One of the buildings from the Buildings Alive program which showed notable results during March 2017 was 60 Carrington Street in Sydney. The facilities management team made use of the Buildings Alive Rapid Efficiency Feedback (REF) messages to drive energy efficiency strategies, and throughout the summer they utilised the peak demand warning messages to make significant reductions to their demand charges. Take a look at its results and the strategies used to achieve them.
Building Bio
- B-grade commercial office tower
- NLA: 14,610m²
- Floors: 16 (plus ground retail)
- Built: 1971 Refurbished: 1996
- Location: Sydney CBD
- Owner: Brookfield
- Commenced with Buildings Alive’s REF Service: 21 January 2016
Operational Improvements
The management team, mechanical contractor and controls contractor have all worked together, using the daily REF messages to measure and verify various tuning initiatives. Some examples include:
- Optimisation of central plant operation, by revising the chilled water and condenser water control sequences, and fine tuning of chiller staging parameters.
- Revision of the supply air strategy to minimize over-cooling of spaces.
- A move towards greater seasonal tuning, with temperature setpoints and deadbands being adjusted at the beginning of each new season.
- Fine-tuning of the building’s heating strategy, with the aim of prioritising gas heating over electric duct heating.
Long Term Performance
Even more impressive than the energy savings, the management team and contractors recently focused their attention on the building’s performance during extreme weather. Despite the record-breaking heat last summer, 60 Carrington Street managed to reduce its peak demand from 678kVA at the start of REF service, to its current peak of 466kVA. This equates to savings of almost $2,300/month. The graph below shows a recent summary message after a peak demand event:
60 Carrington Street shows how a vigilant facilities management team and dedicated contractors have achieved incredible results when armed with timely and actionable feedback.