FE ATURE
Australia’s commercial
buildings make the switch
CitySwitch Green Office is a tenant energy management program which aims to
improve the energy efficiency of offices all over Australia. Carly Fordred finds out more.
sensors to help eliminate unnecessary
energy usage and ensuring equipment
is switched off at the end of each day can
collectively make a big difference to the
environment and our future”.
CitySwitch Green Office is a national
tenant energy management program
run in partnership between the cities
of Sydney, North Sydney, Parramatta,
Willoughby, Melbourne, Perth, Adelaide
and Brisbane and state government
agencies to improve office energy
efficiency, and reduce the CO2 emissions
attributed to global warming.
committing to achieve an accredited
4 star or higher ABGR tenancy rating
(now the National Australian Built
Environment Rating System (NABERS)
Energy tenancy rating), appointing an
energy manager, developing an energy
action plan, participating in formal
progress report sessions and obtaining
an annual ABGR.
Ecolibrium readers will be familiar with
the CitySwitch program’s predecessor,
the 3CBDs Greenhouse Initiative, which
was launched by the North Sydney,
Parramatta and the City of Sydney
Councils in 2005 and as reported in the
May 2007 edition of the magazine.
Due to the success of 3CBDs, the
three New South Wales council’s are
now being joined by cities nationwide
under the new umbrella of the
CitySwitch Green Office program.
The Councils joined forces with the New
South Wales Department of Environment
and Climate Change (DECC) with the
aim of reducing the climate change
impact of office buildings in Sydney’s
three largest CBD’s.
Businesses taking part in the 3CBDs
Greenhouse Initiative were asked to
perform seven actions to fulfil the
3CBDs commitment, which included
The program, which is being coordinated
through the Council of Capital City Lord
Mayors (CCCLM), is creating buzz from
councils across the nation.
CCCLM Chairman and Lord Mayor
of Adelaide, Michael Harbison says,
“Adelaide City Council is committed
to working with commercial building
owners to help them achieve ongoing
sustainability, through the CitySwitch
Green Office program. Simple steps such
as upgrading office lighting via motion
Fifty-six corporations, representing more
than 600,000 m² of office space in Sydney,
are already signatories.
135onKing; ahm Dental & Eyecare Practice; Allens Arthur
Robinson; AMP Capital Investors; Arup; Barclays Global
Investors; Big Switch Projects; Brookfield Multiplex; CB Richard
Ellis; City of Sydney; Clemenger BBDO; Colliers International;
Colonial First State Global Asset Management; Commonwealth
Bank; Department of Environment and Climate Change;
Department of Water and Energy; DEXUS Property Group;
Dinosaur Designs; DTZ; Ebsworth & Ebsworth Lawyers;
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E co l i b r i u m • S E P T E MB E R 2 0 0 8
Acting Melbourne Lord Mayor, Garry
Singer, also shares Harbison’s excitement
and vision. The Melbourne council
announced their involvement, in
partnership with Sustainability Victoria
on June 5, 2008, World Environment Day.
The program is timely for the City of
Melbourne, who is aiming for zero net
emissions of greenhouse gas emissions
throughout the municipality by 2020.
Local businesses will play a big part in
helping to achieve this target, according
to the Acting Lord Mayor.
“We want to be a leading example
of how to implement green initiatives
in business and encourage others to
join in this new way of doing business,”
explains the Acting Lord Mayor.
Over in the west, the City of Perth has
already signed its first signatory to the
program; Australia’s largest publicly
listed oil and gas company, Woodside.
“It’s a great start and the City of Perth is
pleased to have a practical program that’s
within the reach of office tenants who are
keen to make a difference,” says City
of Perth Lord Mayor, Lisa Scaffidi.
Energetics; ENVIRON Australia; Ernst & Young; Ferrero
Australia; Garfield Barwick; Commonwealth Law Courts
Building; Gilbert + Tobin Lawyers; GlasgowHart; Goodman;
Haden Engineering Pty Ltd; hamiltonthomson; Insurance
Australia Group Limited (IAG); ING Real Estate; Investa Property
Group; Jones Lang LaSalle; Knight Frank; KPMG; Lenovo; Lend
Lease; Mirvac; NIX Management Pty Ltd; North Sydney Council,
NSW Fire Brigades; NSW Health; O’Donnell Griffin; Parramatta
City Council; PricewaterhouseCoopers; Rice Daubney; Roberts
Weaver Group; Stockland; Sydney Harbour Foreshore Authority;
Sydney Water; The GPT Group; TressCox Lawyers; University
Cooperative; Bookshop; Westpac; and WWF Australia.
Getting involved
To become a CitySwitch signatory
your office must be located in:
• New South Wales – City of Sydney,
North Sydney Council, Parramatta
City Council, Willoughby City
Council
• Victoria – City of Melbourne
• South Australia – Adelaide
City Council
• Western Australia – City of Perth
• Queensland – Brisbane
City Council
• Determine if you will commit to
achieve a 4, 4.5 or 5 star NABERS
Energy tenancy rating and write
a letter to the Lord Mayor or
Mayor of the Council where your
office is located, outlining your
commitment: (Templates available
online at www.cityswitch.net.au )
• Upon receipt of an acceptance
letter acknowledging your
participation as a CitySwitch
signatory, commence the
NABERS Energy process to
benchmark your tenancy rating.
• Appoint a staff member to act as
your CitySwitch energy manager.
Their role is to manage the
implementation and achievement
of your commitment rating; and to
be the main point of contact with
a CitySwitch program manager.
• Develop and implement
an Energy Action Plan to achieve
and maintain an accredited
(4 stars or higher) NABERS
Energy tenancy rating.
• Obtain an annual NABERS Energy
tenancy rating to monitor your
performance in achieving your
commitment. Promote energy
efficiency to your staff, customers,
suppliers and stakeholders; and
share your energy challenges and
successes with other signatories.
• The final action involves
participating in a formal progress
report back session annually;
and providing feedback on your
progress toward meeting your
CitySwitch commitment.
The committment
Businesses which become CitySwitch
Green Office signatories commit to
achieving an accredited four stars or
higher NABERS Energy tenancy rating.
This rating scheme, which is
administered nationally by the NSW
Department of Environment and Climate
Change (DECC), rates the efficiency of
buildings and tenancies from 1 to 5 stars,
with 5 stars representing exceptional
greenhouse performance.
NABERS Energy measures and rates a
tenancy’s actual yearly greenhouse gas
emissions using 12 months of energy bills.
With the average tenancy performing
at 2.5 stars, a 4 star commitment means
the tenant is at least 20 per cent more
efficient than the general commercial
tenant market.
According to the CitySwitch Green
Office program, the commitment can
be achieved by simple, easy to implement
actions that increase energy efficiency.
These include installing energy efficient
lighting and office equipment, changing
to flat screen monitors, activating sleep
mode on equipment where applicable,
upgrading lighting controls including
occupancy sensors and timers,
purchasing GreenPower from renewable
sources and educating staff on the
benefits of energy efficiency.
According to the program, if all of
Australia’s commercial office tenants
were to adopt the simple changes involved
in CitySwitch Green Office it could
deliver a saving of 960,000 tonnes of
CO2 per annum, which is the equivalent
of taking 200,000 cars off the road.
Improving energy efficiency through
the use of heating and cooling can be
undertaken by tenants in a number of
ways according to CitySwitch, such as:
• ensuring thermostats are not located
near heat sources like photocopiers
• regularly cleaning or replacing filters
• increasing the thermostat by one
degree in summer and decreasing
it by one degree in winter, and
• installing glazing, tinting, blinds or
shades on windows.
Through the CCCLM, capital cities are
talking to Federal and State/Territory
governments about further opportunities
to grow the program. By 2012 CitySwitch
Green Office aims to sign up 700
businesses. In addition to energy use, the
program is also looking to address water
and waste management in the future. ❚
The Real-Time Energy Management Solution
FE ATURE
Just some of the features
of Optergy include:
�
Building dashboard
�
ABGR, NABERS rating estimates
�
Energy & water management
�
CO2 emission reports
�
Live tenant input capability
�
On-line information management
�
Tenant access for after hours and billing
�
No data access licence fees
�
Benchmarking and forecasting
�
Real-time web access
Alerton Australia delivers systems for small
buildings to multi-site and multi-campus
facilities with robust enterprise-level
reliability and reporting capabilities.
AIRAH’s Melbourne office
has signed up to the program
and urges members to do the same.
Businesses interested in joining the
CitySwitch Green Office program
can locate their State program
manager on the ‘contact us’
page of the CitySwitch website
www.cityswitch.net.au
CALL 1300 4 ALERTON
www.alerton.com.au/optergy