“ International legal practice Norton Rose Australia and Knight Frank’s property management office won the top CitySwitch awards for office energy efficiency on Tuesday night, after making major reductions in their energy use through innovative improvements and active staff education.
Norton Rose Australia won the CitySwitch NSW Signatory of the Year Award for offices over 2,000 square metres after reducing carbon pollution by 214 tonnes and saving $42,000 in energy bills per year.
The firm sustained the 4 star NABERS energy efficiency rating at its Grosvenor Place tenancy which accommodates approximately 400 staff in the 8,900sqm, five level office.
Property managers, Knight Frank, won the CitySwitch award under 2,000 metres for its
135 on King office; jointly owned by Stockland and Colonial First State. They improved the NABERS rating from three to five stars for the 148 square metre tenancy by reducing carbon pollution by 9.5 tonnes per year and saving $2,000 per year in energy bills.
Sydney Lord Mayor, Clover Moore, announced the winners at a special CitySwitch function at Town Hall.
“CitySwitch would like to congratulate Norton Rose Australia and 135 on King for their innovative energy efficiency improvements and engaging staff education programs,” the Lord Mayor said.
“Norton Rose Australia developed an internal carbon footprint calculator and invested in video conferencing to replace much of the firm’s interstate flying.
“The 135 on King office’s lighting, computer and water heating changes demonstrated that smaller businesses can make a difference.
“The CitySwitch program is helping to bring about market transformation by inspiring and engaging business owners and office workers across the country.”
According to Den Jolly, Knight Frank’s Facilities Manager for 135 On King, the small tenancy at 135 On King achieved its strong energy reductions through time controls and lighting upgrades, as well as reducing personal computer sleep modes from 20 minutes to 5 minutes and fitting the kitchen sink’s hot water unit and chilled water bubbler with timers to halve operating time.
“I was surprised how easy it was to achieve 5 stars, we didn’t do anything too technical or innovative, it was all simple straight-forward stuff and if we can do it in such a small space, then anyone can, and should!” Mr Jolly said.
As part of a staff awareness campaign, the tenancy also utilised CitySwitch Power-Mates (digital power meters) to demonstrate that energy savings of 10 per cent could be made by simply turning off CCTV monitors, desktop monitors and computers when not in use.
Knight Frank’s Sustainability Manager, Property Management, Kristy Rogan said: “Knight Frank prides itself on its pragmatic approach to sustainability. What Den and his team have achieved to date is a great example of how behavioural change and low cost initiatives can have a significant impact on the environmental performance of an office space."
Norton Rose Australia made the energy savings through the installation of sensor and zoned lighting, improvements to desktop computer power controls and increased virtualisation of computer server hardware. Hardware virtualisation allows multiple operating systems to simultaneously share processor resources saving energy and improving processing speed.
As part of raising staff awareness, Norton Rose Australia made available an in-house sustainability guide that provides direction in procurement, energy efficiency in the office and at home, car pooling and riding a bike to work.
Ends
For further information, please contact:
Den Jolly, Facilities Manager, 135 On King & Glasshouse, Knight Frank Australia
+61 (0) 418 428 025
djolly@135onking.com.au
Notes to Editors
CitySwitch is Australia’s leading office energy efficiency program and has expanded to over 880,000sqm of office space in NSW represented by 130 tenancies. The program is helping to bring about market transformation by inspiring and engaging business owners and office workers across the country.
The CitySwitch program began in 2005 and was launched nationally in June 2008. It includes Melbourne, Adelaide, Perth, Brisbane, North Sydney, Parramatta, Willoughby, Ryde, Port Phillip, Yarra, the ACT Government, the NSW Office of Environment and Heritage and Sustainability Victoria. The program now covers 330 Signatories and 371 tenancies around the country, representing more than 1.6 million sqm of office space.
The NABERS Energy rating is an industry recognised tool, to help tenants across Australia benchmark their greenhouse gas reduction performance. Ratings go from 1 to 6 Stars, with 6 Stars representing an exceptionally high level of energy efficiency.
Knight Frank LLP is the leading independent global property consultancy. Headquartered in London, Knight Frank and its New York-based global partner, Newmark Knight Frank, operate from 209 offices, in 43 countries, across six continents. More than 6,840 professionals handle in excess of US$755 billion (£521 billion) worth of commercial, agricultural and residential real estate annually, advising clients ranging from individual owners and buyers to major developers, investors and corporate tenants. For further information about the Company, please visit
www.knightfrank.com