The Ministry of Business, Innovation & Employment (MBIE) has awarded a team of mechanical engineers at the Auckland University engineering faculty’s Acoustic Research Centre $991,000 to create a new kind of partition material. The aim is to reduce the capacity of a wall to vibrate in response to sound, thereby providing better sound insulation, but […]
Read more →Green building
Australian sustainable award winner looks unsustainable from Auckland
What’s “affordable”? What’s “sustainable”?
The question on the first adjective is always open because it depends who you’re talking about. The second, it seems to me, needs to take climate into account and, for housing, the number & type of occupants.
Mighty Ape’s warehouse wins top green rating for Argosy
The Green Building Council has awarded a 5 Green Star industrial built v3 rating to Argosy Property Ltd’s Mighty Ape warehouse in the Highgate Business Park, perched above State Highway 1 at Silverdale.
Read more →Bank offers loan discount for higher Homestar ratings
ANZ Bank NZ Ltd introduced a new factor to its lending policy today – a discount for lifting the construction standard.
Read more →New tallest wooden tower opens in Norway
The Mjösa Tower in Norway has assumed the title of the world’s tallest wooden building after being officially opened last Friday.
Read more →Code for smarter cities released
The Smart Cities Council, covering Australia & New Zealand, and the Green Building Council of Australia released a new practice standard last week which they said would address issues relating to telecommunications connectivity, data insights, digital planning practices & innovation districts.
Read more →Precinct commits to Wynyard stage 2
Precinct Properties NZ Ltd committed yesterday to stage 2 of its Wynyard Quarter project, part of the wider Innovation Precinct on the Auckland waterfront.
Read more →Housing to replace Henderson carparks attracts international designers
5 teams have been shortlisted in a global design competition to redevelop 2 Henderson carparks into housing.
Read more →Avanda scores 6 Homestar rating at Airfields using bespoke checklist
Chinese-owned housing developer Avanda Ltd, confirmed as the developer for stage 2 of the 20ha council-owned Airfields precinct at Hobsonville Point in February last year, is about to build the first homes awarded a 6 Homestar rating using a bespoke checklist.
Read more →Homestar v4 rating launched
Green Building Council chief executive Andrew Eagles thanked the construction industry last night for an extremely robust response when the council sought feedback on its proposed upgrade of the Homestar standard.
Read more →Free assessments offered for NabersNZ ratings
The Green Building Council is offering 60 free feasibility assessments for NabersNZ certified ratings in Auckland, Wellington & Christchurch.
Read more →Addington refurb scores 5 star NabersNZ rating
IAG NZ Ltd & Goodman Property Trust are the first to achieve a 5 star NabersNZ whole building rating for their Christchurch office at 14 Show Place, Addington.
Read more →Lendlease becomes Barangaroo tenant and promotes multi-storey timber office construction
Lendlease Corp moved into its new headquarters in the 168-tall tower 3 of Barangaroo South’s International Towers on Friday. In June, it announced that the owner of 2 of the 3 office towers in the precinct would also acquire an innovative 6-storey engineered timber office building.
Read more →Te Puni Kokiri House wins energy award as savings returned to public purse
Argosy Property Ltd’s internal retrofit of Te Puni Kokiri House in Wellington has won the building the Opus International Consultants public sector award at the annual Energy Efficiency & Conservation Authority awards for its $7.9 million improvement in value and 30% reduction in energy use.
Read more →Call for consistent Australian sustainability ratings
The Australia Sustainable Built Environment Council called last week for a new nationally consistent rating framework for housing sustainability.
Read more →New Homestar version targets apartment quality
A new version of Homestar, the rating tool for New Zealand home sustainability, is intended to make it easier for apartment buyers to gauge the health & efficiency of their homes.
Read more →Meridian signs up to return to Christchurch cbd
National electricity retailer Meridian Energy Ltd will return to an office in the Christchurch cbd next year after signing up for nearly half the office space in the 5-level Awly building, currently under construction.
Read more →New guide aims for better building performance
A new resource launched last night encourages tenants & landlords to join forces to create better performing, more energy-efficient buildings.
Read more →Auckland’s waterfront – aiming to be the international exemplar
Among the ironies of political & business life in Auckland, Waterfront Auckland sits at the forefront. As a council-controlled agency, its budget is always a target for reduction, yet its key role is the promotion of excellence.
Read more →Norman Disney & Young succeeds in energy efficiency drive
Professional services engineering consultancy Norman Disney & Young has achieved a 4-star ‘excellent’ rating for energy use in its downtown Auckland tenancy.
Read more →