Oaks Harmony is a 21-storey building in Haymarket with 190 residential and 12 commercial lots.
Amenities include a heated indoor swimming pool, spa, sauna, gym, and games room.
The building also has centralised plant equipment that supplies hot water, space heating and cooling to individual apartments and common property.
In 2017, Oaks Harmony started looking for energy and water savings. Our green building grants enabled the owners corporation to understand the building performance through obtaining National Australian Built Environment Ratings (NABERS). It identified opportunities to improve energy and water use through energy action plans.
What they did
- Installed variable speed drives on the condenser water pumps
- Installed carbon monoxide sensors and adjusted the timers on their car park ventilation fans, locking in a new contract with a gas retailer to get lower rates
- Completed a full lift refurbishment to more energy efficient machinery
- Participated in Sydney Water’s WaterFix Strata in 2018. This program of works detected and repaired sources of water waste, such as hidden leaks, and installed water-efficient shower fittings in individual apartments
- Consolidated contractors to provide a holistic understanding of the building’s mechanical services. The company identified the source of heating and cooling issues and rectified it using a timer which led to fewer resident complaints and savings on repairs.
Results
- The owners corporation has saved around $41,000 a year in energy use
- Average water use dropped 32% from 798L to 606L per bedroom per day, saving the owners corporation $61,446 a year
- Improved NABERS ratings - added an additional star to energy and water scores
