Innovative Australian technologies have been employed to retrofit a 25-year-old North Sydney commercial office building to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 80 per cent.
The $5 million energy efficiency upgrade included the Australian superannuation fund Local Government Super (LGS) being awarded $2.1 million in grant funding the Australian Government’s Green Building Fund to support the retrofit of 76 Berry Street North Sydney.
LGS installed Victorian designed Bennett Clayton engine technology to drive a state of the art, low environmental impact tri-generation system for combined heating, cooling and power generation.
The building uses South Australia’s Shaw Method of Air-Conditioning technology, which recently won the Australian Clean Technology Ideas Competition, and will be competing in the Cleantech Open Global Ideas Competition in the United States.
These initiatives are complemented by innovative NSW designed “E1” lighting technology which reduces energy whilst improving tenant comfort. E1 lighting provides a better spread of light thus requiring fewer fittings to achieve a well lit space with no glare.
“This is a great example of how the greenhouse gas performance of older buildings can be turned around by using innovative technologies,” Innovation Minister Senator Kim Carr said after the official launch of the building project.
“LGS expects the building to achieve a market leading six star base building energy rating (without the use of green power) under the National Australian Building Energy Rating System — a first for a property of this age.
“It also demonstrates that world’s best practice can be achieved cost-effectively in a fully tenanted building using Australian technologies, which LGS confirmed were the leading sustainable technologies in cost, quality and environmental delivery — great news for Australia.”
