Office buildings are the new battleground in South Australia’s war on climate change, with two Adelaide based companies winning green innovation grants to green office buildings.
South Australian Environment and Conservation Minister Paul Caica has announced that two Adelaide companies will use the funding to cut greenhouse gas emissions from South Australia’s commercial office buildings.
Mr Caica said Tamrae Pty Ltd and MWQ Properties Pty Ltd have been awarded a share of $270,000 in the second round of the State Government’s $2 million Building Innovation Fund.
The projects, a solar façade and a thermographic survey, aim to demonstrate how building owners can improve the environmental performance and lower the operating costs of existing commercial office buildings.
“While Adelaide has been a leader in developing high-rating Green Star commercial office space, the majority of our existing stock has substantial room for improvement when it comes to environmental performance – that is why the Government established the Building Innovation Fund,” Mr Caica said.
“These grants encourage commercial office building owners to use innovative technologies to reduce energy use and cut greenhouse gas emissions.’’
Tamrae Pty Ltd will use their $240,000 grant to create a solar façade consisting of solar panels and translucent PV cells at 164 Fullarton Road in Dulwich which will reduce the building’s overall energy consumption by about 25%.
MWQ Properties Pty Ltd will conduct a feasibility study for a thermographic survey and façade improvement analysis of 22 King William Street.
The $30,000 project will use thermography to determine the areas where heat is escaping from the building therefore enabling the creation of strategies to improve the energy performance of the building.
According to the Property Council’s SA Executive Director Nathan Paine, the projects supported by the Fund are resulting in valuable resources that will inform and encourage learning across the building industry.
“By encouraging feasibility studies and capital works and then sharing this information, the Building Innovation Fund is helping building owners, planners, architects and developers to better assess the options available to them.” Mr Paine said.
