IAG’s Green House:Born Out of Organizational Vision and

Celebrated by Its Occupants

B Y T I M G R I F F I T H S a n d T I M H O O S O n

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Real eSTaTeManaGeMenT

five different business streams would be consolidated into a single team; a single organization in a single build-ing. Consequently, the workplace team was able to identify not only the scale of a preferred outcome but also the locational preference, chosen in part for its neighborhood qualities and proxim-ity to the Central Transport Terminus. The best building form and structure to enhance overall effectiveness, as well as meet desired fiscal, environmental and social outcomes, was also identified.

a new level of collaboration, Sharing and Partnered SolutionsOne of the aims of this project was to develop a new paradigm of collective effort, shared knowledge and partnered solutions. This resulted in a wide range of innovative technologies and processes being implemented – including numer-ous New Zealand firsts.

From the outset, project architects worked intimately with IAG utilizing a strategic framework that was adapted from CABE in the U.K. Project gover-

Its influence across the CRE profession and business community has delivered real innovation via the extensive opti-mization and monitoring not previously seen within the regional market.

Most great projects are founded on a strong vision, and this project was no exception. Simply stated, it was: •Toenhancehumancapacityby

displaying leadership and demonstrating intelligent and bold decisions and sup-porting our people to excel•Todeliversustainableperformance

by establishing a procurement frame-work that encouraged the exploration and assessment of leading thinking•Toseekouteconomicopportunityby

recording the outcomes and being gener-ous in sharing these for the wider benefit of New Zealand’s economic performance.

auckland - Home of the Green HouseThe project started six months before the Auckland site was identified and ultimately secured for IAG. A series of visioning workshops determined that

New Zealand is well known internation-ally for its leadership stance on the envi-ronment and sustain-

ability. The country is very proud of its global voice on green issues. Being a relatively small nation, New Zealand also boxes well above its weight in creativity, technology and workplace standards. So the bar has been set very high when it comes to architectural solutions that genuinely stand out.

However, the new offices for New Zealand’s oldest and largest insurance company, IAG, have done just that. Colloquially dubbed the Green House, the project has become a recognized local and regional exemplar for its exploration and realization of the delivery of workplace performance outcomes, including environ-mental initiatives, human performance solutions and shared processes.

There is strong evidence that the Green House project has led a paradigm shift in the implementation of local commercial real estate (CRE) projects.

nance was maintained at the highest executive level to promote the most supportive organizational and societal outcomes. For example, “not doing harm” and “being green” were already deeply embedded emotional values, so the highly collaborative relationship between IAG and Jasmax ensured that these values were clearly imbued in the design process and outcomes.

As a result of this close relationship, it became clear that getting a deep under-standing of employee values and ideas would be critical – project concepts had to be relevant to staff members. Jasmax learned, for instance, that more than 60 percent of employees were under 40 years old, and less than 20 percent of employ-ees regularly rubbed shoulders with each other. Early insights like this were vital in allowing Jasmax to shape the final proj-ect design. This exploration of organiza-tional and employee values and attitudes enabled a building design that supported key drivers of employee engagement and performance – factors such as having a sense of belonging, a sense of place and a sense of purpose all contribute strongly to employee motivation and achievement.

This substantive exploration into how the physical workplace could support human values and how employees could make sense of the physical environment was critical to the final result. It helped deliver real clarity to how the physical structures and materials of the workplace could support behavioral expectations. This clarity was essential given that 700+ employees from 18 floors spread over five sites were coming together in a new, single location on only four floors.

The design was conceptualized as an organization as a living entity. This pow-erful metaphor led to the building being referred to as the Green House – support-ing enhanced wellness and flourishing business performance. This became cen-tral to the articulation of the design and organizational evolution and culminated in the rewriting of all individual employ-ment contracts to support the shift to a new business paradigm. Breakthrough Ideas Resulting from a Common PhilosophyJasmax established itself as the thread between the developer and tenant, facili-

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all of the interior structure was sustainably sourced local timber framing rather than normal steel, as this reduced Ghe, capturing carbon and significantly reducing energy in production.

services delivery, individually controlled for increased individual performance.

The sustainable technologies encap-sulated within the building were introduced to align with the strong sustainable corporate values that were embedded in the organization, including:•Aventilatedtriple-skin-glazedfaçade

with NYSAN interstitial sun tracking blind system (which was a New Zealand first) is used.•Astabilizedearthbasementwall

system recycled excavated material to reduce waste removal – also a New Zealand first.•AsNewZealandhasa70percent

renewable electricity generation, the use of an imported electric luffer crane reduced greenhouse emissions.•Alivegreenroofterrace(aNew

Zealand first in the CBD) collects 80 percent of the rain water for use in the

tating a partnership of great strength, belief and common aspiration. This led to the establishment of a procurement philosophy that encouraged the continual exploration of the building to ensure the most effective full life and also to maxi-mize all business performance opportuni-ties. A plethora of new ideas emerged as a result of that philosophy, including:•Lilypadsharedmeetingfloorsare

where internal meeting amenities are shared across the business streams, and 75 percent of them can be reached within one flight of the atrium stairs.•Teamfrontroomsandcommunity

neighborhoods support collective effort.•Thereisnurturingofserendipitous

business practices and the reduction of territorial disruption.

These concepts were combined with a flight to flexibility and personal control illustrated by the totally in-floor air and

IAG’s Green House: Born out of orGAnIzAtIonAl VIsIon And CeleBrAted By Its oCCupAnts

2012 tHe leAder 36 m A r C H / A p r I l

bathrooms and for plant irrigation.•Exposedinternalstructureenhanc-

ingtemperaturestabilizationandnight-purgingoptionsareavailable.•Thein-floordisplacementairdis-

tributionprovidesa50percentincreaseinfreshairvolumeandanairsupplysettemperatureofonly18°C(insteadofthenormal8–12°C).•Chillersenabledwithheatrecovery,

on the right is the board room; transparent and located at the physical center of the organization.

IAG’s “green house” features a ventilated triple-skin-glazed façade with nysAn interstitial sun tracking blind system.

loadsharingandthedistributionsystemare30percentofthesizeofequivalentbuildings.•Rainwaterharvestingtanksand

low-flowwatersystemsareinuse.•Regeneratingelevatorsflowelec-

tricitybackintothebuildinggridunderbreakingloads.•Bicycleparksareprovidedformore

than10percentofemployees.

•Alloftheinteriorstructurewassustainablysourcedlocaltimberframingratherthannormalsteel,asthisreducedGHE,capturingcarbonandsignificantlyreducingenergyinproduction.•Morethan200plantsarefullyinte-

gratedintothedesign,mostactuallygrow-ingoutofthefloorcavityoxygenatingtheairandmoderatingCO2,producinghigherlevelsofattentivenessandconcentration.Thereisatremendousamountof

prideovertheenvironmentaloutcomesachievedbytheGreenHouse,mostnoticeably:•NewZealand’sfirstcontractedNew

ZealandGreenBuildingCouncilFiveGreenStar-ratedbuilding•NewZealand’sfirstNZGBCFive

GreenStarFitoutDesignratingwithsignificantlyenhancedindoorenviron-mentquality•A75percentreductioninpeak

waterconsumption•A45percentdecreaseinenergyper

occupantbelowthepreviousCREindus-tryleadershipexamples.

Human performance enhancedWhilethebuilding’senvironmentaloutcomeshavereallysetnewstan-dards,therehavebeensimilarachieve-mentsinregardtopeople,capacityandbusinessperformance.Jasmax’sOccupantSatisfactionandPerformanceSurveydemonstratedclearenhance-mentofhumancapacityasanout-come.Someoftheperformancemetricsrecordedinclude:•Buildingperformanceratingsachiev-

ingbetween70–80percentinallcatego-rieswereachieved.•84percentofrespondentsfeltthey

werewellinformedaboutthebuilding,itsfacilitiesandnewworkingbehavior.•Therewasa21percentincreasein

thebeliefthatthisworkplacesupportedtheirhealthandwellbeing.•A5.6percentincreaseinperceived

productivitywasachieved.TheJasmaxmeasuresarealsomirrored

inindependentreviewsbyworkplacebehaviorandorganizationculturespecial-istsTowersWatson,HumanSynergisticsandtheJRABestWorkplacesSurvey.Toolsusedbytheseworkplaceexperts

IAG’s Green House: Born out of orGAnIzAtIonAl VIsIon And CeleBrAted By Its oCCupAnts

2012 tHe leAder 37 m A r C H / A p r I l

About the Authors

Tim Griffith is National Corporate Services Manager for IAG, and he man-ages the property portfolio of 40 buildings in New Zealand, as well as the procure-ment and administration functions.

For more information on this topic, please visit CoreNet Global’s Knowledge Center Online.

Cisco’s Bangalore Campus: An Alternative Workplace Designed to Retain and Attract Talent http://www2.corenetglobal.org/dotCMS/kcoAsset?assetInode=12561918

One Size Doesn’t Fit All Portfolios: A Bank’s Sustainability Rating System http://www2.corenetglobal.org/dotCMS/kcoAsset?assetInode=12562212

Tim Hooson is Principal and Design Director at Jasmax, which currently has projects in Australia, the Pacific, India and New Zealand.

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indicate enhanced employee engage-ment as well as increases in humanistic traits and empowered behaviors, as well as greater satisfaction in the collective achievement of goals.

Finally, the Green House received many accolades from the local industry, confirming its status as a game changer on the New Zealand property scene:•ThePropertyCouncilofNew

Zealand “Supreme Building of the Year” Award 2010•TheDesignersInstituteofNew

Zealand Gold Award for Interior Architecture •ThreeNewZealandInstituteof

Architects National Awards (a first ever)•APropertyCouncilofNewZealand

Excellence Award for Sustainable Performance 2011, confirming its position as the most energy efficient building in class in New Zealand.