AGM Speakers show the way to an Energy saving future.
Island Voice’s AGM was held on 22nd October 2022, and after the formal business concluded, we were addressed by two terrific guest speakers giving us different perspectives on the subjects of environmental and economic sustainability.
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Zoë Geyer – Co-ordinator of Totally Renewable Phillip Island (TRPI), outlined TRPI’s origins in 2018 and the enthusiasm for Phillip Island to be a carbon neutral community by 2030.
Using a summary of Bass Coast’s emissions by sector, Zoë showed that “Stationary Energy”, used for the heating/cooling/lighting of buildings, formed the largest proportion of energy usage. This means that building energy efficient buildings is more important now than in the past. Zoë introduced us to “PassivHaus” building standards, which if properly employed, significantly reduce energy use in buildings.
TRPI is currently working with Ausnet and Mondo to trial community use of part of the “Big Battery” (Phillip Island’s Community Energy Storage System) being installed at Gap Rd. This trial will explore the potential for the virtual storage of excess solar energy generated by participants without home batteries which can then be drawn down by other members of the trial as needed.
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Derek Harbison – Director of Negawatts Projects, consults on renewable energy projects to deliver sustainable building solutions with low energy usage. He has worked with the Phillip Island Aquatic Centre Fund (PIACF) to look at sustainability options for the proposed Phillip Island Aquatic Centre.
Derek’s presentation outlined how a number of innovative changes in design and construction, that differ from widely used traditional methods, can make huge differences to the efficiency of Aquatic centres. He compared energy use of recently built Aquatic Centres in Australia with those in Europe. Australian Aquatic centres are typically taller, with larger areas of glazing and consume far more energy than European ones. Notably, it costs far less to construct and operate Aquatic centres which have less glazing and are of lower height.
Derek then showed how the choice of materials can significantly reduce building costs. In New Zealand, the Wai o Rua Stratford Aquatic Centre has just opened with a construction cost of A$18 million. Although providing a very functional level of interior finish, it does provide similar aquatic facilities to those of the proposed Phillip Island Aquatic Leisure Centre which is budgeted to cost over $40 million! Even adding a higher level of interior finish to the Wai o Rua Stratford design would result in a cost that far less than that.
He concluded by saying that it is possible to optimise energy usage and efficiencies at the design stage and so today construction of an excellent and sustainable centre must involve a team of experts to review the energy usage and construction efficiencies before anything is built. This will ensure that the most energy efficient building is constructed, costing less to build and operate.
There was a lot of audience engagement during each presentation, with a number commenting that this information should be used by Council when deciding how they will build our future Aquatic Centres and that Derek could/should be a great resource for them to use.
Bass Coast Shire Council have already stated that “In line with Council’s Climate Change Action Plan, the Cowes Cultural and Community Centre will be built, designed and certified to PassivHaus Standards, making it the most environmentally significant building in the region”.
Island Voice applauds this and believes Council need to be proactive and demand a high level of building performance at the concept design stage of all future building projects in the shire. Looking beyond established practice and incorporating the latest methodology and technology will minimise energy use, operating expenses and carbon emissions. We believe that adoption of such an approach can only deliver long term benefits.
Links to further information:
Download a copy of the AGM minutes here
Visit TRPI website https://totallyrenewablephillipisland.weebly.com/
Download a copy of Zoë’s presentation here
Download a copy of Derek’s presentation here
Download a copy of Negawatt’s Aquatic and Recreation Centre Report here
Visit the Wai o Rua Stratford Aquatic Centre here
Download BCSC’s Climate Change Action Plan here
And if you wish to delve deeper, Negawatt Projects have a lot of research information available here
