Going green the done thing

THE owners of several prominent Perth buildings have made modifications to incorporate sustainable principles ahead of the release by the Green Building Council of Australia of its sustainability guidelines.

The Perron Group, whose assets in Perth include half of Central Park and retail shopping centres Belmont Forum and Mirrabooka Square, recently held a national two-day sustainability conference in Perth to discuss the incorporation of sustain-ability principles into its assets.

Perron Group asset manager Peter Polini said the Perron Group was among the leaders in addressing sustainability issues.

“We are fully supportive of the principles of sustainability and are evaluating our current practices and looking at how sustainable principles can be incorporated,” Mr Polini said.

WA Business News understands that Central Park’s joint owners, the Perron Group and the Government Employees Superannuation Board (GESB), will put a proposal to council this month to upgrade the forecourt and main lobby area, incorporating sustainable principles.

And the adjoining Common-wealth Bank building will undergo refurbishment with three new retail spaces added to the foyer, including a Japanese restaurant and a new bar/cafe.

Cameron Chisholm Nicol director Dominic Snellgrove said while some owners and tenants were focused on sustainability, it was pleasing to see major developers taking leadership roles.

“The Perron Group is deeply committed to sustainable initiatives and are considering the incorporation of sustainable practice in a genuine and serious manner,” he said. “It is essential that developers understand the benefits of incorporating sustainability into projects – there may be an increase in capital costs, but it is not as high as people generally think it is, and ultimately, ongoing costs are reduced.

“Western Australia needs a bench-mark project which incorporates sustainable principles; until then, everything remains abstract.

“The market is the most powerful driver for change, and once economic credibility is achieved, the rest goes without saying – the effects on the environment, people and qualitative components.”

Central Park general manager Peter Zissiadis said Central Park had already implemented several management practices to reduce energy use, with monthly audits a standard procedure.

Tenants can view the results of the audit, and their individual consump-tion for power and air-conditioning, on the Central Park website.

“There is a need for owners and managers to push in the direction of sustainable principles, but tenants are increasingly expecting it as well,” Mr Zissiadis said. “Ultimately, it means savings for tenants on outgoings, and a more comfortable workplace for their employees.”

He said Central Park incorporated sustainable practice by recycling paper and plastic, using 10 per cent green power, monitoring water usage and providing three kinds of bicycle storage for tenants.

Rival building QV1 has recently upgraded its power supply facilities to reduce unnecessary usage and optimise electrical efficiency.

ABB Power technologies was commissioned to evaluate power quality issues and install power factor correction equipment and active harmonic filters to reduce the apparent power demand and reduce electrical loss.

ABB regional sales manager Rob Symonds said that, in addition to cost saving for the building, the new equipment also helped reduce line losses in Western Power’s system.