CARDINIA Shire Council has completed a major environmental upgrade of Cardinia Life that has reduced energy consumption and costs.
The upgrade, jointly funded by the Australian Government, included six energy-saving initiatives to improve the centre’s energy management systems and reduce energy use across hot water, lighting, fans and air conditioning systems.
The upgrade was celebrated by Cardinia Shire Mayor Jodie Owen and local MPs at a public launch on Tuesday 1 December.
A cogeneration unit has been installed allowing both heat and electricity to be generated from natural gas and a new ‘power factor correction unit’ will reduce power that is otherwise lost by mechanical inefficiencies.
The council’s Environment Officer Brett Munckton said the upgrade would support Cardinia’s target to achieve zero net emissions by 2024 as part of its Aspirational Energy Transition Plan.
“The project has significantly reduced our emissions. Energy cost savings have been estimated at more than $60,000 each year,” he said.
“Changing to LED lighting and installing a ‘daylight harvesting system’ has reduced lighting costs by more than 50 per cent while the variable speed drives mean fans that previously ran at 100 per cent all the time now only operate as required.”
Cr Owen said Cardinia Life was the logical place to upgrade as it had traditionally been the council’s largest single source of greenhouse gas emissions.
“It made sense for us to look closely at this facility and make what changes we could to reduce our environmental impact.
“Some of the changes made at Cardinia Life were complex and technical and others were as simple as installing lights that use less energy and ensuring things are switched off,” she said.
“This environmental upgrade project has significantly reduced our greenhouse gas emissions from Cardinia Life and provided us with a strong model to implement similar initiatives at other council facilities.
“We hope the 829,000 visitors to Cardinia Life each year enjoy the changes to the centre as they swim, go to the gym or enjoy basketball or netball.”
The council and the Australian Government each contributed $370,000 to the project.
