project profile iucn hq
As the new headquarters building of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) nears completion in Gland, Switzerland, criticisms that the building is perhaps not the most visually attractive edifice have started to rumble. However, a deeper understanding of IUCN’s ethos and its desire to champion green construction inevitably leads one to conclude that it’s not necessarily high specification finishes and aesthetic flourishes that make a building beautiful.
What price beauty? F
or almost 60 years, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has been facilitating initiatives to conserve the integrity and diversity of nature. Founded in
1948, its more than 1,000 member-strong Union has grown in size, scope and complexity. As a result of this growth, IUCN has
reached capacity in its existing headquarters creating the need for a new, flagship Conservation Centre to serve not only as a place of work for the Union’s global Secretariat team, but also to
provide a hub for global conservation collaboration.
The opportunity to create its new
The opportunity to create its new building from scratch presented IUCN’s senior management with the ideal forum to showcase state-of- the-art eco- construction and prove to the international business community that sustainable construction could also be affordable construction.
building from scratch also presented IUCN’s senior management with the ideal forum to showcase state-of-the-art eco- construction and prove to the international business community that sustainable construction could also be affordable construction. It seems, however, that the cost of not
following IUCN’s lead could be even higher. According to a recent United Nations Environment Programme report, 30-40% of all primary energy is used in
the construction of new buildings and they account for a significant amount of gas emissions - up to 40% of all global emissions, according to a recent study. Over the next 25 years, emissions from construction are expected to increase faster than in any other sector. The IUCN team set its sights on building
a new Conservation Centre that was not only fit for purpose, but that would also throw down the gauntlet to the sceptics who claim that environmental responsibility inevitably comes at inflated cost. After reviewing the spectrum of
international, sustainable construction standards, IUCN’s project team decided to use the Swiss Minergie-P Standard for low energy consumption, the Minergie- Eco standard for Green Construction and Design and the LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) point- based rating system. The latter – which includes standards for Site Selection, Water Efficiency, Energy & Atmosphere, Materials & Resources, Indoor Environmental Quality and Innovation and Design Process – set the format for IUCN’s design specifications. IUCN’s objective is to achieve LEED
Platinum certification, the highest level possible. To date, there are no LEED Platinum office buildings in Switzerland. There are only 121 Platinum buildings worldwide with just eight outside the United States, so this is a significant target for IUCN to achieve within a very tight budget.
18 l Property Management Select l july/august 2010 l
www.pm-select.co.uk
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