A Nike warehouse in Melbourne’s Altona North suburb has become the first facility in Australia to receive a ‘whole-of-building’ carbon-neutral certification from the National Carbon Offset Standard.

The certification is the latest recognition for the site, which has also received a Green Star Performance rating and was named the ‘Best Industrial Project’ at the National Energy Efficiency Awards in 2017.

The 18,000sqm warehouse, which is owned by the Stockland property group and was custom-built for Nike by Toll, was designed with environmental efficiency in mind.

Some of the site’s unique features include translucent roof sheeting to maximise daylight so warehouse lighting can be switched off when ambient light is sufficient, roof insulation to assist with temperature control and an optimised conveyor system, which was rewired and reprogrammed to operate in relation to product volumes, eliminating unnecessary movement.

The retrofitting of 1300 light fixtures with high-efficiency LEDs also helped the site to halve its total electricity consumption, exceeding the greenhouse reductions required by NCOS.

Toll and Nike offset the remaining greenhouse emissions generated by the building by investing in forest conservation projects in Tasmania as well as in an energy recovery waste water treatment plant in Thailand. These projects protect local biodiversity and native species support jobs in local communities and reduce greenhouse gas emissions, according to a statement from the companies.

Nike’s operations director Marie Varrasso said the success of the facility reflects its commitment to reducing its carbon footprint whilst delivering efficient solutions and savings which can be passed on to its customers directly.

“Through this collaboration, continuous improvements have been introduced into the supply chain, which ultimately benefits Nike’s footwear, apparel and equipment customers. It’s a unique relationship, with innovation at the heart of everything we do,” she said.

Stockland’s general manager of logistics and business parks Tony D’Addona said the project has has been a worthwhile education process for the property group’s warehousing and logistics business and helped to improve its management approach to sustainability.