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With construction well underway, The University of Queensland’s new Global Change Institute Headquarters is in itself a research tool and has been designed (with Hassell) to meet a minimum 6 Star GreenStar Design and As-Built Rating. It’s also set to be one of the first buildings to achieve the Living Building Challenge accreditation, joining only a handful of buildings around the world. Our clients aspiration was to provide a net zero carbon and net zero energy building with year round comfort conditions to be provided without the use of air conditioning.

Other initiatives include an on site battery storage system charged by a 160KW roof mounted solar array which will feed its excess energy back to the local campus grid, a three stage free energy air handler which cools and dehumidifies 100% outside air to maintain the internal comfort conditions delivered via a under floor ventilation system, and the charging of the thermal mass via in slab system for passive cooling. As a finalist of the AIRAH 2012 Awards of Excellence, the building is already presenting itself to be a beacon for World Class sustainability.

(Images: Thanks to Hassell)