Energy efficiency leaders recognised at awards

Energy Efficiency Champion 2016 winner Louise Vickery, ARENA.
Energy Efficiency Champion 2016 winner Louise Vickery, ARENA.

The National Energy Efficiency Industry Awards 2016 were held last week, celebrating the best in corporate leadership, individual excellence and energy efficiency innovation.

Hosted by the Energy Efficiency Council (EEC), the awards were announced at the National Energy Efficiency Conference 2016 Gala Dinner.

EEC President Tony Arnel says the quantity and quality of nominations this year was impressive.

“The diversity of programs and projects this year, ranging from large-scale utility programs to smallscale trials, the leadership of both companies and individuals, and the impressive outcomes demonstrate a deep commitment to innovation,” Mr Arnel says.

“The winners represent the very best in industrial, commercial and government efficiency, demand response and cogeneration.”

Winners are below.

 

Best Industrial Energy Efficiency Project 2016
Winner: Parmalat & Minus40
Parmalat and Minus40 implemented variable heat pressure, capacity and compressor staging control into its refrigeration plant. This reduced energy costs and improved plant stability without major equipment change, delivering a 22 per cent reduction in energy use, avoiding 727 tonnes of carbon emissions, and saving $98,000 per annum.

Best Energy Efficiency Innovation 2016
Winner: Chamaeleon III, enlighten Australia
The Chamaeleon III LED luminaire has been designed for long lit and low occupancy areas such as fire stairs, undercover car parks and service corridors. The combination of LEDs and controls mean that some installations have delivered more than 90 per cent energy savings on business as usual, and the current model allows the light output and motion sensor settings to be adjusted via smartphone.

Best Energy Savings Program 2016
Winner: Energy Efficient Office Buildings, Sustainability Victoria
Sustainability Victoria worked with 24 mid-tier commercial office buildings, mostly constructed between 1960 and 1990, and provided support for energy efficiency audits and building tuning to improve building performance, comfort and occupant productivity. Currently in its final monitoring stage, the program is showing outstanding results, including average energy saving of 30 per cent and emission reductions of over 4500 tonnes CO2-e.

Best Commercial Building Energy Efficiency Project 2016
Winner: 171 Collins Street, CBUS Property, Charter Hall & Knight Frank
Cbus Property and Charter Hall’s Melbourne landmark has become the city’s first to achieve a six star NABERS Energy rating without the use of Green Power – instead, the rating has been achieved entirely on the base building and operational energy use. A radiant cooling and heating system and an underfloor air distribution network provides energy efficient thermal comfort for occupants, while the air conditioning system allows large quantities of outside air to be brought into the office space at a low velocity and distributed using natural stratification.

Highly Commended: Bay Centre, Mirvac
The Bay Centre team has reduced the energy intensity of a 14-year-old building by an outstanding 55% to deliver a market leading NABERS Energy rating of six stars without Green Power. The reduction in energy consumption translates to a cost saving of $200,000 per annum.

Leading Energy User 2016
Winner: Woolworths
Woolworths ‘Project Enlighten’ involved a $137 million upgrade to lighting, HVAC and refrigeration systems across the Woolworths portfolio of supermarkets, petrol stations, liquor stores and department stores. The project is delivering $132 million in savings per year and a return on investment of 96%, demonstrating that large corporates can take bold, comprehensive and impressive action.

Highly commended: Commonwealth Bank of Australia
Since 2009, the Commonwealth Bank of Australia has dramatically reduced its energy intensity per fulltime staff member by 43%. This included a major roll out of LED lights, an updated lighting and security interface, minimum standards for IT and appliances.

Young Energy Efficiency Professional 2016
Winner: Leon Wurfel, BUENO
Leon Wurfel co-founded Australia’s first property operations big data company BUENO Systems and serves as Managing Director. Since inception in 2013, BUENO has grown to a staff of 25 and its products and services now cover more than 4.5 million sqm of buildings.

Highly Commended: Grace Foo, Energy Action
In a few short years, Grace has made a significant impact on a range of buildings. Grace has conducted energy audits at universities and schools in Australia and Fiji, hotels including Shangri-la in Sydney, shopping centres such as Erina Fair in Terrigal and Roxburgh Shopping Centre in Melbourne. She has also implemented energy efficiency projects at 10 Moore Street and 44 Sydney Avenue in Canberra.

Energy Efficiency Champion 2016
Winner: Louise Vickery, ARENA
Louise Vickery is one of Australia’s leading program managers in energy efficiency. The founding director of Greenhouse Challenge, Cities for Climate Protection, and manager of the Energy Efficiency Best Practise Program, Louise has represented Australia on the IEA’s Energy Efficiency Working Party and the International Partnership on Energy Efficiency Cooperation, contributing the World Energy Outlook focus on energy efficiency.

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