1852 retrofit lowres

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retrofit v lume 2 number 2 2 13

australia

Controlling your building’s

lighting and energy

Solar & paint:

The value of

rooftops in retrofitting Print Post: 100009331

Contents Page Foreword

HVAC

2

28

Foreword | The Hon Gary Gray, AO MP, Minister for Resources and Energy

Best Practice

4

12

18

How does Australia’s statutory secured retrofit finance model compare with that of the United States? | Scott Bocskay, CEO, Sustainable Melbourne Fund

30

40 44

Retrofitting for resilience | Romilly Madew, Chief Executive, Green Building Council of Australia

Innovation (not pioneering) in air conditioning | Simon Fox, Head of Projects and Sustainability, NB Verdigris

Lighting

Commercial Building Disclosure: Creating a shift in market opportunities | CitySwitch

Using the sun to cool your building

48

Lighting controls | Bryan Douglas, CEO, Lighting Council Australia Planning and executing a commercial lighting upgrade | Steven Beletich, Beletich Associates Schools of fish inspire a revolution in lighting control | Organic Response

Energy Controls

52

Bring your energy efficiency retrofit to the cloud | Mike Zimmerman, CEO, BuildingIQ

56 Voltage power optimisation | Phillip Lawrence, The University of Sydney Case Study

64

60

International Case Study

Paints and Coatings

22

Reflecting on energy efficiency | Daniel Wurm, National Institute of Painting and Decorating

64

Retrofitting is a way forward for energy efficiency in India

Insulation

70

The editor, publisher, printer and their staff and agents are not responsible for the accuracy or correctness of the text of contributions contained in this publication or for the consequences of any use made of the products, and the information referred to in this publication.

The editor, publisher, printer and their staff and agents expressly disclaim all liability of whatsoever nature for any consequences arising from any errors or omissions contained in this publication whether caused to a purchaser of this publication or otherwise. The views expressed in the articles and other material published herein do not necessarily reflect the views of the editor and publisher or their staff or agents. The responsibility for the accuracy of information is that of the individual contributors and neither the publisher nor editor can accept responsibility for the accuracy of information which is supplied by others. It is impossible for the publisher and editors to ensure that the advertisements and other material herein comply with the Trade Practices Act 1974 (CTH). Readers should make their own enquiries in making any decisions, and where necessary, seek professional advice.

© 2013 Executive Media Pty Ltd. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission is strictly prohibited.

Back to the future: how a jaded 1980s building is back on top of the charts | Norman Disney & Young

Insulation is still the most cost-effective way to save energy | Andrew Arblaster, President, Australian Cellulose Insulation Manufacturers Association

Editor: Gemma Peckham P: 03 9274 4200 E: gemma.peckham@executivemedia.com.au Layout: Alma McHugh Published by:

Retrofit Australia is proudly supported by:

ABN 30 007 224 204 430 William Street, Melbourne VIC 3000 T: 03 9274 4200 Fax: (03) 9329 5295 E: media@executivemedia.com.au W: www.executivemedia.com.au Printed by: Docklands Press Cover image: Sydney, Australia.

retrofit australia • volume 2 number 2 2013 • 1

| Foreword

Foreword

W

elcome to the fourth edition of Retrofit Australia magazine.

In March 2013, I was appointed Commonwealth Minister for Resources and Energy, and I was particularly pleased that responsibility for the Australian Government’s action on energy efficiency moved into my portfolio.

Energy efficiency remains a key part of the federal government’s plan for a clean energy future, and will play a pivotal role in reducing greenhouse gas emissions, cutting energy costs and boosting productivity.

The retrofitting of buildings with energy efficiency in mind has many benefits that make simple economic sense. The government has introduced a suite of initiatives to help industry, business and households realise the benefits of energy efficiency. This includes the establishment of appliance and building standards, regulation for the disclosure of energy efficiency ratings, targeted information programs and the provision of grants.

To assist large industrial energy users, the Energy Efficiency Opportunities (EEO) program helps corporations address the information barriers that hinder the identification and evaluation of potential energy efficiency improvements. Participants across all sectors have identified significant opportunities to reduce their energy use, and, in 2010–11, companies reported savings of over $800 million per year.

In the commercial office marketplace, the government continues to ensure that clear and credible information is available to

2 • retrofit australia • volume 2 number 2 2013

potential buyers and tenants through the Commercial Building Disclosure (CBD) program. Since the CBD program started in 2010, more than 2000 Building Energy Efficiency Certificates (BEECs) have been issued, covering over 10 million square metres of commercial office space.

BEECs provide an energy efficiency assessment of a large office space when it is sold or leased.

This includes not only a National Australian Built Environment Rating System (NABERS) Energy for Offices rating, but also an assessment of the lighting. Lighting can contribute more than a quarter of power use in an office. Most commercial office spaces still have only basic lighting controls; however, installing simple timers or sensors represents a great opportunity for reducing office energy use with a relatively small outlay.

Through the Community Energy Efficiency Program, the government continues to support local governments and not-forprofit organisations to improve the energy efficiency of council- and community-owned buildings. So far, over $100 million has been committed to help 170 grant recipients across Australia fund upgrades to services, such as indoor lighting, heating, ventilation, and air conditioning.

The government also continues to support households in making energy efficient improvements through its Living Greener and Your Homes websites. Living Greener highlights simple things that can be done at home to save money and reduce waste without sacrificing comfort.

Your Home provides independent information on sustainable design,

The Hon Gary Gray, AO MP

construction and renovation, and includes the Your Home Technical Manual. The fifth edition will be released in late 2013.

The Australian Government remains committed to helping industry, business and households implement improvements that save money while benefitting our environment, and I commend this publication for its contribution to that goal.

The Hon Gary Gray, AO MP Minister for Resources and Energy Minister for Small Business Minister for Tourism.

| Best Practice

How does Australia’s statutory secured retrofit finance model compare with that of the United States?

Scott Bocskay, CEO, Sustainable melbourne Fund

Since inception, statutory secured finance models for the environmental upgrade (retrofitting) of buildings have evolved in Australia and the United States in a similar fashion, facing common hurdles but influenced by differing economic variables.

T

he United States first established a statutory secured retrofit finance model in 2007 in the City of Berkeley (California), called Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE), facilitated by legislation changes. From there, the model spread pervasively across the United States. But the subprime mortgage crisis in 2008 led to the global credit crunch, leaving the residential and commercial property markets in tatters. By May 2010, America’s largest mortgage guarantors, Fanny

Mae and Freddie Mac, issued a letter effectively halting growth in residential PACE activity within the United States.

Less hard-hit by economic crisis, Australia was lucky to ‘watch and learn’ from the United States, and – understanding the differences in commercial and residential mortgages – established a model focusing purely on commercial property. Led by the City of Melbourne in 2008, legislation changes allowed the municipality to enter into an Environmental Upgrade

The United States Department of Energy estimates that reducing energy use in buildings by a mere 20 per cent would save approximately US$80 billion on annual energy costs

Agreement (EUA) with building owners and tenants for the financing of retrofit works.

Yet, as economic fundamentals continue to change, environmental fundamentals do not; and many existing residential and commercial buildings, which are responsible for 23 per cent of Australia’s total carbon emissions and 40 per cent of America’s total energy costs, are in dire need of upgrade works.

The United States Department of Energy estimates that reducing energy use in buildings by a mere 20 per cent would save approximately US$80 billion on annual energy costs, with savings from commercial buildings accounting for about half of this amount.

Similarly, dramatic data exists on home turf. In Melbourne alone, the 1200 commercial office buildings identified by the City of Melbourne’s iconic 1200 Buildings initiative contribute more than half (53 per cent) of the city’s total carbon emissions, and waste an estimated $40 million to $60 million in operating costs each year.

But we’ve come a long way The government’s Clean Energy Future Package prioritises Australia’s economic growth by putting sustainability at the lead through the carbon price mechanism; and

continued on page 6 4 • retrofit australia • volume 2 number 2 2013

Optimising indoor comfort With Rickard

VAV Diffusers Provides occupants with total control over their thermal environment Significantly reduces power consumption of the air handling system Heating, cooling and lighting running costs can also be reduced

Rickard VAV diffusers are available in two types.

The electronic range is an intelligent modular system that is zoned into independently controlled comfort areas. The system can be centrally monitored and tuned from the one location via a BMS, as well as adjusted within the occupied space. It can be used in most building types and sizes due to the simplicity of its design and flexibility of the system software.

The Thermo-disc ceiling diffuser is ideal as a retrofit solution as it provides comfort in areas of a building that are either too hot or too cold. It includes its own in-built temperature sensing and volume control mechanism so no external wiring or power supply is required.

Adelaide Brisbane Canberra Darwin Launceston

(08) 8294 0530 (07) 3299 9888 (02) 6280 5511 (08) 8947 0447 (03) 6344 6888

Melbourne (H.O.) Newcastle Perth Sydney Townsville

(03) 9554 7845 (02) 4961 6088 (08) 9209 4999 (02) 8811 0400 (07) 4775 5222

www.fantech.com.au

| Best Practice

continued from page 4 Diagram 1

C-PACE, means it now covers 29 states (more than half) in the United States, compared with a handful of municipalities in New South Wales and one in Victoria. This is the plight of a nation with a significantly smaller, more dispersed population and a smaller economy, as well as structural changes to the economy, threats to the manufacturing industry and lack of resource industry exposure anywhere other than Western Australia – these all lead to a lack of market confidence in Australia.

reports suggest that emissions are down by more than seven per cent and renewable energy generation is up by almost 30 per cent, with more required to meet current targets.

In a country with an economy half the size of California state’s (ranking 12th in the world, compared with California’s seventh place), Australia’s fixed carbon price is relatively high, at A$23 per metric tonne since 1 July 2012. California’s is the largestscale worldwide carbon trading scheme (second only to the European Union), reaching only US$14 per metric tonne in May 2013: a recordbreaking high.

Like Australia, the United States means business in tackling the challenges and opportunities that climate change presents. In a State of the Union address earlier this year, President Barack Obama pledged a new goal for America to halve the energy wasted by homes and businesses over the next 20 years, vowing to give preferential support to ideas that involve job creation and lower energy bills through constructing more efficient buildings.

6 • retrofit australia • volume 2 number 2 2013

Growth in environmental upgrade finance is garnering momentum As the credit crunch all but killed residential PACE, with only a handful of programs remaining open for business, PACE uptake slowed. But, like a phoenix rising from the ashes, PACE programs re-emerged after it was discovered that the underwriting of residential and commercial programs was still enabled by the legislation. Now shifting the focus to commercial property, ‘C-PACE’ is alive and thriving, with 27 states participating.

Development of these programs took some early learnings from the purely commercial-building focused EUA programs being created and delivered here in Australia. The Sustainable Melbourne Fund has maintained linkages with PACE programs in the United States such as California First, Los Angeles County PACE and Green Finance San Francisco. These relationships have been invaluable throughout the progress of EUA (and C-PACE) finance.

Growth in C-PACE, in addition to a number of models similar to

Despite seemingly slower uptake of EUAs, Australia’s efforts have been far from wasted. The City of Melbourne signed its first EUA in 2011, followed by a further three deals in 2012, resulting in a reduction in annual energy costs of nearly half a million dollars (A$491,000) across the four sites.

Four councils in New South Wales now offer similar EUA programs (Parramatta, Lake Macquarie, Sydney and North Sydney), including an A$800,000 full lighting upgrade EUA signed by the City of Parramatta in December 2012 – the first EUA to receive a tenant contribution; and a A$26.5 million trigeneration plant installation signed by the City of Sydney for thermal heating of a large mixed-use development, signed in March 2013.

A further three councils – Penrith, Wollongong and Newcastle – are expected to be making decisions on EUA legislation in 2013; and in April this year, the South Australian State Government published a business case for EUAs outlining a third-party administration model as its preferred approach for a state-wide model – a happy blend of the Victorian and New South Wales models.

Best Practice |

A direct response to the hurdles Environmental building upgrade projects have historically presented two major hurdles to owners: availability of finance (difficulties sourcing finance at an attractive rate for energy efficiency projects), and the WIIFM debate (what’s in it for me?), with costs of energy efficiency measures falling at the door of the building owner, while the tenant reaps the benefit of reduced utility costs.

Models like EUA and C-PACE are a direct response to these hurdles. For example, EUAs are repaid in much the same way as council charges are recovered, and the council then passes the payment through to the lender. The tenant can also make a contribution to repayments through a special charge called the Environmental Upgrade Charge (EUC), effectively generating a new revenue stream for the building owner. C-PACE also provides attractive finance for building owners, with the option of tenant contribution.

The difference in the United States is that because of the actions of Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the current pain point in the United States is around existing mortgagees, while Australia’s EUA debate centres on tenant consent versus a ‘no worse off’ test. Both relate to the interests of an existing stakeholder in commercial property, and both need to be involved in successful statutory secured finance programs.

Other hurdles relate to incentivising the use of more efficient but potentially more expensive upgrades (rather than the lowhanging fruit); and how to overcome the timing mismatch between the longer-use lives and varying payback periods of some energy efficiency improvements (such as HVAC equipment), combined with the sometimes shorter expected occupancy of the property.

Both Australia’s and the United States’ retrofit finance models provide building owners with access to

capital to upgrade their buildings, as shown in Diagram 1 (page 6).

Key success drivers Having rated 66 per cent of Australia’s commercial office space, The National Australian Built Environment Rating System (NABERS) is driving demand for improved environmental performance of commercial office buildings in Australia. NABERS is the basis of a mandatory disclosure policy for the performance of commercial offices in Australia (and is the envy of many mature commercial property markets across the globe). Similar efforts are underway in the United States, being led by New York City, which will be the first on a growing list of United States cities to disclose energy use data for all large buildings.

In Australia, this mandatory disclosure, combined with the success of Green Star, has led to the creation of the Property Council’s IPD Australian Green Property Index, which, in its latest report, found that Green Star rated assets delivered a

continued on page 10 retrofit australia • volume 2 number 2 2013 • 7

| Company Profile | Company Profile

New –The Next Generation Marmoleum: today, tomorrow, forever Forbo presents the Next Generation of Marmoleum flooring to celebrate 150 years since the invention of linoleum in 1863.

T

he Next Generation of Marmoleum comprises four new collections: Marbled, Solid, Patterned and Linear, which deliver new design directions with a wide choice of colour combinations for rich, warm, refined and contemporary looks. Marmoleum stands for versatility, sustainability and durability. The new Marmoleum flooring range is the largest ever, and gives specifiers access to a fascinating world of colour and design – all created to complement and enhance the interior of the buildings of today and tomorrow.

The pure, natural characteristics of the Next Generation Marmoleum make it ideal for those seeking a high-quality, authentic, long-lasting floor covering solution, as part of a sustainable building design. This is what makes Marmoleum special; it is the simple, natural ingredients that create the product and give it its unique performance attributes.

Made from 97 per cent natural raw materials, 72 per cent rapidly renewable and 43 per cent recycled content, Marmoleum carries more

Marmoleum Solids – Liquid Clay

X RETROFIT australia AUSTRALIA • volume VOLUME 2 number NUMBER 2 2013 8 • retrofit

independent third-party LCA-based eco labels than any other flooring material and is manufactured using 100 per cent renewable green energy in an ISO14001:2004 certified facility.

Marmoleum marbled collection – 3257 Edelweiss

With a life expectancy of at least 30 years, the new range now includes Topshield2, a double-layer UVcured, water-based finish delivering exceptional floor performance. This unique production applied finish provides highly effective protection against scuffing and dirt, while offering effective resistance to stains and chemicals including betadine. Overall, a step change in performance, resulting in reduced cleaning, and a lower impact on the environment.

Marmoleum has low VOCs, no PVC or phthalates and is installed with solvent-free adhesives so there are no harmful toxins being emitted. It is a natural floor that after a long 30-plus year lifecycle can be recycled, as it is biodegradable. A naturally occurring phenomenon is the oxidation of linseed throughout the lifecycle of Marmoleum, providing natural infection control so harmful bacteria and other microorganisms, such as norovirus and MRSA superbug, cannot survive on Marmoleum flooring. In addition, Marmoleum is an excellent choice for asthma and allergy sufferers, with the British Allergy Foundation seal of approval.

It’s a product with a rich heritage and a bright, sustainable future. By choosing Marmoleum you

create better environments today, tomorrow, forever.

In addition to Marmoleum, Forbo Flooring systems – a global manufacturer – offers a complete portfolio of flooring solutions for commercial and residential environments. Other product categories include safety flooring covering all R10, R11 and R12 slip ratings, project vinyl in sheet and tile formats, along with specialist electro-conductive solutions. Forbo also produce a number of leading textile products including Flotex and Tessera carpet tiles, along with coral entrance matting.

To find out more about Forbo flooring systems visit www.forbo-flooring.com.au, call 1800 224 471 or email: info.au@forbo.com.

FFS-2011 GECA 25-2011 V2 Floor Coverings

| Best Practice

Government initiatives like CitySwitch focus on creating tenant demand in the process of improving the performance of commercial buildings continued from page 7 total annual return of 10.6 per cent, and NABERS-rated assets saw a 9.9 per cent return – both outperforming the total office sector, which delivered a 9.7 per cent return.

With such data as the Green Property Index, mandatory disclosure and the pervasiveness of Green Star putting wind in the sails of a move towards better performing buildings in Australia, it’s not surprising that the focus is on broadening and deepening market penetration of EUAs across the country. EUAs make the business case for a move to better-performing buildings far more compelling. In the United States, without such penetration of mandatory disclosure and the supporting data, they are focusing on innovations in measurement of financial and environmental ROI, and education of the marketplace around green appraisals and valuing of energy efficiency improvements.

As better buildings demonstrate better economic outcomes, EUA and PACE are simply ways to pay for 10 • retrofit australia • volume 2 number 2 2013

this transformation while improving cash flow and incremental progress towards forming the essential building blocks for a broader energy efficiency finance framework being made in both countries.

Tenants are the key Within both the United States and Australia, there is a growing understanding that constructive collaboration with tenants drives superior commercial outcomes for building owners and tenants alike.

Developing relationships between landlord and tenant can take time, but with split incentives for both stakeholder groups overcome, we now see the nascent beginnings of a new global market developing as enabled

by EUA and PACE (the green shoots of positive tenant-landlord relations).

In Australia, a Building Upgrade Tool has been developed by AECOM for Low Carbon Australia (now the Clean Energy Finance Corporation) and the City of Melbourne for the purposes of facilitating landlord-

tenant engagement. This simple, web-based tool models the financial relationship between building owners and tenants. While it doesn’t attempt to provide the definitive answer, it allows both parties to test how this investment might perform.

Government initiatives like CitySwitch focus on creating tenant demand in the process of improving the performance of commercial buildings, and are working in collaboration with municipalities offering EUA programs, and EUA administrators such as Sustainable Melbourne Fund, to provide avenues to finance environmental building upgrades. Significant tenants, such as government, can assist in driving demand for the uptake of EUAs across the country, while also delivering greater efficiencies to government budgets with no up-front costs.

As the economic fundamentals continue to change, retrofit technologies such as solar panels become cheaper, and more businesses become aware of the potential energy savings and productivity gains to be made with energy efficiency or renewable energy projects. As the power of long-term, cheap finance for comprehensive building upgrades becomes more widely understood, statutory secured finance in the United States and Australia presents a sleeping giant of untapped commercial opportunities to improve the environmental performance of our cities.

Company Profile |

| Company Profile

Maximise the value of retrofits

BY SANDY MCPHERSON, MANAGING DIRECTOR, PRACTICA MMC*

A

ccording to Rockefeller Foundation President Judith Rodin, ‘Buildings consume approximately 40 per cent of the world’s energy, and are responsible for 40 per cent of global carbon emissions.’ Not surprisingly, retrofitting existing commercial buildings to achieve energy efficiency represents a rapidly growing market – in Australia and around the world – that benefits building owners and tenants, as well as the environment.

Building better returns While most energy retrofits occur to satisfy the building owner’s need to reduce energy costs – particularly in light of the carbon tax – tenants are increasingly looking for green leases as a way of achieving environmental outcomes and adhering to government policies, such as Building Energy Efficient Certificates under the National Australian Built Environment Rating System (NABERS).

From a landlord’s perspective, green leases are delivering considerable benefits, including lower operating costs, improved reputation and the ability to attract blue-chip or longer-term tenants.

Tenants, on the other hand, benefit from reduced energy costs and meeting their environmental objectives. More importantly, green leases offer a way for owners and tenants to work together to achieve desired sustainability.

Financing solutions So how do you go about funding energy-efficient retrofits? One way is to take advantage of government incentives and financing solutions.

For example, there are local, state and Australian government assistance programs available, including the Community Energy Efficiency Program. In terms of financing, Low Carbon Australia provides solutions and advice to Australian business, government and the wider community. The X • RETROFIT AUSTRALIA • VOLUME 2 NUMBER 2 2013

organisation currently manages the Energy Efficiency Program, providing finance and advice to the private and public sector for the retrofit of non-residential building and industry process upgrades.

One of the more innovative financing models available is an environmental upgrade agreement (EUA), a financing agreement between the building owner, financier and local council to fund the retrofits. The first EUA was signed in October 2011 for the City of Melbourne’s 1200 Buildings Program. Today, the City of Sydney, Parramatta City Council and North Sydney Council in New South Wales are involved with EUAs.

Insulation delivers energy efficiency One of the integral ways to achieve maximum energy efficiency in properties is with insulation. By increasing the insulation value of external walls, you can minimise a building’s thermal exchanges and eliminate hot and cold spots in the wall system. It’s even more powerful when done in combination with air sealing to ensure that any openings, such as windows, doors or power points, are completely sealed so that air leakage is reduced.

Modern exterior insulated panel systems, such as Practica’s MasterWall K-Series system, offer an effective solution to achieve a weathertight external building envelope, and can be finished using a range of architectural renders. Apart from superior thermal performance, the benefits to the bottom line speak for themselves. You can expect to save as much as 30–40 per cent in energy costs related to heating and cooling, while enhancing the property’s commercial value with superior aesthetics.

MasterWall K-Series System is one of the technologies that qualifies for government funding. Powered

MasterWall Skyline’s ‘capless’ parapet system can be used to further enhance the aesthetic of any building.

by Kingspan’s Kooltherm® panels and Practica MMC’s innovation and technology, MasterWall K-Series is fully compliant with the Building Code of Australia.

Find out more While the benefits of energy retrofits are compelling, the capital costs involved still represent a barrier to adoption. That’s why it makes sense to pursue government incentives and financing solutions to maximise your return on investment. Call Practica MMC on 1300 791 003 or apply online at www.practicammc.com. au/highperformance to secure your place at an executive meeting with our expert team and discover how you can benefit from turning your commercial property into a highperformance building. * Practica MMC is an Australian company offering a unique range of modern insulating wall construction solutions for residential and commercial projects. Brands include MasterWall, MasterWall Skyline, MasterFloor and MasterWall K-Series powered by Kingspan Kooltherm®. For more information, visit www.practicammc.com.au.

retrofit australia • volume 2 number 2 2013 • 11

| Best Practice

Commercial Building Disclosure creating a shift in market opportunities Article contributed by CitySwitch

In September 2010, the Commonwealth Government introduced the Commercial Buildings Disclosure (CBD) scheme, established by the Building Energy Efficiency Disclosure Act 2010. This scheme requires all commercial property over 2000 square metres sold or leased in Australia to have a current NABERS base building rating and Building Energy Efficiency Certificate (BEEC), providing an audit of the lighting levels and controls in the space for lease.

W

ith potential fines of up to $100,000 for failure to register a rating at point of sale or lease, or for supplying incorrect information on advertising literature, the commercial leasing sector’s attention has been focused on getting it right.

Both the NABERS and BEEC ratings are undertaken by an accredited NABERS assessor; the BEEC assessment being an additional qualification that they must undertake.

BEEC ratings assess the sophistication of lighting controls and the watts per square metre.

Reporting on the watts per square metre, or nominal lighting power density (NLPD), provides an overview of how efficiently a workspace is lit. While this data alone may not seem to be of much significance, the opportunity to use this information to influence energy use, and therefore ongoing operating costs, is where results of disclosure get interesting.

In the first year of CBD’s implementation, 1250 BEECs were produced (representing approximately 874 buildings covered under the BEEC

12 • retrofit australia • volume 2 number 2 2013

scheme) and 290 buildings certified with a BEEC more than once. Of those rated under the scheme, 62 per cent are reporting an NLPD of more than 10 watts per square metre – which is 30 per cent higher than the recommended NLPD best practice level of seven watts per square metre or less. What’s more, 35 per cent of these have a ‘poor’ result, reporting over 15 watts per square metre, and at the extreme end of the spectrum, some spaces have registered up to 66 watts per square metre.

CitySwitch National Coordinator Esther Bailey says, ‘Our analysis indicates that up to $30,000 per year can be made over 12 months on an average 5000-square-metre tenancy with poor NLPD and/or BEECs. There are real opportunities and gains to be made by shifting our attention to how we manage our office lighting.’

So how is the sector responding to this new obligation?

Agents The big leasing agents and building managers have been quick to respond, and – particularly because

Best Practice |

In the first 12 months of full mandatory disclosure (from 1 November 2011) the Commercial Building Disclosure Program issued 1250 Building Energy Efficiency Certificates (BEECs).

of the fines applicable under the compliance requirements – have spent considerable energy up-skilling their personnel to support clients in understanding their obligations.

Owners Among the larger owners, the ratings have proven to be a useful tool, with many of the real estate investment trusts (REITS) and funds not only referring to them in decision-making, but also undertaking NABERS ratings and BEEC assessments across their portfolios as routine practice – not just for those spaces up for lease.

Benchmark ratings ensure best practice governance, inform regular shareholder valuations, and also minimise transaction delays should the owner wish to invest or divest at any given time. There is also efficiency at a practical level to have assessments conducted on a whole building all at once.

31 Market Street, Sydney

Glen Boultwood, Fund Manager from Eureka Funds Management, says, ‘Commercial Building Disclosure has become a go-to metric when establishing how well a building or space is run. If the building is maintaining its NABERS rating and has good BEECs, it’s likely to be an efficiently run asset, and that makes it a more attractive investment.’ At the smaller end of town, it is hard to directly measure the impacts of Commercial Building Disclosure and recorded lighting levels, as transactions under 2000

square metres fall below the reporting threshold. Anecdotally, however, the scheme has started to raise awareness amongst owners who might otherwise have been less engaged when such simple comparisons between spaces were not available.

Peter Frith, Managing Director at valuer Napier Blakeley, says, ‘Clients who were never previously discussing building performance with us have started to consider what they should be doing to keep their spaces competitive.’

Occupiers At an occupier level, impact has been limited so far, but indications are that this is about to change.

The CitySwitch Green Office program has been working with tenants to assist them in understanding BEECs and mandatory disclosure as it relates to their tenancies. CitySwitch is a national initiative that works with commercial office tenants to educate and advise them about energy and waste efficiency, and provides impartial support and guidance for implementation.

CitySwitch Program Manager for the City of Sydney Virginie Vernin explains, ‘There are two main scenarios where we can best assist tenants with understanding their BEEC. One, of course, is when they are at the stage of moving, and here our focus is on educating tenants retrofit australia • volume 2 number 2 2013 • 13

| Best Practice

about the differences in outgoing and occupancy costs that a good NABERS rating and a good BEEC can deliver.

‘The second instance is where a rating and BEEC have been undertaken across the whole building, and here our opportunity is to help the occupant understand whether that rating is good or bad compared to that of their peers, and to open a dialogue with the building owner or manager about what they can do about it. Traditionally, building owners have been reluctant to open conversations with “sitting” tenants about improvements to their space, but that’s changing.

New funding mechanisms, such as operational leasing on lighting and the Environmental Upgrade Agreement scheme, have the ability to break the split incentive and enable owners and tenants to defray up-front costs of upgrades against the savings in outgoings.’

In fact, CitySwitch found that in many instances, owners are keen to deliver upgrades to the space, but are constrained in their abilities to open a conversation with tenants for fear of disturbing their ‘quiet enjoyment’.

CitySwitch’s role is to facilitate that conversation, to enable all parties to see the mutual benefit, and to help owners get economies of scale from being able to retrofit both empty and occupied spaces in parallel.

As part of a standard assessment, the Commercial Building Disclosure scheme includes a specific one-page advisory for tenants; however, in CitySwitch’s experience, it is clear that in most cases, this information isn’t getting through. In most cases, tenants had not seen the report, and even when shown the report, they needed some additional support to understand the opportunities that

14 • retrofit australia • volume 2 number 2 2013

As part of a standard assessment the Commercial Building Disclosure Scheme includes a specific one-page advisory for tenants; however, in CitySwitch’s experience, it is clear that in most cases this information isn’t getting through. it presented. Once they had been familiarised with the concepts and formats, they really engaged with the process and options available.

In Sydney’s CBD, CitySwitch has been working closely with a number of buildings, including 31 Market Street, where a strong relationship with forward-thinking building owner Investa and their building managers has meant really effective engagement between all parties.

Sustainability Manager Beck Dawson said, ‘While building owners might traditionally be wary of a third party engaging their tenants about their lighting efficiency – particularly when in many cases space may not have been upgraded for a variety of reasons – as the tenant advocate, we trusted CitySwitch to help educate tenants on their roles and opportunities and be sensitive in the conversations they were having. It’s been a positive experience and a catalyst for new collaborations with our tenants.’

Virginie Vernin adds, ‘Tenants had no idea about BEECs when I contacted them, but told me that they had been thinking about upgrading their lighting but didn’t really know how to go about it. Once we reviewed their tenancy lighting in the BEEC for

31 Market Street, they could really see how important it was to understand their current performance. This then kick-started the process. CitySwitch provided guidance and information on financing upgrades, choosing products and preparing tender documents for procurement. All CitySwitch information is freely available on our website, and I am always happy to be on call as needed.’

CitySwitch are not the only ones in the market driving tenant appreciation of BEECs. For instance, lighting providers registered to create Energy Savings Certificates are using the BEEC register as a prospect list of sales opportunities, so it’s important for both owners and building managers to be on the front foot with tenants to avoid any market confusion.

The Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) is also adding to tenants’ abilities to use the CBD scheme to drive decision-making.

While CitySwitch has dealt primarily with tenants in situ so far, new tools from RICS aim to help tenants in their search for new accommodation by enabling them to review BEEC and NABERS ratings of prospective spaces using a handy mobile app.

continued on page 16

Company Profile |

| Company Profile

Energy efficiency’s best-kept secret: condensing boilers Condensing technology in Europe:

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fter the first oil crisis in 1973, higher energy prices caused manufacturers to look for solutions to reduce energy consumption in boilers. These solutions included introducing ambient outdoor sensing (where the water temperature of the boiler adjusts to the outdoor temperature) and running boilers at a lower water temperature. The energy losses became smaller, and efficiency went up.

During the 1980s, when the environment became a topic of concern, manufacturers reassessed the principles of combustions in boilers, leading them to develop the first condensing or high-efficiency boiler.

Condensing in Australia: The take-up of condensing boilers has just started in Australia, and remains a relative unknown costsavings ‘greener technology’.

Most boiler plant rooms around

Australia house relatively old equipment. Thirty-year-old boilers are not uncommon, and building owners often forget that the older the equipment, the less efficient it is.

heat that is normally rejected to the atmosphere from the flue of a conventional boiler.

This is accomplished by using an extra-large heat exchanger (double pass); or sometimes two heat exchangers within the boiler. The exchangers maximise heat transfer from the burner, as well as recovering useful heat that would normally be lost with the flue gases.

In these cases, boiler efficiency is often lower than 65 per cent and would benefit greatly from an upgrade.

(Maintenance is often neglected in Australia; there is a tendency to repair rather than maintain a good working plant.)

A condensing boiler will always be more efficient than a conventional non-condensing one, due to its larger heat exchanger, even with the Australian system temperature design of 80 degrees Celsius / 60 degrees Celsius.

How it works: Condensing technology uses ‘latent’ heat from the flue gases, which in turn lowers the temperature of the flue. By doing this, the flue gases emit 90 per cent less CO and 89 per cent less NOx (acid rain) compared to already clean conventional boilers (relative to brown coal/electricity).

Hydroheat Supplies in Melbourne supplies the full Australian AGA tested condensing boiler range from 28 kilowatt to 150 kilowatt with up to 1800 kilowatt in cascade.

Condensing boiler technology works on the principle of recovering as much as possible of the waste

Jan Voorham, Marketing Manager, Hydroheat Supplies P/L info@hydroheat.com.au www.hydroheat.com.au

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www.hydroheat.com.au NSW distributors Simons Boiler Co. (02) 8338 8660 EcoHVAC Products (02) 9669 4500

ACT distributor Ideal Air Group (02) 6280 5511

X • RETROFIT AUSTRALIA • VOLUME 2 NUMBER 2 2013

QLD distributor EcoHVAC Products (07) 3808 9400

WA distributor A-West Distributors (08) 9258 5670

Head office: VIC, TAS, SA Hydroheat Supplies Pty. Ltd. PO Box 1045, 6 Helen Kob Drive, Braeside Victoria 3195 Ph (+61 3) 9588 1299 Fax (+61 3) 9588 2199 info@hydroheat.com.au

retrofit australia • volume 2 number 2 2013 • 15

| Best Practice

continued from page 14

An on-phone search of available commercial office spaces will list their ratings and help compare other occupancy costs, among a range of other features. The app also allows compared spaces to be exported for further manipulation and creation of a business case.

The scheme has been fully operational for almost two years now, and simple disclosure is gradually making way for active tools for decision-making at all levels of the industry: investment, leasing, asset planning and occupancy choices. If you’ve not thought about how Commercial

Building Disclosure impacts your job and business cases, maybe now is a good time to start.

For more information, visit citySwitch.net.au/beec or call CitySwitch program manager Virginie Vernin on 02 9246 7354 for guidance on how to best use Commercial Building Disclosure data to improve your office’s operational efficiency.

A spotlight on 31 Market Street, Sydney

20 per cent for each centre. It has been determined

Building: 31 Market Street, Sydney

through the engagement with Jigsaw Childcare that achieving a 20 per cent energy reduction at both

NLA: 24,970 square metres Additional details: A 36-level B tower built in 1974, based in the Sydney CBD with around 80 different tenants (mostly small to medium-sized enterprises). The B-grade tower features a ground-floor retail arcade.

Base building NABERS Energy rating: 4.5 stars

centres could save up to 8928 kilowatt hours (kWh) over 12 months; equivalent to $1785 (using an estimated BEEC of 12 watts per square metre and an electricity cost of 20 cents per kilowatt hour).

Sydney Eisteddfod undertook a lighting upgrade for their 200-square-metre tenancy. With eight

Key achievements to date: The base building has

employees already actively involved in good

reduced its greenhouse emissions (kg CO2-e/m ) by

sustainable and energy efficient behaviours, the

22 per cent since 2003 baseline levels (based on

Operations Manager is expecting a reduction in their

2011 actuals).

electricity use via a simple light upgrade. Replacing

Building NLPD BEEC average: 18.77 watts per

83 lights with 11 seven-watt LED and 72 T5 lights

2

square metre

Among 77 tenancies, CitySwitch provided BEEC info to 37 tenancies The following mini case studies from 31 Market Street demonstrate the key approaches to lighting improvements and upgrades among a sample of the tenants and how they can be best tackled. Whether the lighting upgrade is tenant-driven or supported by the building owner, these are perfect examples of how businesses can make a difference to energy efficiency.

Cherry Blossoms and Trumpets Childcare Centres,

has resulted in a reduction of 3.851 megawatt hours, saving a calculated $770 on energy costs alone, and 4.082 tonnes of CO2. Their approach was relatively simple. After conducting a ‘soft experiment’, visually observing the difference in the electrical meter between lighting only and all other electrical equipment, it was apparent that lighting was the major energy consumption for the office.

The Operations Manager contacted several lighting suppliers with a strict brief, and overcame the challenge of finding the right supplier to complete a small and

at Level 2/31 Market Street, are two of the 10 Jigsaw

short project. Adaptors were able to be used on the T5

Childcare Centres recently acquired by the Guardian

upgrade lights, reducing the requirement for replacing

Early Learning Group. The Guardian Early Learning

fittings. The cost of the upgrade was minimal after

Group is driving energy efficiency and sustainable

negotiating an Energy Saving Certificate (ESC) rebate.

policies for its portfolio of more than 70 early learning

Sydney Eisteddfod has calculated a return on that

centres, targeting electricity reduction between 15 and

investment within seven months.

16 • retrofit australia • volume 2 number 2 2013

Company Profile | Company Profile |

Northrop: consulting engineers

E

stablished in 1976, Northrop presents a refreshing and flexible approach to retrofit projects that facilitates practical and holistic design solutions within a multi-disciplinary team environment.

We provide a range of engineering consultancy services, with offices in Sydney, Canberra, Newcastle, Wollongong, Central Coast, Western Sydney and Brisbane.

Our people have an excellent track record in delivering multi-discipline retrofit engineering works through being proactive and understanding the needs of all project stakeholders.

We endeavour to find the clever and appropriate solutions that enhance the project’s environmental, economic and social outcomes.

A standout example of a retrofit project that Northrop has been involved with is Juliana House in the Australian Capital Territory. Juliana House is an existing 10- storey building, which will be redeveloped into a self-rated four- star hotel and renamed the Abode Woden; part of the Abode – The Apartment Hotel brand. The building currently exists as an open-office fit-out. The base building mechanical plant, hydraulic

services and lighting systems will be replaced; however the building’s external fabric and internal core is to be retained.

This project focuses very strongly on adaptive reuse of existing building stock by revitalising an existing office building and reducing the high embodied energy of materials associated with new building construction.

The project is also targeting a ‘zero waste’ philosophy by applying

the following priorities: • reducing demand for new materials • sourcing an alternative use for unwanted materials • recycling any remaining materials.

Northrop provided all of the sustainability analysis, energy modelling, mechanical services, electrical services and civil design for this project.

“Northrop is a multi disciplinary engineering consultancy, owned by our Senior Engineers. You and your projects will benefit from the personal attention that comes when you work with engineers that own the business.”

Jamie Shelton Principal, Northrop Engineers Named in Australia’s top 100 most influential engineers, 2012 & 2011

Our best people working on your projects

www.northrop.com.au | CANBERRA | SYDNEY | NEWCASTLE | WOLLONGONG | CENTRAL COAST | WESTERN SYDNEY | BRISBANE

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| Best Practice

Retrofitting for resilience Romilly Madew, Chief Executive, Green Building Council of Australia

Over the last few years, extreme weather events – from bushfires to floods and from droughts to cyclones – have become a regular part of our Australian summers. And each year, there are renewed calls for us to consider how to make our buildings and communities more resilient in the face of climate change.

T

But are we really listening? he Climate Institute’s report, ‘Coming Ready or Not: Managing climate risks to Australia’s infrastructure’, was released in October 2012, and found that our buildings and infrastructure are poorly equipped to deal with the consequences of extreme weather events – and that we’ll incur significant human and economic costs as a result.

We need only to look at the costs of replacing buildings and infrastructure damaged during the 2011 Queensland floods. More than $2.4 billion was spent on infrastructure, some of which was washed away only months after it was completed. The Queensland Premier has predicted that the price we’ll pay for the 2013 flood crisis will exceed this figure.

Australians may feel that we’ve been hit harder by extreme weather events in the last few years than other parts of the world; and we’d be right.

The Insurance Council of Australia says that, while Australia represents just two per cent of the global re-insurance markets, the extreme

18 • retrofit australia • volume 2 number 2 2013

weather events over the last five years have driven this up to six per cent of the losses.

The Australian Sustainable Built Environment Council (ASBEC) estimates that the overall replacement cost for Australia’s built environment is in excess of $5.7 trillion. An estimated $159 billion worth of buildings are vulnerable to sea level rise and storm surge. This includes more than 8000 commercial, 6000 industrial and 274,000 residential buildings around the country.

Buildings also face higher risk of bushfire and degradation of foundations and materials, as soaring temperatures and reduced rainfall cause soil to dry and shift.

At the same time, more intense and frequent heatwaves will drive electricity demand up – and the price of electricity, too.

Designing and constructing better, more resilient buildings, communities and infrastructure will minimise the impacts of climate change on Australia’s productivity and stability, and deliver longterm economic, environmental and social sustainability.

Leading by example Some organisations already have adaptation and resilience on their radars. The Climate Institute’s report cites four major property companies – Mirvac, Stockland, GPT and DEXUS – that have developed strategies to minimise their vulnerability to extreme weather. For example, DEXUS has created a climate change risk register, as well as individual property action plans.

Mirvac has focused on improving the energy efficiency of its investment portfolio, and reduced the energy intensity of its assets by 36 per cent over two years, while increasing group revenue and its net lettable area by more than 91,000 square metres.

Stockland has assessed the climate risk profile of each asset within its property portfolio against location, design, structure, operation and maintenance, utilities, services, and stakeholders. This assessment is guiding the decision-making for new commercial property, but is also enabling existing assets to be made more climate-resilient over time.

GPT Group is leading by example, with an impressive

Best Practice |

The MLC Centre’s interior retrofit. Image courtesy GPT Group

refurbishment of the 30-year-old MLC Centre in Sydney demonstrating how a building retrofit can reduce emissions, cut costs and boost a company’s brand. As an example of long-term resilience, the Harry Seidler-designed building is now GPT’s headquarters, achieving 6 Star Green Star – Office Interiors v1.1 certification in 2012, and pushing the envelope of sustainable fit-outs.

Since the achievement of its ‘World Leadership’ certification, GPT has been recognised with accolades for the office and business alike, including three New South Wales Government Green Globe Awards, and the title of world’s most sustainable real estate company in the 2013 Dow Jones Sustainability Index.

using ‘proven and commercially available technologies’.

Residential and commercial buildings contribute 23 per cent of the total greenhouse gas emissions in Australia, making energy efficiency upgrades essential if we are to make our built environment more resilient.

While the energy savings from green building retrofits are not as high as those for new builds, the World Green Building Council’s Business Case for Green Building finds that energy savings can be captured

through simple measures such as thermal envelope improvements, improved controls and renewable energy installations, through to upgrades of lighting, heating and ventilation, and mechanical systems.

Beyond energy efficiency, the next step is to understand the impact of climate change on the built environment and to incorporate appropriate adaptation strategies so that the buildings we design, construct, upgrade and maintain today can be suitable tomorrow.

Beyond energy efficiency Until now, green building retrofits have tended to focus on lessening the built environment’s contribution to climate change through the ‘quick win’ of energy efficiency. The United Nations Environment Program has found that buildings offer the single largest opportunity to reduce emissions – and at the least cost.

Energy consumption in buildings can be reduced by up to 80 per cent

GPT view

retrofit australia • volume 2 number 2 2013 • 19

| Best Practice

ASBEC, of which the GBCA is an active member, released its Built Environment Adaptation Framework in 2012, which outlines 10 ways in which government can work with industry to deliver effective adaptation strategies.

One of these recommendations is that all three tiers of government work with industry to develop a suite of incentives to encourage early adaptation. This may include financial incentives for retrofitting existing buildings through grants, interest-free loans, accelerated depreciation and alternative finance mechanisms. Other proposals include stamp duty and land tax exemptions for buildings in highrisk areas that are being upgraded, climate resilience assessments for buildings, and ‘green door’ development application processes for householders or businesses implementing adaptation initiatives and green design elements.

At the same time, governments are calling on the insurance industry to reward people who design their homes to withstand flooding with lower premiums. Queensland’s Recovery and Resilience Minister, David Crisafulli, has said that insurance companies should offer discounts if property owners could prove they had restumped their houses more securely or above benchmark flood levels, resisted the urge to build in extra rooms underneath Queensland’s stilt homes, and even for décor decisions, such as using tiles instead of carpets in downstairs rooms.

‘Insurers offer a discount on home and contents insurance for things like security screens, alarms or deadlocks.

Why not offer discounts to those who choose more resilient building products, or raise their houses high enough to avoid flooding?’ Mr Crisafulli has asked.

20 • retrofit australia • volume 2 number 2 2013

Ripe for retrofits In 2011, the Australian Building Codes Board examined possible adaptation measures for climate change, assessing new construction as ‘likely to be reasonably adequate’ only under ‘low emissions scenarios’. It’s clear that buildings built to earlier, lower standards are far more vulnerable to extremes of climate – and these are the buildings ripe for retrofitting.

Around the world, city governments are recognising that investing in retrofitting programs can meet a range of priorities, from cutting emissions and improving resilience, to creating jobs and future-proofing community assets. New York’s largest existing buildings, responsible for 45 per cent of citywide carbon emissions, are required to publicly report on their energy and water use each year, and commit to ongoing upgrade programs.

In London, the RE:FIT program is retrofitting 680 of the city’s public buildings. Mayor Boris Johnson has said retrofitting is a ‘win/win’. It ‘cuts energy costs ... reduces carbon emissions and stimulates the capital’s burgeoning low-carbon economy, creating jobs and boosting skills’.

Closer to home, the 1200 Buildings Program in Melbourne is expected to cut 383,000 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions a year, drive A$2 billion of private sector reinvestment, and deliver a ‘green gold rush’ of 8000 jobs.

Retrofitting for resilience makes sense. What Australia needs is consistent legislation and planning policies across all state and local government jurisdictions to ensure that we create a more economically, socially and environmentally resilient built environment for all Australians.

The MLC Centre’s interior retrofit.

Image courtesy GPT Group

Company Profile | Company Profile |

Meeting cyclists’ parking needs Cora Bike Rack is a specialised Australian company that designs, manufactures and supplies bicycle parking racks, rails and lockers. As the major supplier to government and business since 1997, Cora Bike Rack has the experience, knowledge and product selection to provide the ultimate end-of-trip bicycle parking facility.

• • • •

Made in Australia EcoSpecifier verified Green Star and AS2890.3 compliant Door-to-door delivery across Australia

Contact Details Cora Bike Rack P: 1800 249 878 F: 1800 249 879 E: sales@cora.com.au W: www.cora.com.au

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he use of bicycles has steadily increased in recent years as the health and environmental benefits of cycling have become more widely accepted.

With state and local governments promoting sustainable transport options and the ability to earn Green Star points, there has become an increased need for bicycle parking and storage facilities.

Bicycle parking facilities for commercial tenants require dedicated parking areas and devices that bicycles can be locked to or secured in. As these basic requirements can add up to a significant expense, it is important to design facilities that will meet the needs of cyclists.

AS2890.3 provides some helpful guidelines in designing safe, secure and convenient bicycle parking facilities. Ideally, bicycle parking areas should be located in the most convenient location for cyclists and close to building entrances or lifts. The parking area should be sheltered from weather, in clear view of the public or under surveillance, and be sufficiently lit at night.

The three classes of acceptable bicycle parking facilities include high-quality bicycle racks, fully enclosed bicycle lockers and secure compounds with secure racks provided.

In determining the appropriate class and quantity of bicycle parking facilities to provide, consideration must be made to the specific application, location and space available.

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| Paints and Coatings

Reflecting on energy efficiency

Daniel Wurm, National Institute of Painting and Decorating

Heat-reflective coatings are one of the most significant and exciting developments in the painting industry. They are the painting industry’s contribution to combating climate change.

I

magine being able to use paint to dramatically increase building energy efficiency, slashing power bills and cutting carbon emissions. Increasing awareness of the effects of climate change is causing consumers and specifiers to look for ways to minimise energy consumption, and cool coatings have the capacity to make a big impact in this regard.

Low Carbon Australia, a company established by the federal government to provide advice and funding to business, government, and the wider community, estimates that retail buildings will save an average of $30,000 per year by installing heat-reflective coatings, with a payback period of an average of 5.3 years. Considering that these paints have a life expectancy of 25 years,

22 • retrofit australia • volume 2 number 2 2013

it’s a pretty cheap way to improve efficiency, with instant results.

Cool coating technology has been developed by several manufacturers to reduce heat build-up in buildings and increase their energy efficiency.

The coatings are usually applied to the exterior surfaces of a

building, and can lower the interior temperature significantly.

These paints and coatings are also increasingly being used to address the need to avoid ‘urban heat build-up’, which contributes to climate change and smog.

Heat-reflective coatings The ability of white to reflect visible light extends into the infra-red, and, because of this, white surfaces remain relatively cool to touch, even in direct sunlight. The converse is true of black and dark colours, which absorb in this infra-red area, resulting in significant

The exponential growth of urban areas has produced what science now calls ‘urban heat islands’, with the major contributing factor being heat-absorbing roofing, walls and pavements.

Paints and Coatings |

It is estimated that in warm climates, using reflective coatings technology can cut a building’s air conditioning energy usage by about 20 per cent.

coating, around 50 per cent of TSR can be achieved. A new, bright white roof surface can reflect up to 65 per cent TSR, and make the building cooler.

It is essential that the coating have dirt pick-up resistance to maintain maximum retention of solar reflectivity.

Using heat-reflective roof coatings, you can achieve up to 90 per cent reflectivity in white, and as much as 30 per cent reflectivity from a dark black or charcoal coating. Different manufacturers’ TSR guarantees range from 10 to 15 years. Fairly new on today’s market, a range of coloured roof coatings is available; each with its own assigned TSR – so it is now possible to use darker colours when you use a reflective paint.

The exponential growth of urban areas has produced what science now calls ‘urban heat islands’, with the major contributing factor being heat-absorbing roofing, walls and pavements. The temperature in the air above the urban heat islands can be as much as 12 degrees higher than the surrounding areas.

Dirt pick-up resistance heat build-up on the surface. As the emissivity of paints is not particularly good, this surface heat is conducted into the substrate and radiated into the building or vehicle.

The human eye can see different colours by selective reflection in the visible region; in other words, we see a red colour because the radiation in the red portion of the visible spectrum is reflected – the remaining radiation in the visible range is more or less absorbed. We cannot see in the infra-red region of the spectrum, so the human eye cannot determine what is going on there by sight, but we can feel the effects of its energy in the form of heat. Nano-ceramic coatings reflect fully 50 per cent of solar energy with a new technology that involves colour-infused nanoceramics that reflect heat by selective reflection of infra-red light

How colour affects performance The heat insulation industry refers to a roof coating’s reflectivity as total solar reflectivity (TSR), which is usually dependent on the roof colour. If one uses very light roof

Environmental contaminants can deface a coating within months of its application. Before long (usually within the first two years of the coating’s life) it will begin to break down and the roof soon becomes non-reflective again, losing up to 40 per cent of its original TSR. This roof, although light or white, will soon reflect only around 10 to 30 per cent of the sun’s heat. So, the balance of 70 per cent of the heat is absorbed into the roof structure and will transfer the heat into the building, and on to its occupants.

Traditionally, light-coloured roofs will keep you slightly cooler, but only for a little while.

If this was a bare roof, or if it had been coated with a darker colour, it would lose so much TSR that it would reflect only three to five per cent – and absorb up to 97 per cent – of radiant heat. Situations like this can result in the roof’s surface temperature reaching around 90 degrees Fahrenheit on a day of strong sunshine.

Urban heat islands

As a result of these higher temperatures, air conditioning costs and power consumption are increased. An alarming result of this excess heat and required increase in energy production for cooling is the high levels of ozone and smog that our cities generate.

Increasing building energy efficiency Many Australian buildings are continually running air conditioning units that are trying to combat the constant heat source coming from the roof. Even thermal (wool/paper/ Air-Cell) insulation in the ceiling will then heat up and hold the heat in the building for hours.

In air-conditioned houses, a reflective roof helps reduce the amount of heat that reaches the inside of the house, reducing the need for air conditioning. In houses without air conditioning, a reflective roof keeps the house more comfortable on hot days.

Section J of the Building Code Australia deals with energy efficiency. The objective of Section J is ‘to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by efficiently using energy’. Products that comply with this Code can replace or supplement building insulation. retrofit australia • volume 2 number 2 2013 • 23

| Paints and Coatings

Reduce cooling costs Potential savings: 20 per cent of a building’s annual energy use It is estimated that in warm climates, using reflective coatings technology can cut a building’s air conditioning energy usage by about 20 per cent. While cool roofs significantly reduce a building’s cooling load in most climate zones around the world, they can also increase heating costs in winter months by reflecting solar heat back into the air instead of absorbing it as other roofs do. But the energy savings in warm months typically greatly outweigh the extra costs in winter, since less of the sun’s heat reaches the earth in winter.

Offsetting carbon emissions More pale surfaces could also slow global warming by reflecting heat into space rather than allowing it to be absorbed by dark surfaces, where it is trapped by greenhouse gases and increases temperatures.

It takes about 10 square metres of reflective roof to offset one metric tonne of carbon dioxide. Globally, roofs account for about 25 per cent of the surface of most cities, and pavement accounts for about 35 per cent. Even without cutting industrial pollution from current levels, installing reflective roofs and pavements could offset more than 10 years of emissions growth. If the 100 largest cities in the world replaced their dark roofs with heat-reflective colours, and their asphalt-based roads with concrete or other lightcoloured material, they could offset 44 metric gigatonnes (billion tonnes) of greenhouse gases. That amounts to more greenhouse gas than the entire human population emits in one year. The strategy could also offset the growth in carbon dioxide 24 • retrofit australia • volume 2 number 2 2013

If the 100 largest cities in the world replaced their dark roofs with heatreflective colours, and their asphaltbased roads with concrete or other light-colored material, they could offset 44 metric gigatonnes (billion tonnes) of greenhouse gases. emissions, which account for about 75 per cent of greenhouse gases, for the next 10 years.

Painting a typical house roof in Australia with heat-reflective coatings can offset approximately 18 tonnes of greenhouse gases, in addition to the carbon saved by reduced cooling energy costs.

The reduction in electricity use has the added benefit of reducing power plant carbon dioxide emissions. We each produce 11 tonnes of carbon a year. The biggest source of CO2 emissions per person is from heating and cooling. For every one degree that the thermostat is reduced, 25 kilograms of CO2 is offset.

Reduced maintenance costs Heat generated by solar radiation from the sun, as well as moisture, are the two main contributing factors that accelerate the degradation of exterior coatings.

Cool coatings have increased durability and life expectancy compared with conventional paints, because they remain cooler. This results in a performance increase of 400 per cent when compared to standard acrylic paints.

Heat-reflective technology will increasingly be in demand with building designers who are keen to lower the carbon footprints of their projects. Consumers and building managers are also realising the benefits of heat-reflective coatings as power bills dramatically rise, and we look for new ways to save money on cooling our buildings.

The GreenPainters program is the national sustainability initiative of the National Institute of Painting and Decorating. Over 450 painting contractors across Australia have been trained to provide advice on heat-reflective coatings.

See the website www.greenpainters.org.au for more information.

Company Profile | Company Profile |

Desso: beyond expectations Desso’s commercial and consumer carpets first to be Cradle to Cradle CertifiedCM Version 3.0.

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esso, the European carpet and sports pitches company, reached a new milestone as its commercial and consumer carpet products became the first in the world to be certified under Version 3.0 of the Cradle to Cradle Certified Product Standard administered by the Cradle to Cradle Products Innovation Institute. A substantial part of Desso’s commercial carpet tile range as well as commercial and consumer broadloom carpets have achieved Cradle to Cradle Certified Bronze.

Companies currently certified under Cradle to Cradle Version 2.1.1 must start to make the transition to the more advanced 3.0 version, launched in January 2013. In Version 3.0, a new Bronze level has been

added to create a more logical progression for product optimisation.

‘We are pleased to be the first company to be awarded certification under Version 3.0, which will continue to help us create products that contribute to people’s health and wellbeing, and are positive to the environment,’ says Alexander Collot d’Escury, CEO of Desso.

The official certificates were handed over by Roy Vercoulen, Vice President Europe of the Cradle to Cradle Products Innovation Institute to d’Escury and his team.

‘At the Products Innovation Institute, we are delighted to see Desso, one of the first movers with Certified Cradle to Cradle products, make the transition to the latest

version of the standard. We value Desso’s commitment to make products that are positive to human health and the environment,’ says Bridgett Luther, President of the Institute.

Desso products are available in Australia through The Gibbon Group.

Contributing to Better Workplace Environments

The Floor is Yours

Desso a Cradle to Cradle® Company.

Desso goes beyond your expectations...

Improved Acoustics & Comfort •

DESSO SoundMaster® backing

Improved Indoor Air Quality •

DESSO AirMaster® carpet tile

Outstanding Environmental Leadership •

Cradle to Cradle® the design philosophy that goes beyond sustainability

Gibbon Group are the Australian & New Zealand Distributors for Desso Business Carpets. www.gibbongroup.com.au

1

Exhibitors at Total Facilities Live 2013

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| Company Profile | Company Profile

The world’s most efficient air conditioning The development of Solakool

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he creation of Solakool stemmed from many successful years in solar hot water systems, with over 50,000 units installed Australia-wide. After development over the past five years, with the fourth generation model now fully tested and compliant, Solar Hybrid Air Conditioning is now ready for the market…and more importantly, the market is ready for it.

Domestic Air Conditioning is the single biggest consumer of power What makes Solakool unique?

Solakool’s patented technology achieves up to an 80 per cent reduction in run-time of the compressor.

The role of a traditional compressor is threefold: 1. to circulate refrigerant 2. to increase pressure of the refrigerant 3. to increase temperature of the refrigerant with superheat of compression.

How much can Solakool save?

Solakool’s solar thermal panel replaces the last two functions of a traditional compressor. The panel’s addition means the compressor is only required to operate 20 per cent of the time; the energy stored by the panel is used in its place. The solar thermal panel absorbs UV energy, unlike normal PV solar panels, which allows flexibility in installation as it doesn’t require direct sunlight. Only four hours of daylight is required for 15 hours of operation.

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The use of Ozone Safe R290 refrigerant in place of R410A (hydro-fluorocarbon), achieves an additional 30 per cent efficiency over traditional units. Independent testing has shown that a Solakool 7.2-kilowatt unit will save up to $1504 per year (up to 80 per cent reduction in electricity usage).

Simplicity = Reliability The last thing anyone wants is a product that only lasts its warranty period.

The simplicity of the original air conditioner design has been a thing of the past, variable speed and inverter-controlled compressors have been incorporated to increase efficiency and digital control boards incorporated to run them.

While running at up to 120 per cent of capacity to achieve the desired room temperature, they use 20 per cent more energy than a fixed-speed compressor. They require complex electronic control boards to operate, which is where reliability is affected; these boards can fail up to twice within a five-year period.

Solakool uses patent protected fixedspeed compressors, and the major advantages are: • ozone-safe refrigerant increases efficiency and reduces installation/service costs • gold-plated condenser coils avoid corrosion – they are designed to last 30 years • they use 20 per cent less power when achieving the desired room temperature and then only run for 20 per cent of the time with the use of fixed-speed compressors • general reliability is increased and there are no complex digital control boards.

As units only operate 20 per cent of the time, long-term reliability is also increased. Jagged fan blades offer 10dBA (A-weighted decibels) quieter operation and reduce current draw by 10 per cent. Solakool’s compressor can withstand operating temperatures of -7 to 53 degrees Celsius.

Proudly Australian designed and owned.

| HVAC

Using the sun to cool your building It may seem like an oxymoron, but using the heat and energy of the sun to cool a building is fast becoming a viable option for reducing the environmental impact of air conditioning.

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round the world, solar cooling is taking off as an energy-saving alternative to the electricity-draining air conditioning systems that are largely in use today. In Europe in particular, there has been widespread uptake of the technology, which has gone a long way towards proving the technical viability of solar cooling.

What is solar cooling?

There are two different types of solar cooling.

The first involves integrating solar photovoltaic electricity generation with conventional vapourcompression air conditioning, which can be costly, and its makeup of two separate components renders it not technically a solar system.

The second type of solar cooling is solar thermal cooling, which involves collecting the sun’s heat and converting it into ‘coolness’; this is the area upon which we’ll focus.

There are three main elements of a solar thermal cooling system: heat collection, thermally driven cooling,

28 • retrofit australia • volume 2 number 2 2013

and delivery, and each of these elements has a range of variants.

Solar thermal collectors capture the sun’s heat. Collectors can be a flat plate, air collector, evacuated tube or a parabolic trough (also called a Fresnel collector).

A thermal cooling machine – this could be an absorption chiller, an adsorption chiller or a desiccant cooler – then converts heat to cooling.

Finally, the cold produced is delivered to the application using either chilled water or conditioned air.

A number of combinations of these elements can be used, but no one combination has yet been deemed the best.

Solar cooling in Australia Australia’s environment displays obvious suitability for solar cooling. The majority of the population lives in regions that experience hot summers and relatively mild winters, and demand for air conditioning doubles in summer months. As the demand for

cooling systems is highest at the same time that the sun’s heat is at its peak, it seems a valid option to use that high level of solar heat to address the increased cooling demand.

There are, however, a number of barriers preventing a greater market uptake of solar cooling technology in Australia. The first, and most significant, is economic.

The ubiquitous split-system air conditioner is substantially cheaper to purchase than a residential solar thermal cooling system; homeowners are reluctant to outlay thousands of dollars above the price of a conventional system.

Commercially, the price difference is less marked, and the type of system needed to cool commercial premises is much larger, creating greater economy of scale. As a result, implementation of solar cooling is a viable option for larger premises, including hospitals, hotels, shopping centres and recreational facilities.

Another market barrier is the extreme variability in Australia’s

HVAC |

Despite the number of obstacles that the solar cooling needs to overcome, the past five years have seen rapid growth in interest in the technology.

climatic conditions, which makes it difficult for a standardised solar cooling system to be made available on the Australian market.

Additionally, in a ‘chicken and egg’ scenario, the low number of installed systems in Australia means there is a lack of highly trained professionals specialising in installation and maintenance of solar air conditioning.

Despite the number of obstacles that the solar cooling needs to overcome, the past five years have seen rapid growth in interest in the technology. Recent movements on the Australian solar cooling front show that the built environment industry is taking solar cooling seriously.

The establishment of the Australian Solar Cooling Interest Group – an industry interest group focused on developing the solar cooling industry in Australia – in 2008 foretold the increasing traction of solar cooling technologies in building and sustainability circles.

The group’s aim is to ‘combat climate change by reducing greenhouse gas emissions from the residential and commercial building sectors’, through promotion and recognition of solar cooling, and by educating the sector about the technology, as well as disseminating news and providing a forum for the exchange of ideas.

In May 2013, the Australian Institute of Refrigeration, Air Conditioning and Heating (AIRAH) also launched a Solar Cooling Special Technical Group, whose aim is to draw on global expertise in order to better inform the Australian industry. The group aims to facilitate awareness and development of solar cooling technologies, as well as to foster better communication between constituents.

Dr Steven White, M.AIRAH, CSIRO’s resident solar cooling expert, says, ‘With the AIRAH Solar Cooling STG, the discipline will have some much needed structure … in order to help take solar cooling to the next level.’

Further fuelling the solar cooling movement is the new Interim Standard AS 5389 (Int) – 2013 ‘Solar heating and cooling systems – calculation of energy consumption’, published by Standards Australia in June 2013.

‘This Interim Standard is a world-first and sets out a method of evaluating the annual energy performance of solar cooling and heating systems,’ said Colin Blair, Chief Executive Officer, Standards Australia.

According to Standards Australia, the Interim Standard will facilitate increased market support and consumer confidence in solar cooling technology, as it provides an independent method to verify performance potential.

More broadly, government incentives to reduce energy use in commercial buildings have boosted support for increased research into and installation of solar cooling systems, with organisations striving to claim Renewable Energy Credits and achieve recognition of their sustainability via Green Star and NABERS schemes.

With the race on to find solutions to Australia’s electricity grid issues, solar cooling could well become an integral part of Australia’s energy solution. Given its rapid rise as a viable renewable energy option, the next few years should see solar cooling cement its place as an energy efficiency mainstay of the built environment.

retrofit australia • volume 2 number 2 2013 • 29

| HVAC

Innovation (not pioneering) in air conditioning Simon Fox, Head of Projects and Sustainability, NB Verdigris

As a young development manager, I once presented a concept to a board of directors that I described as ‘pioneering’. The response: ‘Do you know what a pioneer is? It’s the guy lying face-down in the prairie mud with an arrow in his back.’ I haven’t used the word since.

T

he very successful federal government initiative in 2009–2011, the Green Building Fund, was the catalyst for a number of energy efficiency technologies to be tried and tested in the Australian retrofitting market. The initiative encouraged the use of innovative (not pioneering) and preferably Australian technologies. With a number of these projects in which I was involved now at post-12 months completion, I have been able to gauge the success of some of the technology that’s improving sustainability across commercial buildings nationwide.

My company, Napier & Blakeley (NB), successfully raised over $7 million in government grants on behalf of their clients, which included Dexus, Local Government Super, AMP Capital, Aviva and Gowing Bros. The projects ranged from $1 million in value, up to over $6 million for the 6 Star Green Star (target) upgrade at 76 Berry Street, North Sydney. The most successful combination of technologies I found included the following initiatives: • energy efficiency lighting upgrade • new BMS system • outdoor air pre-conditioning, in particular the Shaw Method of Air Conditioning (SMAC)

80 Clarence Street

30 • retrofit australia • volume 2 number 2 2013

• induction VAVs.

HVAC |

On two of NB Verdigris’s recent projects for Aviva Investors, 160 Sussex Street and 80 Clarence Street, Sydney, these four key initiatives were used as part of a retrofitting upgrade.

As shown in the table below, both buildings are small to medium-sized buildings with small floor plates.

The target NABERS Energy rating of 4 stars or more will be an excellent achievement for their size.

There has been plenty of literature on energy efficiency lighting and BMS systems, so I will concentrate on the two lesser-known: the Shaw Method of Air Conditioning, or SMAC, and induction VAVs.

SMAC SMAC was a key upgrade component on a number of NB Verdigris’s projects, including all of Local Government Super’s office portfolio, as well as 160 Sussex Street and 80 Clarence Street for Aviva Investors in Sydney’s CBD. The SMAC process decouples humidity and temperature. Via patented integrated control algorithms provided by SMAC Technologies, it continuously optimises air conditioning energy consumption. Existing ducting and piping can be maintained,

and modification of surrounding infrastructure is minimal.

Outdoor air is introduced into the building via a controlled induction technique. At 160 Sussex Street and 80 Clarence Street, a SMAC outdoor air pre-conditioning unit was installed within each air-handling plant room. The system pre-treats outdoor air that enters the building, providing complementary sensible and latent cooling to better manage space comfort conditions.

The system incorporates control feedback to the chilled water system. Chilled water is generated at elevated temperatures to maximise the performance of the chilled water heat exchangers. Chilled water generated at increased temperatures requires less power input from the compressors. The SMAC units also incorporate velocity air sensing and a variable speed drive to regulate the upper limit of outdoor air entering the building.

Control strategies often overcontrol thermal delivery strategies.

This is typically due to variability in management of space comfort as provided by conventional airconditioning design. Improvements to the simulation of comfort,

modifications of occupant expectations and how service technicians and building managers deal with these expectations can greatly assist with the reduction of energy consumption. The improved technology in thermal zone hardware through SMAC improves the ability for systems to deliver a superior comfort sensation.

To go a step further than the projects at 160 Sussex and 80 Clarence, CO2 sensors could be installed within the occupied space.

These sensors would provide an opportunity to regulate the amount of outside air entering the building.

During low occupancy, outdoor air could be reduced.

Installation of the SMAC upgrade is relatively simple. For these projects, existing contractors were maintained and required no additional skill or training. A key benefit to using SMAC in an energy efficiency retrofit is that upgrading, modifying and replacing air conditioning can be carried out in an occupied building. This maintains workplace productivity and minimises disruption.

Building

80 Clarence

160 Sussex

NLA

5700 m2

8400 m2

Floors

12 + Ground

12 + Ground

Floor plate size

430–460 m2

620–670 m2

Original NABERS

1 Star

2 Star

Target NABERS

4 Star

4 Star 5 Star (when chillers replaced)

Project Cost

$1,300,000 (including chiller)

$1,600,000

Cost/m

$228/m $140/m2 (including grant)

$190/m2

2

2

retrofit australia • volume 2 number 2 2013 • 31

| HVAC

The key benefits of SMAC, as provided by SMAC Technologies (www.smactech.com), are that it:

the existing VAV boxes with new VAV boxes, they were replaced with induction VAV (IVAV) boxes.

• permits higher space temperature set point; up to ASHRAE peak 26 degrees Celsius and 57 per cent relative humidity (°C/%rh)

IVAV boxes provide improved space air circulation and improved turndown ratios. The induction airflow harvest energy from the ceiling void provides an alternative source of zone heating. This recycled use of energy reduces overall energy consumption from the chilled water system and therefore energy costs.

• at all times optimises chiller(s) through higher chilled water temperature • only dehumidifies as necessary • reduces or eliminates reheat for: * variable air volume systems * close temperature and humidity control applications * chilled ceilings.

• reduces fan energy for: * constant volume systems * variable air volume systems • reduces cooling tower water and chemical usage • reduces peak electrical demand.

• fully complements (applicability): * chilled ceiling technologies * constant volume * underfloor air displacement (UFAD) * variable air volume, standard or induction * conventional outdoor air economy cycle * CO2 regulation and control * peak electrical load management.

Induction Variable Air Volume (IVAV) At 160 Sussex Street and 80 Clarence Street, the Variable Air Volume (VAV) boxes were reaching the end of their economic lives. Rather than replacing

32 • retrofit australia • volume 2 number 2 2013

For heating, the induction process permits a wider turndown ratio without compromising airflow distribution patterns at local slot diffusers. The induction air stream utilises warmth within the return air system to exaggerate the temperature turndown capabilities. This has the effect of reducing the requirement for a primary energy reheat strategy and reduces the demand on the primary cooling airflow.

Barcol (www.barcol-air.nl) is one supplier of Induction VAVs. Barcol has a rectangular low-height VAV terminal with integral sound attenuator. This unit can be used with normal or low-temperature primary air temperatures (eight degrees Celsius upwards). The unit operates as a standard VAV unit, but is capable of inducing void air to mix with primary air to give supply air temperatures of 12 degrees Celsius or more.

The induction effect allows a primary turndown ratio to 25 per cent, thus giving even more energy savings to the system all year round.

Standard diffusers can be used due to the induction effect ‘creating’ higher secondary air volumes, thus eliminating diffuser dumping. With no fan and no filters, this system is by far the best VAV system, with the least maintenance.

The benefits of Induction VAVs (as provided by Barcol Australia) are: • they ‘induce’ mixing of room air with primary air to reduce diffuser dumping • they eliminate the need for fanpowered boxes • they maximise comfort due to proper air circulation • they support the use of ultra-low supply air temperatures • their enhanced design allows operation at low inlet pressures (0.6-inch static versus 1.5 to 2-inch static) • single actuator design versus multiple slaved actuators and linkage • high-velocity turbulent mixing air chamber eliminates condensation worries • precision DDC control strategies • option of various combinations of controls and reheat coils factory fitted, tested and calibrated.

The end result will be known in the coming few months as followup NABERS Energy assessments are carried out. The target is to reduce energy consumption by up to 50 per cent on some projects. These technologies are not ‘pioneering’, but rather combine a number of simple tried and tested technologies and ideas. As energy prices increase, the return on investment of these technologies will only continue to improve.

Leading property consultancy firm Napier & Blakeley has been involved in the concept, strategy and delivery of a range of NABERS Energy upgrades of commercial property. In fact, in 2012 they combined their sustainability and projects divisions to form a new business unit that specialises in energy efficiency retrofitting. The business unit is called NB Verdigris, and the author, Simon Fox, is Head of Projects and Sustainability at NB Verdigris.

RAUGEO

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RAUGEO PEX-a U Probe

RAUGEO PEX-a Probe

RAUGEO PE-RC and PE 100 probe

For more information, call (08) 9456 0700 or email perth.admin@rehau.com www.rehau.com

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WaterFurnace geoexchange systems use the clean, renewable energy found in your own backyard to provide savings up to 70% on heating, cooling and hot water. Call GeoExchange today for more information.

Phone: 02 8404 4193

www.geoexchange.com.au

GEOEXCHANGE

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We offer Energy Efficient, full Turn Key Geothermal Solutions that have been designed to work and integrate into new and existing environments.

Our objective is to offer solutions that remove the barrier to implementing new innovative technology into buildings.

John Houdalakis Subthermal Solutions

Mobile: 0406 401 115 Phone: (08) 9466 3181

Email:john.houdalakis@subthermal.com.au www.subthermalsolutions.com.au

| Company Profile | Company Profile

Taking air conditioning underground The MS Society of Western Australia’s Perth headquarters, in Wilson, Western Australia, was performing poorly when it came to energy efficiency. Largely to blame were the various split-system air conditioners installed throughout the building, which were the first building elements to be addressed when changes were implemented.

29

Parkhill Way, Wilson, serves as home to both the main administration function of the MS Society of Western Australia (MSWA), and as a service facility for member services. The site houses physiotherapy, massage, the Outreach Group, support groups and programs, immunotherapy training and follow-up support, and hosts a number of seminars.

According to MSWA, the design and positioning of its administration building had always been problematic in terms of achieving energy efficiency, so they commissioned an energy efficiency audit of the Wilson site. The results identified the following energy consumption concerns:

X 34••RETROFIT retrofitAUSTRALIA australia••VOLUME volume22NUMBER number222013 2013

• the design and positioning of the building required oversized air conditioning systems, therefore power use was excessive and the system was failing due to age and constant use • individual split systems replaced the failed HVAC, further exacerbating the incurred power costs.

It was recommended that an energy-efficient centralised system be retrofitted.

The audit report stated: ‘The MSWA head office (administration section) space heating and cooling requirements are currently being met by 10 splitsystem air conditioning systems of various makes and models.

These 10 separate systems can be replaced by one central subthermal (utilising geothermal techniques/ engineering) energy-efficient air conditioning system.’

The report investigated the energy efficiency issues with these 10 separate systems, and outlined the current costs compared with the predicted savings: ‘Based on the existing splitsystem air conditioning units, the costs and savings associated with an energy-efficient air conditioning system upgrade at MSWA Head Office (admininstration section) is as follows: • Estimated current annual air conditioning operating costs = $9807.91

Company Profile | Company Profile |

• Centralised air conditioning system upgrade estimated annual operating savings = $6702.07 (14.8 tonnes of CO2e)

associated electrical services, thus mitigating the risk and assisting MS Western Australia by providing a tailored solution to meet their needs.

• Centralised air conditioning system upgrade indicative costs = $120,000 ($60,000 with CEEP funding)

Subthermal Solutions contracted key partners REHAU (the largest loop field product supplier in the world) for assistance with the ground loop design and verification of the design to ensure it met the scope, and GeoExchange, who confirmed the design and provided the Water Furnace Geothermal HVAC system, which is a leading edge solution. This is the first commercial geothermal installation in Western Australia.

• Simple payback period = 17.9 years (without CEEP) or 8.95 years (with CEEP).’

MS Western Australia’s investigation of the currently available energy-efficient HVAC systems identified geothermal as the least expensive to operate and maintain, and that a reduction in expenditure of up to 50 per cent could be achieved.

Geothermal HVAC involves a central heating and/or cooling system that pumps heat to or from the ground. It uses the earth as a heat source in winter, or a heat sink in summer, leveraging nature’s thermodynamics to aid in reduction of energy usage in a building’s heating and cooling systems.

Heat pumps can transfer heat from a cool space to a warm space, against the natural direction of flow, or they can enhance the natural flow of heat from a warm area to a cool one. They have been declared the most energyefficient, environmentally clean and cost-effective space conditioning systems available.

MS Western Australia wanted one company that could provide an energy solution that met their needs (essentially a one-stop shop that could provide a turnkey solution). Subthermal Solutions are International Ground Source Heat Pump Association (IGSHPA) accredited, and they engineered and designed the geothermal loop and

As a result of Subthermal Solutions’ involvement and collaboration with their partners, the project went seamlessly, was completed on budget and on time, and exceeded the expectations of the MS Society of Western Australia.

The Society has applied for further funding for geothermal energy projects, and this project validates the approach of the Community Energy Efficiency Program (CEEP), which is funded by the federal government to deliver innovative projects. This project with the MS Society of Western Australia is an example of a very successful energy solution that can be independently verified.

Post-assessment of the project revealed the following conclusions:

Project summary The project has been successful, and was completed on time and on budget. The following achievements were made: • The project has exceeded the projected energy savings.

• The system is quieter (does not interfere with staff activities).

• The programmability of the

system prevents operation outside working requirements.

• The pilot has been deemed a success by the MS Society of Western Australia and the Department of Climate Change and Energy Efficiency, and an article was published by the Department in a previous edition of Retrofit Australia magazine, which featured the success of this project.

• The MS Society of Western Australia has applied for Round 2 Community Energy Efficiency Program funding to now incorporate the majority of the site, and the therapeutic swimming pool.

About Subthermal Solutions Subthermal Solutions is a market leader in the design, supply and installation of geothermal environmental control systems. By using the renewable energy reserves of the earth itself, it is possible to heat and cool your home and office, or virtually any building or enclosed space in a clean and costeffective way. At Subthermal Solutions, the team specialises in engineering systems to heat and cool challenging projects such as commercial premises, warehouses and swimming pools. With many industry-leading manufacturers as partners, they provide solutions that offer many advantages.

RETROFITaustralia AUSTRALIA••volume VOLUME22number NUMBER222013 2013••35 Y retrofit

| Company Profile | Company Profile

Seeley international climate wizard –indirect evaporative retrofit component for rooftop packaged air-conditioning units Climate Wizard air conditioning is a breakthrough technology that is changing the way the industry – and the world – looks at air conditioning. With an ever-increasing focus on costs and environmental impact, Climate Wizard’s revolutionary approach slashes up to 80 per cent off the power costs of traditional (refrigerated) air conditioning and uses only water as a natural refrigerant.

T

his technology could mean the end of peak power issues in hot weather, as Climate Wizard’s energy efficiency is many times greater than refrigerated systems and does not require additional power to cool as temperatures rise, unlike refrigerated systems.

‘With the capability to deliver superior cooling at a fraction of the cost of traditional methods without adding any moisture, we knew Climate Wizard was a groundbreaking product,’ says Founder and Executive Chairman of Seeley International, Mr Frank Seeley AM. Climate Wizard offers the best of both worlds – cooling capacity that rivals refrigerated systems, but energy efficiency similar to traditional direct evaporative cooling. It can be used in existing or new buildings, on its own or in conjunction with refrigerated systems to reduce costs and plant requirements.

‘Compared with refrigerated systems, Climate Wizard uses no synthetic refrigerants, so it significantly reduces environmental impact. Plus, using Climate Wizard in conjunction with refrigerated systems can extend their useful life and reduce the service and maintenance costs of the existing refrigeration infrastructure,’ says Jon Seeley, Executive Director – Climate Wizard.

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A recent installation at Venita Rhea restaurant in California, where Climate Wizard was applied in conjunction with three small refrigerated packaged air conditioners, demonstrated a 63 per cent reduction in input power. Climate Wizard behaved as an extended air side economiser.

The Climate Wizard was able to carry the full load for outside temperatures up to approximately 26 degrees Celsius, so the package units ran less frequently and only during the hottest hours. The Climate Wizard had a very high evaporative efficiency that produced the supply air temperature to well below wet bulb temperature, even when the ambient dry bulb temperature was above 35 degrees Celsius.

An ongoing focus on innovation and development of the multi-award

winning Climate Wizard has secured another prestigious victory for Seeley International, with the company announced as the winner in the Innovation category for the Australian Business Awards 2013. Previously, Climate Wizard has won the 2013 World Ag Expo Top 10 New Products Competition, the prestigious 2010 Product Excellence Award at the ARBS (Air Conditioning, Refrigeration and Building Services) Industry Awards, was crowned ‘Energy Efficient product of the year’ at the Greenplumbers awards in October 2009, and was winner in the 2011 Australian International Design Awards.

Due to unprecedented demand, a residential model is undergoing design and development, and will be launched as soon as field trials have been completed.

In this installation, Climate Wizard was retrofitted to a Californian restaurant and dramatically reduced their air conditioning operating costs.

Air quality that equals refrigerated air conditioning with up to 80% power savings!

Use Climate Wizard to reduce energy consumption of existing air conditioning systems by pre-cooling all of the required outside air before it enters the refrigeration plant – a solution named Cold Front Cooling.

• Easily retrofitted to existing air conditioning plant for immediate running cost and energy savings, and relieving the load from the plant.

• Total cooling capacity of Climate Wizard increases with ambient temperature, in contrast to the refrigerated air conditioning, where the capacity decreases with increasing outside temperature.

• In some climates the hot return air can be pre-cooled by Climate Wizard to further add to the energy saving advantages of Climate Wizard.

climatewizard.com.au

Cool dry air Warm moist exhaust air

Hot outside air

"# !

CW

," !

Warm air

AC

Climate Wizard installed in front of an air conditioning system to provide Cold Front Cooling.

| Company Profile | Company Profile

Cut costs and carbon the easy way with the Brightgreen Retrofit range

R

etrofitting with Brightgreen LED lighting is one of the easiest, most effective ways to cut costs and carbon. We offer a range of top-quality retrofit products, from downlights and incandescent bulb replacements to tracklights and shoplighters. Specifically tailored for retrofitting, they’re compatible with existing transformers, dimmers and halogen ceiling fittings so there’s no need for major structural changes – or even an electrician.

By choosing Brightgreen, you also take the stress out of meeting legal requirements for light level and efficiency. Every product in our retrofit range matches the light output of its halogen counterpart, so you can simply replace each existing halogen and still get the same level of brightness. Our LEDs have lifespans of up to 70,000 hours, or roughly 30 years (as confirmed by independent NATA testing). For extra peace of

mind, they’re also covered by a three-year warranty.

Brightgreen lights top industry efficacy charts at up to 72 lumens per watt, and run on 80 per cent less power than halogens. This makes it much easier to meet the BCA regulations of five watts per square metre. The money saved on power means these lights pay for themselves: the DR700, for example, has a payback time of around six months if used for 12 hours a day. Visit our retrofit calculator at brightgreen.com or download the Brightgreen app to calculate your own payback period, power savings and carbon savings.

Because the DR700 is one of the higher-quality halogen replacements, it has been approved for use in stateregulated carbon-trading schemes, like VEET in Victoria and ESS in New South Wales. This means your savings may be even greater. We

These are just some of the products available in the Brightgreen Retrofit range.

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work with a number of accredited VEET and ESS partners: you can find your nearest stockist by visiting brightgreen.com.

Brightgreen LEDs also feature a unique inbuilt thermal monitoring system to cope with our hot Aussie climate: if they overheat, the lights automatically dim. This prolongs LED life and drastically reduces the risk of fire. Brightgreen lights don’t emit UV and are free from lead and mercury, which are found in CFLS and other LEDs respectively. This makes them safe to use and safe to recycle.

Find out more about the Brightgreen Retrofit range by visiting brightgreen.com.

YEAR WARRANTY

| Lighting

Lighting controls Bryan Douglas, CEO, Lighting Council Australia

Modern lighting controls have great potential to save energy in the built environment. While much of the excitement in the lighting industry centres on LEDs, a quiet revolution is also occurring with lighting controls. In fact, LEDs, more than any other lighting technology, rely on lighting controls to take full advantage of their potential.

A

What are lighting controls? lighting control system consists of a device that controls electric lighting .and devices, alone or as part of a daylight harvesting system, for a public, commercial or residential building or property.

Lighting control systems are used for working, aesthetic and security illumination for interior and exterior lighting. They are often part of sustainable architecture and lighting design for integrated green building energy conservation programs.

Lighting control systems, with an embedded processor or industrial computer device, usually include one or more portable or mounted keypad or touchscreen console interfaces, and can include mobile phone operation. These control interfaces provide users with the ability to remotely toggle (on-off) power to individual or groups of lights (as well as ceiling fans and other devices), operate dimmers and pre-program space lighting levels.

40 • retrofit australia • volume 2 number 2 2013

Component

Sensing Device

Logic Circuit

Power Controller

Function

Provides information to logic circuit

Decides whether to supply lighting, and how much

Changes the output of the lighting system

Lighting control systems, with an embedded processor or industrial computer device...can include mobile phone operation.

Lighting control systems contain three components linked by communication wiring, which is used to transmit control signals, and power wiring, which supplies power.

What energy savings are available from lighting controls?

A rigorous study commissioned by the United States Department of

Energy in 20111 estimated average lighting energy savings potential in respect of the following lighting controls strategies: • Occupancy controls 24% • Daylighting controls 28% 1 Lighting Controls in Commercial Buildings, Leukos Vol 8 No3 January 2012

Lighting |

Given the significant energy savings available, it is perhaps time that our government added lighting controls to its other strategies when targeting energy savings from lighting.

• Personal tuning2 31% • Institutional tuning2 36% • Multiple approaches 38% Savings identified in the same study from lighting controls in various building types are as follows (blank cells indicate insufficient data to be conclusive):

Building Type

Occupancy

Daylighting

Personal Tuning

Institutional Tuning

Multiple Types

Office

22%

27%

35%

36%

40%

Warehouse

31%

28%

-

-

-

Accommodation

45%

-

-

-

-

Education

18%

29%

6%

-

34%

Retail (other than shopping malls)

-

29%

-

60%

-

Healthcare inpatient

-

-

-

-

35%

Public assembly

36%

36%

-

-

-

Healthcare outpatient

23%

-

-

-

-

Researchers have been quantifying energy savings from lighting controls in commercial buildings for more than 30 years; however, until this work, no comprehensive research review of controls studies had been done previously. The value of the research lies in providing a big-picture understanding of the opportunities presented by lighting controls, untainted by the individual studies performed previously, which have had different goals, methods, coverage and results.

2 ‘Tuning’ in this context refers to dimming controls.

The researchers conclude: The results of this meta-analysis, viewed in aggregate, provide strong evidence that currently available lighting controls strategies can and do provide significant lighting energy savings in commercial building applications. This finding has significant implications for energy policy.

There is no reason to believe that the savings identified in the United States study would be materially different in Australia. The conclusions suggest that the Australian Government would do well to consider a prominent role for lighting controls in its energy policy strategy.

Given the significant energy savings available, it is perhaps time that our

government added lighting controls to its other strategies when targeting energy savings from lighting.

Lighting controls and LEDs The authors of the US Department of Energy study referred to above based their research mainly on fluorescent technology. They point out that LEDs are an inherently low-voltage source that can be more cost-effectively dimmed over a wider range than incumbent technologies, and are therefore more amenable to control strategies.

All evidence therefore suggests that lighting controls will play a central role as we transition to solid state lighting.

retrofit australia • volume 2 number 2 2013 • 41

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

ENVIROLITE PROVIDES ENERGY PERFORMANCE CONTRACT FOR FIRST ENVIRONMENTAL UPGRADE AGREEMENT IN NSW _________________________________________________________

In December 2012, Parramatta City Council made history by signing the first Environmental Upgrade Agreement (EUA) in NSW.

_______________________________________________________________

Government Property NSW acting on behalf of 13 NSW Government tenants initiated the Agreement with Australian Unity Investments who owns the building at 10 Valentine Avenue Parramatta.

Envirolite Pty Ltd was selected to provide the lighting design solution for the project, carry out the installation works and guarantee energy savings under an Energy Performance Contract.

Mr Turnbull said that utilising the highly efficient E1 Lighting fixtures in conjunction with the CP Electronics programmable sensors provided great versatility for maximising energy savings.

Envirolite was selected to guarantee energy savings under an Energy Performance Contract for a full lighting Upgrade to the building that was completed in early 2013.

The lighting design provided by Envirolite incorporates the use of E1 Lighting fixtures for general office lighting with dimmable fittings utilised in closed offices and meeting rooms controlled by programmable CP Electronics sensors. Brightgreen LED down lights provides the solution for corridor lighting.

The plug and play cabling system used with the sensors also assisted in reducing installation costs as well as providing flexibility to accommodate any future adjustments that may result from refurbishments or changes in the office layouts.

The upgrade, which has vastly improved the quality of the office spaces, will also save the tenants around 70% on their lighting bills. This is valued in the region of $130,000 per year.

GE High Efficiency Watt Miser lamps were chosen for use in the The building owner is recovering 43% 1x26W T5 E1 Lighting fixtures of the upgrade costs through EUA because of their long lamp life and contributions being made by low lumen depreciation.

Government Property NSW. These contributions are less than the energy Chief Executive Officer for Envirolite, Mr Allan Turnbull said savings the tenants are enjoying. that he was delighted that his Both parties were very happy with the company had been selected to provide the lighting upgrade for the outcome. first Environmental Upgrade This project additionally qualified for Agreement in NSW. We were ‘white certificates’ issued under the instrumental in delivery of the NSW Energy Savings Scheme. These lighting solution for the first Energy certificates reduced the upfront project Performance Contract in Victoria.

Also being involved with the first cost by $156,000.

EUA in NSW is a great honour and testament to our ability to deliver highly effective and cost efficient lighting solutions for existing high rise buildings

Envirolite developed this solution for use at the iconic Rialto Towers in Melbourne where it provides an operational illumination power density less than 4 watts per square metre and it is now available for installation in other buildings.

Installation works in fully occupied buildings are completed by Envirolite outside of normal business hours without disruption to normal business practices.

For more information contact: Envirolite Pty Ltd info@envirolite.com.au or phone: +61 2 9540 3302

_______________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________________________ HOW DO EUAS WORK? Environmental Upgrade Agreements (EUAs) enable the financing of large capital upgrade works to existing commercial buildings that result in energy, water or other environmental savings. The replacement of older equipment such as air conditioning, lift systems or lighting fixtures are ideal candidates for EUAs. EUA finance provides upfront capital that is highly accessible, at competitive costs and with a fixed interest rate and longer terms (up to 10 years) In addition the legislation allows property owners to share the cost of the upgrades with their tenants, where the tenant enjoys savings from reduced energy or water costs. These tenant contributions can be used to service the loan, significantly improving the return on investment.

Building Details

Environmental and Social Benefits Environmental Benefit

Building Address

10 Valentine Ave, Parramatta

Building area

~16,000m²

Contributes to lower peak demand

Building owner

Australian Unity Investments

Recycling of all 19 tonnes of materials removed from site

Tenant

Government Property NSW acting on behalf of 13 NSW Government agencies

EUA Details December 2012

EUA details

First EUA in NSW First EUA in Australia with tenant contributions Replacement of all original tenancy light fittings with energy efficient E1 Lighting Brightgreen LED lighting for corridors CP Electronics motion sensors installed to all single offices, meeting rooms and closed spaces Guaranteed energy savings from Envirolite under an energy performance contract

Energy Savings Certificates Terms of EUA finance

Local Sydney manufactured E1 Lighting, lowering transport impact and creating local employment

Tenant Benefits

Date signed

Scope of upgrade works

Social Benefit

550 tonnes CO2-e mitigated per annum

6 week installation period Energy Savings Certificates reduced cost of upgrades by $156,000 5 years

Tenant energy Savings

Tenant saves $130,000 in Year 1 (70% energy reduction)

Tenant EUA contributions Tenant financial benefit (during existing lease)

Tenant contributes $110,000 per annum ($6.90 per m² per annum) Tenant better off by $20,000 in year 1 increasing to $80,000 in Year 3 The tenant additionally enjoys reduced maintenance costs for the Envirolite 3 year warranty period of the light fittings

Tenant financial benefit at end of EUA term

At the end of the EUA term the tenant will enjoy the full savings of the 70% lowered lighting electricity costs without any contributions This is projected to save the tenants $200,000 a year at this point

Additional benefits

Improved office environment Reduced operating costs. No capital outlay No disruption to office operation as all works carried out after hours.

Building Owner Benefits Capital costs reduced by tenant contributions

Tenants will contribute 43% of upgrade costs (over the 3.5 year lease term)

Additional benefits

Access to EUA finance (accessible, competitive cost, fixed interest rate, longer term) Ownership of lighting fixtures provides the potential for tax benefits Positive tenant engagement with potential for improved tenant retention Improved building amenity Reduced building heat load. Potential for improved NABERS rating Diversification of finance

For further information contact: Envirolite Pty Ltd: info@envirolite.com.au or +61 2 9540 3302 __________________________________________________________________________________________________

| Lighting

Planning and executing a commercial lighting upgrade Steven Beletich, Beletich Associates

Lighting represents a substantial proportion of our electricity use, and therefore accounts for a significant chunk of Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions.

Fortunately, lighting is easily the most straightforward target for achieving costeffective energy savings, primarily because light luminaires are relatively easy to swap out.

T

his is not to say that lighting efficiency upgrades can be undertaken on a whim.

Good results require some planning and understanding of what makes an efficient and high-performing lighting system. The macro-level factors that affect the efficiency of the system are the lamp technology (incandescent, halogen, fluorescent, HID, LED, et cetera); the ballast/transformer technology (magnetic, electronic); the photometric performance of the luminaire; the layout of the lights; and the type of control system fitted, if any.

44 • retrofit australia • volume 2 number 2 2013

Lighting |

In a fluorescent lighting system, the ballast plays an important role in the overall energy efficiency of the system. Magnetic ballasts exhibit significantly higher heat losses than electronic – typically around eight watts (W) per lamp – whereas an electronic ballast will lose around one watt as heat. The electronic ballast also runs the lamp at high frequency, and the physics of the lamp dictates that the lamp emits around 10 per cent more light than when running on a magnetic ballast at low frequency.

Combining these efficiency advantages with a high-performance luminaire, such as one with a mirrored reflector and louvred

A secondary benefit that is often overlooked when assessing a lighting efficiency upgrade is the effect that the lighting system has on the building’s air conditioning system. diffuser (as opposed to a powdercoated reflector and prismatic diffuser), makes it relatively straightforward to change from a twin 36-watt lamp magnetic-ballast ‘T8’ luminaire to a single 28-watt lamp electronic-ballast ‘T5’ luminaire. The total luminaire power drops from around 88 W to approximately

29 W. If the luminaires are spaced on a standard 2.4-metre by 1.8-metre ceiling grid, the incumbent lighting power density (total lighting power divided by floor area) = 88 W ÷ (2.4 m x 1.8 m) = 20 W/m2. This drops to around 7 W/m2 when the T5 luminaires are installed.

continued over page

With 80% energy savings over traditional lighting can your business afford not to switch to LED? Verbatim can work with you on a retrofit LED lighting solution for your business.

Call Verbatim on 03 9790 8999 or email: info@verbatim.com.au

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retrofit australia • volume 2 number 2 2013 • 45

| Lighting

The business case for this upgrade is very decent, even before subsidies from energy efficiency certificate schemes. Single T5 luminaires can be installed for around $85. Based on an annual operating time of 3000 hours and a marginal electricity cost of 18 cents, the upgrade delivers an internal rate of return (IRR) of 36 per cent over a 10-year project life.

The initial capital outlay is returned 3.7 times over this period. The ‘payback’ of this project is 2.7 years, but this unsophisticated measure of project financial performance is less than ideal.

The addition of control systems will further benefit the project, essentially by influencing the amount of time the lights are on, rather than their power consumption. Control systems can be highly cost-effective – automatically switching off lights when they are not needed is, quite frankly, a no-brainer, or should be.

Control systems can include such elements as presence detection, daylight dimming, timers, building management systems and the like; however, any control system must be well commissioned. It must suit and be well liked by the occupants, so that they are not tempted to override the system or install incandescent desk lamps to compensate for poor lighting. The control system must work effectively and continue to do so.

A secondary benefit that is often overlooked when assessing a lighting efficiency upgrade is the effect that the lighting system has on the building’s air conditioning system. The waste heat generated by inefficient lights is extracted by the air conditioning system. If the cooling system has a coefficient of performance (COP) of three, then each kWh of heat generated

46 • retrofit australia • volume 2 number 2 2013

by the lighting system places 0.33 kWh of electrical burden on the air conditioning system. Air conditioning systems in most parts of Australia are cooling buildings more often than heating, thus lighting systems do place a net load on the air conditioning system.

Any lighting system installed should meet the Australian Standard for lighting design, which is AS/NZS 1680. The two key requirements of this Standard are that the lighting system meets minimum requirements for maintained illuminance (lux), and uniformity of illuminance (the variation of illuminance over the space). Other requirements of the Standard are to do with glare – ensuring that lighting does not cause glare problems for occupants. The lamp colour temperature is also important (warmth or coolness of light), as well as its colour rendering index (its ability to faithfully reproduce colours). The lighting designer must also compensate for the inherent ‘lumen depreciation’ of lamps, as well as luminaires (due to dirtying of reflectors and diffusers). Thus, caution should be exercised when measuring the lux levels of an old lighting system versus a new lighting system. The new system should overcompensate the light levels by at least 25 per cent.

As was hinted earlier, the business case for any lighting upgrade is a critical part of getting the project off the ground. Clients, decisionmakers and company boards need to be convinced that projects are financially viable.

The energy efficiency industry comprises more technical people than financial, and thus the unsophisticated financial metric that

...the business case for any lighting upgrade is a critical part of getting the project off the ground. gets touted ubiquitously is ‘payback’; however, the use of payback to describe project financial returns suffers from two major problems.

Firstly, it lacks detail. It does not convey significant information about the profitability of the project – it simply tells the decision-maker when the project will first return the initial investment; it does not communicate what occurs after that.

Secondly, the energy efficiency industry, and subsequently its clients, has promulgated an obsession with achieving a payback of ‘less than two years’. As was demonstrated in the case study examined earlier, a payback of 2.7 years is equivalent to an IRR of 36 per cent (analogous to an investment interest rate). Try getting that kind of return from a term deposit. Another useful metric is ‘times money’, which conveys that the project’s initial investment is returned 3.7 times over its life.

These two simple metrics are easily understood by non-financial persons, yet convey significantly more information, and are far more compelling, than payback.

Beletich Associates is an Australian-based consulting firm focused on energy efficiency.

The firm is led by Steven Beletich, an experienced consultant and energy efficiency advocate. www.beletich.com.au

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| Lighting

Organic Response in action

Schools of fish inspire a revolution in lighting control Article provided by Organic Response

Innovations in lighting control technologies are giving rise to a new generation of control systems that are based on patterns of communication found in nature.

K

nown as distributed intelligence, these patterns rely on .individual intelligence as part of a wider network of control, much like a school of fish in which each fish simply observes its immediate environment and neighbouring fish in order to make independent decisions, rather than relying on a central point of command.

In a lighting control context, distributed intelligence, which is the separation of system components from a central control/command module, moves lighting control technology in a completely new direction to that of the addressable 48 • retrofit australia • volume 2 number 2 2013

systems that have dominated the lighting control sector over the last few years.

Addressable systems have faced complexity of installation and commissioning since their inception, particularly in retrofit environments where existing infrastructure often presents an obstacle to cost-effective rewiring.

Additionally, addressable systems require centralised network control and the ability to identify and communicate with each of the system’s components in order to function, as well as extensive maps of sensors, light fittings and associated equipment, and customised control software. All of this undermines the system’s ability to perform its core function – switching on the right lights at the right level when required, and switching them off again when no longer needed – as simply as possible.

In contrast, within a distributed intelligence system, individual system components make their own decisions based on information available in their immediate vicinity, rather than on commands from a central control module. Crucially, these components need no knowledge of their neighbours’ identities, nor a map of the layout, thereby paving the way for a simple lighting system architecture that offers substantial advantages when it comes to new buildings and retrofit scenarios.

Melbourne-based business Organic Response is the first company to develop a fully distributed intelligence-based lighting control system. Each component of the Organic Response system is stand-alone, both mechanically and electrically. Although all components make all decisions at a local level, all the lights in a defined space act together as a robust, elegant, integrated system.

Fundamental to the system is the fact that each light fixture comes with its own integrated sensor node.

The sensor node comprises a motion sensor, an ambient light sensor, an infra-red transmitter and an infra-red receiver that enables proximitylimited wireless communication between the fixtures.

Lighting |

The immediate benefit of having all hardware and intelligence already integrated into each light fitting is significant; no wiring is required during installation. Each sensor node starts communicating the moment its light is connected to mains power, responding to occupant motion and sharing information with its neighbours as follows: 1. The moment a sensor node detects occupancy in the form of movement, the luminaire responds by outputting a predetermined light level (for example, 100 per cent). It simultaneously communicates information about occupant location to its neighbouring luminaires, using a level 1 proximity-limited infra-red signal.

2. On receipt of this level 1 signal, the neighbouring sensor nodes respond by outputting a predetermined light level appropriate to an occupant in close vicinity (for example, 80 per cent brightness), and simultaneously relay a level 2 signal to their own neighbours,

Sensor node integrated into luminaire

How Organic Response works

informing them that there is an occupant two light fittings away.

3. This communication propagates rapidly throughout the floor. Each sensor node knows at all times how close the nearest occupant is, and can adjust its light level accordingly.

How Organic Response works The infra-red messages being transmitted from node to node contain real-time, location-specific occupancy information; collectively, this information is what the Organic Response team refers to as the Occupancy Information Cloud (OIC). The OIC delivers crucial occupancy data throughout the system, allowing each node to combine the information with its

local ambient light data to make logical, individual decisions.

Organic Response in action The benefits of distributed intelligence systems like Organic Response go well beyond their plugand-play ease of installation. Because all the control technology is located in the light fitting, there is also no requirement for external infrastructure to be installed and programmed.

Distributed intelligence systems also have built-in redundancy. The sensor nodes have no unique identity or address, which means the system will continue to function if one or more light fittings are removed.

The system is infinitely scalable; additional sensor nodes can join the existing network of luminaires seamlessly the moment they are powered on. Organic Response automatically and intuitively responds to changes in its physical environment without the need for redesign, additional hardware, or programming.

For example, if a large room is partitioned into two separate areas, each area simply begins to operate independently, as sensor nodes only communicate with other sensor nodes that are able to receive their infra-red signals. Or, if two rooms join to create a single, larger room, all Organic Response lights immediately start communicating with each other as part of a larger network.

retrofit australia • volume 2 number 2 2013 • 49

| Lighting

Sensor node

the real-time occupancy information that is continually generated and transmitted via the OIC. While this information is currently used in the Organic Response system to control lighting levels, an approach that integrates the OIC with existing building management systems might be just what facilities managers are looking for in their pursuit of full integration of diverse building systems, such as HVAC, security and computing systems. This could provide all building systems with highly granular real-time occupancy information for a whole floor via a single point on their network.

The high density of sensor nodes means far higher reliability of occupancy detection, substantially reducing those occasions when lights turn off while occupants are working underneath them. Compared to the physically defined fixed zones that are controlled by addressable systems, the zones of a distributed intelligence system are dynamic, following occupant movement within a given space.

Distributed intelligence systems achieve significant energy savings.

The Organic Response system allows each individual luminaire to be set to an optimal maximum light level, so that the amount of light provided for occupants is relevant to their location and activities. Lights not directly servicing working spaces (such as corridor lights or lights in transition areas) can be trimmed to lower lumen outputs and shorten dwell times. An Arup evaluation of an Organic Response installation in the Commonwealth Bank head office in Sydney reported that these, and other, features of the distributed intelligence

50 • retrofit australia • volume 2 number 2 2013

architecture resulted in a 55 per cent energy saving over the site’s existing timer-based DSI system1.

Task lighting – one of the holy grails of lighting control – is another area in which the Organic Response system excels, according to the Arup report: ‘Of particular note is the ability for the system to achieve base building task lighting – in a way not before available in the market. Task lighting is highly desirable in a fitout environment as a way to reduce energy; however, market dynamics and existing solutions create barriers to achieving effective task lighting and its control. The Organic Response system provides a new and easy solution to the controlling of task lighting, and allows the lighting solution to be more easily implemented.’

The true power of the distributed intelligence system, however, lies in 1 www.organicresponse.com.au/ wp-content/uploads/2012/11/Arup_ OrganicResponse_CBA_DemoSiteReport. pdf

‘Many facilities managers that we talk to aspire to the integration of building systems,’ says Danny Bishop, co-founder and Technical Director at Organic Response.

‘We believe that a major step forward in realising this ambition is to provide real-time access to the common, location-specific occupancy information that is the Occupancy Information Cloud.’

Organic Response in situ (the offices of Dixon Advisory)

Company Profile | Company Profile |

Low-energy lighting solutions

T

he world of industrial lighting is changing rapidly and today’s warehouses and factories should demand more from their chosen lighting solution. In fact, they should provide more energy efficiency and cost savings, and help to protect the environment.

At the forefront of this change are three systems: Induction, LED and T5 HO lighting. These three technologies are being selected to replace inefficient metal halide lighting across a broad range of commercial and industrial applications.

They all offer significant advantages over inefficient metal halide; however, Induction is far superior for several key reasons:

• 100,000-hour rated lamp life is twice that of LED and three times that of T5HO • Minimal lumen depreciation – declining light output with age • Higher-quality illumination with CRI, visibility, coverage and visual comfort • LED fixtures cost three to six times more than equivalent Induction luminaires of similar type and wattage.

Induction lighting has established itself as a proven technology with many successful installations across the globe and is now available in Australia. Put simply, Induction Lighting offers the best value for

money for any new or retrofit lighting project in the industrial sector.

Switched On Lighting is a leading national lighting and electrical maintenance company specialising in the supply and installation of energy efficient lighting systems.

INDUCTION LIGHTING

Huge Energy Reduction – at least 40% - Maintenance Free - Very long life – Twice LED and Four times T5HO Reduce Carbon Emissions - Slow Lumen Depreciation - Instant On/Off, No Flicker - Available with Sensor Control - Less Expensive than LED

THE PERFECT LIGHTING SOLUTION FOR NEW INSTALLS OR RETROFITTING FACTORIES & WAREHOUSES

To find out how call 1300 366 930 or email enquiry@switchedonlighting.com.au We Service All Australia

RETROFITaustralia AUSTRALIA••volume VOLUME22number NUMBER222013 2013••51 X retrofit

| Energy Controls

Bring your energy efficiency retrofit to the cloud Mike Zimmerman, CEO, BuildingIQ

When a person thinks of retrofitting a building for energy efficiency, images of gutted rooms, messy construction and outdated equipment slated for landfill come to mind. But this does not always have to be the case. With today’s cloud-based software platforms, an effective retrofit might be as simple as optimising the use of the systems you already have in your building, with minimal up-front costs. This is the goal of energy management systems (EMS) in commercial buildings.

M

any buildings are using rudimentary and outdated manual systems, requiring an abundant amount of labour hours in order to be effective. Heating and cooling operations in buildings require a copious amount of energy.

Increasing efficiency of these operations is a major opportunity for building owners and facilities managers, but can only be capitalised on with the proper technology.

Outdated EMSs have a limited ability to estimate load reduction and predict how it will affect tenant comfort. An automated approach is needed in order to not only maximise energy savings, but also to ensure occupant comfort.

Your building, no matter when it was built, should be a robot.

It sounds crazy, but it makes more sense when you look at the definition of a robot: a machine capable of carrying out a complex series of actions automatically. Many management systems passively provide data on how energy was consumed, pointing to areas of improvement. This is useful, but these systems are not carrying out any actions, meaning that they are missing out on opportunities

to reduce energy consumption. If a building is not incorporating an automated EMS that can carry out these complex actions automatically, the building is outdated.

But not all energy management systems are created equal. The latest EMS technology incorporates predictive energy optimisation and works directly with the existing building management system (which helps keep initial costs down, by the way), allowing the software to make changes through an automated approach. These systems make realtime adjustments to building controls based on factors such as weather forecasts, utility tariffs, demand response events and occupant comfort. This energy solution uses cloud technology and is offered on a subscription basis, again keeping your initial investment very low when compared to other mechanical efficiency retrofits. Australians have already started using this technology, and it has produced fantastic results thus far.

Predictive optimisation technology was incorporated into the retrofit of a 31-storey commercial building. Built in 1989, the structure consists of 23,700 square metres

of A-grade office space located in Sydney’s business district. In 2011, an energy management system incorporating predictive optimisation was installed as part of the building’s refurbishment. This technology was chosen to help achieve the goal of delivering significant provable energy savings. The energy management system’s flexibility allowed it to be turned on and off for individual floors as extensive changes to lighting, flooring, façades and plantings were being implemented.

In order to verify savings from the new system, energy consumption was compared to baseline data that was collected before its installation.

The system had a payback period of less than one year, during which time occupants never experienced a change from their comfortable work environment. Within the first eight months of installation, the building was able to reduce energy consumption by 250 MWh – or 260 tonnes of CO2 – improve its NABERS rating, reduce HVAC costs by an average of 23 per cent per month, and save up to $1.90 for every $1 in fees cumulated from inception.

Although EMS isn’t a feature that is as noticeable after the retrofit when compared to floors and lighting,

continued on page 54 52 • retrofit australia • volume 2 number 2 2013

Company Profile |

| Company Profile

Energy savings with variable speed drives

E

veryone today is interested in saving power (kW) where possible. The financial pressure applied to individuals, companies and governments has ensured that technology makes this achievable.

A simple solution is to replace conventional light bulbs with lowenergy LED equivalents. This definitely saves energy, but many installations are required to make significant savings in energy consumption. In the commercial, industrial, and health service areas there are major savings available where standard three-phase motors are used.

The motor, while being an efficient workhorse, has two areas of power wastage:

X • RETROFIT AUSTRALIA • VOLUME 2 NUMBER 2 2013

• the cost of power wastage due to a poor power factor • the cost of running a motor at full speed when a slower speed will suffice.

Both these areas are addressed by the installation of a Variable Speed Drive (VSD). The VSD raises the power factor closer to unity and allows the speed of the motor to be reduced to meet the ‘required’ load conditions.

These load conditions may have been met with a motor running at full speed and the control of the ‘load’ defined by operation of dampers or valves.

• reduce the speed of your motor by 50 per cent and save 80 per cent of your energy costs.

High Technology Control and ABB Australia are very familiar with the applications required to achieve savings in these areas and offer their assistance and free energy appraisals on relevant installations.

If you would like more information, training, assistance, or an energy appraisal please contact either of our offices.

High Technology Control Pty Ltd Sydney 02 9771 4088, Melbourne 03 8376 6254 National Manager, Michael Linden 0407 500 462 State Manager, Ahmad Amiri 0416 157 970 hightech@hightech.com.au

Simple instant savings rules are: • reduce the speed of your motor by 20 per cent and save 50 per cent of your energy costs

retrofit australia • volume 2 number 2 2013 • 53

| Energy Controls

continued from page 52

starting to pick up traction among the Australian utilities. These programs will financially reward a building for reducing consumption during times of peak demand, or when energy consumption is at its highest, which frees up capacity for the utility company. If demand is not reduced during peak hours, utility companies will need to rely on peak generating plants, which are costly and environmentally problematic. Whether a building is old or brand new, the incorporation of an advanced energy management system will allow it to capitalise on demand response programs offered by the utility in order to generate revenue through a concept called ‘virtual storage’.

Virtual storage is the ability to leverage the thermal mass of a building to retain heat or coolness, and relies on the energy management system and building sensors to reshape demand to match changing supply. Leveraging software to communicate to the grid and utility allows the building to experience all the benefits of hard storage technologies. Unlike hard storage, virtual storage does not require any maintenance, and can be automatically updated as necessary.

it’s actually vital for meeting sustainability goals. And you’ll surely notice an impact on monthly utility bills.

The incorporation of an advanced EMS not only saves on operating costs, but also increases the worth of buildings as a whole.

According to industry and real estate analysts, buildings with a ‘green rating’ have sale prices that are 16 per cent higher than comparable

54 • retrofit australia • volume 2 number 2 2013

buildings. Their rental rates can be up to three per cent higher per square foot. Energy efficiency is quickly becoming an important factor for tenants and buyers when choosing their commercial spaces, and benefits become even more apparent when the utility offers demand response incentives.

These programs may be more common in other countries, such as the United States, but they are

Energy management systems with predictive optimisation bring intelligence to your building, allowing it to think of when energy consumption can be reduced, how costs can be reduced and when it is beneficial. An EMS also allows the building to act on these thoughts.

The low-cost and easy-to-implement nature of energy management systems make it an attractive option for any retrofit.

Company Profile | Company Profile |

Ravenscroft Australia make their mark on the commercial HVAC industry

‘P

urpose designed and engineered HVAC solutions to improve indoor air quality in commercial applications that will guarantee the customer immediate energy savings, and help reduce the building’s mechanical input requirement and impact on the environment’.

Ravenscroft Australia may be the new kids on the block in the Australian HVAC industry, but with their ‘green’ philosophy and core objective as above motivating their team of professional sales engineers, customers will soon become familiar with the brand and solutions offered.

Ravenscroft is the Australian provider of Halton Indoor Air Solutions, Taco INC. Hydronic Systems, and Advantix Liquid Desiccant Dehumidification products for the commercial HVAC industry.

All products and solutions provided are world leaders in their field, enabling Green Star accreditation for building tenants and property owners. Based on the underlying desire for innovation and simplicity, Ravenscroft’s depth of knowledge and experience is second to none.

Bespoke indoor air solutions available from Ravenscroft include, but are not limited to, chilled ceiling beams, low velocity displacement

ventilation, airflow management components, fire dampers and the Taco LoFlo® Hydronic solution.

After only a few years, Ravenscroft Australia has been specified, shortlisted, or awarded various key Australian commercial building projects. This has come through hard work, and the belief that what we specify, manufacture and engineer for the customer will perform to their expectation. Visit our website at www.ravenscroft.com.au, or call our office to talk to one of our highly skilled engineers to discuss your requirements. www.ravenscroft.com.au +61 (0)4 9901 2661

Sustainable, energy efficient indoor air solutions using chilled beams

EvEry projEct is diffErEnt. At ravenscroft Australia we specialise

in providing tailored indoor air solutions with innovative and energy efficient Halton chilled beam technology.

Phone +61 499 012 661 • www.ravenscroft.com.au

HEALTHIER AIR • EnErGy sAvinG

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| Energy Controls

Voltage power optimisation Phillip Lawrence, PhD Scholar, The University of Sydney, Environment Policy

Two DVPO units have been installed in the UK’s landmark Tower of London

There have been many advances in modern society to address looming massive global climate change problems. It is gratifying to see the mantra ‘think globally, act locally’ actually work in practice. Many business owners, building managers and residences are actively trying to make a difference, in a trend not limited just to Australia; this is a worldwide movement.

A

majority of changes are driven by reasons other than direct environmentalism: other major driving forces include the opportunity to save costs, and to make businesses or buildings more appealing to a wide range of stakeholders. Attempts to make buildings and businesses more sustainable, however, may be constrained by some structural limitations existing in local and national infrastructures.

As building managers strive for increased energy efficiency, they are likely battling against some inherent inefficiencies in national energy systems. In addition, as the trend towards renewable energy shifts to

56 • retrofit australia • volume 2 number 2 2013

a higher gear, these challenges may become even greater.

One structural inefficiency is found in energy systems with fluctuating voltage levels. Despite everything that energy consumers do to become more efficient, there is an in-built level of inefficiency within energy supply systems, and users wear the cost of inefficiency.

A key driver for businesses and building management to introduce environmental measures is their identifiable savings. More efficient lighting, air conditioning, air seals, window structure and insulation are all energy cost-saving measures, as well as being positive environmental measures. In seeking to reveal significant cost savings

through energy efficiency, the next big opportunity is to address the structural inefficiencies in the supply of energy to factories, and commercial and residential buildings.

A point that must be made with regard to fluctuating voltage supply is not only that the user is paying for energy they really don’t need; they are also feeling the effects of equipment failures due to excessive power supplies to lights, motors and other electrical equipment.

Excessive energy is generally wasted as heat. Low-energy lightbulbs that should last thousands of hours seem to blow in no time at all, and motors run at high temperatures, and noisily. Despite all of the fantastic measures that

Energy Controls |

A point that must be made with regard to fluctuating voltage supply is not only that the user is paying for energy they really don’t need; they are also feeling the effects of equipment failures due to excessive power supplies to lights, motors and other electrical equipment.

companies are introducing into the built environment, it’s evident that there is an underlying structural issue that needs to be addressed.

Addressing energy efficiency issues has been described as not just the ‘low-hanging fruit, but the fruit that is lying on the ground’ (US Secretary of Energy Steven Chu, 2009). It really is the easiest thing to do when making a business, building or society a more sustainable place.

Supplying electrical energy to a tight band of voltage is beyond the technical ability of any energy supply grid at this stage, and probably will be for many years to come. The advances in the supply of wind and solar into the grid make the issue an

even more pressing one for the future.

Experiences in Germany over the past year are a portent of how a future will look when balancing legacy energy generation with renewable systems.

of their incoming electricity supply as a way of reaping savings from the excess energy that is being supplied from the grid. In Australia, the nominal supply voltage should be 230 volts. The minimum is set at 216 and the maximum level is 250 volts. For reasons associated with grid

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| Energy Controls

efficiency and Ohm’s law, the voltage on the grid is almost always going to be higher rather than lower.

In most cases throughout Australia, the voltage supplied to business and residential areas is going to be around 240 or more (I checked the voltage in my home when writing this story; it was 242 volts). We shouldn’t see this as a major concern in regards to ability to use and operate electrical equipment – certainly, it is in the range within which all appliances will work.

What we need to look at is the overall efficiency of the energy that is used by the business or residential consumer. Simply reducing the in-feed energy down to the precise energy level that is needed could save as much as 15 per cent of energy costs to the consumer. There is a related amount of CO2 emissions that is also reduced.

The type of technology used to reduce in-feed energy voltage is called voltage power optimisation (VPO). This is a class of technologies that reduces the voltage from the grid to the user. More recent trends in the VPO sector have been newer devices called dynamic voltage power optimisation, or DVPO. These units are able to not only dynamically address high voltage, but also to rapidly adjust voltage up or down, depending how the incoming voltage is behaving. DVPO units can also clean up any dirty energy artifacts, such as harmonics. (Harmonics deserves its own lengthy story, so I won’t dip into the topic here, only to note the importance of harmonics and other dirty energy artifacts.)

VPO and DVPO technologies have found a great acceptance in the United Kingdom in recent years, because the country went through an

58 • retrofit australia • volume 2 number 2 2013

adjustment of the voltage standard from 240 volts down to 220 volts to fall in line with the European Union (EU) standard; however, the only real change was the technical range of voltage, and not the actual supplied voltage. The reason is simply that appliances will still work to either the old 240 or the new 220 volts. The United Kingdom’s energy industry simply made the acceptable range wider, perhaps to appeal to the EU. Australia did a very similar thing soon after. The old standard supply voltage for Australia was 240 volts, and now it is 230 volts. Nothing has actually changed, though – the supply is, in reality, still at least 240 volts, if not much higher in many areas. Where most electrical appliances are rated at 220 volts, this means that, in effect, everyone is wasting 20 volts, or consuming 10 per cent more electricity than they really need to use.

A relatively inexpensive DVPO unit will leave the additional 10 per cent of energy in the grid; therefore only feeding the appropriate amount of energy into the consumer’s factory or building. The initial benefit is an immediate reduction in the electricity costs for the consumer, and the second-level savings are just as tangible: light bulbs last longer, motors run cooler and quieter, and machinery and air conditioning are more efficient.

DVPO is a relatively unexplored efficiency/environmental technology in Australia until recently, although there are some notable installations, such as the Ian Thorpe swimming centre in Ultimo, Sydney, the Sydney Town Hall building and a very large number of installations in the Coles Supermarket chain (where there are now about 500 or 600 units across

Australia). All of these examples have successfully reduced energy costs and carbon emissions.

In the United Kingdom, DVPO has been a standard business installation for many years, with around 10,000 installations to date.

Perhaps the most notable installation is the Tower of London site; hardly an institution to succumb to vague unproven innovations. The United Kingdom’s built environment has a large number of older buildings; these can pose a number of problems – such as high ceilings, traditional lighting, a limited ability for insulation, and heritage windows – when trying to achieve energy reduction values. All of these characteristics are challenges to the building management in tightening the energy efficiency of the building.

Harmonising the incoming energy with the energy consumed is an extremely effective way of not only reducing energy costs, but also of significantly reducing indirect emissions through energy use: the fruit lying on the ground.

Incoming voltage control is an extremely simple and easy-to-install technical solution for green building retrofitting or new design. But the real benefit is that the technology works continuously for up to 50 years with very little attention needed. In effect, DVPO units become structure savings within the fabric of the building, each year making the consumption cost of electrical energy 10 per cent less than what it would have been. As energy prices are on an upward path, the magnitude of the savings increases each year.

Phillip Lawrence Masters by Research in Management UTS, Ecological Modernisation PhD Scholar, Sydney University, Environment Policy.

Company Profile |

| Energy

Energy metering, the smart way

S

ATEC (Australia) have recently released the PM135EH as a further extension of our smart energy metering capabilities.

The PM135EH offers multifunction measuring capabilities for a broad range of electrical parameters,

including energy measuring accuracy of Class 0.5s along with the following capabilities:

• voltage and current harmonic spectrum and angles

• four-quadrant active and reactive energy

• real-time ‘scope mode’ waveform monitoring capability on LCD display

• volts, amps, frequency, power factor

• real-time vector analysis capability on LCD display

• data logging functions with date/ time stamping

• simultaneous six-channel, onecycle waveform capture at a rate of 64 samples per cycle via PAS software (licence-free) including data base data collection to computer/server.

• three-phase total and per-phase energy measurements; active, reactive and apparent energy counters • automatic daily energy and maximum demand profile log for total and tariff registers • voltage and current THD, TDD and K-Factor, up to 40th order harmonic

The PM135EH includes RS485 communications, modbus/DNP3 protocol, and optional ethernet TCP/ IP, Profibus, modem or wireless functions.

GY SATEC ENER UTIONS L O S T N E M E MANAG DUCE WIRING

Model BFM 136

COST • RE IME TO: • REDUCE UCE DOWNT D E R • E C PA S DS • SAVE ORTING NEE P E R R U O Y E • COMPLET

FEATURES: • Multi Tenant Sub-metering

TECHNOLOGY TO MEASURE AND MANAGE ENERGY CONSUMPTION FOR:

• Energy Accuracy Class 0.5 • Event Logging

• Commercial Buildings (Office/Retail)

• Data Logging

• Data Centres

•Tariff Metering (TOU)

• Hospitals

• Monitor up to 36 Current Circuits for single (1) phase and/or three (3) phase circuits

• Apartment Complexes • Educational Institutions • Hotels, Motels, Resorts

• Communications RS485, Ethernet, Modem or Wireless

• Shopping Complexes

• Split Core or Solid Core Current Transformers

G START SAVIN & Y A D O T E Y PHON IMMEDIATEL SATEC (Australia) Pty Ltd PHONE (02) 4774 2959 FAX (02) 4774 0249 X • RETROFIT AUSTRALIA • VOLUME 2 NUMBER 2 2013

EMAIL: sales@satec-global.com.au

WEB: www.satec-global.com.au

retrofit australia • volume 2 number 2 2013 • 59

| Case Study

Back to the future Provided by norman disney & Young

How a jaded 1980s building is back on top of the charts.

215 Adelaide Street in Brisbane

T

he Brisbane skyline, like most established cities, has its fair share of ageing building stock. With this ageing building infrastructure, as well as the requirement for all commercial office buildings to display their NABERS energy rating, the case for building upgrades to achieve greater energy efficiency is strong.

These were key drivers in the retrofit of 215 Adelaide Street in Brisbane.

215 Adelaide Street, located in the heart of the Brisbane CBD, was more than 30 years old when consulting engineering firm Norman Disney & Young (NDY) recommended a plan to improve tenant services and reduce energy consumption – a plan that would elevate the building’s NABERS Energy rating from 2.5 to 4.5 Stars. The outcome would result in delivering high energy efficiency, improvement in asset value, and attraction of new tenants. This project is an impressive example of the benefits of refurbishing, rather than rebuilding.

Officially opened in 1982, the building comprises 30,000 square metres of commercial office and retail space. The building footprint includes 29 levels of commercial office, with retail and food courts on the ground level, and three levels of underground parking.

NDY has had involvement with 215 Adelaide Street since the early 1990s, providing specialist services for control upgrade projects, chiller refrigerant conversions, food court redevelopments and tenancy reviews.

In 2008, NDY was commissioned to undertake a NABERS Energy assessment to determine the building’s energy usage. As part of this assessment, a road map of potential upgrade options

60 • retrofit australia • volume 2 number 2 2013

Case Study |

New chilled and condenser water pumps

chillers, cooling towers, building management system (BMS), tenant condensed water, installation of a smart metering system and typical floor lighting replacement.

‘The new cooling tower plant provides excellent redundancy, improved tenant flexibility, and a solid basis for energy savings through reduced fan energy (towers) and condenser water relief (chillers),’ adds Gentner.

‘An immediate result was an improvement of the building power factor as quoted on the utility bills, from less than 0.8 to 0.93, effectively alleviating the need for significant expenditure on power factor correction equipment.’

was developed to allow a scope and cost to be determined for upgrading the building to achieve a minimum 4.5 Star NABERS Energy rating.

The comprehensive building services upgrade was planned and implemented in a staged manner that included:

‘Following this initial report, NDY prepared detailed energy modelling to verify the required upgrade scope for the building to achieve a 4.5 Star NABERS,’ says NDY Director Andrew Gentner. ‘Tender documentation was then prepared for the agreed refurbishment scope.

• building investigation and energy assessment report

‘NDY also prepared a detailed report on potential Green Star upgrade options using Green Star Office Design, as [there was no] existing building tool,’ adds Gentner.

• construction and commissioning

In 2010, the building owner confirmed a comprehensive $5.4 million building services upgrade. According to Gentner, the primary objective of the upgrade was ‘to improve the building’s NABERS Energy base building rating from 2.5 to 4.5 Stars, and achieve Property Council of Australia (PCA) “A”-Grade building criteria whilst modernising key services elements, including the chilled water system and light fittings.’

• proof of concepts and NABERS thermal energy modelling • detailed design, tender and NABERS pre-commitment certification

• finetuning and monitoring.

Despite the project receiving the green light, Gentner says there was a high degree of scepticism within the industry about achieving the intended outcomes.

‘Those in the industry claimed the lofty aspirations would not be realised. The results speak for themselves, and the project team behind 215 Adelaide Street has demonstrated how Australia’s existing buildings can become models of energy efficiency.’

Key components of the upgrade package included replacement

General lighting throughout the building was original, comprising twin 36-watt tube recessed troffer luminaires with clip-on light-air boots mounted in a one-way ceiling grid. This combination introduced significant risks, with the luminaires effectively supporting the ceiling tiles along one edge and wholly supporting the supply air diffusers.

The lighting was originally installed with a proprietary central lighting control and wiring system that had been modified over the 30 years of tenant fit-outs. As a result, the existing luminaires were installed with a variety of different plug connections and tenant control systems. To minimise construction complexity and operational risk to the tenants, luminaires were rewired outside normal operating hours.

Each luminaire was calculated to consume approximately 90 watts, including magnetic ballast losses.

A building inspection and initial illuminance calculations confirmed that an upgrade to single lamp T8 would be the most technically feasible option, with energy savings in excess of 50 per cent, or 50 watts per luminaire.

retrofit australia • volume 2 number 2 2013 • 61

| Case Study

$460,000 in annual electricity costs.

‘Put another way, if the upgrade hadn’t occurred, the tenants would be paying 65 per cent more for electricity today, compared with that of 2008,’ notes Brown. ‘The energy cost saving associated with the lighting upgrade contributed $100,000 or more to this saving.’

New cooling towers

‘The energy savings were clear,’ notes NDY Senior Associate Connan Brown. ‘The lighting upgrade to open-plan office areas reduced the load on the tenants’ power by between seven and nine watts per square metre (W/m2). In addition, the electronic control gear significantly improved the power factor of the lighting system, freeing up additional kilovolt-ampere (kVA) capacity of up to 13/14 volt-ampere per square metre (VA/m2). This significant boost to available electrical capacity provided excellent and muchimproved flexibility to the building tenants. Buildings of this age were designed for five or possibly 10 W/m2 tenant equipment allowance, which was appropriate at the time, but much less than the 15 W/m2 expected for premium and A-Grade Buildings now.

‘A flow-on effect of the reduced lighting load is freed-up cooling capacity within the building’s HVAC system, not only saving energy but also improving building comfort and tenant flexibility.’

McKinsey & Company greenhouse cost curves identify existing building energy efficiency as being a significant

62 • retrofit australia • volume 2 number 2 2013

source of carbon abatement that can deliver broader net economic benefits.

NABERS Energy 4.5 Star and above ratings are routinely achieved with new high-grade buildings, and with the use of trigeneration or purchase of Green Power.

215 Adelaide Street stands apart from these buildings as an example of how attention to detail and getting the basics right in an older building can deliver excellence in energy efficiency. ‘By refurbishing rather than rebuilding,’ says Gentner, ‘we can deliver 5 Star operational efficiency with the smallest initial carbon footprint and avoid large quantities of waste to landfill.

‘Existing buildings account for the majority of building stock and, as such, offer a huge potential for energy savings given the large disparity between their current environmental performance as compared to new building stock.

‘This provides both operational savings and capital value improvement for the building, and is more attractive to potential tenants.’

Using today’s electricity rates, the building upgrade has saved

According to the 2011 ENERGEX Queensland Energy Management Plan, Queensland peak demand is set to grow by some 4500 megawatts (MW) over the next 10 years at a cost of some $15 billion – the equivalent of $3.5 million per one MW. Using these rates, the 215 Adelaide Street refurbishment peak demand saving of 1.2 MW provides a flow-on benefit of some $4.2 million to Queensland electricity consumers. If this is taken into account, the project would show an incredible simple payback of only 2.5 years.

‘Another major factor to consider when undertaking a retrofit project is tenant disruption,’ adds Brown.

‘This was managed at 215 Adelaide Street through smart design, effective communication and well-managed site work. The single most important factor in limiting tenant disruption was to provide one-for-one luminaire replacement, ensuring no impact on tenant lighting levels, on-floor wiring or tenant lighting controls. The luminaire supplier modelled the new on the old to ensure that they would integrate into the ceiling system, still providing light-air boot and ceiling tile support in the one-way grid.’

The building manager provided tenant presentations on the good reasons for undertaking the works (saving energy and reducing greenhouse gases), and regular updates on the works. The main contractor and electrical subcontractor worked closely with building management and building security to complete work in strict accordance with a work plan to ensure that tenants were

Case Study |

pre-warned of potential disruption.

The installation started only after a dilapidation inspection, and was conducted at night and in the presence of building security guards.

In addition, drop sheets were used to protect desks from dust and debris from the ceiling void, and all floors were cleaned prior to the first arrivals the next day.

office tower in 2010, the central CBD landmark was lifted to ‘Green Building’ status with advanced building services and management systems.

In December 2011, 215 Adelaide Street met the initial target of a 4.5 Star NABERS Energy rating, before achieving a 5 Star NABERS Energy rating and its first 4.5 Star NABERS Water rating in December 2012.

Following the year-long building services upgrade of the commercial

In true 1980s style, this building is once again hitting the high notes of

Key statistics: Energy savings of three million kWh/five million kVAh is equivalent to 500 typical households (this is a small country town! It could also be expressed as 90 million black balloons!).

• Energy savings kWh: ~3 million kWh per annum, or 35 per cent • Energy savings kVAh: ~5 million kVAh per annum, or 46 per cent

success. NDY was recently awarded the Thinc Award for Best Sustainable Development – Existing Buildings at the 2013 Property Council of Australia Innovation & Excellence Awards, as well as being a Finalist in the Built Environment Category at the 2013 Queensland Premier’s Sustainability Awards. The building is a proven example of innovative efficiency, with Gentner saying it reinforces the business and eco case ‘for refurbishment over redevelopment.’

• Carbon emissions reductions: ~4.5 million kgCO2(e) per annum, or 46 per cent • Operational cost saving: ~$460,000 per annum (and increasing with every electricity price increase) • Peak demand reduction: ~1.223 MW, or 46 per cent • NABERS Energy ratings: 5 Star Energy • NABERS Water ratings: 4.5 Star Water.

ORGANISATIONS Join the leaders and get support to manage your office energy use.

Visit the new CitySwitch online resource hub to access industry tools on financing office upgrades, HVAC, energy efficient lighting and more. Share in the energy efficiency conversation.

VISIT

325735A_City of Sydney | 1852.indd 1

5/07/13 2:21 PM

retrofit australia • volume 2 number 2 2013 • 63

| International Case Study

Retrofitting is a way forward for energy efficiency in India

India’s population is experiencing rapid growth, and it is projected that by 2025, the country will overtake China as the world’s most populous nation. By 2050, the number of people living in India is expected to reach 1.6 billion.

T

his kind of population growth leads to increased demand on resources, not least of which is the need for a reliable energy supply. The widespread blackouts in India in July 2012 are evidence that the country is battling an extreme energy crisis, and that due consideration must be given to how policies and systems can be changed to prevent an energy disaster scenario.

There are plans for many different renewable energy sources to be brought into play; however, a huge opportunity for India is to increase

64 • retrofit australia • volume 2 number 2 2013

its energy efficiency in existing buildings. We know that retrofitting works in developed countries, as evidenced by successes seen around the globe, such as the Empire State Building retrofit, and Australia’s various energy efficiency upgrade programs. But in the context of Indian buildings, there is more need for proof that upgrading existing buildings will actually prove to be economical both in financial and energy terms.

The Indian Green Building Council (IGBC) has recently launched its ‘Green Existing Building

Operations and Maintenance (O&M) Rating System’, which helps owners of existing buildings to apply sustainability principles, and to deliver measurable energy waste reductions. The IGBC website states that ‘by applying IGBC Green Existing Building O&M criteria, existing buildings can be sustainable over the life cycle of the building.’

Many of the buildings in India’s CBDs, such as those in New Delhi and Mumbai, are heritage structures that date up to hundreds of years old; these buildings are often used to house government offices or corporate headquarters. Other city buildings are at least three decades old, and have deteriorated at a rapid pace due to a low standard of maintenance. From this comes poor operational efficiency, and hence higher operating costs for

International Case Study |

Common problems include deteriorated façades, poorly maintained lobbies and corridors, outdated staircases and inefficient lifts, lack of new technology for building safety and security, and poor energy efficiency mechanisms.

An exemplary Indian retrofit

Mumbai City

occupiers. Common problems include deteriorated façades, poorly maintained lobbies and corridors, outdated staircases and inefficient lifts, lack of new technology for building safety and security, and poor energy efficiency mechanisms.

The solution to the high operational expenditure of these buildings can be found in retrofitting, with different levels of upgrade available to building owners – from minor or cosmetic changes through to major structural or core changes.

This will depend on finances, as well as the physical attributes of the existing building.

Though projects of this sort are far less prevalent than they are in more developed nations, adoption of retrofit projects is increasing, with some impressive results.

In April this year, the 2013 Clean Energy Ministerial was held in New Delhi, and representatives from more than 20 countries gathered to discuss India’s energy future. As part of the discussion about addressing the energy crisis, a case study of a landmark building retrofit in South Mumbai was released, providing empirical evidence that energy efficiency can be attained in India’s existing built environment, and highlighting that retrofitting for energy efficiency is a huge opportunity for increasing energy security.

The Godrej Group is a centuryold industrial conglomerate divided into two holding companies (Godrej & Boyce and Godrej Industries), and comprising seven major companies. The Group is well versed in sustainable development, having been a founding member of the Confederation of India Industry Sohrabji Godrej Green Business Center, which was the first Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Platinum-rated building outside of the United States.

The Godrej Bhavar building – a six-storey office building in South Mumbai owned by Godrej & Boyce – was built in 1972, has an area of 41,185 square feet, and approximately 100 employees work in the building. For decades, the Godrej Bhavan building had been accumulating huge energy bills; so, in a bid to decrease the energy use and therefore the costs associated with the building’s operation, Godrej & Boyce opted to upgrade Godrej Bhavan and implemented energy-saving measures, such as retrofitting the existing HVAC and lighting systems. Equally important to the organisation was the creation of a model for future energy efficiency retrofits, and provision of a comfortable and productive workplace for company employees.

The Godrej Bhavan building owners and occupants are enjoying numerous benefits as a result of the works, including a 28 per cent energy cost saving for the owners, and much-improved indoor environment quality for those working in the building.

retrofit australia • volume 2 number 2 2013 • 65

| International Case Study

In addition, Godrej Bhavan was the first building in Mumbai and only the sixth in the whole of India to receive LEED Gold certification from the United States Green Building Council under the Existing Buildings Operations and Maintenance category (version 2). The building is a fantastic example of how upgrading the existing built environment in India can help to address the energy issues that the nation faces.

The overall cost of the retrofit was five million Indian Rupee, or US$99,704. Of this amount,

US$92,593 was spent on replacing the old, inefficient HVAC system: an essential overhaul given the hot and humid climate of Mumbai. The cost savings from the retrofit are likely to see the financial outlay for the project repaid in less than five years, if the repayment period is based on the energy bills from 2009–10 (the year before the retrofit) compared with the cost savings two years post-upgrade.

The challenges As is the case with many commercial building retrofits, the works on Godrej Bhavan needed to be carried

out while the building was operating.

Adding to the task was the need to replace the existing HVAC, which consisted of two air-handling units (AHUs) servicing the whole building, making it very difficult to upgrade one floor at a time. In addition, the building’s structure was not equipped to locate AHUs on every floor. The solution was to create artificial floors, using beams and horizontal metal plates in the masonry shaft, allowing AHUs to be located on each floor.

This work was carried out largely on weekends and after hours to avoid disruption to staff.

Another challenging scenario – one that is uncommon in the Australian built environment – was the absence of any architectural, electrical, HVAC and plumbing drawings. The team opted to create new drawings rather than trying to locate the old ones, and the new drawings will help Godrej & Boyce with its ongoing energy efficiency operations.

Finally, energy efficiency products are not as readily available to the Indian market, so sourcing efficient technologies proved more difficult than we would expect in Australia.

The products were sourced through special vendors after extensive research was carried out. The case study asserts that the use of these products in the Godrej Bhavan building has increased market demand for the products, thereby helping to make them available to a larger number of Indian customers.

The upgrades The three main upgrades in the building were HVAC and building management system, both installed

by Trane, and the lighting, which was taken care of by Philips.

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International Case Study |

Mumbai

The HVAC installation involved upgrading the 35-year-old DX system to a new Trane system, which included highly efficient screw chillers and high-efficiency pumps and motors. Each floor now has a dedicated AHU with its own temperature controls. Fresh-air intake valves allow fresh air to be circulated inside the building, improving indoor air quality, and the refrigerant was upgraded from R22 (which is being phased out in Australia) to HFC R-134a, significantly reducing the ozone and climate risks associated with refrigerant.

Trane’s building management and electrical system updates included the Trane Building Energy Management System dashboard display, which continuously monitors energy use, including assessing usage discrepancies. The system maintains the energy efficiency of the watercooled HVAC by showing real-time and historical data pertaining to the system operation.

Philips installed high-efficiency T-5 fluorescent tube lamps with timers to switch the lights off automatically after

hours. Natural daylight and outside views throughout the building were enhanced, and double-glazed clear windows and shading devices were installed to reduce heat gain while still providing light.

Lastly, the building’s original green roof was redeveloped by removing the covering of ‘tandoor’ roof tiles, which on its own achieved a reduction in roof temperature of 10 degrees Celsius. The nine inches of soil on the green roof reduces the amount of heat entering the building.

The results As well as the cost and energy savings mentioned, the retrofit of Godrej Bhavan served to prove the merits of retrofitting existing buildings. It saved operating costs, lowered electricity use, improved building systems, enhanced occupant comfort, and increased environmental awareness among building occupants and visitors.

The case study of the building listed the lessons learned as the following: • Commitment starts at the top.

Without the support from highlevel executives at the company, the project would not have achieved the success that it did.

• Low-hanging savings opportunities.

It’s often the things that are easily within reach that can make a significant difference.

Two elements of Godrej Bhavan – the HVAC and lighting – were the major contributors to increased energy efficiency and occupant comfort.

• Building operations and maintenance are key. Energy management systems and staff education were essential elements in the overall performance of the building, and allowed staff to monitor efficiency and correct discrepancies, leading to increased energy savings.

Overall, the building stands as a strong business case for retrofitting for energy efficiency; green buildings are more practical and profitable, and will go a long way towards addressing India’s energy crisis in the years ahead.

retrofit australia • volume 2 number 2 2013 • 67

| Company Profile | Company Profile

Rickard VAV diffusers provide optimal thermal comfort while minimising energy consumption New government policies and the dramatic increase in energy costs have created greater demand for products and systems that utilise energy efficient technologies. These new drivers are now encouraging buildings to be designed so that they provide the optimal working conditions, while saving energy consumption and reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

R

ickard’s Variable Air Volume (VAV) diffusers help create a well ventilated indoor environment that maintains a consistent and comfortable temperature in most types of applications. They provide excellent supply air distribution, which ensures uncomfortable drafts – or air dumping – are minimised. Air is discharged from the diffuser and circulated around the room to ensure the air within the space is thoroughly mixed and the space is kept at the desired temperature.

A key benefit of Rickard VAV diffusers is their ability to reduce the demand on the air handling system by providing only the required volume of hot or cold air to enter the conditioned space. If the air volume required reduces, the diffuser’s aperture size also reduces, which creates additional pressure in the ductwork. This pressure signals to the air conditioning system to slow down, which in turn saves energy.

If the air volume required increases, the diffuser’s aperture opens, which allows more conditioned air to enter the space.

The volume of air entering the space is determined by the temperature in the space and the set point on the diffuser’s in-built temperature sensor or wall thermostat.

The set point on individual diffusers can be easily adjusted, giving the

X 68••RETROFIT retrofitAUSTRALIA australia••VOLUME volume22NUMBER number222013 2013

building occupants total control over their environment during any part of the day.

Rickard VAV diffusers are available as: • system controlled, electronically powered plug-and-play models • stand-alone, mechanically controlled, thermally powered models.

Rickard electronically powered VAV diffusers The electronically powered range is an intelligent modular system that is zoned into independently controlled comfort areas. It can be installed in most application types and sizes due to the simplicity of its design, and is typically used as a comfort-control solution for an entire building.

Company Profile | Company Profile |

The Rickard wall thermostat can control a single diffuser, or up to 15 diffusers. The standard thermostat monitors temperature and controls the set point, while the version with occupancy sensing can detect a vacant zone and automatically switch it off.

Generally for larger, more complex applications, the system can be centrally monitored and tuned from the one location using LonWorks and BACnet Building Management Systems (BMS), or the free Rickard mini BMS stand-alone software.

Rickard’s easy-to-use software is perfect for all applications where a BMS system is not being used within the building. This stand-alone software has been developed for commissioning and setting diffuser parameters, monitoring the network and logging diffuser activity. Its user-friendly graphics have easyto-follow instructions and simple colour-coded diffuser icons for set up and commissioning. This software makes it simple to set minimum and maximum temperature settings, and perform all commissioning from below the ceiling with a PC. Changes to office layouts are easy, as each diffuser can be easily re-positioned and re-programmed according to its new environment.

The software allows you to view and monitor the temperature conditions of up to 15 diffusers at a time, and 60 diffusers in total. The system can also log faults, which ensures that any issues can be Rickard Thermostat with occupancy sensing.

Rickard electronic diffuser showing aperture fully open to allow 100 per cent air flow to enter space.

detected centrally and resolved with the full view of the entire system.

The Rickard VAV electronic diffuser system is available with occupancy sensing capability. This unique option is available within the diffuser itself and the wall thermostat, which means no additional sensor or wiring is required. This technology closes the opening of the diffuser if it detects that the room is unoccupied, and opens it again when it detects an occupant present. If this system is controlled by a BMS or the Rickard software, it can also automatically turn the room lights off and on. All of this can lead to significant cost savings, as the building requires less energy to operate its lighting and cooling/heating systems.

The electronic system is also available with air-flow sensing. This enables the commissioning to occur easier and faster, as air flow and total pressure measurements can be viewed and monitored through the Rickard software and a BMS system.

Rickard thermally powered VAV diffusers The thermally powered models are lightweight, easy to install, and ideal as a retrofit solution – as they provide comfort in areas of a building that are either too hot or too cold. They require no power supply and no external temperature sensors, such as a wall thermostat, as each diffuser contains its own in-built temperature sensing and volume control mechanism.

rotating the adjustment rings located on the back of the diffuser. The rings have calibrated temperature markings from 19 to 24 degrees Celsius to suit individual occupant choice.

Both the electronic and thermal ranges of Rickard VAV diffusers are available in various configurations and sizes that are suitable for numerous applications or mounting positions. The electronically powered range comes in square, linear slot and bulkhead models; the thermally powered models come in square models only.

Rickard VAV diffusers do not require routine maintenance, but in case a repair is required, all mechanical components are easily accessible from inside the room. As a result, any maintenance is simple, low cost and can be carried out with minimal disruption to the occupants.

The Rickard range of diffusers helps to create a comfortable environment within a building, which results in happier occupants and better productivity. They also provide a significant energy saving solution to the differing heating and cooling requirements within areas of a building, while maintaining low operating costs and flexibility within the conditioned space.

For further information, call Peter Henry on (03) 9554 7845 or visit the Fantech website at www.fantech.com.au.

Setting and adjusting the room temperature set point is achieved by

RETROFITaustralia AUSTRALIA••volume VOLUME22number NUMBER222013 2013••69 Y retrofit

| Insulation

Insulation is still the most costeffective way to save energy Andrew Arblaster, President, Australian Cellulose Insulation Manufacturers Association

With home and business owners under the pressure of energy efficiency and rising energy costs, it’s a good time to remind them that insulation is one of the most effective ways, if not the most effective way, to improve energy efficiency.

C

eilings are the most important part of the insulation system, as ceiling insulation acts like a blanket, protecting the building from outside elements. A recent report on Australian housing stock identified that there were still 1.32 million dwellings in Australia with no ceiling insulation, and 2.1 million dwellings with insufficient insulation in the ceilings. Much of the insulation installed in the 1970s and 1980s now falls below the current standards for insulation.

An easy way to tell whether insulation is adequate is that it should be at least the height of the ceiling joists. It also needs to be an even and consistent layer of insulation; five per cent gaps in the total area covered will mean a loss of 50 per cent of the insulation

70 • retrofit australia • volume 2 number 2 2013

value. Insulation installers often find that other trades have moved insulation batts and not replaced them, leaving the building virtually

unprotected. Topping up insulation is a quick and easy process, and as a general rule it is good to top up with like for like; for example, fibreglass

The survey of housing stock found that over 3.5 million dwellings had no wall insulation. Over the past five years, insulation installers have been developing methods to retrofit wall insulation to existing buildings constructed of double brick, brick veneer or weatherboard.

Insulation |

batts over fibreglass batts, and cellulose over cellulose.

Owners should also ensure that their insulation installer fits downlight covers, and covers over the fans. If these gaps in the ceiling are not covered, there is a differential pressure and temperature between the roof space and the building, and heat will transfer. Fitting covers also means that the rooms will stay cleaner, as dust is not transferred.

The survey of housing stock found that over 3.5 million dwellings had no wall insulation. Over the past five years, insulation installers have been developing methods to retrofit wall insulation to existing buildings constructed of double brick, brick veneer or weatherboard. These systems are retrofitted from outside the building, so there is minimum impact on the owner.

The two main systems used currently are foam and granulated Rockwool. Owners should look for systems that are approved by the building authorities in their state, and use a recognised contractor; it’s important that the material being used does not transfer water. An incentive for adding insulation to a property is that it can also improve the fire resistance of the building structure and reduce condensation.

With the trend to polish floorboards, there is a requirement to consider underfloor insulation, which is particularly important in colder climates. Over 700,000 houses in Australia need improved underfloor insulation. There are many different insulation systems for underfloor, and when selecting an underfloor insulation, the home owner needs to consider whether the floor is exposed or enclosed. The likelihood of wind damage will influence the system used.

Many of the underfloor systems rely on creating a layer of still air under the floor, so it is important to check that your contractor has sealed the ends of the insulation.

Another way to save energy is to upgrade the heating ducts to the new standard. Insulation installers often find that ducts have become dislodged from the vents or have been

Increasing insulation not only improves the energy efficiency of the building, but also improves its capital value. In Canberra, where there is mandatory reporting of energy efficiency, a house with sufficient insulation is worth up to $9000 more than a similar house with no insulation, and will likely be on the market for a significantly shorter period.

Insulation installers will provide free quotes and advice to home owners. With increasing energy prices, it is recommended that home owners take advantage of this service. damaged by rodents, and the heating system is heating the underfloor area. A good insulation installer will check and repair the ducted system or recommend an upgrade.

Insulation installers involved in retrofit applications will also check for air infiltration and cracks in the house structure, and recommend sealing the gaps. In Victoria, under the Energy Efficiency Target, accredited companies can implement these upgrades for no cost. This includes sealing on chimneys and doors.

Before you address lighting, heating and cooling, ensure that your building is adequately insulated.

With that step complete, all further methods of lowering energy usage will have a much more solid base with which to work, if indeed they’re needed at all.

Figures quoted in this article come from a study

by Energy Efficient Strategies September 2012, commissioned by ICANZ and titled ‘The value of insulation-based residential energy savings measures’. This report, including figures, is available in the public domain, and can be found on both the ICANZ and Insulation Australasia websites.

Insulation installers will provide free quotes and advice to home owners. With increasing energy prices, it is recommended that home owners take advantage of this service.

retrofit australia • volume 2 number 2 2013 • 71

| Company Profile | Company Profile

Insulation: A Star Performer There are many environmental benefits to be gained from retrofitting an existing building, and as building tenants are increasingly realising this, there’s increased pressure on building owners to act. There are a number of refurbishment options available for improving the energy efficiency of a building, and here Ravi Chandra, General Manager for Public Affairs at Knauf Insulation, discusses the benefits of insulation.

I

t is well-known that insulation performs a vital role in improving the thermal performance of a building by helping to reduce the need for mechanical cooling in hot weather and vice versa for cold weather. Insulation can dramatically reduce heating and cooling costs while delivering a more comfortable environment for the building’s occupants. As electricity costs continue to rise, it’s important to remember that insulation is an important way to help keep those costs down.

When choosing an insulation product, there are a number of factors you need to consider before making your final choice. These include whether you want the insulation to perform thermally, acoustically or both, fire performance, achieved R-Value, and the sustainability of the insulation. If you are retrofitting to achieve a rating under one of the building performance schemes, such as Green Star, it’s worth remembering that credits can be awarded if the building materials used are recycled or recyclable.

EarthWool® glass mineral wool insulation is a good example of a sustainable and high-performing insulation solution. In manufacture it uses a high content of recycled glass and requires less overall energy consumption than some alternative materials, and it is recyclable at the end of a building’s life.

EarthWool is significantly compressed before transportation, thereby reducing the number X 72••RETROFIT retrofitAUSTRALIA australia••VOLUME volume22NUMBER number222013 2013

of deliveries required, in turn significantly cutting costs and the amount of carbon emissions associated with transport.

Additionally, EarthWool is made with ECOSE® Technology. Born from five years’ intensive research, ECOSE Technology is a revolutionary binder, based on rapidly renewable materials instead of petro-based chemicals commonly used in other insulation.

It enhances the environmental credentials of EarthWool without affecting the thermal, acoustic or fire performance. In fact, as well as the enhanced sustainability benefits, the binder also produces a ‘super-soft’ and easier to handle glass mineral wool.

ECOSE Technology reduces embodied energy, as it is up to 70 per cent less energy intensive than traditional binders. It also contains no added formaldehyde, acrylics or dyes – that’s why EarthWool is brown – it comes naturally.

Knauf Insulation products made with ECOSE Technology are installed in buildings across the world: from Ophir, New Zealand where ceiling insulation was installed in residents’ homes and the town’s public buildings, to the United Kingdom where hard to treat properties have been fitted with Internal Wall Insulation (IWI) to thermally upgrade solid wall properties and dramatically reduce heat loss and carbon emissions.

With over 60 years of knowledge and experience, construction professionals can rest assured they are using a high-quality, highperforming insulation, which is guaranteed for 50 years when they choose EarthWool.

For more information on Knauf Insulation please visit www.knaufinsulation.com.au.

Softer.

Sustainable.

Upgrade to

EarthWool® is a revolutionary range of glasswool insulation that is super soft and easy to handle.

The natural brown colour represents a level of sustainability never achieved before in Australia.

Made using recycled glass bottles and with ECOSE® Technology, EarthWool contains no added formaldehyde, phenols, acrylics or dyes.

What’s more, EarthWool has GREENGUARD Gold certification so by choosing EarthWool for your next project you can be sure you are using a highly sustainable product.

For more information visit knaufinsulation.com.au or scan the QR code.

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rban Energy Australasia specialise in designing viable alternative solutions to meet our clients energy requirements. We offer an extensive range of alternative and renewable energy resources. From industry scale solar thermal, to CHP (combined heat and power) electricity generation, Urban Energy has the solution to reduce your energy costs.

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UrbAn EnErgy solUtions At work: This system utilises a sophisticated Cogeneration system and waste heat recovery Absorption chiller to efficiently generate a proportion of the electricity used by the centre and efficiently generate cooling.

The cogeneration system is a 120kW cogeneration system with a daily electrical output of 1,800 kWh and a daily thermal output of 2,445 kWh. The chiller system is a 98kW absorption chiller with a daily thermal (cooling) output 1,470 kWh.

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