Palmerston North, New Zealand
As one of New Zealand’s leading civil construction and road building companies, Higgins designed its new head office, workshop and training facility in Palmerston North to reflect its commitment to sustainable building practices. The development includes open plan offices, private offices, meeting and training rooms, workshops and storage areas, creating a practical workplace that supports operations across much of the North Island.
From the outset, the project targeted a Green Star Design and As Built 4-Star rating. Achieving this certification required detailed technical documentation to demonstrate compliance with the relevant Green Star credits. The mechanical contractor engaged Dewick & Associates to prepare the technical compliance documentation for the project’s mechanical services credits.
Our role was to produce accurate, clearly structured Green Star submission documents that provided the technical evidence needed to support the project’s 4-Star certification target.
By Alexandra Vuksa
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The Mechanical Contractor Air Dynamics was responsible for the mechanical services installation across a new commercial building targeting Green Star 4-Star Design and As Built certification — a standard that required the mechanical scope to be designed, installed and documented in line with the relevant credit criteria. Green Star certification is administered by the New Zealand Green Building Council and requires third-party submission of technical evidence for each credit being claimed, including documentation of the mechanical systems that contribute to the building’s energy and indoor environment quality performance. The contractor needed a documentation partner who understood the Green Star credit methodology and could prepare the submission documents to the standard the NZGBC required.
Green Star submissions in New Zealand require far more than standard project documentation. To achieve credits under the New Zealand Green Building Council (NZGBC) Green Star Design & As Built framework, each submission must provide clear, evidence-based documentation demonstrating how the installed mechanical systems satisfy the specific compliance requirements of each targeted credit. Rather than simply describing the installed services, the documentation must reference technical specifications, performance data and commissioning evidence in a format that aligns with NZGBC assessment criteria.
Producing compliant submissions required both a detailed understanding of the Green Star methodology and a thorough knowledge of the installed mechanical systems, ensuring the assessor could verify compliance without unnecessary clarification requests.
Dewick & Associates’ skilled and knowledgeable team worked closely with the Mechanical Contractor to prepare the technical compliance documentation required to achieve a range of Green Star mechanical services credits. This included documentation supporting commissioning planning and building tuning (MAN 2), comprehensive Operation and Maintenance Manuals (MAN 4) covering:-
Each submission was developed in accordance with NZGBC Green Star requirements, presenting clear, evidence-based technical information that demonstrated compliance with the relevant credit criteria and supported an efficient assessment process.
Dewick & Associates delivered Green Star submission documentation that supported the Higgins Concrete Head Office in Palmerston North in pursuing its 4-Star Green Star Design & As Built certification. The mechanical credit submissions provided the NZGBC assessor with clear, technically robust evidence demonstrating compliance with the relevant Green Star requirements and the contribution of the building’s mechanical systems to the overall sustainability outcomes.
The documentation enabled the Mechanical Contractor to efficiently fulfil its Green Star compliance obligations while supporting a smooth assessment process. More broadly, the completed project reinforces Higgins’ commitment to sustainable construction, with an independently assessed Green Star rating providing recognised verification of the building’s environmental performance and compliance with New Zealand’s leading green building framework.
The content in this case study has been informed by project documentation and client communication provided to Dewick & Associates during and following the completion of the project. Where external sources have contributed to our understanding of relevant standards or industry practice, these are listed below.
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Note: Some content in this case study draws on a combination of sources rather than direct quotation. Where this is the case, contributing sources are acknowledged above rather than cited inline.
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