TOWARDS 2020

INNOVATIVE ADAPTATION

FOR AUSTRALIA’S SUSTAINABLE FUTURE

BANKSIA WHITE PAPER

THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT

A SELECTION OF

AWARD WINNERS AND FINALISTS

2011-2014

With thanks.

The Banksia Foundation would like to acknowledge The GPT Group’s sponsorship of our first Banksia White Paper. Our intention is to further expand our Banksia Sustainability Awards platform so that we can utilise the knowledge and expertise our winners and finalists bring to the Foundation.

We extend a big thank you to all of our contributing organisations and authors for their effort and participation in this project.

We would especially like to thank our talented editors, Andrew Block and Fran Madigan, for producing this high quality publication.

We hope you can use this Banksia White Paper to gain an insight into the future of sustainability in Australia’s Built Environment.

Graz van Egmond

CEO

Banksia Foundation

FOREWORD

No longer is it acceptable for sustainability to just be an appendix at the end of an annual report.

Never before have companies faced so much scrutiny in how they go about conducting their business in a more sustainable way that has a more positive impact on the community and environment. 

Investors, customers and the community now expect businesses to embed sustainability into their day-to-day operations, governance, stakeholder relationships, organisational culture and business objectives.

Moreover, companies are now being externally benchmarked and measured against industry standards and their peers in how they go about this.

But at GPT we see this as an opportunity. As one of Australia’s largest owners of office buildings and shopping centres, we believe more sustainable outcomes just make good business sense. Our tenants ask for it, our employees look for it, our investors filter it and the community expects it.

There are significant commercial benefits from being sustainable, such as lower energy costs, a happier workforce, better relationships with the communities where we operate, and retaining and attracting tenants.

We invite all of our stakeholders to hold us to account when it comes to sustainability because we know that it ultimately results in better financial outcomes.

GPT also believes sustainability goes well beyond just reducing our environmental and carbon footprint. It includes helping create positive change within our workforce and broader community.

Our company has undertaken a raft of initiatives to deliver best practice parental leave, childcare support and flexible working for our workforce. GPT has also formalised a set of initiatives aimed to improve the social and inequality issues faced by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples by signing a Reconciliation Action Plan.

We know that investing in social, economic and environmental sustainability will ultimately pay long-term dividends for GPT as a company.

The Banksia Foundation’s goal to recognise and promote more sustainable practices resonates strongly with us at GPT.

The Banksia Foundation’s recognition of environmental excellence and sustainability through its awards program is an important factor that stimulates more positive action within business, government and the wider community.

We hope the experiences shared in this paper – including our own – could inspire others to follow, and even improve upon, when it comes to sustainable business practice.

Bruce Precious

National Manager, Sustainability and Safety

The GPT Group

Table of Contents

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: SHARING OUR WEALTH 1

ABOUT THE BANKSIA FOUNDATION 3

THE QUESTIONS 4

WINNERS AND FINALISTS

2011 FinalistHepburn Wind Farm : Hepburn Wind, Victoria 5

2011 Winner

Gippsland Water Factory – A new way to care for water : Gippsland Water, Victoria 7

2012 Finalist

Australia’s first trigeneration precinct for commercial buildings : Investa Property Group, NSW, in partnership with Cogent Energy 11

2013 FinalistBega Eco-neighbourhood development : Community Housing Limited, Victoria 15

2013 FinalistWhitsunday sewage treatment plants upgrade : Downer (formerly Tenix – now part of the Downer Group), NSW 17

2014 WinnerBetter Buildings Partnership : Better Buildings Partnership, NSW 21

2014 WinnerFostering a climate of collaboration to transform road maintenance problems into an environmentally, financially and socially sustainable solution : Earthco Projects Pty Ltd, Victoria 26

2014 WinnerPsaros – Leading by doing : Psaros, WA 30

2014 WinnerThe GPT Group : The GPT Group, NSW 33

2014 WinnerMaking it Exemplar – Sydney Metro Northwest :

Transport for NSW, NSW 37

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY : SHARING OUR WEALTH

The Banksia Sustainability Awards have gathered a wealth of knowledge over the years and, through the wonderful work of our winners and finalists, connected the Banksia Foundation to many important initiatives.

Assessing these initiatives for the last 25 years, it has become increasingly clear that small changes made by individuals or organisations can have far-reaching consequences.

At Banksia, we believe in making the most of every opportunity to increase awareness of the sustainability initiatives being delivered by Australian businesses. Banksia’s white papers are such an opportunity. An extension of our awards program, this and forthcoming white papers will be a way to share the experiences of our amazing winners and finalists with the wider community.

Each will provide relevant, down-to-earth information on key themes covered by our award categories so all Australians have the chance to learn from and be inspired by the country’s sustainability leaders.

Banksia white papers will allow us to maintain even closer relationships with our finalists and winners, encouraging them to continue their outstanding work, and pass on their knowledge and experience.

The question-and-answer format of each paper is designed so we can present the content as it was presented to us – in the words of the people behind the work.

We chose the ‘future of the built environment’ as our first topic because the

scale, diversity and integration of the ‘built environment’ profoundly influences the future of sustainable business practice in Australia.

To develop the paper, we worked with our winners and finalists to investigate how and why they have become leaders and innovators. We also asked them to look into the future – towards 2020 – to assess how their progress would help boost sustainability in their respective fields.

As a topic, the ‘built environment’ is remarkably broad and open to interpretation. ‘Built’ can mean roads, bridges, bricks and mortar, but it can also represent social infrastructure like community housing and the human wellbeing generated by it.

Most interpretations of what the ‘built environment’ means are valid, so we deliberately put debate about definition aside and focused on the specific ‘built’ specialties of the organisations that contributed to this paper.

Collating the responses highlighted a number of themes associated with developing sustainable business practices.

These include intractable challenges such as Investa’s experience in relation to the commercial, legal and regulatory roadblocks affecting trigeneration uptake in Australia.

They also showed how political change can bring potential benefits, such as new Victorian legislation recently introduced to encourage more investment in wind farms like Hepburn Wind.

The following is a snapshot of some of these themes:

• The power of community action, as evidenced by the 2,000-strong co-operative members who contributed almost $10 million to construct the Hepburn Wind farm. The first

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: SHARING OUR WEALTH

community-led project of this type in Australia, it proves that direct grass-roots investment can generate real change.

• A key theme of the responses is the effort it takes to convince sceptics, both within organisations and industry-wide.

• Downer’s phrase ‘confidence to change’ sums up what is required to create a seismic shift in conventional corporate culture, or even to support an innovative idea in a conservative organisation. Confidence to change is clearly evident among all our contributing winners and finalists.

• The Downer response also highlights how vulnerable a project is when it must rely on the motivation of one individual, albeit someone with a role enshrined in the corporate structure.

• A key message among successful contributors like Psaros is that using sustainability as a point of difference in competitive markets (such as the property sector) is a highly effective business tool.

• The Psaros submission also demonstrates that affecting change requires corporate leaders to accept that the best ideas will incur costs without any guarantee of return. They are often required to take a ‘leap of faith’ and then stand by that decision long term.

• The Transport for NSW response highlights the importance of delivering from the bottom up in order to get staff commitment. It also illustrates how essential industry-wide knowledge sharing and ongoing engagement is to achieve long-term outcomes.

• Investa’s response is a reminder that the sustainability projects most deserving of accolade aren’t necessarily media darlings. They are often the projects that cut through the red tape that smothers a good idea like energy trigeneration.

• That said, Investa’s answers also show that even the most well considered, cost-effective solutions can be stymied by bureaucracy and economics.

• Bega Neighbourhood Development’s project and white paper responses are proof that off-the-shelf solutions work when used in the right combination.

• Communicating value can be difficult when the pioneering nature of a project, such as that presented by Gippsland Water, means there is not much else in Australia to compare it to.

• Earthco Projects Pty Ltd’s submission provides a detailed, practical answer that demonstrates compelling and quantifiable outcomes that anyone can understand – in this case, removing the equivalent of 3,600 heavy truck trips from existing roads.

• The Better Buildings Partnership (BPP) contribution shows what can be achieved by aligning influential organisations in partnership with a common goal. It also demonstrates the motivational power of an ambitious goal – to reduce the City of Sydney’s greenhouse gas emissions by 70 per cent by 2030.

• BBP also reminds us that useful sustainability resources and information are only valuable if they are made available to the right people at the right time in an organisation.

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ABOUT THE BANKSIA FOUNDATION

The Banksia Foundation is renowned as Australia’s pre-eminent organisation in recognising and promoting innovative sustainable development and practice through its awards program.

In the last 25 years, the Banksia Foundation has recognised over 360 inspirational, passionate and nationally acclaimed winners. These winners have overcome the challenges of their day, learned important lessons and shared their stories through the Banksia Foundation. Their tireless efforts to make a positive difference to the environment have inspired and motivated other individuals, organisations and companies across Australia to lead on the path towards a more sustainable future.

Through its awards program, the Banksia Foundation helps raise the profile of current sustainability issues facing Australians and recognises those whose initiatives are an inspiration for others.

Banksia’s ongoing success is underpinned by partnerships with its sponsors and an ability to provide them with a worthwhile marketing platform by recognising leadership and innovation among Australia’s sustainability leaders.

From 2015, Banksia Foundation Awards will use these

symbols to recognise award categories.

International Award

Richard Pratt Banksia CEO Awartd

The Environment Minister’s Award for a Cleaner Environment Award

Large Business Sustainability Leadership Award

SMB Sustainability Leadership Award

Sustainable Water Management Award

Natural Capital Award

Innovator of the Year Award

Education for Sustainability Award

Leadership in Citizenship and Communities

Sustainability in Design, Build Award for Buildings and Products

Food for Sustainable Thought Award

Indigenous Sustainability Award

Mindful Movement Award

Smart Technology Award

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THE QUESTIONS

Driving the project/initiative

1. What was the business/community imperative for the project?

2. From where and by whom was your motivation generated? The board? Staff? The community?

3. What was the chief motivational factor that caused you to take action?

4. How does this project align with your corporate/organisational culture?

5. Was the project/initiative a top-down or bottom-up driven approach?

6. Which area of the business/organisation does the day-to-day implementation of the project fall into? Who is responsible for its coordination?

7. Initially, what were the main barriers for the project/initiative? How were they overcome?

8. How was the concept of sustainability accepted as part of the necessary business costs? How easy was it to convince your decision-makers to invest in the sustainability components of your project/initiative? Was a return of investment calculated into the costs?

Outcomes of the project/initiative

1. How has the outcome of the project/initiative and being recognised as a Banksia finalist/winner affected the way you do business?

2. Has it affected your stakeholders, staff or customers’ approach to the business/organisation? Has the project/initiative changed mindsets?

3. How has this project/outcome benefitted you? Has business increased? Has staff morale improved? Have you been able to form partnerships that otherwise would not have been possible?

A vision for the future

1. Is this project/initiative part of a longer term, larger scale undertaking?

2. Are their broader implications for the project? How are they being realised?

3. How do you envisage this project/initiative going into 2020?

4. What are the main barriers for the project going forward?

5. What are your goals for the project/initiative going forward?

6. Did you share the technology involved in your project/initiative with the industry? Do you have any plans to share the technology? Why/Why not?

7. Are there any national or international replications of your project/initiative?

8. What did you learn from completing this project/initiative?

9. Do you see your business/organisation at the pinnacle of sustainability in your industry? If not, what do you need to do to reach the pinnacle? If yes, what do you need to do to continue as industry leaders?

Banksia posed a number of questions to award winners relating to the projects and initiatives for which they were subsequently successful in the Awards Program. The questions were raised as ‘food for thought’ and to generate feedback about issues and results.

Not all questions were addressed by all winners. And some responses were more detailed than others.

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EDUCATION AWARD : Raising the bar

In 2011, this award was presented to the entry that was deemed by the judges to demonstrate leadership and innovation in lifting awareness, improving understanding, advancing social and community consciousness of sustainability issues, and educating to achieve real, tangible outcomes.

SNAPSHOTHepburn Wind is a community cooperative

which has built Australia’s first community-owned wind farm. Almost 2,000 people, mostly local to the area, pooled funds to build a two-turbine, 4.1 MW wind farm at Leonards Hill, in central Victoria. Hepburn Wind is an example of how a community has catalysed the development of a new industry sector – community-owned renewable energy. The project was built by the community to benefit the community and is a standout example of a social enterprise. With the turbines complete and generating clean, safe

electricity, national recognition of Hepburn Wind’s achievements, through the Banksia Awards, assisted it to explain the opportunity of local engagement with renewable energy (not just wind energy) to a wide group of communities and ensure steady growth for the community energy sector.

DRIVING FORCESThe business imperative for this project

was for Hepburn Wind to become a community cooperative, responsible for the first community-initiated and owned wind farm in Australia.

2011 Finalist

Hepburn Wind Farm Hepburn Wind, Victoria

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in 2012, giving the project an international reputation. Industry mindsets changed to appreciate the community enterprise model for energy as having a role in the broader renewables landscape. Hepburn Wind catalysed a new sector and inspired many more communities to follow it. And its members were validated for taking a chance on this pioneering project.

FUTURE VISION

The broader implications for the project have been manifested through Hepburn Wind’s role as a catalyst for a movement and as a model for other communities to follow. These communities are now supported by a not-for-profit organisation called Embark, established by Hepburn Wind. Some 70 groups around Australia are now actively pursuing their own energy enterprises, inspired by this community initiative.

Hepburn Wind recognises that the main barrier for the project, going forward, is the political landscape and the impacts of that landscape on the energy market.

However, it maintains its goal to operate an exemplary wind farm through political instability to a more secure operating environment and to build on the project to deliver more clean energy projects around its community.

Hepburn Wind was the first initiative of its kind in Australia and now there is a second project in WA, with several more to follow in the coming years. Industry also consults with Hepburn Wind around best practice for community engagement.

Initially, in the concept phase, motivation was generated by the founder of the project and the community, followed by the board and staff once the organisation was formalised.

Community energy enterprises give local groups a chance to make a significant contribution to reducing climate change. They can also provide long-lasting economic and social benefits to the local community.

The project was a bottom-up driven approach. Almost 2,000 cooperative members contributed $9.9 million to the construction of the wind farm.

Raising such a large sum was a significant achievement, particularly for a project that had never before been attempted in Australia. It showed other communities a new way of funding and developing wind energy resources, through direct investment from small investors and local communities who wanted to support local renewable energy. Hepburn Wind was established as a model for other communities and has a strong focus on community engagement, regional economic benefits, local jobs, community empowerment and capacity building. It has led to a spin-off called Embark, a not-for-profit set up to support the emergent community energy sector.

OUTCOMES

In 2011, at the time of the award, Hepburn Wind was just built and generating, and the award was a timely recognition of how different the model was on the Australian landscape. It validated the work the community had undertaken to build it.

It also impacted on its political landscape, from winning local and regional awards, followed by the Premier’s Sustainability Award, through to the prestigious and national Banksia award. Hepburn Wind was also the recipient of the World Wind Energy Association’s award for best global project

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Gippsland Water Factory (GWF) turned conventional wastewater treatment on its head. The innovative wastewater treatment system addressed a serious environmental issue and incorporated water recycling to provide a sustainable solution for central Gippsland in Victoria. Built with the primary aim of removing untreated odorous wastewater from more than 40 kilometres of open sewer, GWF improved the freshwater environment by recycling domestic

SNAPSHOT

This project is a very effective example of community and political engagement that was underpinned by technology-based thought leadership. The project delivered an engineering solution with some excitement and vision – a result that allowed the region to further develop its local agriculture and industry in an environmentally sustainable manner with inspiring and impressive results.

WATER : OUR MOST PRECIOUS RESOURCE

This award was presented to the entry demonstrating leadership and innovation in assuring continued environment and community access, both today and by future generations, to quality freshwater resources and vibrant marine environments.

2011 WINNER

Gippsland Water Factory : A New Way To Care For

Water(and The Origin Gold Banksia Award: 2011 Winner)

Gippsland Water, Victoria

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world-first treatment of Kraft pulp and paper wastewater;

• construction and recruitment pressures created by the $500 million Australian Paper Maryvale upgrade being undertaken at the same time as GWF construction, just one kilometre away;

• delays in providing vital approvals;

• significant pressure to deliver the project on time and on budget; and

• responsible management of public funds.

GWF now provides wastewater treatment to an urban population base of 48,000 at its Maryvale plant, treating wastewater from more than 15,000 homes and businesses in 11 local towns, and Australian Paper’s Maryvale mill. The wastewater from Australian Paper is equivalent to that generated by a population of about 400,000 people.

In addition, the project resulted in:

• raw sewage flows being removed from the Regional Outfall Sewer (ROS), eliminating odour and extending the life and capacity of the concrete pipe section. Prior to GWF, untreated sewage flowed in an open drain for more than 40 km, generating significant offensive odour. The ROS carried untreated wastewater for more than 60 years and was believed to be the last open drain sewer in Australia. Thanks to GWF, only highly treated wastewater now flows down the ROS;

• 35 megalitres a day (ML/d) of domestic and industrial wastewater being treated at GWF’s Maryvale plant. About 50 per cent of this water comes from nine central Gippsland towns and the balance from Australian Paper’s Maryvale mill;

• 8ML/d of domestic sewage treated to above Class A standard for sale to Australian Paper’s Maryvale mill

wastewater from 11 Gippsland towns for re-use, freeing up water in local rivers and reservoirs. The project set a new standard for delivery of wastewater treatment infrastructure in Australia and resulted in a reduced volume and massive step-change improvement to the quality of treated industrial wastewater discharged to the ocean. GWF incorporated sustainable design features, a water education centre, and was a world-first in the way it treated industrial pulp and paper wastewater.

DRIVING FORCES

Raw sewage flowing in an open drain conjures up images of a Third World country, not modern Australia. But for the people of Gippsland, a 40-kilometre open drain sewer and its associated foul odour was their reality for almost 60 years until 2010.

There was a simple and safe solution: pipe the open drain. This would have been the easiest solution from a practical, technical and political standpoint. But the Gippsland Water board and executive saw an opportunity to do something much more. It was a chance to go well beyond compliance to improve and secure the region’s water future in an innovative, sustainable and economically responsible way.

The initiative’s four key drivers were:

1. Odour compliance – to satisfy EPA licence conditions.

2. Asset condition – to solve the degraded pipe conditions.

3. Capacity – to provide room for growing industry and communities.

4. Foundation infrastructure – to create a different paradigm for a sustainable urban water cycle.

There were many challenges along the way, including:

• technical issues associated with the

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Based on the success of GWF, Gippsland Water now looks for holistic and innovative project solutions across its business, utilising both triple bottom line criteria and multi-criteria analysis in its project selection methodologies. This ensures the approach taken to all engineering tasks appropriately balances economic and environmental considerations, while achieving the desired outcome.

Forward planning has also increased to ensure assets are maintained in a sustainable manner.

Winning the Gold Banksia Award in 2011 for the GWF project, in addition to the Built Environment and Water category awards, provided Gippsland Water with national and international recognition and endorsement of its decision to deliver such an innovative and sustainable wastewater treatment solution.

Within Gippsland Water the awards continue to be a source of great pride and serve to focus the organisation on achieving better environmental outcomes from the activities it undertakes. Banksia’s reputation as Australia’s most prestigious environmental prize and the impact of independently assessed national recognition of Gippsland Water’s achievements at GWF has encouraged staff, management and the board to continue pursuing environmentally sustainable outcomes in all areas of its business.

Since winning the Banksia Awards, Gippsland Water has undertaken a range of projects to further protect and benefit the environment.

The most significant of these has been the development and commercialisation of Gippsland Water’s organic recycling business. Its focus is on composting biosolids generated within the corporation’s wastewater treatment activities with organic

for industrial re-use, freeing up an equivalent amount of fresh water (three billion litres a year) in the region’s rivers and reservoirs. Three billion litres of fresh water is enough to support a population of 43,000 people for a year; and

• 5ML/d of domestic wastewater from two towns (Sale and Fulham) recycled for irrigation on Gippsland Water’s Dutson Downs farm.

OUTCOMES

GWF transformed Gippsland Water from a water corporation running a primitive, Third World asset (the open drain sewer), to an innovative global leader in wastewater treatment and recycling. The change was a full about-face, as dramatic as they come, and one which has embedded itself within the culture of the organisation.

GWF provided a new wastewater treatment system for 11 towns within Gippsland Water’s region, including Morwell, Traralgon, Rosedale, Sale, Churchill, Glengarry, Toongabbie, Yinnar, Boolarra, Fulham, and Yallourn North, plus Australian Paper’s Maryvale Mill. It was the largest, most expensive and most significant project Gippsland Water has ever undertaken.

GWF is a project the community can be proud of; a project that went well beyond compliance and delivered a massive step-change improvement to the quality of treated wastewater discharged to the environment.

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prescribed wastes generated by Gippsland industries and green garden waste from south-east metropolitan Melbourne.

About 150,000 tonnes of organic waste per annum is now diverted from landfill into a product that is highly sought after within the Gippsland agricultural industry. Gippsland Water is now the largest composting organisation in Victoria, thanks to the successful marketing and promotion of its ‘Revive’ compost, which is utilised as a soil conditioner and nutrient enhancer in both broad acre and intensive dairy farming.

FUTURE VISION

GWF generated two internationally recognised patents associated with the technology and process design used at its Maryvale wastewater treatment and recycling plant.

There are currently two PhD research projects being undertaken with a focus on the process chemistry of the plant, and a significant technical paper is being developed by the immediate past president of the

International Water Association regarding the unique treatment processes utilised.

International interest has also been expressed in the technologies employed at GWF by both the Chinese and the Argentinian governments.

As confidence in advanced membrane bioreactors for treatment of both municipal wastewater and industrial trade waste grows within the wastewater treatment industry, it is anticipated more companies within Australia and around the world will turn to Gippsland Water and the GWF for baseline data to assist with the design and development of their wastewater treatment facilities.

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In April 2011, Investa Property Group (Investa) with Cogent Energy (Cogent), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Origin, solved this problem by launching Australia’s first commercial building trigeneration precinct. This solution allows Coca-Cola Place’s trigeneration plant to operate at maximum capacity, utilising waste heat to provide the building’s primary source of cooling, and send the surplus power to the grid, sharing the benefits with Deutsche Bank Place in Sydney’s CBD. Rather than developing or implementing a new technology, Investa and its partners

SNAPSHOT

Coca-Cola Place in North Sydney was designed to be highly energy efficient and to utilise trigeneration as its primary source of electrical and thermal energy. However, when it was opened in 2010, the trigeneration plant sat idle. The building was simply too efficient, meaning that it was not drawing enough electricity for the trigeneration plant to operate. This is a problem faced by the majority of trigeneration systems installed in the commercial property sector.

CLEAN TECHNOLOGY: HARNESSING OPPORTUNITIES

This award recognised leadership and innovation in removing climate, wastes and water impacts through the development and application of innovations that use new approaches, technologies and/or energy systems for business and community benefit.

2012 fiFInalist

Australia’s First Trigeneration Precinct For

Commercial BuildingsInvesta Property Group, NSW, in partnership with Cogent Energy

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problem: how to make a trigeneration plant work in a building where balancing thermal and electrical loads are difficult, a common problem in Australia where trigeneration plants are typically sized to thermal demand, creating an over-supply of electrical energy. This process involved multiple stakeholders within Investa, which included facilities management, sustainability, legal, accounting and tax, as well as external stakeholders from Cogent, TES and Ausgrid.

The project was a collaborative partnership between corporations, involving effort and passion from people at various levels in the respective businesses. It was a true team effort.

A key reason why trigeneration plants generally sit idle in commercial buildings is that this technical problem has been treated as a purely ’technical’ rather than a ‘multi-stakeholder organisational’ problem. Once it was established who could do what, and suitable commercial arrangements for all participants, Australia’s first commercial trigeneration precinct was a reality within six months and launched at an event attended by over 200 guests and reported widely in mainstream and specialist media.

In April 2011 Investa, with Cogent, launched Australia’s first commercial building trigeneration precinct by connecting two Investa-owned buildings via the electricity grid. This approach addressed the technical challenges of implementing trigeneration via an innovative commercial agreement and now paves the way for precinct-based trigeneration systems across Australia.

The agreement presents a commercial solution to the technical challenges, and the key components of the arrangement are:

• Cogent leases Coca-Cola Place’s trigeneration energy centre from Investa for 12 years, increasing the building’s capital value.

have developed an innovative commercial solution to overcome the significant technical barriers faced by this emerging cleaner technology. The trigeneration system now generates electricity with 40 per cent less emissions than electricity from the NSW grid, and the commercial agreement will result in emissions savings of over 1,000 tonnes of CO2-e per year.

DRIVING FORCES

It is a poorly kept secret that trigeneration plants in Australian ‘green buildings’ tend not to operate because of technical challenges: namely, the oversizing of trigeneration systems when designing new buildings, balancing the need for steady trigeneration electricity production with fluctuating building demand, grid connection issues and the economic unviability of selling trigenerated power into the wholesale electricity market. These problems result in the majority of installed trigeneration systems being switched off.

Investa had a newly installed trigeneration plant installed into its new flagship building at 40 Mount Street, North Sydney, to which all the above technical challenges applied directly. The project aimed to overcome all those challenges to realise the full potential of the investment already made in the then emerging clean technology for its business, as well as solve a number of the structural issues for the rest of industry to similarly benefit.

This project was not about promoting a new clean technology, but rather the development of innovative commercial, legal and technical solutions to overcome the significant technical barriers faced by trigeneration.

Australia’s first commercial trigeneration precinct came about by bringing together building developers, operators, engineers and licenced energy retailers to solve a

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OUTCOMES

Being recognised by Banksia has helped Investa to share this new concept for solving what was an intractable industry issue.

Australia’s first commercial trigeneration precinct overcomes operational challenges that a single-building engineering solution could not. It overcomes technical and commercial challenges that have been limiting the use of cogeneration plants since the introduction of the technology. Without this solution, the plant at Coca-Cola Place could not have operated cost effectively and the environmental benefit lost.

FUTURE VISION

Following the launch at Coca-Cola Place, Investa developed a portfolio-wide trigeneration model to model the interaction between the electricity and chilled water consumption of 33 Investa buildings with the electricity production and export from up to 15 trigeneration plants located within the portfolio.

Due to current commercial energy rates and prices the project has been paused until financial conditions are more appropriate. The timing of a return to viability will be dependent on movements in the gas and electricity markets, and Investa continues to reassess these factors over time.

The Sydney-North Sydney Trigeneration Precinct was Investa’s first experience with trigeneration. Following this, the City of Sydney launched its Trigeneration Masterplan.

• Two Energy Service Agreements allow Investa to purchase electricity, hot water and chilled water from Cogent, as well as top-up peak and off-peak electricity for both sites.

• Cogent purchases the gas consumed by the plant and provides the monitoring, operation and maintenance of the plant for the duration of the long-term agreement.

The arrangement creates a ‘virtual private energy network’ overlaid with the Ausgrid network to balance energy demand between the two buildings.

This solution allows Coca-Cola Place’s trigeneration plant to operate at maximum capacity and send surplus power to the grid, sharing the benefits with Deutsche Bank Place at 126 Philip Street in Sydney’s CBD. ‘Waste heat’ captured from the plant is used on-site for heating and cooling, significantly reducing the operation of boilers and electric chillers, thereby increasing efficiency and reducing energy use and CO2 emissions. In the event of a network failure (black out), the trigeneration plant at Coca Cola Place provides power, heating and cooling to the tenants.

Given the size of the investment already made in the technology, the drive for this project was the realisation of that investment and to create the blueprint for being able to repeat it in many other commercial buildings in Australia. This project was about enabling new clean technology to operate and its benefits to be realised here.

The launch of the Trigeneration Precinct demonstrated how a commercially viable trigeneration precinct can benefit building owners, their tenants and the environment.

Trigeneration also contributed to Coca-Cola Place achieving a 6 Star GreenStar As Built rating and a 5.5 star NABERS Energy rating.

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of balancing electrical and thermal loads providing confidence to building owners that the technology is feasible. Other building operators and the City of Sydney’s Trigeneration Masterplan seek to follow a similar model to that of Investa.

The challenges to implementing new clean energy technologies are often not about the technologies themselves, but rather the development of innovative commercial, legal and technical solutions to overcome the technical barriers faced by emerging technologies.

Investa continues to be internationally recognised for its sustainability leadership in terms of both innovations and performance. For Investa, sustainability is about truly embedding a can-do culture in its business to deliver commercially sound, environmentally excellent projects that benefit its customers and investors, and to inspire its employees and our industry.

Unfortunately commercial, legal and regulatory challenges still limit the uptake of this technology in Australian cities. Key legislative changes are required around grid connection and structuring of sales to the wholesale electricity market to make it easier and more commercially simple to install and operate trigeneration plants in commercial buildings.

The trigeneration plant at Coca-Cola Place operates with 40 per cent lower emissions than the electricity grid. The project delivers more than 1,000 tonnes of CO2-e in emissions savings every year within the precinct.

Investa and its partners provided project briefing papers and presentations to industry to share the learnings from the project and to inspire others to replicate the results.

By providing a model that is commercially viable, Investa has demonstrated that innovative commercial solutions do exist which can overcome the operational difficulties

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make it unique: as an urban development, the BEND neighbourhood seeks to be outward-looking, fully enmeshed with the communities around it rather than a community in itself. Secondly, BEND aimed to develop a working, ecologically and socially sustainable urban housing development where people of diverse socio-economic status could flourish. In recognition of the aim of embracing social diversity, BEND allocated about one-third of the planned 21 housing blocks for affordable housing.

SNAPSHOT

Bega Eco-Neighbourhood Developers Inc (BEND) formed in December 2002 with the aim of developing a low-impact ‘eco-village’ in Bega, NSW.

The philosophy underpinning the BEND group is living in harmony with the natural environment, and an understanding that the ‘ecological footprint’ and consumption of natural materials needs to be reduced.

Two additional aspects of this development

BUILT ENVIRONMENT : HARMONIOUS MANMADE LANDSCAPES AWARDThis award recognised leadership and innovation by integrating sustainable principles and practices in designing, building and retrofitting today the homes, suburbs, businesses and infrastructure of the future.

2013 fiFInalist

Bega Eco-Neighbourhood DevelopmentCommunity Housing Limited, Victoria

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The main barriers for the project related to securing funding and undertaking feasibility studies to determine the project’s viability in the long term; end value versus build cost.

OUTCOMES

It has been a difficult time for affordable housing organisations over the last two years due to the lack of government funding, but CHL is constantly bidding for – and sometimes winning – tenders, and a record of sustainable developments is an important part of assessment criteria.

FUTURE VISION

CHL is seeking partnerships and funding which will help to access land for new housing projects.

This project used off-the-shelf technology to achieve the required ecological ly sustainable development (ESD) outcomes. CHL shares the design approach used on this project with other BEND members and project partners

The initiatives and technologies used in the ESD housing at BEND are not new, but used in combination on this housing development they have produced outstanding affordable housing with lower utility costs for residents and with reduced impacts on the natural environment (especially, as in this case, on a sensitive site near the Bega River). The project also included rehabilitation of degraded floodplain and wildlife habitat.

Community Housing Limited (CHL) is one of Australia’s largest housing associations, committed to the provision of affordable and sustainable rental accommodation, and is a registered builder. CHL’s Managing Director met with BEND in late 2008 and agreed to work with the group to achieve BEND’s aims and provide and manage rental housing for people on low incomes with links to the local community. A site to the north-east of Bega, with a northern aspect sloping down to the Bega River, was purchased in 2004. It comprised approximately 11 hectares of degraded agricultural land, including river flats and the Bega River wetlands.

DRIVING FORCES

This project was developed by a local community group (BEND) which is guided by respect for the natural environment; this was incorporated into its Management Statement which mandated ‘green’ building techniques and an inclusive social policy.

BEND decided to incorporate social housing into its residential subdivision and approached CHL to assist in this aspect of delivering affordable rental housing.

Building and managing social housing is CHL’s core business, and in this project the inclusion of criteria for ecological sustainability created additional challenges for low-budget housing delivery – lessons learned that will be used in future development projects that aim to have a lower ‘carbon footprint’.

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to encourage industry participation in the Infrastructure Sustainability Council of Australia’s (ISCA’s) IS Scheme.

The new plants will provide significant environmental benefits for the local communities by reducing sewage overflows, improving noise and odour and reducing nitrogen and phosphorus discharges to the Great Barrier Reef. Guided by the IS Rating Tool, Downer optimised the plants’ designs to reduce operational energy requirements,

SNAPSHOT

Downer has taken the lead in creating more sustainable infrastructure by seeking, and being awarded, Australia’s first IS (Infrastructure Sustainability) rating for its design of two sewage treatment plants for the Whitsunday Regional Council in North Queensland.

Having achieved the ‘Excellent’ design rating, Downer shared its learnings from the project and is using the IS Rating Tool

BUILT ENVIRONMENT : HARMONIOUS MANMADE LANDSCAPES AWARDThis award recognised leadership and innovation by integrating sustainable principles and practices in designing, building and retrofitting today the homes, suburbs, businesses and infrastructure of the future.

2013 fiFInalist

Whitsunday Sewage Treatment Plants UpgradeDowner (formerly Tenix – now part of the Downer Group), NSW1

1 Tenix was acquired by Downer Group in November 2014. Any mention of Downer prior to this time should be read as referring to Tenix.

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the project team was very keen to see what could be achieved and use the rating to drive innovation.

The IS rating was pursued as a joint initiative between the project team and Downer’s sustainability manager. The project team implemented the initiatives while the sustainability manager managed the governance, strategic framework, analysis/investigation and documentation for the Design and As Built IS ratings.

As this was the first time the rating had been pursued, there was little industry experience and a lack of a body of knowledge to draw on in relation to it. The strong engagement with the Infrastructure Sustainability Council of Australia (ISCA) allowed Downer to work through any issues to their ultimate resolution.

A major barrier was commencing the IS rating process once the design was considerably advanced. This ruled out some of the options that could have been pursued; for example, process timing changes to take advantage of lower electricity rates during off-peak periods. It was accepted that these kinds of opportunities had been missed but there were still many other pragmatic and worthwhile initiatives that were possible.

One other key, self-imposed barrier was to not pursue sustainability initiatives ‘at any cost’. They had to be viable, both financially and operationally. This was a deliberate decision by Downer as it wanted to address the (still prevalent) attitude that ‘sustainability always costs more’. Downer found that there were many things that it could do at no, or very little, cost that would provide significant benefits. An example of this was changing the internal road material from asphalt to concrete.

In addit ion, the resourcing of the management and oversight of pursuing the rating was flagged as a concern at the

material use, carbon emissions and spatial footprint. This has translated into benefits including annual savings of around 306 megawatt-hours in grid electricity use and associated carbon emissions. By re-purposing existing infrastructure, choosing more sustainable materials, re-using on-site materials and clever design, Downer also saved around 4,750 tonnes of construction materials and associated carbon emissions. Downer designed and constructed the Cannonvale and Proserpine plants, and is now operating and maintaining them under a long-term contract with the council.

Note: Since becoming a Banksia Finalist, Downer sought and achieved an As Built IS rating for the project (the next phase in the project lifecycle) – the first project to have a Design and As Built rating. The As Built rating was also achieved at the ‘Excellent’ level.

DRIVING FORCES

There were three key imperatives for this project:

1. To use the Infrastructure Sustainability (IS) rating tool as a way of identifying and clearly communicating the higher sustainability performance Downer believed it was achieving through the project.

2. To better define the business case for implementing sustainability initiatives on infrastructure projects.

3. To provide evidence of Downer’s sincere commitment to sustainability.

The chief motivational factor was the opportunity to achieve the first IS rating in Australia, together with the need for early leadership to promote the benefits and utility of the IS rating scheme.

The project was a combination of a top-down and bottom-up driven approach. Downer was waiting for an opportunity at the corporate level to pursue an IS rating and

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• the design team now routinely considers new equipment types, such as centrifugal blowers and low energy pumps, to further drive down the electrical energy requirements of wastewater treatment plants (for example, Nambour STP);

• power modelling is also now undertaken by the design team prior to procurement to provide a purchasing strategy that is not just based on capital cost; and

• key design decisions now also consider sustainability criteria (for example, materials consumption) during ‘Design Opportunity and Risk’ workshops.

FUTURE VISION

The project provided Downer with the confidence to change its Sustainability Policy to encourage the pursuit of IS ratings and, importantly, to set minimum sustainability standards for new projects.

Going forward, the main barriers for the project are client demand and support for IS ratings.

Downer has shared substantial amounts of information about the project and lessons learned through a range of mechanisms, including conference papers and presentations, a video, and content for case studies and university courses. The latest presentation occured at Ozwater in May 2015.

At this time, the Whitsunday project remains the only wastewater project to have an IS Design or As Built rating.

Pursuing IS ratings for Design and As-Built provided some challenges, and, as a consequence, substantial learning was realised.

One of the most significant challenges was applying the IS rating tool to the project after the design had reached 30 per cent completion. The team had to move quickly to

outset. This is understandable given the tight budgets of construction projects – especially those for relatively smaller capital expenditure projects. Recognising the need to build organisational capacity and learning, it was decided to allocate the corporate sustainability manager to the project on a part-time basis to drive the rating.

Returns on investments were calculated in relation to potential use of solar photovoltaic (PV) and various water-saving initiatives, including use of spray irrigation rather than water-cart use for dust-suppression.

OUTCOMES

The IS rating has generated significant interest from current and potential clients that recognise the benefit of more sustainable infrastructure. Downer worked with ACTEW Water in Canberra to achieve an IS rating and is now pursuing an IS operations rating on another project – the Yarra Park Water Recycling Facility in Melbourne. The recognition afforded by becoming a Banksia finalist has provided independent evidence of Downer’s commitment to sustainability and its leadership in this area.

Downer used the lessons learned from the rating as the basis for developing and rolling out a sustainability competency program to key personnel across the organisation.

Current and potential clients have recognised Downer’s leadership in sustainability as a result of the project and this has led to discussions about future IS ratings which the organisation expects to commence during 2015.

The IS rating has provided evidence to support Downer’s claims of being a leader in the infrastructure sustainability space. Many staff – especially those involved in the project – were proud to have been associated with the IS rating and are applying the lessons learned on new projects, such as:

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of the rating process. Rather than seek external consultancy assistance in these areas, a decision was made to develop internal expertise so that this capability could be used on future projects and as the basis for specific internal procedures.

The project occurred in a regional area where sustainability may not previously have been an explicit consideration on large infrastructure projects. Local suppliers therefore needed to be briefed and coached as to what sustainability meant for the project and how their work or products could enhance sustainability outcomes. As a part of this, opportunities were provided to key suppliers to discuss their ideas and then pursue key initiatives. As an example, one electrical subcontractor used a lower environmental impact electrical cable and procured biodiesel for construction plant.

Although Downer believes it is one of the leaders in this space in its sector, it is still in the early stages in terms of potential and is yet to embark on ‘regenerative’ solutions to sustainability challenges.

capitalise on opportunities and constructively challenge design decisions that had already been made; for example, changing the revegetation strategy and incorporating new (more sustainable) design elements and fixtures for the operational control buildings. The key lesson here is to consider whether a rating is to be pursued at the earliest opportunity in the planning phase.

Another key challenge related to the first-time commercial use of the IS rating. Legitimate questions, such as ‘What is the extra cost?’, ‘Will it affect the program?’, ‘How many and what type of resources will be needed?’, ‘What are the risks to our reputation if we pursue but don’t achieve a rating?’ were raised and addressed in the early stages as part of preparing the business case for the rating.

Due to the broad nature of sustainability, many disciplines need to be involved to achieve the best possible rating outcome and encourage innovative thinking. As a consequence, each specialist area needs to be comprehensively engaged so they understand how best to contribute to a rating outcome. This also affords an opportunity to address concerns about potential benefits and risks and ensure strong support as a rating progresses.

The need to quickly develop expertise in new subject areas, such as climate change adaptation, deconstruction planning and crime prevention through environmental design, became apparent in the early stages

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improvements to buildings. The partnership also enables industry and the supply chain to overcome market failures, such as leasing that limits the ability for landlords to collaborate and improve tenants’ comfort, productivity and sustainability. Due to the partnership representing over 90 per cent of prime-grade buildings in Sydney’s CBD and significant proportions in other CBDs across Australia, when commitments to better leasing principles are made, change is all but guaranteed to happen.

In 2012, the BBP began an innovative new approach to build capacity across the industry with best practice (green) leasing. The project, still ongoing, has led to over 100 senior industry stakeholders directly involved in the co-creation of model lease clauses, fact sheets on choosing and specifying better buildings, and future works on communicating the

SNAPSHOT

The Better Buildings Partnership (BBP) is a leading edge collaboration between Sydney’s commercial landlords that is unlocking improvements to building sustainability, performance and value – such as waste management, on-site energy and green leasing – previously thought impractical or impossible. As a partnership, the group is capable of lowering hurdles for important

INNOVATOR OF THE YEAR

This award recognised an individual (or team) that has best demonstrated innovation in taking an initiative from a concept, through collaborative research and the quick adoption of the findings, to making the concept a commercial reality.

2014 WINNER

Better Buildings PartnershipBetter Buildings Partnership, NSW, in partnership with:

City of Sydney; AMP Capital; Brookfield; Charter Hall; DEXUS Property Group; Frasers Property; The GPT Group; Investa Property Group; Lend Lease; Mirvac; Stockland; The University of Sydney; University of Technology, Sydney; Colliers International; Savills; CBRE; JLL; Knight Frank; Green Building Council of Australia; Property Council of Australia; and the NSW Office of Environment and Heritage.

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Courtesy of the ‘Fifth Estate : ‘Tenant and Landlords Guide to Happiness’

Sydney 2030.

Ultimately, the program will inspire the broader population of the commercial sector and lead market transformation. Members will demonstrate actual reductions in line with Sydney 2030. Sydney will be seen as a global leader for best practice in sustainability in buildings, precincts and urban development.

The BBP is an industry collaboration modelled on similar schemes in London and Toronto and was founded in Sydney by AMP Capital, Brookfield, Charter Hall, City of Sydney, Colonial First State, Dexus Property Group, Frasers Property, The GPT Group, Investa, Lend Lease, Mirvac, Stockland, the University of Sydney and the University of Technology, Sydney.

Sustainable Sydney 2030 is the City of Sydney’s vision for a Green, Global, and Connected City. To help realise this vision the City of Sydney has set a target to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 70 per cent by 2030 (from 2006 levels).

The need to drive a step change in performance towards Sydney’s 70 per cent emissions reduction by 2030 target, and the need for a new approach to collaboration to remove structural barriers to change, prompted the creation of the BBP. It will help deliver this ambitious target, driving sustainable outcomes across commercial properties.

The BBP is a ‘by the people for the people’

value of better leasing frameworks to tenants in situ. The work thus far has engaged over 30,000 people in Australia’s property sector and is planting the seed for embedding green leasing as standard practice in years to come.

DRIVING FORCES

The purpose of the BBP was to:

• work collaboratively to improve the sustainability of Sydney’s commercial and public sector buildings and to help facilitate the achievement of Sustainable Sydney 2030 goals;

• improve the energy, water and waste efficiency of buildings within the city’s Local Government Area;

• facilitate the rollout of, and connection to, green infrastructure, such as the proposed trigeneration and recycled water networks;

• engage with regulators and governments on key environmental policy and regulatory issues;

• champion and promote the objectives and outcomes of the BBP and Sustainable Sydney 2030 to the wider community and relevant stakeholders; and

• achieve these broad program objectives through the establishment of a series of immediate, intermediate and ultimate goals.

In the immediate term, the program seeks to build the capacity of stakeholders to drive sustainability across their operations by increasing their skills and knowledge and by harnessing their interest.

In the intermediate term, the program is engaging stakeholder audiences around the wider benefits of sustainability and corporate citizenship. Members are encouraged to participate in planning and decision-making for projects contributing to Sustainable

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approach. Despite being supportive of council targets, it is not a council agenda: it is a commercially-driven agenda that reflects the needs and challenges of members and delivers back to them.

The BBP is directed by a leadership panel comprising senior representatives from each member organisation. The panel sets the BBP’s annual work program, addressing the issues of most importance to members regarding the environmental efficiency of existing buildings. Technical working groups have also been established for each key issue to advise on and deliver key projects such as toolkits, resources and other solutions to each of the main challenges identified by the leadership panel.

The City of Sydney, as a founding member, contributes to the direction and work of the partnership. The City also undertakes an administrative role in coordinating the partnership’s work program.

One of the reasons BBP exists is to remove the structural barriers to change.

Standard lease agreements evolved over time, with greater specificity and continuous de-risking of the contract to prevent any nuisance, intrusions, flexibility or collaboration. This greatly hindered landlords’ ability to provide their tenants with better amenity and technology, lower operating costs and increased productive space.

As well as being rigid, a standard lease agreement lasts seven to 10 years, limiting the opportunities to deliver best practice amenity to only the lease expiration and renewal periods, therefore greatly reducing the likelihood of meeting the Sydney 2030 targets. In a constantly developing landscape, environmental practices and standards can evolve very quickly, so by locking the landlord and tenant into a 10-year contract, there is no opportunity or written requirement to adapt.

BBP began its campaign by starting the

conversation with all the different parties involved: landlords, tenants, their industry representatives and lawyers. Clauses were neutrally drafted, explanatory notes were provided to increase understanding, benefits and incentives for each party were highlighted, and new tools were created by members who were asked to update their contracts to introduce more articulated green clauses and a scoring methodology developed for benchmarking.

By collaborating, problems that could not previously be overcome are now being solved. Following a robust statistical study, BPP can evidence that over two-thirds of lease agreements in Sydney are now embedded with green clauses.

The BBP created key tools and resources to fill gaps on sustainability as identified by industry.

A high-performing buildings fact sheet was produced which translated the value of more sustainable, high-performing buildings to an understandable financial figure for operations and HR managers. It also spoke about decreased absenteeism and increased retention and productivity. These non-traditional measures were backed by over two dozen local and international case studies, but had not been brought together and communicated at the time that operations managers need: that is, when deciding what outcomes they would like in their next tenancy. By providing the productivity and economic benefits of sustainability, the

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importance of investing in sustainability became apparent to the decision-makers.

OUTCOMES

All commercial industries are competitive, and BPP members are no different. They have put a substantial investment of time and intellectual capital into this partnership and the Banksia award win affirms the value of that effort. It signals BBP’s status in the industry and is a great drawcard for future partners. It also reinforces local government’s position as a true force of change.

The Sydney BBP is generating a great deal of interest both internationally and nationally. The Banksia award has been a powerful way to highlight the achievements being made by

BBP to the industry and to other governments seeking effective models for action.

FUTURE VISION

There is considerable academic interest in the BBP from the UK. Currently, the University of Oxford is researching the methodology BBP created for its world-first leasing index. Results will be published in an academic paper as it explores the possibility of replicating this index in an international market. It will also determine whether evidence bases of lease performance can be replicated to understand the global challenge of removing barriers to upgrade assets in other developed countries, in which case the implications will be significant.

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The BBP has shared information with the Institute of Market Transformation (IMT) in the USA. The IMT is exploring the work of green leases and is interested in the index and scorecards and how they can be integrated into the US market.

BBP has an active working relationship with the Global Real Estate Sustainability Benchmark (GRESB), an international sustainability-benchmarking scheme. GRESB is instrumental in sustainable investment for economic development outcomes and international capital flows. GRESB already rewards engagement via the lease and has recognised the BBP leasing work as ‘deemed to satisfy’ within its global rating system.  

Moving forward, one of the biggest barriers to change is the attitude of tenants who are generally in the mindset that by simply leasing space in a high performing building they are being sustainable. Owners and tenants both have a role to play. Mindsets and behaviours of the tenants need to shift if a building is to achieve its best environmental potential.

The BBP exists as a platform for sharing and collaborating across industry. The data collected and methodologies formulated are currently being shared both nationally and internationally.

Singapore and Japan have recently introduced new reporting legislations for commercial buildings and are now looking at what support and enabling actions they need in place to make these changes happen.

A new leasing guide in New Zealand is also being published by the New Zealand Green Building Council, drawing on the information put together by the BBP.

All of these countries understand the importance of best practice leasing, but struggle to work out how to do it and how to evidence it. So they are now looking at BBP’s methods and tool sets to see if they too can drive the conversation in their local markets.

Although the project is based in Sydney, many of the BBP members are national corporations. When they amend their precedent leases in Sydney, they are amending their leases all around the country.

BBP is currently focused on educating and training Sydney market professionals, looking at the training being driven out of national accredited bodies. Once it is tested and rolled out, it will be available on a national basis and BBP will start to achieve a stronger national penetration.

This project taught:

• the power of the collective;

• that all difficult challenges can be addressed with systems thinking; and

• the importance of translating complex concepts and information into simple language that really connects with audiences, such as the analogy BBP employs of a romance and marriage between an owner and a tenant.

The BBP is at the pinnacle of sustainability. To proceed as an industry leader, BBP will continue to move the industry forward by becoming well known as the home of best practice.

BBP’s next focus areas are operational and fit-out waste, and how a collaborative approach and a new level of best practice will raise the bar.

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SNAPSHOT

PolyCom Stabilising Aid is an Australian-made road stabiliser, distributed in Victoria, NSW and Tasmania by Earthco Projects Pty Ltd. It is used for the construction and maintenance of sealed and unsealed roads, road shoulders, airstrips and other pavements.

A cost-effective and sustainable alternative to traditional soil stabilisation, PolyCom creates a stronger, longer lasting pavement

and offers significant reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, water usage and maintenance expenses.

PolyCom Stabilising Aid is listed with ECO-Buy’s green purchasing directory, ECO-Find. It is environmentally inert and does not leach into soil or leave residue in water run-off.

Dedicated to creating a sustainable system of road maintenance and improving the knowledge base of the industry, Earthco Projects’ commitment extends to:

PRODUCT SUSTAINABILITY –: THROUGH DESIGN, MANUFACTURE AND USERecognising outstanding achievement in improving sustainability through the design, manufacture and commercial application of a product/s, this award included new products as well as improvements in process or design that improve the sustainability of existing products.

2014 WINNER

Fostering A Climate Of Collaboration to Transform

Road Maintenance Problems into an Environmentally,

Financially and Socially Sustainable SolutionEarthco Projects Pty Ltd, Victoria

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• a partnership with Swinburne University to research PolyCom performance in road maintenance;

• on-site project support for works officers and engineers;

• sponsorship of a Municipal Works Officers Association (MWOA) skills enhancement program for training and mentoring of municipal workers; and

• collaboration with stakeholders to review reporting practices, sustainability data and assistance with process changes.

Earthco Projects works closely with councils and other road-makers, fostering a climate of collaboration to transform their road maintenance problems into an environmentally, financially and socially sustainable solution.

DRIVING FORCES

The use of PolyCom Stabilising Aid recycles existing road materials, lessening the need for quarry materials, truck trips and water, while also reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The product itself is required in very low quantities, enabling a simple and inexpensive method of transport and application.

PolyCom can be used as a substitute for lime and cement in road stabilisation works. One two-kilogram pack of PolyCom is comparative to two tonnes of lime or cement in performance, without the associated environmental issues involved in the production, distribution and use of lime and cement. The result is a sustainable outcome for organisations charged with road maintenance.

Earthco Projects saw an opportunity that could change the face of road construction and maintenance in Australia, enabling councils to achieve the triple bottom line – financial, environmental and social sustainability.

There are three critical factors at play:

1. An efficient, safe and reliable transport network is vital for every community.

2. Councils are always struggling for enough funding to maintain their roads to an acceptable standard.

3. The conventional approach to road maintenance incurs a huge environmental burden.

PolyCom Stabilising Aid allows decision-makers to develop a sustainable, long-term, financial, social and environmental plan for road maintenance. PolyCom-treated roads last longer, cost less, incur less impact on the environment, and enable councils to maintain a road network that maximises economic, environmental and social benefits.

Earthco Projects distributes PolyCom Stabilising Aid throughout Victoria, NSW and Tasmania, working with councils each day to create a more sustainable method of road maintenance and construction.

This is not a ‘project’ for Earthco Projects as such – it is the core of its business operations.

From visiting customers to delivering product, marketing and attending tradeshows, it is a group effort for all involved. Earthco Projects delivers PolyCom directly to its customers where possible and assists new customers and on-site road crews to apply PolyCom during their road maintenance programs.

PolyCom Stabilising Aid is a unique approach to road maintenance and construction. People new to PolyCom are sometimes sceptical about its simplicity, and in a business such as this, Earthco Projects is working against relatively entrenched attitudes towards ‘snake oil’ solutions.

To add to the challenge, as a unique and innovative new product, PolyCom does not respond typically to the soil laboratory testing procedures practiced in the industry.

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OUTCOMES

After many years, Earthco Projects has a great deal to show for its commitment. And now that its sustainability efforts have been recognised by a Banksia award, PolyCom has greater credibility among its many customers within the industry. Earthco Projects commends those customers who have had the foresight to try PolyCom and ‘get it in the ground’ – they are the change-makers who deserve the real recognition.

According to a local council in north-eastern NSW, a road treated with PolyCom Stabilising Aid one year ago has not required maintenance grading, while an untreated section has been graded six times in the same timeframe. The success of this PolyCom application has led to plans to treat more roads in the near future. The Project Officer believes the use of PolyCom has the potential to reduce the maintenance required and allow the use of in situ material, which will reduce the need to import gravel.

When new customers ask about the environmental credentials of PolyCom, mentioning the ‘Product Sustainability’ category win at the 2014 Banksia Awards is extremely valuable. New councils and civil road-makers have contacted Earthco Projects since the Banksia win, so it has been a busy time. PolyCom is now well accepted and established within the industry and the win has been fabulous for team morale – the recognition was a huge boost to the PolyCom team’s confidence and inspiration to continue.

Simply by putting together the Banksia award submission, Earthco Projects realised how much it has achieved in the last few years alone. It was extremely fulfilling to see the submission in its entirety – a summary of the numerous initiatives and research projects that have been undertaken and that are yielding encouraging results.

FUTURE VISION

Earthco Projects endeavours to change the face of road construction and maintenance using PolyCom Stabilising Aid.

Victoria alone has approximately 75,000 kilometres of unsealed roads.

If just 100 km of roads are treated with PolyCom annually, rather than re-sheeting, approximately 90,000 tonnes (90,000,000 kilograms) of rock would NOT need to be quarried, processed and transported to site. This is the equivalent of 3,600 heavy truck trips removed from existing roads. This single factor alone will reduce road wear significantly. CO2-e emissions savings would amount to 642 tonnes.

Earthco Project’s collaboration with industry associations, councils and other road-makers is invaluable in influencing critical industry changes.

The barriers going forward are the same as ever – convincing councils and civil road contractors that there is a better, more sustainable way to do what they are doing.

However, as the effect of climate change forces local governments to investigate ongoing management of carbon emissions, water use and local environmental damage, engineers and road-making authorities are increasingly open to alternative methods to maintain their roads.

Performance data collected by PolyCom customers and Earthco Projects, then verified and analysed by independent sustainability consultancy Factor Ten, has provided mounting evidence that PolyCom empowers councils and civil contractors to achieve a financial, environmental and social efficiency in the management of their road networks that they have never experienced before.

Earthco Projects must itself be innovative to overcome what are often conservative views in the road construction industry.

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The following initiatives will assist Earthco Projects to overcome these obstacles going forward:

• a partnership with Swinburne University to research the performance of PolyCom in road stabilisation;

• sponsorship of an industry skills mentoring scholarship program through the Municipal Works Officers Association (MWOA);

• continued research with councils on the effect of PolyCom on the reduction of loose fines from unsealed roads;

• development of the PolyCom Works Record to monitor performance and costs of PolyCom-treated roads in comparison to traditional treatments;

• supply chain research with Eco-Buy on the adoption of eco-innovative products; and

• listing PolyCom with the NSW Sustainable Choice program (a program to assist councils in NSW to integrate

sustainability into their procurement systems) and continued participation in Sustainable Choice tradeshows across NSW educates councils on a more sustainable road maintenance solution.

With projects throughout Australia, the Pacific Islands and Indonesia, and growing demand in the US, Africa and India, the potential for PolyCom’s distribution as well as its ability to reduce the impact of road maintenance across the world is considerable, particularly in developing nations with a poorly maintained road network.

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SNAPSHOT

Psaros is a carbon neutral, mid-tier Western Australian property development company. It has a 30-year track record that includes delivering over 700 apartments in Perth, with an additional 350 new apartments under construction and a further 650 in various stages of approval. Psaros has an in-house team of specialists spanning the whole development process to provide a complete turnkey solution. Being both developer and builder gives Psaros the advantage of being able to set new industry standards in environmental performance by integrating sustainability initiatives into its apartments.

Psaros is dedicated to enhancing sustainability outcomes for investors and home-buyers by maximising the financial, environmental and social benefits of its developments.

Psaros has pioneered both the assessment and reduction of carbon in multi-residential developments by using internationally recognised Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) philosophy, enabling it to understand performance-based results and make changes to design and construction where possible. Its team assesses each building design based on the embodied energy, through to operational energy, for the life of each building. Psaros collaborates with

SMALL TO MEDIUM BUSINESS SUSTAINABILITY LEADERSHIP

This award recognised a business that demonstrated leadership by fully integrating sustainability principles and practices into operational business activities and reducing the organisation’s footprint, also demonstrating societal value adds through its practices.

2014 WINNER

Psaros : Leading By DoingPsaros, WA

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consultant teams, including LCA Consultants eTool®, to improve performance and deliver better quality, future-proofed, affordable and more comfortable places to live.

Through its leadership, Psaros has become Australia’s leading mid-tier property developer to implement sustainability infrastructure with the use of LCA in multi-residential apartment buildings.

DRIVING FORCES

Being in a competitive market, Psaros was seeking a unique point of difference, one that mattered.

Management recognised that sustainability could offer the Psaros brand and product a meaningful and rewarding position in the community and marketplace. The decision-makers also recognised that credibility was important – they decided to move the entire corporation towards sustainability outcomes that required corporate and cultural change.

Everyone needs a champion – someone passionate about something enough that will drive necessary change. However, this effort can be short-lived if decision-makers or team members do not support the change. Although Psaros has a dedicated Head of Sustainability moving the company towards continuous improvement, the staff, their managers and the directors are the ones that make it work. The motivation to drive sustainability initiatives within the business and product is now found within the people who work there.

Cultural change within the organisation started simultaneously from the top down and from the bottom up. As part of the Psaros recipe for change, an ‘instigator’ was embedded in the middle – a senior management role provided to the Head of Sustainability who works to bind both ends together.

Ultimately, the decision to change came

from the top. The CEO and MD were inspired to effect the necessary change and allocated the necessary time, acceptance, support and resources to make it come to life.

The concept of sustainability was accepted as part of the necessary business costs when a decision was made. The cost was defined as part of a budget set for achieving the goals. It is recognised that the investment in sustainability will deliver long-term benefits for the company’s reputation as well as the longevity and quality of its product.

The decision-makers were inspired to make the change. Not having all the answers all at once did not prevent them from going ahead. Accepting that a steep learning curve would be part of the journey, and therefore could bring risk, was also part of the initial analysis and decision.

No previous benchmarks existed when Psaros commenced its journey towards reducing its carbon footprint: in business and in construction. As Psaros was pioneering a number of new methods and sustainability outcomes in multi-residential buildings it could only estimate cost and return. The ‘gut feeling’ held by the decision-makers at the time was that it was the right thing to do. They believed their product would have a unique point of difference in the marketplace and, for the end-user, it would provide for a more affordable, attractive and future-proofed investment/housing opportunity.

OUTCOMES

Psaros is three years into its sustainability journey and its efforts are being recognised locally, nationally and internationally. At the local level, the organisation has seen recognition from industry stakeholders, government and building consultants. Importantly, the market is responding and its buyers, who are now better aware of the Psaros point of difference, are valuing and securing its new product standard.

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Sustainability brings with it new, interesting and innovative ways of doing business. People are inspired by leaders who are willing to try better ways of doing things, thinking outside of the box, and acting on their values. People in general have become much more aware of the benefits and the need to move towards more sustainable ways of business and living. The success of sustainability in Psaros’ business is dependent on the collaboration of its people.

FUTURE VISION

All businesses must consider cost versus benefit on investment. If buyers cease to value the benefits of sustainability and the company’s unique point of difference from the investment embedded in its product, then the business may need to revise and reduce this level of investment. This is why education and awareness is vital to the success of sustainability. When a buyer cannot differentiate between high or low quality goods in a marketplace at the time of purchase, then high quality products can be driven out of the market, leading to sub-optimal outcomes and sustainability being seen as more of a ‘gimmick’ than a value-added product.

Ensuring consumers are educated to realise the value of sustainability, and the ability to distinguish a quality product from a sub-standard product under the umbrella of sustainability, can help overcome this information asymmetry. To overcome these

barriers, Psaros has developed informative educational material as well as an industry-leading educational program post-construction.

The Psaros philosophy is that it cannot succeed to deliver big-picture sustainability outcomes if it works in silos and fails to share both successes and failures. Although, like every business, its intellectual property (IP) is protected and highly important, Psaros believes in sharing its journey and its stories with others.

One of the major lessons learned from this project was that change is good for business and being a leader, albeit sometimes daunting, is very rewarding. Being a socially responsible business and considering the environmental impacts of what it does and builds is crucial to the longevity of its name and its product. The point of difference has been recognised by the market and its buyers and this drives its business to do more.

Psaros has recently started its sustainability journey and there is much to be done. Its philosophy is based on continuous improvement to 2020. Psaros thinks of 2020 as reaching ‘base-camp’ on Mount Sustainability. When this pinnacle is reached, dependent on a number of factors, including advances in building design and technological innovation, Psaros will then be in a position to review the knowledge and wisdom gained, consider a new set of goals, and begin the next journey upward.

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SNAPSHOT

The GPT Group’s (GPT) sustainability strategy builds on the cultural legacy of its founder, Dick Dusseldorp. The distinctive organisational culture that Dusseldorp built was founded on the belief that a community of interest exists between investors, employees and the wider community and the company strives to ensure that this principle continues to be embedded in all that it does.

GPT’s purpose is to maximise the financial potential of Australian property with solutions that fulfil the aspirations of its investors, tenants and communities. In enabling this purpose, GPT aims to make a net positive contribution to its communities, people and the environment.

With sustainability integrated into GPT’s strategy, it recognises the importance of underpinning its business objectives with an aligned organisational culture, effective stakeholder engagement, and good governance and business processes that embed sustainability practices into its day-to-day operations.

GPT is proud to benchmark sustainability performance by participating in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index (DJSI) and the Global Real Estate Sustainability Benchmark (GRESB). GPT is the current global Real Estate sector leader on the DJSI, having held the number one or two position for the last six years. GPT is also a regional leader as measured in the GRESB.

LARGE BUSINESS SUSTAINABILITY LEADERSHIP

This award recognised a business that demonstrated leadership by fully integrating sustainability principles and practices into operational business activities and reducing the organisation’s footprint, also demonstrating societal value-adds through its practices.

2014 WINNER

The GPT GroupThe GPT Group, NSW

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DRIVING FORCES

GPT aspires to be an overall positive contributor to its communities, people and the environment. It aims to manage its sustainability performance in a way that invites its stakeholders to hold it to account.

The Group recognises that where it does not have control it has a responsibility to use its influence. GPT works with its industry colleagues, interested government departments and NGOs in the development of sustainability-focused programs. It also engages upstream and downstream in its supply chain to identify common interests with suppliers and customers for more sustainable outcomes.

GPT believes that the benefits of investing in sustainability are significant: operational efficiencies lead to commercial benefits; it attracts and retains tenants; it future-proofs company assets against rising costs; it ensures the company stays ahead of government legislation and performance standards; it creates positive experiences for GPT people, its visitors and investors; and it is the right thing to do.

The day-to-day management of GPT’s properties requires the cooperation and coordination of a wide range of suppliers and service providers that all contribute to a successful and efficient operation. In order to drive more sustainable outcomes across the portfolio, changes have been required; changes in technology, changes in behaviour, changes in process and changes in skills.

As an example, GPT’s greenhouse emissions reduction program has relied on the implementation of comprehensive metering systems, connected into new energy management systems combined with new skills in understanding this information in order to identify and deliver energy saving opportunities.

The change and innovation is being delivered through an ongoing commitment and focus.

In addition to substantially reducing its environmental impact, in 2013 GPT saved $25.4 million in costs when compared to its 2005 baseline. This means that had GPT been using energy, water and landfill at 2005 levels per square metre of managed space, overall costs in 2013 alone would have been $25.4 million higher.

OUTCOMES

GPT’s employees are proud of the role they play in delivering sustainable outcomes for investors, customers, communities and the environment, and the Group continues to receive external recognition for its commitment and performance.

GPT has received numerous sustainability awards, including the following in 2013 and 2014:

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• Banksia Sustainability Awards 2014;

• Green Globe Awards 2013 and 2014, including the NSW Premier’s Award for Environmental Excellence; and

• UDIA NSW Award for Excellence – Sustainable Development category.

With almost 40 per cent of GPT’s stock owned by offshore security holders, performance and reputation is monitored in an international context.

GPT has been recognised with the following international awards:

• Dow Jones Sustainability Index Global Leader – Real Estate;

• Green Star status in the Global Real Estate Sustainability Benchmark; and

• STOXX ESG Leaders Indice Member.

GPT was the first Australian real estate company committed to the UN Global Compact, further challenging the business to integrate a holistic view of sustainability into business as usual.

FUTURE VISION

GPT actively seeks opportunities to contribute experience and learnings in order to see the broader industry move to more sustainable practices. As an example, GPT has been a sponsor of the Green Building Council of Australia’s Green Star Performance rating tool. GPT participated in the technical working group that developed the performance measure and piloted the tool at two assets.

GPT is also a founding partner of the City of Sydney’s Better Buildings Partnership (BBP), an opportunity for the council to work in collaboration with large building owners in Sydney’s CBD to work towards a 70 per cent reduction in greenhouse emissions by 2030.

GPT aims to continue to reduce its environmental impacts and progress to a point where resources are sustainable and emissions are at or below levels that can be reabsorbed without harm.

The organisation is also committed to carbon neutrality in areas within its control, using offsets as a method of last resort.

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This includes aiming to:

• have all employees perform their roles carbon neutrally as certified under the Australian Government’s National Carbon Offset Standard;

• have all GPT-managed buildings operating carbon neutrally. For example, emissions intensity has been reduced 46 per cent against a 2005 baseline and continues as a work in progress;

• have the total embodied carbon of new GPT developments at leading practice levels; and

• identify and respond to climate change-related risks and opportunities in managing its asset portfolio on an ongoing basis.

GPT actively facilitates learning opportunities and tours of its assets to showcase sustainable innovation and possibilities. This includes tours with the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), university students and industry peers to provide a tangible example of sustainability in practice at GPT.

In addition, GPT has partnered with Retrofit Australia magazine to share experiences with waste management and re-fitting offices. The industry publication has offered insights into GPT’s landfill diversion policy and the positive sustainability outcomes of the activity.

GPT is able to benchmark its performance against other property companies from around the world through the Dow Jones Sustainability Index (DJSI) and the Global Real Estate Sustainability Benchmark (GRESB).

In the DJSI, GPT joins other well-known global brands such as Siemens, Sodexo, ING, Woolworths, Unilever, Swiss Re, BMW and Westpac as the identified industry sector leaders. As indicated below, GPT scores almost double the average of the DJSI industry universe, which itself is a group of the world’s leading companies.

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SNAPSHOT

Sydney Metro Northwest (formerly North West Rail Link) has a clear vision to achieve new benchmarks in sustainable infrastructure delivery. This means demonstrating Sydney Metro Northwest is at the forefront of best practice, delivering environmental, social and economic improvements throughout the project. Sustainability underpins the core project program and is integrated across all project stages. It is not an afterthought or an add-on feature.

Sydney Metro Northwest’s commitment is to “contribute to environmental, social and economic sustainability by improving liveability, minimising our impact on the environment and the community, and delivering value for money”. The project will make a positive contribution by not only extending public transport, but also sustainable growth in the North West region.

Sydney Metro Northwest has developed an approach that ensures that it will deliver and promote infrastructure sustainability in

INNOVATION IN SOCIAL INFRASTRUCTURE > $100M

This award recognised a business that demonstrated leadership by fully integrating sustainability principles and practices into operational business activities and reducing the organisation’s footprint, also demonstrating societal value adds through its practices.

2014 WINNER

Making it Exemplar : SYDNeY METRO NorthWestTransport for NSW, NSW

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terms of objectives, targets and measurable outcomes against key policy themes across the project life cycle. Sustainability contract requirements (including targets) have been built into major packages to drive improvements and innovation.

To demonstrate leadership, Sydney Metro Northwest has endorsed innovative policies on operational energy and a new approach to workforce development and engagement of local businesses with Greater Western Sydney in the project delivery and operational phases.

DRIVING FORCES

The chief motivational factor that caused Transport for NSW (TfNSW) to take action was being challenged by an international peer review to be ‘exemplar’ and to use the scale of Sydney Metro Northwest to be truly transformational in infrastructure design, delivery and operations. In addition, as a major project, issues such as carbon, resource use, climate risk, workforce supply and competency can become insurmountable challenges if there is inaction. These issues go beyond compliance, and, if they appear too difficult to resolve, the default position is

just to comply, with opportunities to lead lost as a consequence.

Initially, the project had a bottom-up approach through the design teams and through the major contract procurement process. Executive-endorsed Policy and Strategy development came a later date, approximately one year into the project.

The main barriers for the project were associated with value-for-money arguments and conflicts with engineering standards. Being ‘leading’ meant many aspects had not been done before. Conservative leadership meant that every initiative was well tested. These barriers were overcome through constant engagement across the team.

Being bottom up enabled the concept to be demonstrated as ‘doable’ before wrapping a strategy and policy around it, otherwise it would not have been accepted. All initiatives were included in the capital and operational expenditures, so were fully costed. The return on investment will only be realised towards the end of the project, although cost benefit analyses were undertaken on specific aspects, such as renewable energy and spoil management.

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OUTCOMES

Being recognised as a Banksia winner has not affected the way TfNSW operates from a business perspective: the nature of its business is project delivery which does not require a large marketing component. However, the accolades were many and reputationally TfNSW has done well from the win. TfNSW’s peers in government and industry have certainly taken notice that a major project such as this can win such an award. TfNSW’s customers will ultimately be the rail users and the impact of the project will be that they will know they are on world-class infrastructure.

Staff morale and reputation have been the main benefits. TfNSW has been informed by people working on this project that to be part of a project that is world class is motivating. Also, externally, TfNSW peers across transport agencies in Australia are using Sydney Metro Northwest as new benchmark.

FUTURE VISION

Sydney Metro Northwest is the first stage of Sydney Rapid Transit (SRT) network and the sustainability strategy will apply across the whole network. TfNSW is influencing industry and initiatives that have been adopted on Sydney Metro Northwest are now being applied to other transport projects.

Sydney Metro Northwest will be operational by 2020 and the requirements of the Sustainability Strategy fully embedded in design and operations.

Going forward, the main barriers to the project are value engineering and perceived cost cutting. Changing of the guard within the project means the drive of specific individuals may be lost. Lack of leadership outside the project, within government, may also cause a loss of momentum.

There has been significant knowledge-sharing of TfNSW initiatives associated with this project with key stakeholders including ISCA, NSW Treasury, Infrastructure NSW, and the transport portfolio. Several projects and agencies nationally are now looking at what TfNSW is doing, including WestConnex, Sydney Light Rail, NorthConnex, the Victorian Public Transport Authority and Perth’s Forrestfield Airport Link. Additionally, TfNSW is influencing ISCA and other stakeholders. As for international activities, it would be interesting to see how TfNSW is benchmarked – a project in New Zealand (City Rail Link) is reviewing what TfNSW has done.

Nothing is a no-brainer and everything requires significant stakeholder engagement. Rigour in relationship management and value for money considerations are essential. Sustainability practitioners cannot be on the margins.

Although TfNSW is currently at the pinnacle of sustainability in its industry, it needs to stay engaged, deliver what it has promised, recalibrate at the end of the project and re-apply lessons learned across the SRT network, should it go ahead.

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BANKSIA WHITE PAPER

THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT

A SELECTION OF

AWARD WINNERS AND FINALISTS

2011-2014