Sustainability leaders from across Australia and New Zealand were on the edge of their seats on 2 November, as the winners of the 2017 Green Gown Awards Australasia were announced live from RMIT University’s Storey hall in Melbourne. 35 finalists from 18 institutions held their breath as the President of Australasian Campuses Towards Sustainability (ACTS), Leanne Denby, and Vice President, Corey Peterson, announced the winners.
The University of Tasmania’s Inveresk Apartments, an innovative, environmentally, economically and socially sustainable student accommodation facility, won the Built Environment category. An integrated Environmentally Sustainable Design approach was central to the design and the project brings a holistic view to its sustainability credentials. This holistic approach included a location that provides the optimum in residential amenity, a design that is sympathetic to the surrounding heritage precinct and a construction methodology using wood that minimised site impacts and maximised sustainable outcomes.
The building achieved a significant, LCA assessed reduction in environmental impact due largely to the extensive use of timber throughout the building. This included timber piling, timber wall framing, LVL support structure for apartment floors and ceilings, CLT floor slabs, CLT stairs, timber roof trusses and extensive timber screening and cladding to the ground floor walls and south facades.