Grocon's Pixel, currently the most sustainable building in the country as rated by the Green Building Council of Australia, has collected ten awards in the past 12 months in Victorian, Australian and international competitions.

Starting with the Banksia Award for Built Environment/Harmonious Landscapes in late 2010, Grocon went on to win the Forest Stewardship Council Award for Developer of the Year, with Pixel using only FSC products and becoming the first project outside Europe to be 100% certified by the FSC.

In 2011, Pixel has won the Best Sustainable Building Award at the Master Builders Association (Victoria) Awards, the Australian Business Awards Best Eco-Product category for Pixelcrete and a Merit Award at the Green Building Awards for the Asia Pacific.

At the Premier's Sustainability Awards in Victoria, it received two prizes – the Built Environment Award and the Products or Services Award for Pixelcrete, as well as winning a Melbourne Award from the Melbourne City Council for Grocon’s Contribution to Sustainability.

Pixel has won the Award for Sustainable Architecture at the Victorian Architecture Awards and also the Australian Property Industry's President's Award.

Grocon CEO Daniel Grollo said the whole company was proud of what had been achieved with Pixel. “I think we’ve set a new benchmark in terms of sustainability and we’ve had plenty of high profile visitors to Pixel, including US Secretary of State Hilary Clinton and Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard,” he said.

“We’ve also participated in Melbourne Open House for the past two years, taking thousands of members of the public through the building.

“The systems we’ve used at Pixel to make it carbon neutral are now being adopted by various companies all over the country. We need to lead the way in sustainability to be ready for the changes coming through with the introduction of a carbon tax.”

Pixel has also been a finalist in the BRW Australian Private Business Awards, the United Nations Association of Australia awards.

As a result of its Victorian success, Pixel is now in the running for the National Master Builder's and Institute of Architects awards and is a candidate in the Engineering Excellence awards, the Australian Institute of Refrigeration, Airconditioning and Heating (AIRAH) awards and the Building Products News Sustainability Awards.

Grocon

Grocon

Grocon is a privately owned Australian construction, development and funds management company, started by Luigi Grollo in Melbourne in the 1950s. The current CEO is his grandson, Daniel Grollo, and the company has expanded during the past 50 years to Sydney and Brisbane, and also has an office in Dubai in the Middle East. It has built many iconic structures throughout Australia, such as the 300 metre tall Eureka Tower in Melbourne. Grocon has recently completed a carbon neutral building called Pixel, believed to be the first of its kind in the world. It is also constructing facilities for the chronically homeless in Australia's eastern states, in partnership with the not for profit sector, based on the Common Ground model which originated in New York.

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