Australia's first 6-star green education building: Design and performance

Bond University's Mirvac School of Sustainable Development is one where planning, property, project management, construction management and quantity surveying are integrated in a school of the urban environment in the context of sustainable development. The School is the first designated institute to fully integrate environmental, urban planning, property development, quantity surveying, construction management and facilities management disciplines with the practical issues of managing economic and social viability with societal expectations.

The goal was to blend together these three aspects: ecological sustainability – indoor environment quality, transport, water, materials, emissions, land use and ecology - closely linked to economic and social sustainability.

The building’s optimum orientation maximises solar gain and the capture of prevailing breezes. All offices have operable internal and external windows to promote cross-ventilation, and ceiling fans reduce the demand for air conditioning, a major consumer of energy. When outdoor conditions are optimum the Mirvac School of Sustainable Development utilises a ‘natural ventilation mode’; the building’s management system senses favourable outdoor conditions and ceases operation of the air conditioning plant and building occupants open their windows to control air temperature and movement to achieve thermal comfort.

The three-storey building with central corridors on office floors has light wells and natural ventilation. The orientation of the building is on a long axis east – west. This is the optimum orientation to maximise natural daylight and capture prevailing breezes. The construction is a lightweight façade. The building spaces – three studios, one CAD/GIS room, two research rooms, 32 offices, four meeting rooms, one ‘Living Laboratory’, covered outdoor teaching and recreation spaces.