Knox Civic Centre

Knox City Council

511 Burwood Highway, Wantirna South, Victoria 3152

Property classification: Government Administration

Property website: www.knox.vic.gov.au

Sustainability Summary:

The Civic Centre is one of the largest energy and water consuming buildings Knox Council operates, receiving an energy rating of 1.5 (out of 5) in 2007. Extensive sustainability measures were implemented throughout the building during 2007 – 2009 as a result of this rating. The Knox Civic Centre reduced its greenhouse gas emissions by 18% and will save $31, 000 pa on energy bills. The full benefits and savings of these measures are expected to be realized over the course of the 09/10 financial year.

Property Description:

The Knox Civic Centre is located approximately 25 Kilometers east of Melbourne CBD. It is located in a mild temperate climate and relies on heating and cooling to be operational throughout the cold winters and hot summers. The Building is made up of three separate buildings (15-30 years old)

Case Study:

 
Energy Efficiency in the Civic Centre
  •  The Knox Civic Centre is one of the larger Administration Buildings tracked by Planet Footprint. The Council has progressively implemented significant infrastructure changes and upgrades. To date, these have achieved a permanent reduction in its exposure to increasing energy cost
  •  The Knox Civic Centre has had some of the largest reductions in energy consumption, costs and greenhouse gas emissions across all administration buildings tracked by Planet Footprint.
  •  Over 4 years, the energy efficiency of the Knox Civic Centre has improved by 33%. In 2005/06 the energy efficiency of the Civic Centre was an average of 3 MJ/m2/day, and in 2008/09 it was 2 MJ/M2/day.
 
Major projects were done on:
  • Lighting upgrades
  • Changes the heating/cooling system
  • Replacement/upgrade of IT equipment
  • Installation of the Ark Energy Saving Unit to reduce voltage and improve power factor
  • Passive cooling measures such as heat reflective paints & tinted north/west facing windows
  • 5KW Grid connected Solar Panels

 

Results of the projects:
  • The total cost of these improvements were $225, 000
  • The financial savings have been estimated to be $31, 000 annually with a 5-year pay back period. This is with a business-as-usual consumption at the current energy cost. Further financial savings are expected over the next 12 months
  • Knox Civic Centre is now performing as the most energy efficient administration building in its Region of Councils (ROC). Australia wide, it is performing just above average through it has improved remarkably since 2005/06

Actions:

 

Lighting changes Heating/Cooling technology IT/equipment Other changes
De-lamping (removing lights from existing light fixtures) in store rooms, toilets and hallways Introducing cool outside air into the building early mornings to pre-cool the office and avoiding the need to turn on air conditioning Since 2005/06: progressive replacement of all CRT computer monitors with LCD monitors 5 kilowatt Grid Connected Solar Panels to generate clean renewable energy on-site
Installing Motion Sensors in all rooms in the Eastgate building to switch lights off when rooms are unoccupied Reducing the running time of the air conditioning by one hour at the start and end of the day Enabling sleep-function on all large capacity photo copiers 2008/09: Installation of five Ark units (auto-transformers) to reduce voltage, balance the three phases, filter harmonics and improve power factor (Completed in December 2008)
Replacing 75 Watt downlights in the Function Rooms with 50 Watt Infra-Red Coated Downlight Improved air conditioning control mechanism for the Eastgate building by moving to a Direct Digital Control system  IT Server Virtualisation to consolidate servers  
Replacing existing fluorescent tubes with a T5 replacement in staff offices (a fluorescent light that consumes just under 40% less energy than a conventional tube but produce a much brighter light Installation of eight Smart Breeze Solar ventilation units to remove warm air from the Atrium to reduce the load on air conditioners    
  Painting the roof of the Civic Centre with heat reflective paint to minimise heat gain into the building through the metal roof    
  Tinting North and West facing windows of the Civic Centre to further reduce heat gain