Sustainability Trust Eco Hub

Description
GreenEarth worked in partnership through the design, project management and construction of the Wellington Environment Centre in central Wellington.

The construction involved the fit out of office space, warehouse storage and a space for community education and display in  900m² warehouse. This was not the typical building project, the project had at its core several key parameters in order of priority:

1. Source salvaged materials that would otherwise go to landfill.
2. Source recycled materials from building recyclers and other merchants
3. Source new materials with a recognised sustainability certification such as EnvironmentalChoice
4. Minimise waste to landfill, recycle where possible
5. Use only nontoxic materials- glues, oils, fillers etc.

GreenEarth was tasked with:

• developing the project budget and schedule.
• Sourcing all materials in accordance with building design specifications and code.
• Managing the site construction staff and subcontractors including health and safety.
• Liaising with Architect and client.

It is a challenging job to quantify time and materials while using recycled materials. The quantity and quality are never assured.

Examples of recycled materials used included:

• Framing from building recyclers and salvaged from the skip bins approximately 2000 lineal metres
• Glass for office partitions, salvaged from telecom building, 50 pieces approximately value $15000
• All carpet, doors, door hardware and flooring
• Reused ceiling tiles from onsite demolition

In addition, the Sustainability Trust was gifted a substantial amount of old timber recycled off the Wellington waterfront and this was machined on site to create detail exposed timber joinery.

Media and Links
See the Sustainability Trust EcoHub Project Brief for more information.

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