alysha Woodland - Environmental Engineer
Ben Foster - Quantity Surveyor (Steele Wrobel)
Sam Le Noble - Fire Engineer
Mark Thomson (Ecolateral) and Jonathan Dalton (Viridis e3) - Sustainability advice
Sam Zammit & Jason Thiesfield - Electronics

Contractor
Glenzeil Pty Ltd

Background

When the Queensland Government's Accommodation Office (AO) recognised the need for a Government contact centre in 2006, they embarked upon a project to demonstrate to government agencies and industry that projects can achieve the highest ESD outcomes at a commercial cost. Design decisions were made for their 'green' benefits, payback periods and quality.

The Dandiiri Contact Centre (DCC) project was earmarked to achieve and exceed the Queensland Government's benchmark of 5 Star Green Star Office Design buildings, and adhere to strategic policies relating to the reduced consumption of water and energy and the use of renewable and sustainable construction materials for existing and new building stock.

Project Outcomes

The result is a building that has achieved a 6 Star Green Star - Office Design v2 rating representing 'world leading' green building design. At the time of certification (25 September 2009), DCC achieved the highest number of points (92/100) to date for any Office Design v2 project in Australia. At the time of publishing this case study, this achievement had not been surpassed.

The DCC building is expected to deliver substantial economic savings as a direct result of the symbiotic relationship of its building components, building services, and building generation elements relating to maximising energy efficiency and passive design.

The design has resulted in full Green Star points being awarded in the Energy,
Management and Water credit categories for the Office Design v2 submission.

For Energy-1, the predicted NABERS Energy rating was 5 stars plus 90% reduction in C02, with the actual value of normalised CO2 emissions achieved for DCC in accordance with the Green Star Office Design v2 tool being 8 kg.CO2/m2/year. In addition, the DCC's calculated base building energy consumption is estimated to be 41 kWh/m2/year.

Water wise

A sophisticated water reuse system has been designed for the DCC. This includes the collection and treatment of five sources of water to be used for toilet flushing (including greywater from showers and hand basins, fire test water, condensate from dehumidifiers and stormwater from carpark areas). Rainwater is also harvested and supplied to the cooling towers which also have a water treatment system designed to reduce water usage. The sole source of water for the water efficient irrigation system is harvested stormwater.

All water fixtures and fittings in the building will be highly water efficient. These
initiatives reduce the estimated potable water consumption for the amenities to only 6L/person/day. Further water conservation measures include the installation of 22 water meters throughout the building and the adoption of a leak detection strategy.

Occupancy Health

At the DCC, a measurable reduction in sick leave and increased productivity is expected with such features incorporated into the project: 100 per cent filtered and cooled fresh air delivered to occupants at air rates 150% above the standard, low VOC, low formaldehyde and other low-toxic and non-toxic materials used throughout the building, reduced risk of mould in occupied spaces, maximising natural light with an internal atrium, light shelves, 3.4m high ceilings and a well designed office layout, and extensive external glare control measures which will ensure less eye fatigue. The interior fitout includes personalised workstations with individual task lighting and occupancy control of
airflow.

A focus on extensive employee and visitor facilities, such as bike and changing facilities and indoor and outdoor breakout spaces, will also enhance the experience of working at the DCC.

Innovation plus

The project team behind DCC Zillmere wanted to create a 'living, breathing green building', with a particular focus on incorporating proven systems in a new and novel way. This led to some significant innovations, and 4 Green Star innovation points (out of a possible five) were awarded for design initiatives that provide additional environmental benefit by exceeding the benchmarks in Green Star - Office Design v2. The following initiatives were awarded innovation points:

• CO2 emissions: two innovation points awarded for ultra-low CO2 emissions.
• Peak load reduction: one innovation point awarded for 78% reduction in peak load and flat load profile through installation of a chilled water storage tank
• Water consumption: one innovation point awarded for exceeding thebenchmark for potable water reduction and for being as close to 'water neutral' as possible.

Summary of design initiatives featured in the project:

• The design has resulted in full Green Star points being awarded in the Energy,Management and Water credit categories for the Office Design v2 submission and several credit criteria requirements have been exceeded throughout most of the categories.
• Engagement of an Independent Commissioning Agent (from Design through to 12 months after practical completion), extensive Building Management System (BMS) and DDC control systems and comprehensive commissioning clauses relating to building performance have been included into the project requirements, enabling full Green Star points to be awarded for MAN 2,3 & 4.
• Innovative adaptations of proven engineering technologies for heating and cooling systems in a sub-tropic environment including the use of chilled beams and air delivered via floor grilles in a modular access floor system.
• Electrical generation on site through a large PV array has reduced the need for grid power supply, reduced CO2 emissions, and reduced peak load reduction.
• Energy recovery using enthalpy wheel heat exchangers.
• Thermal storage and overnight cooling system which results in significant energy savings, CO2 reduction, reduced peak load and water savings.
• Full points for ENE-3 and ENE-4: Sub-meters are provided for all substantive energy uses within the base building (greater than 100kVa) including chillers, air handling fans, fire services and generators as well as sub-meters for loads less than 100 kVA (including lifts, common area lights and power and carparks). Tenancy sub-metering is also provided for each floor and tenancy to monitor energy use.
• An advanced office lighting system which achieves less than 1.5 watt/sqm/100 lux (4/4 points for ENE-5) and incorporates DALI dimming controls with automatic daylight harvesting and dimming via programmable movement sensors and time clock controls. The documented design also provides 100% of the NLA with fluorescent luminaires installed (IEQ-6).
• 24/26 points for the IEQ category were awarded with a number of contributing passive design features such as a well designed office layout, daylight harvested through the use of large internal natural light atriums, light shelves and 3.4 m high ceilings to maximise natural light and reflective internal surfaces.
• Extensive glare control through the use of vertical and horizontal blades to block out direct sunlight for the working plane and reduce solar heat gain. Credit criteria for IEQ-5 was achieved and exceeded by 11%.
• For IEQ-8, 75% of the NLA has a direct line of sight through vision glazing on the external facade which exceeds the minimum 60% requirement.
• Full points awarded for IEQ-10: Development of a microclimate personalised comfort controlled workstation with the base building mechanical ventilation system designed to allow for tenant installation of individual user control to each workspace for at 97.5% of the NLA as per the Technical Manual. 100% of the naturally ventilated spaces are provided with user controlled ventilation openings in accordance with the Technical Manual's credit criteria and to meet the AS AS1668.2-2002.
• A significant body of research has been created (including life cycle analysis) to select suitable products as well as meeting specific Green Star compliance requirements. In addition there has been development and/or testing and utilisation of materials and systems such as waste products for cement replacement, post consumer recycled timber or FSC timber and reduced use/emissions of PVC, formaldehyde and VOC throughout the building. For example, the total PVC content cost for all DCC base building services and building fabric elements across the entire project will be reduced by 76%, exceeding the credit criteria for MAT-7 by 16% to be awarded 2/2 points.
• Integrated water management philosophy employed defining differing hierarchies of use and demand including rainwater, stormwater and greywater harvesting and subsequent treatment and reuse within the site.
• Revegetation of a large area within the DCC site, including a vast tract of native regenerated habitat
• Green Star ratings for the Office Design v2 As Built and Office Interior v1.1 tools are also being sought for the DCC project.