The drive to integrate sustainability from the ground up at Te Unua Museum of Southland has earned provisional certification under Australasia’s top voluntary environmental rating scheme for commercial developments.

The project was provisionally awarded a 4 Star Green Star NZ Design & As Built Design Review Certified rating, in recognition of its commitment to deliver a high-quality, sustainable facility for generations of Southlanders to enjoy.

Te Unua Museum of Southland Director Eloise Wallace said achieving Green Star certification demonstrated its commitment to both people and place.

Green Star certification assessed environmental performance across categories including energy efficiency, water conservation, indoor environmental quality, material selection, waste management, and carbon emissions reduction.

“Te Unua Museum of Southland is about celebrating the legacy of our region. That goes beyond being a space where the stories of Murihiku are shared, and our taoka are taken care of – it also includes thinking about the kind of asset we want to create today, for the enjoyment of our community tomorrow,” she said.

Attaining provisional Green Star certification meant the facility was on track to be the first museum in the country to receive the accolade, she said.

“Green Star certification aligns with Invercargill City Council’s long-term vision to create a future-proof, sustainable cultural asset that can be enjoyed for generations to come.”

The community had been overwhelmingly supportive of the process to seek Green Star certification during previous public consultation periods, Wallace said.

Invercargill City Council Senior Project Manager Haydyn Taylor said Green Star certification reflected efforts to embed environmental sustainability throughout the project – from the build, to its long-term operational practices.

“The process looks across the entire project, from considering the sustainability of the materials you select for the structure, to the healthiness of the indoor spaces you’re creating – how much natural air and light you have coming in, how you’re mitigating noise pollution,” he said.

The development of Te Unua Museum of Southland reflected a strong performance in fundamental areas of sustainable design.

The museum would have a 60 percent reduction in operational energy consumption, in comparison to ‘like’ builds, and a whopping 80 percent reduction in associated greenhouse gas emissions, Taylor said.

Among the sustainable materials used in the construction of Te Unua was Ecrete, a concrete engineered here in New Zealand using recycled materials such as fly ash and slag or lowercarbon cement, as well as sustainably-sourced steel from Indonesia, and higher R-value insulation for greater thermal efficiency.

“Being the first museum in the country to attain Green Star certification is a really impressive achievement, and reflects the value the museum will add to our community not just from a cultural and social point of view, but from an environmental perspective as well,” he said.

The next step would be to have the completed As-Built plans reassessed at the end of the project, to confirm that construction aligned with the Green Star design parameters, he said.

Trustees and staff from Community Trust South, which in 2023 had contributed a significant $5 million to the project, visited the site to see progress firsthand.

Community Trust South Chief Executive Jackie Flutey said the organisation’s contribution represented investment in the museum’s vision ,and its commitment to sustainability.

“Supporting this development means contributing to a thriving south and creating a space for connection and celebration for generations to come,” she said.