235 St Georges Terrace

235 St Georges Terrace was one of the first buildings in Perth to achieve a National Australian Built Environment Rating System (NABERS) rating of 5 stars.

This exceptionally high rating was achieved through good design, orientation, material selection, and building systems selection and fine-tuning. The nine-storey tower, developed by Brookfield and Hawaiian, is the focal point of the heritage-listed gardens and houses of the former residence of the Anglican Bishop of Perth.

It has views of the Swan River, Kings Park and Parliament House. The two heritagelisted properties have been converted to a boutique hotel and restaurant.

Aiming for the stars, the developers originally agreed to a 4.5-star NABERS energy commitment agreement and were able to not only achieve, but exceed, that rating due to all elements of the project:

 

  • Architecture, engineering and operation
  • Coming together to create a successful outcome.

A Western Australian Commitment Agreement is a contract between the NABERS Regional Administrator, the Public Utilities Office, and a commercial office building proponent who commits to design, build and commission the premises to achieve a 4 star or higher NABERS Energy rating. This allows the building proponent to promote the desired rating.

The contract typically spans a number of years and remains in effect until the building has received its benchmark NABERS Energy Rating, after the first 12 months of operation.

A NABERS Commitment Agreement encourages design consultants, project managers and building owners to focus on achieving the agreed performance target through all phases of a new development or refurbishment.

Jamie Loader, National Operations and Sustainability Manager for Brookfield, said the company takes the NABERS commitment process very seriously. “We embrace the commitment agreement and process involved. Many tenants or potential tenants want reassurance that we will construct a property to their desired sustainability metrics,” he said. “In terms of the process followed, our construction team appoints a dedicated person to lead the certification process for the entirety of the build ensuring that we can adequately administer the certification process from design through to commission.”