December 2, 2019

UOW project wins state’s premier sustainability awards

Desert Rose House takes home two Green Globe Awards

A University of Wollongong (UOW) sustainable building project has been acknowledged above industry heavyweights at the Green Globe Awards on Wednesday, 27 November.

Desert Rose House was selected as the winner of the Built Environment Award and also won the best of the best Regional Sustainability Award across all award categories.

Lead academic on the project and Civil, Mining and Environmental Engineering Head of School Tim McCarthy was proud to accept the award on behalf of his team on Wednesday night.

“Being awarded the Green Globe Award 2019 for Sustainability in the Built Environment recognises how, through the Desert Rose House project, UOW is training the next generation to the highest standards of sustainability,” Professor McCarthy said. 

“Receiving the Regional Sustainability Green Globe award across all categories demonstrates the breadth of Team UOW’s approach to designing and building a net zero energy house with social purpose – catering for our aging population and especially people living with dementia. 

“These awards are a great fillip for UOW as we accept our first enrolments in the Bachelor of Architectural Engineering in 2020.”

The Built Environment Award recognises the most sustainable built environment through design or management.

The Desert Rose House was pitted against Lendlease’s Barangaroo South, which is Australia’s first carbon-neutral precinct, City of Sydney’s Green Square Town Centre which minimises car dependence, emissions and water consumption, Local Government Super which has achieved the nation’s first carbon-neutral property portfolio, and Wollongong City Council which has the oldest building in Australia with a six-star Green Star rating.

The Desert Rose House is the country’s first net-zero energy home designed to meet the needs of ageing and those Australians living with dementia.

Incorporating groundbreaking technical and architectural innovations, it generates more electricity than it uses, minimises water consumption, and allows its occupants to live independently for as long as possible.

More than 200 student volunteers from the University and TAFE NSW participated in the design and construction of Desert Rose House. The house is being rebuilt at the Innovation Campus and will be back in operation in early 2020.

Earlier in November, the Desert Rose House team won two blue ribbons at the Green Gown Awards, an award scheme dedicated to recognising excellence in sustainability within the tertiary education sector in Australasia.

In September, the team won the National Australian Institute of Building Professional Excellence Awards for Residential Construction under $1 million.