Additional Resources
Visit the Origin Energy website, and their Sustainability page. For more info about the Origin Energy Greenwall Project, contact Mark Paul of The Greenwall Company at: markpaul@greenwall.com.au, (612)99692682, or visit www.greenwall.com.au.
Case Studies
Origin Energy is Australasia’s leading gas and electricity company procuring and providing electricity, LPG, natural gas and appliances to Australian homes and businesses. The Origin Energy head office at 321 Exhibition Street in Melbourne is a commercial complex consisting of premium office and retail space with 22 levels and 31,000 m2. It aims to be best practice in sustainability and energy efficiency through the design and installation of a state of the art trigeneration plant. The Cogent Trigeneration Plant delivers heating and cooling for the building’s air-conditioning system. It also provides low CO2 emissions density electricity when compared to the grid, which helps reduce Origin’s carbon footprint. It boasts energy efficiency of 80% overall efficiency (estimated). It received a 5 Star (version 3) Green Star Rating.
Australia’s first greenwall developer horticulturalist Mark Paul, Founder and Director of The Greenwall Company, completed work here on the tallest greenwall in the country (as of 2012). Spanning 22 floors of the Origin head office in Melbourne and completed in May, 2012, each floor has its own unique planting make up, specifically designed to maximize varying angles and lighting. When the original design was quoted and planned by the redesign committee, the installation of the rails to hold the greenwall was built for 400 m2. To date 240 m2 have been installed.
Regarding the greenwalls Mark Paul says, “They form a continuous green spine down the core of the building. A green lung and wild place to traverse while using the stairs between the floors.” The Greenwall Company builds its walls from 94 percent of recyclable materials that would otherwise be destined for landfill, taking the benefits of their greenwalls beyond just their aesthetic appeal.
Although the Origin Energy Greenwall Project spans over 22 stories, greenwalls are not found on the delivery and service level nor the Entry /Cafe level above. There are also two floors that are completely plant rooms/air conditioning blackwater/greywater plants and power generation areas, etc.; these floors are not tenanted and do not have greenwalls.
To date The Greenwall Company has constructed 1000s of m2 of greenwalls in Australia and overseas. Utilizing non-biodegradable inorganic media, their greenwalls are grown with epiphytic and lithophytic plants which provide some of the country’s endangered species with a home in order to preserve their existence. Over the past 20 years Mark has tested, improved, re-designed, and mastered his greenwalls to ensure they will last the lifetime of the building on which they are installed, minimising utility use and new materials, to give much more with much less.
As well as providing an instant, textural green solution to architectural facades, additional benefits of a greenwall include thermal insulation, improved air quality, reduced noise and increased acoustics. The company has over 30 different greenwall applications currently available, providing varying facade loadings, effects, and cost benefits.
“My goal is to reclaim the built environment, preserving biodiversity, recycling landfill waste and water waste resulting in much more than the sum of its original components. The Origin project takes us one step closer to achieving this goal,” says Mark. This Origin Energy greenwall only requires maintenance averaging 1.5% of the install costs.