Page 24 - Climate Control News magazine March 2022

Building Services
Newcastle University a green star pioneer
THE UNIVERSITY OF Newcastle’s Q Building has become the first building in regional NSW to achieve a 6 Star Green Star ‘Design and As Built’ certified rating.
A world-leading status, this is the highest rating awarded by Green Star, which is an internationally recognised rating system founded by the Green Building Council of Australia (GBCA) in 2003.
Classes have begun at the $25 million building which officially opens later this year.
A key aspect of the build was its mass timber construction. While the building features a concrete core, its remaining internal structure was built using sustainably sourced cross-lam- inated timber, much of which is visible from outside the building.
It is the first multi-storey timber building in Newcastle with the biophilic design creating a feeling of being in nature.
The timber structure captures carbon, rather
LEFT & ABOVE: The Q Building inside and out.
than producing it, creating minimal waste and supporting the HVAC system to moderate hu- midity inside the building.
The central design intent for the building was to maintain transparency but this created chal- lenges to ensure those inside were comfortable from a heat and weather perspective.
To overcome this challenge, the three sides of the building which have the highest exposure to the sun (east, north and west) have been glazed with an electro-chromic smart-glass system called Sage Glass, which automatically changes its tint to respond to heat and glare.
The glass thermal panels are the biggest in- stallation in the southern hemisphere.
Vice Chancellor Professor Alex Zelinsky said that the university set out to achieve a 6-Star building by 2025.
“The Q Building puts us well in advance of the targets in our sustainability
plan which includes being car-
bon neutral by 2025,” he said.
GBCA CEO, Davina Roon- ey, said innovation was at the core of the project from the outset.
“It certainly sets the bench-
mark for future develop- GBCA CEO,
Implementation dates finalised for NCC 2022
ments of this kind,” she said.
Davina Rooney.
A preview of the changes will be available in May.
THE AUSTRALIAN BUILDING Codes Board (ABCB) has confirmed implementation dates for the National Construction Code (NCC) 2022.
The changes were delayed as a result of the pandemic but adoption of the NCC 2022 will now go ahead from 1 September, 2022.
A preview of the changes will be available from 9 May.
The ABCB will outline the changes at a series of seminars to be held throughout Australia dur- ing July and August.
The May preview of NCC 2022 will not include the energy efficiency and condensation amend- ments, as these have not yet been endorsed by building ministers. However, practitioners will still see a preview of the amendments prior to adoption.
The ABCB is also offering a variety of face-to- face and virtual seminars about the key changes for NCC 2022 Volumes One and Two.
Registrations will open from April for the events. ✺
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