Glass buildings 'can be worst enemy'. Glasshouses may be good for a garden city, but they are not good for people, an energy efficiency group says.
Energy Management Association of New Zealand chief executive Ewan Gebbie said the increase in "floor-to-ceiling" glass buildings in Christchurch represented a failure to heed basic energy-efficiency advice.
An artists impression of the new OLT $100 million glass- wrapped complex replacing the Triangle Centre in Christchurch's City Mall.
The rebuild was an unprecedented opportunity for a "trailblazing" effort to convert to buildings that were cheaper to run and better to work in, he said. However, many of the commercial buildings going up had missed an opportunity to create a more sustainable building stock.
