The Western Australian City of Gosnells\u2019 Mills Park community facility was assessed with the Green Building Council of Australia\u2019s (GBCA\u2019s) Green Star \u2013 Public Building v1 rating design tool.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe applaud the City of Gosnells\u2019 leadership, which sets a new benchmark for local governments around Australia, and showcases the economic, social and environmental benefits of green building,\u201d said the GBCA\u2019s Chief Executive Officer, Romilly Madew.<\/p>\n
AECOM collaborated with Hodge Collard Preston Architects, who led the design.<\/p>\n
AECOM\u2019s sustainability lead for the project, Michael Thompson, said a practical approach to sustainability was pivotal to the rating, with the City incorporating a large number of low-cost initiatives into the building.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a publicly funded project, so everything we did needed to represent good value,\u201d Mr Thompson said.<\/p>\n
\u201cRather than trying to force expensive and over-engineered systems into the design, we went for initiatives with synergy, initiatives that work well in a building like this one. There\u2019s a lot to be said for getting the basics right.\u201d<\/p>\n
The facility uses low-energy LED lighting and will have a smart, responsive air conditioning system. In addition, the building will have a 30 kilowatt solar array, capable of generating up to 15 percent of the building\u2019s electricity requirement annually.<\/p>\n
\u201cWithout going over the top, AECOM\u2019s design team has come up with a building with efficiencies that could save the City of Gosnells up to $145,000 a year in running costs,\u201d Mr Thompson said.<\/p>\n
Responding to public demand, the City has focused on improving the ecological state of Mills Park. The degraded wetland area will be rehabilitated, habitat will be regenerated, endangered or threatened species will be encouraged back, and contaminated areas will be remediated.<\/p>\n
Additionally, local watercourses such as the Canning River and Yule Brook will be protected by an extensive stormwater treatment system.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe parkland around the building used to be of high ecological value; we\u2019re hopeful that we can elevate the park to a better ecological state than it has ever been.\u201d Mr Thompson said.<\/p>\n
Native, drought-resistant plantings will form the basis for all landscaping, protecting Mills Park from the dry Western Australian climate. The City has also selected toilets, taps and showers with very high water efficiencies and combined the irrigation and toilet flushing systems with a 50,000 litre rainwater reuse system, reducing annual water consumption by up to 70 percent.<\/p>\n
Existing site resources will be used to reduce the consumption of new materials in the construction, and locally manufactured materials and products will be used wherever possible to reduce transport-to-site emissions and promote local economic stimulus.<\/p>\n
Construction is set to begin this month.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"template":"","yst_prominent_words":[],"class_list":["post-10727","press-release","type-press-release","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/aecom.com\/tw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/press-release\/10727","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/aecom.com\/tw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/press-release"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/aecom.com\/tw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/press-release"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/aecom.com\/tw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/press-release\/10727\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/aecom.com\/tw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10727"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aecom.com\/tw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=10727"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}