BackgroundSustainability Victoria is a statutory authority that helps communities, businesses and governments to reduce their environmental impact, turning policy into action.

This role extends to demonstrating best practice in the organisation’s own office space, as it did in 2006 when the organisation moved its Melbourne offices from three locations to one – Level 28, 50 Lonsdale Street in Melbourne’s CBD.

The Sustainability Victoria office space performs more efficiently than average tenancies in a number of areas, including: energy and water consumption, indoor environment quality, waste management and materials efficiency. Positive staff productivity and satisfaction results have also been achieved.

Organisational leadership, staff participation and communication have all played a central role in the success of the fit-out. Results from continuous monitoring have proven the ongoing success and viability of the model.

ObjectivesIn addition to moving staff to a single location, the project objective was to demonstrate that a sustainable office fit-out could be completed at commercial rates, and that environmentally sustainable design (ESD) could deliver substantial and measurable ongoing savings.

Targets for the single floor fit-out included:

• AchievingasixstarratingundertheGreenStarOfficeInteriorstoolandafivestarNABERSEnergyrating.

• Demonstratingthepotentialforreuseorrecyclingof furniture, equipment and materials during the relocation and construction phases.

• Selectingenvironmentallypreferredmaterials.

• Reducingwaterconsumption.

• Reducingenergyconsumption(withafocusoninformation technology and lighting systems).

ProcessThe project took 36 weeks to complete, starting when the project manager and design team were engaged in March 2006 and ending when staff moved into the new office and the old offices were ‘made good’.

ESD consultants Sinclair Knight Merz were the first stakeholders engaged in the project. It was critical that ESD principles were incorporated into the design from the outset, as meaningful changes are difficult to make once the project has reached the construction phase.

Other partners included Hassell (architects), Umow Lai(servicesengineers),DEGW(strategicworkplaceconsultants), Energy Conservation Systems (specialist servicesconsultants)andWaltons(builders).

Sustainability Victoria Fit-OutLevel28UrbanWorkshop, 50 Lonsdale Street Melbourne

Sustainability Victoria fit-out Leading the way with sustainable design

Sustainability Victoria’s staff contributed significantly to the sustainabilityofthenewofficedesignandtherelocation.A’move team’ was established to consult with the designers, provide advice and feedback, and communicate important informationtotherestoftheorganisation.Allstaffalsohada critical role in the waste management process of the relocation. They were responsible for minimising waste and sorting items for reuse or recycling.

Much of the office fit-out is modular which contributes greatly to materials efficiency, as items can be easily moved around the office or reused in new locations.

The materials themselves were carefully selected based on life-cycle considerations. Paints and adhesives containing low or no volatile organic compounds (VOCs) were chosen, which has had a measurable positive effect on staff productivity and satisfaction.

Whilesomeitemsweremoreexpensivethanthe‘standard’ alternatives to achieve improved environmental performance, the office as a whole has achieved a number of financial benefits over a standard fit-out.

These include reduced energy and water running costs, lower operation and maintenance costs and savings from improved staff health and productivity. The office is expected to save the organisation over $12,000 every year in energy costs alone compared to a standard office.

Whentheofficewascompleted,focusshiftedtomonitoring and management of the space’s ongoing performance. This has allowed some areas (such as lighting) to be improved beyond the initial design.

ResultsThe fit-out achieved the following results:

• FivestarNABERSEnergyrating,withenergyconsumption of 244 MJ/m² (compared to 407 MJ/m² for an average three star office).

• Potablefloor-onlywaterconsumptionintenancyof0.07 kL/m²/annum (excludes recycled water and apportioned cooling tower and black water top-up), compared to 0.37 kL/m²/annum industry benchmark.

• 45.9kg/person/annumofwastegenerated(comparedto97.4kg/person/annumbenchmarkforVictorianGovernmentagenciesin2005-6),over90%of which is recycled.

• 68%reductionintheenergyconsumptionofserverinfrastructure,and5%reductioninlaptopandperipheral computer equipment energy consumption compared to industry averages.

Theoffice’sfinalGreenStarOfficeInteriorsratingwasstill being assessed at the time of writing.

Atypicalgovernmentofficefit-outinMelbournecostsbetween $1000 and $1200/m²1.Fit-outsforprofessionalfirms or corporations range from $1200 to $1600/m²2. Sustainability Victoria’s floor at 50 Lonsdale Street cost $1226/m² to build, including furniture, fittings and equipment.

The upfront cost of the office was at the very low end of the commercial price range, and was only marginally greater than a standard government office.

The office is expected to perform well both financially and environmentally during Sustainability Victoria’s tenancy as a result of the reduced energy and water consumption, improved indoor environment quality and greater staff productivity and satisfaction.

The Sustainability Victoria case study package

Sustainability Victoria has developed a series of case studies to tell the story of our fit-out. The package provides an overview of our fit-out plus four technical sheets: Information and CommunicationTechnology,Lighting,Waste,andMaterials. The package can be downloaded at www.resourcesmart.vic.gov.au.

1 Davis Langdon, 2008, Workplaces of the future - effective, expressive and exciting.Availablefromwww.davislangdon.com.au

2 Ibid.3 Cost includes fit-out, design and construction, furniture and

equipment where not reused.

Project title: Level 28, 50 Lonsdale Street tenancy fit-out

Objective: Demonstrating that a leading office fit-out can be achieved on a typical commercial fit-out budget

Tenancy description: Single floor, 1650m² net lettable areaTotal fit-out cost: $2.02 million or $1226/m² 3 Rating: NABERS Energy 5 starsGreen Star Office Interiors: TBC

Snapshot

Sustainability Victoria Fit-OutLevel28UrbanWorkshop, 50 Lonsdale Street Melbourne