Energy hero Arup wins national sustainability award

15 November 2011

 

Consulting firm, Arup, is the first Brisbane business to win the National Signatory of the Year award for improving office energy efficiency as part of the national CitySwitch Green Office Program.

Brisbane City Council’s Councillor Peter Matic presented Arup representatives Martin England (Principal and Acting Office Manager) and Bruce Tanner (Principal), with the CitySwitch National Signatory of the Year Award at their Fortitude Valley tenancy.  The CitySwitch Awards acknowledge leading Signatories from each state who have demonstrated an exemplary commitment to reducing greenhouse gas emissions and a high level of environmental leadership and action.

The consultancy which delivers engineering, design and planning advisory services achieved a 4 star NABERS Energy tenancy rating.  This was achieved through equipment upgrades, lighting retrofits, embodiment of energy efficiency into policy, and the implementation of innovative behaviour change programs.

One of Arup’s education programs was their “Biggest Energy Loser” competition, where office floors competed with each other to reduce energy consumption.  An active environmental volunteer team have also coordinated various initiatives within the office including the roll-out of a ‘be an energy hero’ poster campaign.

 
Their Arup real-time data visualisation system allows staff members to directly see their energy, water, paper, and flight consumption trends, ensuring a correlation between individual actions and overall outcomes. The system also displays public transport information, including airport trains, and the number of computers turned off overnight.

National judges of the CitySwitch Awards, Ed Palmisano of the Property Council of Australia, Suzie Barnett of Green Building council of Australia and Esther Bailey of CitySwitch, said “In addition to walking the talk, Arup has really stood out this year for market innovation.  Leveraging existing technology to generate real time data is no easy task.  We commend Arup for looking into the future and creating practical solutions for making the invisible visible”.

On being awarded the CitySwitch Signatory of the Year, Martin England, Principal and Acting Office Manager, commented: “Arup is very proud to be involved in CitySwitch as we strive to minimise our environmental footprint. We are delighted to have our efforts recognised through this great program.

 

“To be the first Brisbane signatory to have won the national title is an achievement we are exceptionally proud of. This outcome is a reflection of all our staff and their commitment to understanding and reducing their day-to-day energy consumption in the office. It is also a testament to our sustainability and buildings specialists who made a significant contribution towards achieving our NABERS Energy tenancy rating.”

 

 

Read more about the collective achievements of the program this year and the CitySwitch award winners in each state >

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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City of Ryde joins CitySwitch

30 August 2011

 

The City of Ryde has joined Australia’s leading energy efficiency program for offices to help local businesses cut their energy bills.

 

The national CitySwitch program, administered by the City of Sydney, now covers 322 tenancies around the country, and more than 1.6 million square metres of office space.

 

Lord Mayor Clover Moore MP said rising electricity prices and the prospect of carbon pricing are encouraging businesses to join the program. “More than half the energy used in our capital city CBDs comes from office equipment, lighting and computers – that means there’s huge potential for saving energy and reducing power bills,” the Lord Mayor said.

 

CitySwitch began in 2006, as a partnership between the City of Sydney, North Sydney and Parramatta, and expanded nationally in June 2008.

 

Ryde joins Sydney, North Sydney, Parramatta, Willoughby, Brisbane, Adelaide, Melbourne, Perth, Port Phillip, the ACT Government, the NSW Office of Environment and Heritage, and Sustainability Victoria, in the CitySwitch program.

 

“CitySwitch offers businesses a double benefit of lower energy bills and reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, which lower their exposure to the proposed carbon price,” said City of Ryde Mayor Artin Etmekdjian.

 

The program uses NABERS Energy, an industry recognised tool, to help tenants across Australia benchmark their greenhouse performance. Ratings go from one to five stars, with five stars representing an exceptionally high level of energy efficiency.

 

Organisations that become CitySwitch signatories commit to achieving an accredited four stars or higher NABERS Energy rating.

 

With the average tenancy performing at 2.5 stars, a four star commitment means the tenant is at least 20 per cent more efficient than the general tenant market.

 

If all of Australia’s commercial office tenants were to achieve a NABERS Energy tenancy rating of four stars or higher, 960,000 tonnes of CO2 could be saved each year, the equivalent of taking 200,000 cars off the road. 

 

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NABERS environmental ratings for buildings extending to six stars

18 AUGUST 2011

The NABERS rating scale, which CitySwitch Signatories use to rate and improve performance, has been extended to 6 stars.

The new 6-star rating was today officially launched by Office of Environment and Heritage Chief Executive Lisa Corbyn at an industry forum at Darling Park Tower in Sussex Street, Sydney. Ms Corbyn said the extra star acknowledged that the Australian property industry is reaching a standard previously considered beyond world’s best practice.

“In the 10 years since the NSW Government introduced the first environmental performance rating for offices, Australian commercial buildings have become so much more efficient the time has come to introduce a sixth star,” Ms Corbyn said.

“This is a move that was called for by top performers in the commercial property industry who are already moving beyond NABERS five-star excellence towards a market-leading six star goal," she said. “It reflects an ongoing improvement in the environmental performance of Australian buildings over the past 10 years, underpinned by the robustness of the NABERS tool as a performance measure.”

The NABERS website explains that the 6th star is being added to make sure the scheme continues to offer an aspirational target and to drive innovation and environmental improvement. The new scale applies to both whole tenancy and whole building ratings.Sixty per cent of Australian office space has been rated with NABERS Energy, 68 per cent in NSW.

Around 5 per cent of rated buildings are currently achieving a 5 star rating, set as an aspirational target in 2000. A 6-star rating will be awarded for ‘Market Leading’ performance, and will represent a 50 per cent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions or water use from 5 stars. At the launch, the 17 certificates for buildings currently rated at 5 stars that are performing at a 5.5 or 6 star level were issued new certificates reflecting their new rating. 

Tenancies which have already been awarded 6 stars for NABERS Energy rating include CitySwitch Signatories Allens Arthur Robinson, Big Switch Projects, Cundall QLD, Energetics NSW & QLD, Ecovantage Melbourne, Parramatta City Council BUilding, Synergy in WA for their whole building. Norman Disney Young, Green Building Council of Australia and Worley Parsons received NABERS Energy 5.5. star ratings.

To see the new rating scale, and download fact sheets, visit the NABERS news or the Rated buildings list. 
 

Stockland wins inaugural national award for office energy efficiency

16 DECEMBER 2010

Property Developer, Stockland, which reduced carbon emissions by 800 tonnes a year and saved $90,000 in energy bills, has won the first ever national award for improving office energy efficiency as part of a national partnership programme led by the City of Sydney Council.

Monica Barone, CEO of the City of Sydney, presented Siobhan Toohill, Stockland’s General Manager for Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability, with the inaugural CitySwitch signatory of the year award this morning at its Sydney office in Castlereagh Street.

CitySwitch assists companies leasing office space to improve their energy efficiency. The programme is run in partnership between the cities of Sydney, North Sydney, Parramatta, Willoughby, Brisbane, Adelaide, Melbourne, Perth, Port Phillip, the ACT Government, the NSW Department of Environment, Climate Change & Water and Sustainability Victoria.

The judges said that Stockland is undoubtedly a green market leader who demonstrated innovation, a dedicated commitment to the pursuit of office energy efficiency, and an ability to find creative solutions.

“Energy efficiency is becoming a key competitive driver in the commercial office market as electricity prices continue to rise and the government prepares to put a price on carbon pollution,” said Ms Barone.

“CitySwitch is now Australia’s leading energy efficiency program, representing 1.46 million square metres of office space and over 305 tenancies – a 72 per cent increase on last year and approximately 6.5 per cent of the total office space in Australia”.

Stockland achieved a top 5 star NABERS Energy tenancy rating for their Sydney head office through  inititatives such as sub-metering to monitor energy use, motion sensors for lighting, energy efficient appliances, replacement of all energy-intensive CRT monitors with flat screen LCDs, timed air-conditioning switches in all meeting rooms and extensive staff engagement.
 
The rating was achieved without the use of GreenPower, where customers pay a premium for electricity produced from renewable sources such as wind. The NABERS rating, from 1 to 5, is an industry recognised tool to help tenants benchmark their greenhouse gas reduction performance.

“Stockland has placed a strong emphasis on both leading building management practices as well as trialing emerging technology towards reducing their carbon emissions by 800 tonnes and saving over $90,000 on energy bills during 2010”, said MsToohill.

Energetics in Melbourne and Cameron Chisholm Nicol in Perth were both runners-up of the 2010 CitySwitch Signatory of the Year award, having achieved considerable savings through innovative energy efficiency initiatives and extensive staff engagement.

The CitySwitch program, which began in 2006 in Sydney and was launched nationally in June 2008, assists organisations to improve the energy efficiency of their offices. Organisations that become CitySwitch Signatories commit to achieving an accredited 4 stars or higher NABERS Energy rating for their tenancy or whole building. The current Australian market average 2.5 stars.

An estimated 60 per cent of total energy demand in the central business districts of Australia’s capital cities is attributed to stationary energy use including office equipment, lighting and computers, with tenants accounting for almost half the electricity consumed.

If all of Australia’s commercial office tenants were to achieve a NABERS Energy tenancy rating of 4 stars or higher, a saving of 960,000 tonnes of CO2 could be made each year, which is the equivalent of taking 200,000 cars off the road.

The national CitySwitch Signatory of the Year was selected from the state winners as judged by representatives from the Green Building Council of Australia, the Property Council of Australia and CitySwitch.

This year’s CitySwitch National Awards acknowledged leading Signatories from each state who have demonstrated an exemplary commitment to reducing greenhouse gas emissions and a high level of environmental leadership and action.

The CitySwitch state award winners are as follows:
New South Wales
o Jones Lang LaSalle - CitySwitch Signatory of the Year under 2000 sqm
o Stockland - CitySwitch Signatory of the Year over 2000 sqm 

Australian Capital Territory
o Exergy - CitySwitch Signatory of the Year under 2000 sqm

Queensland
o Queensland Nurses' Union - CitySwitch Signatory of the Year under 2000 sqm 
o Parsons Brinckerhoff - CitySwitch Signatory of the Year over 2000 sqm

South Australia
o Zero Waste SA - CitySwitch Signatory of the Year under 2000 sqm
o Department for Families and Communities - CitySwitch Signatory of the Year over 2000 sqm 

Victoria
o Energetics - CitySwitch Signatory of the Year under 2000 sqm
o EPA Victoria - CitySwitch Signatory of the Year over 2000 sqm

Western Australia
o Cameron Chisholm Nicol - CitySwitch Signatory of the Year under 2000 sqm
o Wood & Grieve Engineers - CitySwitch Signatory of the Year over 2000 sqm

Read more about each of the CitySwitch winner achievements by clicking on the relevant right-hand-side state news pages, or download the 2010 CitySwitch National Progress Report here >