Property developer Mirvac has delivered Australia’s first 6-star rated building under a new and more stringent sustainable building certification scheme.

The Green Building Council of Australia has announced that Mirvac’s Heritage Lanes project at 80 Ann Street in Brisbane has become the first building to be awarded a six-star rating under the new Green Star Buildings rating tool.

Key features of the building include:

• Being carbon neutral in operation and powered 100 percent using renewable energy.
• Features to promote healthy spaces such as improved air quality, natural light exposure and other wellness elements.
• A lobby which is entirely ‘breathable’ with louvred and shugg windows that open and shut to enjoy the Queensland weather.
• Multiple mixed-mode tenant floors which enable people to select settings which best suit them.
• A ground level urban garden to provide a pleasant environment for workers.
• Inclusion of ‘native bush tucker’ options to add an exciting culinary touch.
• Celebration of history and connection to Country with artwork by Quandamooka artist Megan Cope.
• Preservation of the site’s historical architecture and former use as the Brisbane Fruit & Produce Exchange.
• End of trip facilities to support healthy and active living including 665 bike racks, 1,302 lockers, 66 showers and space for 10 electric scooters.
• 100 percent of the planting on-site being Australian native plants, with 80 percent sourced from the southeast Queensland bioregion
• State-of-the-art smart building technology which collects more than 90 billion data points daily and delivers one of Australia’s most intelligent and responsive buildings.

The building is two-thirds occupied by Suncorp. Other tenants include IWG (Spaces), KPMG, APA, Woods Bagot and Mirvac.

Launched in 2020, Green Star Buildings replaced the earlier Green Star Design and As Built rating tools which were previously released in 2014.

The new tool represented the most significant overhaul of the Green Star rating system over the past 18 years.

A key feature of the new rating tool compared with its predecessors is that it extends beyond core environmental considerations and adopts a broader scope which aims to address critical issues that will define the built environment over the next decade.

These includes requiring solutions that improve physical and mental health of occupants; support the creation of safe, enjoyable and comfortable spaces; encourage interconnectedness and social cohesion among community members; promote connections between people and nature; provide innovation, vision or leadership for industry; and encourage solutions which promote the capacity of the building to recover from short-term shocks and long-term stresses.

The new rating tool also requires certified buildings to go further in terms of decarbonisation – a phenomenon which reflects developments such as the Paris Agreement.

Accordingly, all new Green Star certified buildings to be ‘Climate Positive’ – a requirements which is being phased in over the decade to 2030 according to the rating level being sought.

To achieve this, buildings will need to be efficient, free of fossil fuels, fully run by renewables, have low up-front carbon emissions and eliminate or offset remaining scope 1 carbon emissions.

Green Building Council of Australia CEO Davina Rooney congratulated Mirvac on its achievement.

“Before we had launched Green Star Buildings, Mirvac had committed to reach the highest certification of our Green Star standard, based on the previous rating tool,” Rooney said.

“Embracing the new challenge, Mirvac worked with the project team to push the boundaries even further to ensure they could be the first to achieve the highest certification under the new Green Star Buildings tool.

“Their unwavering commitment to sustainability has ensured that Heritage Lanes is now one of Australia’s smartest and most sustainable office buildings.”

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