New Zealand’s first 5 Green Star School

The new Ormiston Senior College in Auckland is the first school in New Zealand to achieve a 5 Green Star Education Design 2009 rating.

“5 Green Star schools are the schools of the future,” says Karen Sewell, the Secretary for Education. “They improve the health and well being of the teachers and students in them, they decrease energy costs, and the environmental impact of the building is less.”

New Zealand Green Building Council (NZGBC) Chief Executive, Alex Cutler, applauds the Ministry’s commitment to providing New Zealand students with lighter, warmer and healthier school buildings. “Studies in other countries show that green school buildings are better learning environments for students, and reduce sickness and staff turnover. And they are simply cheaper to run thanks to their efficient use of energy and water,” says Ms Cutler.

To gain this rating Ormiston Senior College, which opened for teaching and learning earlier this week, has a number of green features. These include a form of ‘wind tower’ technology, which is being used for the first time in New Zealand. This passive ventilation system provides natural airflow with low running costs.

The building also features plenty of natural light, energy efficient lighting, heating and use of water, solar panels and sustainably sourced materials. The durable brick façade will be long-lasting and require no maintenance.

“Even without the benefit of 5 Green Star buildings, existing schools can make energy savings by simply turning off lights and appliances when they’re not being used I know that many schools already have effective savings schemes, but plenty more could get one started, said Ms Sewell.

From this year, schools get to keep any savings they make if their energy spend is below a funding cap based on their previous year’s expenditure. There’s already specific information to help schools manage their energy use on http://efs.tki.org.nz The Ministry of Education also requires all new schools to meet a 5 Green Star Education 2009 certified rating.

“The environmental innovations found at schools like Ormiston can also benefit students and staff by being integrated into teaching and learning programmes for science and other subjects,” says Ms Sewell.

The Ormiston building project is a significant milestone for both the Ministry and the NZGBC and follows two years of development work prior to the roll-out of the Green Star – Education 2009 tool in July 2009, used to evaluate the environmental attributes of education buildings.

ENDS

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