ANZ Centre is Australia’s Largest, Greenest Office Building

The newly christened ANZ Centre is an exceptional eco office complex located in Melbourne's Docklands precinct in Australia. It may be the greenest office on the continent as it has earned a <a href="http://www.gbca.org.au/green-star/green-star-overview/">6 Green Star Rating</a> from the Green Building Council of Australia - the highest level attainable. The huge complex takes a robust design approach that couples great interior design with the smart use of on-site renewable resources. The 6500 occupants are kept comfortable by an innovative state of the art heating and cooling system which keeps the expansive daylit interior comfortable. Water conservation technologies, solar and wind generators, a <a href="http://inhabitat.com/green-roof/">green roof</a>, and a healthy indoor environment is only a partial list of the building’s sustainable deeds. The ANZ Bank knows a good investment when it sees one - it anticipates that the building will cut carbon emissions by 70% over its lifetime.

Located by the river in the heart of downtown, the building designed by <a href="http://www.hassell.com.au/index.php?goURL=http://www.hassell.com.au/en/projects/disciplines/disciplines_list/21/prj/112.html">Hassell</a> responds to the local environment by reducing its energy profile.

It uses the river to help cool the interior, incorporates a <a href="http://inhabitat.com/green-roof/">green roof</a> that maintains habitat and reduces its cooling load via shading devices. Productivity gains are also expected to directly result from the building design.

The 82,000 square meter interior has received a <a href="http://www.inhabitat.com/2009/07/15/melbourne-convention-centre-achieves-6-star-green-star-certification/">6 Green Star</a> rating for its innovative design.

The <a href="http://inhabitat.com/daylighting/">daylit</a> space has multiple levels for employees to relax or meet in a casual but sophisticated environment.

Multiple floors provide a hierarchy of meeting spaces.

The building's reused timber façade and relatively low profile are welcome design approaches that have netted the project multiple architectural awards.

The impressive technology core for maintaining the building's indoor climate is a <a href="http://inhabitat.com/?attachment_id=167765">tri-phase cooling system</a> that can use water recycled from its waste stream or <a href="http://inhabitat.com/wp-admin/post.php?action=edit&amp;post=167760">from the river</a>. The waste heat from the onsite gas electric generators is also harvested to run the absorption chiller.

It may sound complicated but the project a brilliant fusion of different technologies that takes advantage of resources and energy that would otherwise be wasted. The cooled air is distributed by an efficient under-floor air displacement system.

Wise water recycling is a central technology for the building.

Power also comes from a 1000 square meter <a href="http://inhabitat.com/?attachment_id=167757">rooftop solar array</a> and six <a href="http://www.inhabitat.com/index.php?s=vawt">VAWT</a> rooftop wind generators.

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