Power House Museum - Sydney, Australia

We headed to the Powerhouse Museum to see the “Ecologic - Creating a sustainable future” exhibit. The Ecologic exhibit included a 3D timeline, mapping the highs and lows of carbon dioxide concentrations over the last 400,000 years; the consequences of global warming; scientific research featuring air samples and carbon isotope studies; global warming risk management; redesigning our world for ecological sustainability; water management; and sustainability at home, featuring the original Michael Mobbs “Sustainable house” with the ethos of reduce, reuse and recycle. The “sustainable house” miniature model was in display, so we learned about it before we visited with owner Michael Mobbs the next day.

Britomart - Auckland, New Zealand

We returned to Auckland today to meet up with Sara Ballantyne with Cooper & Company. She and Terry Buchan with Hawkins Construction served as our hosts and they provided an informative tour on East 1 & East 2 buildings of the Britomart project which sits across the street from the Auckland harbor.
The building was supposed to be a mixed use development including apartments. However, the residential sector took a big hit, so the apartments were taken out of the equation. I’m sure the loan had to be restructured to do away with the residential portion.
The train station runs below the structure. Sara informed that the tenants are encouraged to walk to work or use public transportation such as the train, bus or ferry. One of the buildings has a rainwater harvesting system. The top three floors were built as flex space as well.

Hamilton Gardens - Hamilton, New Zealand

Meagan and Martini took us to the Hamilton Gardens for our next stop.

Hamilton Gardens is committed to sustainable management practices by:
Recycling glass, paper, tin, aluminium, food waste, office supplies and garden compost

Purchasing mulch from the local recycling centre

Conserving water through night time irrigation, mulching, monitoring and recycling

Improving energy efficiency through monitoring, insulation and energy efficient technologies

Using a buy local policy

Ongoing planting programmes and the propagation and distribution of locally ecosourced NZ plants for restoration work

Promoting sustainable practices through The Sustainable Backyard garden
Encouraging bird, insect and bat populations through planting, habitat protection and predator control


The Māori culture was present through out the garden as you can see in the photo above.

Rotorua Aquatic Center - Rotorua, New Zealand

We went on our way to Rotorua and we were able to see New Zealand's country side.
The UTA Mavericks strolled together to visit the sustainable Aquatic Center.
We were given a tour by a cheerful manager as soon as we got there.

The Rotorua Aquatic Centre is the first swimming facility in New Zealand to achieve Qualmark’s prestigious Enviro-Gold Award, which recognises the country’s highest standards in environmental practice.

All heating of the pool water and hot water is provided through geothermal energy. Out back behind the property are the metal pipes that are connected to the hot springs that provide the geothermal energy. The financial benefit is that there are very little or no heating costs. However, there are energy costs for pumping, ventilation and lighting. The energy savings initiatives include the following:
Reducing pump speed at night and controlling level
Shutting down domestic hot water pump at night
Shutting down Amenities / Change extract fans and ensuring Pool Hall fans go to slow speed at night
Control Pool Hall lights on daylight sensor and Main Entry Canopy Lights on daylight control
1st Floor, Cardio Gym and Staff Room lights on occupancy / light sensor
Main Plant room and Outdoor Plant room Metering Room light

It was a great idea for the Aquatic Center to have used it's local resources (hot springs) in efforts to increase it's sustainability.

Iron Bank

The UTA crew strolled through Auckland's CBD on our way to "The Iron Bank". Little did we know that the building would be closed. However, my amigo Vishal ends up talking to the Indian restaurant owner next door which so happens to have access to the Iron Bank. Way to go Vishal!

The restaurant owner was very nice and he provided us with a tour of the Iron Bank himself.

The IronBank is a $38 million dollar mixed-use office and retail development project in Auckland that was completed in 2009. It has an environmental-sustainable design and it was recently awarded 5-star Green Star rating awarded by the New Zealand Green Building Council. The sustainable features of the building include the following: rainwater collection, solar hot water heating, natural ventilation via a night purging system, low embodied energy materials, and the recycling of nearly 95% of the construction materials. The building has an amazing robotic parking system. I'm curious to know if any buildings in the U.S. have this parking system. http://www.ironbank.co.nz/video-gallery/

We headed to the Indian restaurant next door for a few refreshments after the tour.

Stanley Construction

The UTA Real Estate/ Sustainability crew visited Gary Caulfield with Stanley Construction today. Gary is an active member of the Project Management Insitute. I'm a member of PMI as well. He is a strong advocate for sustainability and he is a handful of people in New Zealand who have managed a project that has attained a Greenstar rating. http://www.stanleygroup.co.nz/page/140-our-people


Gary explained the firm's business unit structure which includes the following: Construction, Eco-Build, Modular, Interiors and Joinery.

Gary informed us of the framing practices during a span of 20 years starting in 1986 which resulted in "leaky buildings" as he so called them. The main issues with these buildings were design and installation.


Plaster cladding systems were installed incorrectly.

The following caused the leaky building syndrome as well: recessed windows,flat roofs with narrow or no eaves,two or more stories,design features such as solid balustrades, complex roof design and envelope shapes where roofs frequently intersect with walls on upper floors,balconies that jut out from the walls, penetrations through the claddings.

Insufficient details in the approved documents also were a problem. Maybe an RFI could have been issued to aid the workers during the installation process.

Lack of technical knowledge and skills when houses are designed, detailed and built -modern systems require a greater level of care and skill which has not always been applied.

Untreated kiln-dried framing timber is susceptible to rot when moisture penetrates the building envelope.


Gary showed us a powerpoint presentation of some modular buildings that Stanley Construction has built. This was the most interesting portion of the meeting for me. Why? Well, because I'm currently working on a 4 & 5 level student housing project in Texas. Stanley Construction is currently building a 14 level student housing project near the University of Auckland. Modular Construction is a growing trend in the U.S. My only regret about this visit was not having the time to visit the actual modular construction project. He did advise that he is working on a progress photo power point presentation, so I'll keep in contact with Gary to learn more about the high-rise modular construction.

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New Zealand SHAC 2009 Projects

The Sustainable Habitat Challenge (SHAC) is a national collaborative project for teams around New Zealand. The teams design, develop, and build sustainable housing in their local community. The objective is to provide low-energy, low-resource housing for New Zealand. By building better homes, SHAC Teams include real estate, architecture, and engineering students. Students, researchers, educators, planners, and industry professionals are imperative for the movement towards sustainability.