Burwood Brickworks shopping centre targets green dream

A MAJOR retail centre planned for Burwood has an ambitious target – to be the greenest in the world when it opens its doors within the next two years.

A concept design of the Burwood Brickworks sustainable shopping centre. Picture: Supplied

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WHITEHORSE could become home to the world’s greenest retail centre, complete with its own urban farm.

Construction work at the vacant Burwood Brickworks site is expected to begin in the coming months, with the property developer hoping to build the world’s first retail centre with a living building accreditation, Frasers Property Australia retail manager Peri Macdonald said.

“We’re aiming for the shopping centre to have a living building certification from the International Living Future Institute, which is based in Seattle,” Mr Macdonald said.

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“They have an advanced accreditation for a sustainable built environment that has never been achieved for a retail centre anywhere in the world, and we’re aiming for our Burwood shopping centre to be the first.”

Work is expected to begin at the site in the coming months. Picture: Lensaloft

One feature being looked at is an urban agricultural farm, where residents and children can grow produce, with organic waste from the shopping centre’s supermarket used as compost.

“Within a 15-minute drive from the site there are 98 schools, and we see this as a massive opportunity to turn the farm into a real educational facility,” Mr Macdonald said.

Frasers Property Australia has had the initial plans for a 10,500sq m shopping centre and about 750 townhouses and apartments approved by the council.

It is still waiting on other building permits to be approved before major construction work can begin.

Initial infrastructure works are expected to start on Middleborough Rd in late June. The shopping centre is expected to be completed at the end of 2018 or start of 2019.

Mr Macdonald said he believed the shopping centre’s efficient airconditioning, heating, water distribution and waste management systems would save on running costs, while the shopping centre would generate its own power – saving more money.

To get the coveted accreditation, Frasers will need to ensure the centre has “net positive energy, in that it will create enough energy to put some back into the grid”.

“This will be done through a significant solar panel array on the roof,” Mr Macdonald said.

“There also has to be net positive water and waste systems in place, and materials used in the construction can’t be any on the ILFI red list.”