This is a summary of recent articles addressing the topic of greening of the existing building stock and links to the full article are available now.
The Greening of Existing Buildings
Current research has identified that most of Australia's CBD stock, constructed in the 1970's, is entering a phase of retrofitting. Most of this existing stock performs poorly against sustainability benchmarks and there is huge scope for improving the sustainability of the existing commercial building stock in Australia. Below is a collection of recent articles addressing the topic of greening of the existing building stock, found in EcoLibrium®, the official journal of the Australian Institute of Refrigeration, Air Conditioning and Heating (AIRAH).
Plant life in pre-loved buildings
When once they might have been demolished, today pre-loved buildings are considered a valuable asset which, through careful consideration and refurbishment, can become glowing examples of environmentally sustainable design. EcoLibrium® spoke with four members of the industry including:
- Bryon Price, Strategic development director, AG Coombs Group;
- Laurie Reeves, Regional manager, Hirotec;
- Dick Lister, Principal, RC Lister Engineering Consultancy; and
- Robert Liesegang, engineering services manager, Multiplex Facilities Management, National Archives of Australia
about how a building's plant, as well as its structure, can be reused.
To read what they had to say, please click here
.
Energy Performance Contract - Technical Evaluation of Air Conditioning Operation and Control at Ipswich Hospital
The West Moreton Health Service District was among the first to participate in the Queensland Health Energy Performance Contracting program by undertaking an upgrade to the Ipswich Hospital building services. The Ipswich Hospital is the largest public hospital serving the local population of over 110,000 people and has been located on its current site atop Denmark Hill in the centre of Ipswich for well over a century. The last refurbishment undertaken at the Ipswich Hospital was a major re-build and update of clinical and patient areas in the late 1990's but did not include the building's services.
This paper presents the results from one major energy using area - air conditioning - from that program. The scope of works evaluated in this report involves heating ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) systems installed including:
- Upgrade existing constant volume by-pass system to variable air volume (VAV) system
- Install variable speed drives (VSD) on supply and return air fans
- Measure supply air quantities and re-balance where necessary.
- The existing BMS system was reconfigured and reprogrammed to provide these additional automatic control features:-
- Review HVAC operation and configuration to match space occupied and unoccupied time
- Reset the temperature set points on 24 hour units serving 12 hour areas
- Temperature set back control to unoccupied areas
The installation of the air conditioning modifications commenced in June 2006 and was completed in January 2007. An energy saving of 142,363 kWh per month was realised. This figure equates to around 15% of the hospital's electricity usage and an annual saving of $106,000 giving an internal rate of return of 36%. The energy conservation measures (ECMs) resulted in the reduction of 1807 tonnes of CO2 per annum. A small but noticeable improvement to the power factor was also achieved.
To find out more about this article, please click here.
The changing world of maintenance and energy in pre-loved buildings
Maintenance of a building's energy consuming services is gaining importance as organisations pursue the balance between environmental morality and economic reality. The greening of a building's environmental systems takes more than making a profound public statement or putting a plaque in the lobby of a building. It takes commitment, a plan and a team of people willing to make a difference.
This article presents the case for why maintenance practitioners need to change they way they think about building maintenance and performance to meet with the changing expectations of other stakeholders in the building industry to meet environmental targets, provide safe and healthy work environments all within a responsible fiscal framework. It provides a clear outline and explanation of the basic types of maintenance approaches and provides pages of useful maintenance strategies.
To read more about the changing world of maintenance, please click here.
Turning pre-loved buildings green
This article presents an in-depth interview with Greg Johnson, Stockland's National Sustainability Manager for Commercial and Industrial, about how pre-loved buildings can be made more sustainable.
Talks about:
- Future proofing and 'greening' of existing stock
- Key drivers behind these activities
- Barriers to having these activities implemented into the mainstream
- Tools and other issues required to overcome these barriers
To find out more about this article, please click here.
Restoring an old classic
A look at how a historic National Trust classified landmark (Box Hill Town Hall in Melbourne) was refurbished with a new air conditioning system.
To find out more about this article, please click here.
60 year old system steamrolled for efficiency
This report discusses a major project at Adelaide's Repatriation General Hospital which has replaced an ageing steam plant with a range of energy efficient alternatives and led to dramatically reducing the site's lifelong dependence on natural gas.
To find out more about this article, please click here.
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