Grimshaw’s Monash Woodside Building to be featured in COP26 Built Environment Virtual Exhibition

Monash University Woodside Building for Technology and Design is among the 17 exemplary, sustainable projects selected to feature in Build Better Now, a virtual exhibition during the COP26 Climate Conference in Glasgow.

Exhibition and events programme will showcase the urgent role that buildings and cities can play as a solution to the climate and ecological emergency.

Following an international Open Call, The Woodside Building is among the 17 exemplary sustainable projects selected to feature in Build Better Now, a virtual reality (VR) online exhibition demonstrating the opportunities for tackling the climate emergency and limiting the environmental impact of the buildings and cities we inhabit. Build Better Now will act as a global call for climate action and is supported by a coalition of over 100 partner organisations from the built environment industry.

The Woodside Building for Technology and Design is a transformational learning and teaching building for Monash University within the native landscapes of their Clayton Campus in Melbourne. A trans-disciplinary facility for the Faculties of Engineering and Information Technology, it initiates new models of learning alongside academic research with industry-related enterprise, while simultaneously integrating precedent-establishing environmental innovation.

The built environment has a central role to play in supporting the world’s transition to a net zero carbon economy. Globally, buildings consume over a third of energy produced, and are responsible for 40% of global energy-related carbon emissions. The Woodside Building consumes only 75% of the operational energy required for a conventional building of its size and will contribute to carbon reduction over its entire lifespan.

In recognition of the importance of the built environment sector in tackling climate change, the UN’s Climate Conference COP26 will feature a dedicated Built Environment Day as part of its presidency programme. Climate change has never been higher on the global public agenda and Build Better Now has been curated to give the sector a strong voice within this internationally significant event.

Following the Open Call, which was launched in June 2021, a rigorous and transparent selection process was undertaken to find projects for the exhibition. A judging panel comprising industry leaders from across the world, with insight into the complexities of built environment sustainability issues on a regional and local level, selected projects that are making an immediate positive impact on the planet and people’s lives. These projects are both scalable and replicable – giving the potential to deliver far-reaching impacts. Exploring themes such as natural resource use, climate mitigation and adaptation and nature and biodiversity, Build Better Now will showcase some of the most innovative solutions from across the globe.

After completion in April 2020, The Woodside Building received the certification to PH Classic. And is the biggest certified Passive House structure of the Southern hemisphere and arguably the biggest education building to reach the Passive House certification globally. The building embraces the best practices in integrated design, that were fundamental to face multidisciplinary challenges regarding the interface with the Campus, the complexity of the Program and brief in Education, and of course, the high sustainability targets given by the Passive House certification.

The Woodside Building is an important project for the Australian construction industry as it demonstrates that well insulated airtight buildings which meet the world class Passive House Certification standard can be designed and constructed at scale in Australia for conventional construction budgets.

Passive House buildings are ultra-low-energy building-types which are rigorously tested to check performance. The building serves as a pilot of leadership in learning environments with immersive and interactive technology and additive and advanced manufacturing laboratory spaces for students and researchers to embrace innovation, design and cutting-edge technology for new solutions in sustainable energy technology. The building is exemplar for a change in expectations of how we construct and build any new construction.

The learnings from The Woodside Building, a low embodied carbon, all electric healthy building are being widely shared with designers and contractors through conferences, journal articles and industry fora and if widely adopted will help to rapidly decarbonise the property and construction industries in Australia.

Build Better Now
COP26 Built Environment Virtual Pavilion
1-12 November 2021

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