Everyone's A Winner - Site 7

Wellington Waterfront Limited today announced a landmark deal that will see New Zealand’s first “Green” office building developed on the Kumutoto area in the northern
precinct of the waterfront.

The building on completion will be owned and managed by Dominion Funds Ltd and Meridian Energy will be the head tenant.

“It is a coup for us to attract to the waterfront a significant corporate player such as Meridian and we know that a fundamental part of the appeal was the design of the building,” said Fran Wilde, Chair of Wellington Waterfront Ltd.

“The concept of Ecologically Sustainable Development (ESD) is reasonably new here, but the project is a practical demonstration that good environmental principles and commercial imperatives are not mutually exclusive.”

“This building will be the first brand new building on the waterfront for many years and Wellington Waterfront Limited took full responsibility for the design and resource consent stages,” said Ms Wilde.

“The building will use 60% less energy and 70% less water than comparable buildings. It will incorporate features such as solar hot water, heat recovery systems, intelligent lighting controls, mixed mode ventilation and a rainwater collection system for water re-use within the building,” said Dr Keith Turner, CEO of Meridian Energy.

“This is a natural progression from our focus on renewable electricity generation. As the leader in the field of sustainable, clean, environmentally-friendly electricity generation, it is appropriate that we put our money where our mouth is in the way we best make use of all our resources, including accommodation.”

“It is designed from scratch to achieve an equivalent to a five-star green rating – a first for New Zealand,” said Dr Turner.

The new building will enable Meridian to accommodate its entire Wellington-based staff on a single site rather than three separate buildings, leading to improvements in work flow staff productivity, and savings in total operating costs.

“It makes sense from every perspective; environmental, financial, staff productivity and convenience with the benefit that the building will be owned and managed by one of New Zealand’s leading property managers in Dominion Funds,” Dr Turner said.

The ground floor of the building will be leased back by Wellington Waterfront Ltd so it can be maintained for public use.

“We’re keen to use it for an activity that is in keeping with the mix of uses planned for the Kumutoto area, and that will also complement the CBD,” Ms Wilde said.

Both Dr Turner and Ms Wilde said the new building added substance to the view that Wellington is a good place to do business.

The contract for the development was signed today by the CEO of Meridian (Dr Keith Turner), CEO of Dominion Funds (Paul Duffy) and Fran Wilde on behalf of WWL.

(24 December 2005)