Melbourne’s Rod Laver Arena is the latest Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design LEED Gold® Certified building in Australia.
Located within the Melbourne & Olympic Parks precinct, Rod Laver Arena is one of the top entertainment venues in the world by ticket sales and attendance levels, averaging more than 200 event days annually.
The world-class sport and entertainment venue recently underwent an extensive upgrade, designed by Cox Architecture, and has just received LEED Gold® Certification for sustainable building practices, use of materials and technology.
The internationally recognised green building certification recognises the design measures taken to support the arena’s commitment to environmental responsibility.
These measures included macro site planning initiatives such as ensuring excellent connectivity to public transport and the incorporation of innovative wastewater technologies, to more technical elements such as the selection of roof materials that reflect heat rather than absorbing and re-radiating it, therefore reducing the urban heat island effect.
According to Cox Architecture, the team embedded Environmentally Sustainable Design (ESD) principles throughout the design of the upgrade from its inception, ensuring that sustainability was prioritised and retained to achieve this outstanding result within a context of existing 30-year-old building fabric, dated services, and a vast internal volume.
Sustainable improvements at Rod Laver Arena also aim to enhance the customer experience. Some initiatives include: an air condition system which zones and adjusts the air temperature, depending on the number of people in the venue (helping to reduce the electricity needed for running fans and cooling equipment), upgrades to amenities to use recycled water for toilet flushing, and CO2 monitors in the car park which trigger the car park ventilation so it only runs when needed.
The upgrades at Rod Laver Arena are expected to result in:
- 26.9 per cent total energy cost savings;
- 7 per cent reduction in gas usage;
- 20 per cent reduction in water usage, including an 81.83 per cent reduction in potable water usage; and
- a 25 per cent reduction (or 2100 fewer tons) of annual carbon emissions.
