21st May 2010
The Lord Mayor, Campbell Newman has announced the first grant approved under the BCC's Sustainable Development Grants (Offices) Program for Citimark Properties' Synergy office building in the heart of Kelvin Grove Urban Village (KGUV).
The Grant, for Retail/Commercial projects over XXXm2, was presented to award winning Brisbane property group Citimark Properties and clearly recognised the development's 5 Star Green Star (Design v2) rating and initiatives, architectural excellence, and contribution to the BCC's Living in Brisbane 2026 vision.
Established in early 2007 by the Brisbane City Council in conjunction with key property industry representative groups including the Property Council and the Green Building Council, the Grant was created to encourage and promote energy efficiency, water and waste conservation, and material reuse through innovation and superior design.
To gain the Grant, developers are required to attain stringent design and material efficiency targets as well as demonstrate rigorous operational objectives.
Citimark's Joint Managing Director, Robert Pullar, believes the Grant representes recognition for the development's delivery of innovative solutions to meet complex urban planning requirements and challenges.
"Eighteen months on from completion in October 2008, SYNERGY is exceeding all predicted energy savings targets," Mr Pullar said.
According to independent sustainable design consultants Cundall, SYNERGY was predicted to save 720 tonnes of CO2 per annum through simple principles such as good shading and efficient machinery. The actual building performance is 10% better than these forecasts - equivalent to taking 160 cars off the road per year.
Innovations such as the dual-wing design and ventilation-promoting light court mean the building is completely in-tune with Brisbane's sub-tropical climate and no employee is more than 8.5metres from a natural light source.
This engenders a vibrant, employee-friendly environment that fosters creativity and satisfaction.
The development was also predicted to save 8.1ML of water per annum through measures such as a 60KL rainwater tank, water efficient fixtures and low water use cooling towers. The actual building performance is 5% better than predicted. This is equivalent to filling 8 Olympic swimming pools with the water saved each year.
Even the construction process itself realised savings to the environment with 509 tonnes of construction waste diverted away from landfill and back into raw materials to be used in useful products. This represented just over 80% of the total waste created during the construction process.
The statistics speak for themselves, but tenants are also seeing benefits in the workplace.
"Our overall vision was to create a subtropical, efficient office building that not only maintained environmentally sustainable principles, but architecturally enhanced the surrounding precinct," Mr Pullar said.
"Designed by award winning architects, Cottee Parker, Synergy is one of the most prominent and largest commercial sites in the Village on Musk Avenue and was to set a benchmark in office design and realize the KGUV vision, so the Review Committee wanted a landmark development that also delivered world-class environmental objectives," he said.
Major design features include a 'green' wall along the building's north west façade, glass-enclosed fire stair wells at each end to act as connection points for tenancies while maximising natural light, as well as large, functional floor plates in a dual-wing design to ensure no employee is further than 8.5metres from natural light.
The building is also targeting a 4.5 Star ABGR (Australian Building Greenhouse Rating – now incorporated under the NABERS scheme) rating.
"We knew that the major costs and impact on the environment relating to running an office building were associated with energy – primarily air conditioning," Mr Pullar said.
"The 6-storey design uses double glazed tinted glass to 90% of the Net Lettable Area, with a revolutionary oil-free air cooling system and increased number of air ducts to provide cleaner, quieter, and more efficient heat control to all tenancies.
"The building has a remotely-controlled management system with a program called Optergy, an operational dream for Synergy's users and owners, which allows web based access to monitor energy efficiency and impact on the environment through a customised interface. This also means faster and more efficient response from utilities contractors and reduced running costs," he said.
"Feedback from all stakeholders has been very positive. It means we've met the challenge of creating a visually interesting building, we've provided an environmentally sustainable development and we've given Synergy's users a cleaner and more productive work environment."
The property was purchased by ASX listed Cromwell Group prior to completion.
About SYNERGY
SYNERGY is a commercial building locating in Kelvin Grove Urban Village, spanning six levels and including ground-floor retail tenancies, with floor plates up to 2,470m² — the largest of any new Brisbane commercial building.
About Citimark Properties
Citimark Properties is an award winning Brisbane-based property and investment group which has delivered more than $1billion in commercial, industrial, retail and residential projects throughout Australia.
Media Contact
Megan Barron, Citimark Properties
Ph: 07 3002 6200 or
Mobile: 0408 744 046
Email: meganb@citimark.com.au
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