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Green buildings: issues for New Zealand
If the mission of ‘green’ rating tools is to accelerate the transformation of the global built environment towards
sustainability then a high priority must be placed on the energy consumed by buildings since energy supplies from
various sources are depleting. This paper examines the apparent anomaly that almost all designs of ‘green’ office
developments in New Zealand have high proportions of unshaded glazing. They are sealed, lightweight, airconditioned
buildings that are dependent on an uninterrupted supply of electricity in order to remain habitable. From
an architectural science point of view, these characteristics are not normally associated with sustainability. The paper
will investigate the drivers behind the highly glazed buildings recently realized in New Zealand, including those
components of ‘green’ rating tools that favour this building type
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