Environmental Impacts of Multi-Storey Buildings Using Different ...

The Green Star NZ building performance rating framework was developed by the New ZealandGreen Building Council (NZGBC) and it aims to:- Define green building by establishing a common language and standard of measurement;- Promote integrated, whole-building design;- Identify building life-cycle impacts;- Raise awareness of green building benefits;- Recognise and reward environmental leadership; and- Transform the built environment to reduce the environmental impact of development.(Green Star NZ Office Design V1, 2008)The GreenStar NZ Office Design V1 tool was developed for the design stage of office buildings toevaluate the environmental initiatives and/or potential environmental impacts of commercial officebase building designs (Green Star NZ Office Design V1). It has been shown that the design stageof office buildings is when the most influence can be made upon total life cycle costs.In the Green Star NZ building performance rating tool credits are awarded for certain activities andwhere possible industry benchmarks are used. For example 1 point is awarded where it can bedemonstrated that the percentage of all steel in the design has a post-consumer recycled contentgreat than 60 % by mass, and 2 points for 90 % by mass. If the material cost of steel representsless than 1 % of the project’s total contract value then this credit would be “not applicable”.Similarly 2 points are awarded where it is demonstrated that all timber and composite timberproducts are either post-consumer re-used timber or FSC (Forest Stewardship Certified) timber ora combination of both. In other categories points are awarded for other categories (Figure 1-1-1).Figure 1-1-1: Generic Green Star NZ Framework (NZGBC 2008)All points are then weighted and summarised into a single score, where materials have acontribution of 10 % to the total score whereas energy has a contribution of 25 %. For allweightings see Table 1-1.Status Draft 16.07.2008Project NumberOur Ref − MWH Scion GreenStar Assessment PeerReviewFINAL.doc