Four Otago regional councillors have a new view on what it will mean to build a Green Star-rated office building, after a trip to Wellington to visit similarly rated buildings.
The trip, on July 17, gave Crs Duncan Butcher, Bryan Scott, David Shepherd and Sam Neill, and staff, an opportunity to tour the Department of Conservation and Meridian Energy buildings.
The regional council hopes to achieve a Green Star 5 rating for its new building at the Otago Harbour Steamer Basin.
Cr Butcher said it was an interesting exercise which gave them an opportunity to see the Green-Star features attained in different ways.
Cr Scott said it gave him a greater understanding of what a Green Star environmental rating meant, but the challenge now was for the architectural team to do better than Doc and Meridian.
Cr Shepherd said it was important staff were included in the trip as they would be the main users of the building.
