Building A Great Fit For Sustainability

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17th October 2009, 12:20am - Views: 975





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Media Release


        15 October, 2009

                                                                                                                                               


BUILDING A GREAT FIT FOR SUSTAINABILITY



Melbourne City Council‘s Finance and Governance Committee has committed to investing more than $2.5

million in retrofitting 13 council buildings that will see reductions in carbon emissions and deliver significant

water and energy savings for Council.


Under an agreement between

Council and energy

services company Honeywell Building Solutions, the

Energy Performance Contract

is expected to generate annual energy savings of around $190,000,

greenhouse gas (GHG) reductions of 1560 tonnes (equivalent to the emissions of 348 cars) and savings in

water consumption of 11,791 kilolitres (equal to the water used to fill 52 Olympic swimming pools).


Chair of the Eco-City Committee,

Cr Cathy Oke said the contract arrangement, with Honeywell Building

Solutions, guaranteed sustainability savings would be made.


“Honeywell has provided guarantees that emissions and water savings will be made. The savings made to

our energy and water bills will be redirected back to our cash reserves, which is where the financial support

for this project has come,” Cr Oke said.


Buildings selected for retrofitting under the Energy Performance Contract are:



Melbourne Town Hall;


Commonwealth Bank Building;  


North Melbourne Town Library; 


City Library;


City Square Carpark; 


Elgin Street Carpark; 


Melbourne City Baths ;


Kensington Community Recreation Centre;


Carlton Baths Community Centre;


North Melbourne Baths; 


North Melbourne Town Hall; 


Queen Victoria Market; and 


Campbell Arcade. 


“The project outlines an ambitious timeline of 18 months and it is expected that savings made under the

program will repay the investment made by Council within 15 years. The total cost of the program will be

$2,691,447,” Cr Oke said.


There are a range of proposals for the individual Council buildings including lighting retrofits, low flow

plumbing fixtures, improvement in gas, water and electricity metering through specialised computer

systems and water harvesting.


“The project is consistent with Council’s emerging 1200 Buildings program – and both demonstrate our

leadership in sustainability, delivering long-term benefits for our city,” Cr Oke said.

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The 1200 Buildings program aims

to work in partnership with businesses to retrofit 1200 existing

commercial buildings by 2020. 


“Retrofitting existing buildings makes sound financial sense -

retrofitting reduces energy bills to building

owners and tenants and enhances their reputation as green champions of the city. Council is promoting

this approach to reducing carbon footprints to the city's commercial sector through our 1200 building

project," Cr Oke said. 


The proposal will go to full Council on 27 October.




-

ENDS –



For further media information please contact:


Phil Buckley, Media Adviser, City of Melbourne

Ph: (03) 9658 8426 / 0409 425 873


Email: philbuc@melbourne.vic.gov.au







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