As AE Smith's primary sustainability engineer and Accredited NABERS Assessor, David Odd has the responsibility of helping customers reduce their energy costs and apply for government grants and funding opportunities.
Odd's most recent success story is 89 York Street, Sydney, where he worked closely with AE Smith's NSW Team and AE Smith Building Technologies, to implement a solution that has reduced the building’s energy use by 40%, averaged over the first nine months.
The result is double the 20% guarantee AE Smith promised the client, Fife Capital, and is expected to recoup the total cost of the project in energy savings in just over two years.
AE Smith’s lighting retrofit also saw Fife Capital qualify for the NSW Government Energy Savings Scheme (ESS), an initiative which sees building owners receive an upfront cash rebate equivalent of up to 10 years of carbon emission reductions.
Odd says finding the right sustainable solutions for 89 York Street Sydney began with listening to the client's needs.
"The brief was to save energy in order to reduce the outgoing costs for tenants. Some clients have concerns that a sustainable approach will compromise comfort, or that they'll outlay a lot of money and not see the return. We always take the time to explain our approach and get all stakeholders onboard at the outset."
At the commencement of the 89 York Street project an Energy Opportunity Study was conducted. This identified all the areas in the building where energy wastage was occurring.
An Environmental Sustainability Plan (ESP) was then prepared outlining each recommended initiative, detailing the cost and the anticipated energy savings of each initiative.
The building’s air conditioning units had been upgraded in 2009, so many of AE Smith’s recommendations focused on ensuring overall system efficiency.
The current HVAC control system was in need of an upgrade so AE Smith Building Technologies supplied, programmed and commissioned a new Tridium Building Management System.
The Sydney AE Smith team, led by project anager John Michelakis, completed mechanical works such as installing modulating controls. This ensured that the electric duct heaters, cooling tower fans and pumps accurately matched the required load.
Other installation work included a carbon monoxide monitoring system to control car park ventilation and inefficient lighting, such as halogen and T8 fluorescent lights were replaced.
In low traffic areas, such as in toilets, lift lobbies and the car park, PIR motion detectors were installed to turn lights on only when needed.
Finally, AE Smith rebalanced all the air and water systems across the building. In addition to huge energy savings, this improved tenant comfort levels.
Matt Dingwall, investment manager for Fife Capital said of the project, "Project delivery was on time and with minimal tenant disruption. To date the savings have exceeded our expectations."
Odd added, "The savings are even better than you'd expect because the client added another floor to the building, equivalent to an additional 7% tenanted floor space after the original energy audit. So, with more space, using more power, we still managed to deliver double the guaranteed energy savings."
