An Auckland Council proposal to require major new office and industrial buildings to be built to 5 Green Star environmental standards have been blasted as preposterous by the Property Council, which represents major commercial building owners.
The council’s Draft Unitary Plan includes a requirement that would mean most office and industrial buildings with floor areas of 5000 square metres or more would need to meet the 5 Green Star Building Standard set by the New Zealand Green Building Council.
Under its certification system, the Green Building Council assesses buildings on a variety of environmental measures – such as their energy efficiency, access to natural light and fresh air and use of other resources such as water – and awards stars according to how environmentally friendly the building is.
The maximum number of stars a building can achieve is six and, so far, only two buildings in this country – the Christchurch Civic Centre and the Geyser office building in Auckland – have achieved six-star certification.
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