Build Melbourne

CASE STUDY: BUILDING
Eco-Building Cuts CO2 87%, Electricity 82%, Gas 87%

and Water 72%: Eco-Building - Council House 2 (CH2)
New Municipal Office Building
City SUMMARY
Melbourne, Australia
Melbourne Council House 2 (CH2) is a multi-award winning
Population and inspirational building that has reduced CO2 emissions by
3.28 million 87%, electricity consumption by 82%, gas by 87% and water by
Project Start Date 72%. The building purges stale air at night and pulls in 100%
2003 fresh air during the day. The building exterior moves with the
Annual CO2 Reductions sun to reflect and collect heat, and turns sewage into usable
514 tons CO2 annually – an water. The building has improved staff effectiveness by 4.9%
87% reduction . and will pay for its sustainable features in a little over a decade.
Annual Financial Savings
$1.45 million annually WHAT IS IT?
Initial Investment
Council House 2 is a 10-storey office building for about 540
Total building costs: City of Melbourne staff, located at 240 Little Collins Street,
$51.045 million Melbourne Australia. It has ground-floor retail spaces and un-
derground parking and was officially opened in August 2006.
Project Status
Opened in August 2006
HOW DOES IT WORK?
Energy efficiency
82% less electricity CH2 has been designed to copy the planet’s ecology using the
cosumption natural 24-hour cycle of solar energy, natural light, air and
87% less gas consumption rainwater, to power, heat, cool, and water the building.
72% less water consumtion
• Heating: CH2’s north façade has 10 dark colored air ducts
that absorb heat from the sun; the hot air rises taking the stale
air up and out of the building. The south façade has light-
colored ducts that draw in 100% fresh air from the roof and
distribute it down through the building. The west façade has
louvers made from recycled timber that move according to
the position of the sun and are powered by photovoltaic roof
panels.
• Water: CH2 takes about 100,000 liters of toilet water every
day from a nearby sewer in Little Collins Street. This sewage
C40 LARGE CITIES
is then processed, along with sewage from the building,
through a multi-water treatment plant on site. The system
filters out the water and sends the solids back to the sewer.
CLIMATE (City sewers typically hold about 95% of water, this water is
a burden to the system and would otherwise be wasted). The
extracted water is treated using a micro-filtration system that
creates A-grade clean water suitable for non-drinking uses.
Some of the recovered water is used for water-cooling, plant
watering and toilet flushing, the rest is used in other council
buildings, city fountains and used to water plants.
• Technology: The sustainable technologies used in CH2 are

not new, but they have never been used collectively before in
Australia. They include:
• undulating high thermal • glare control throughout
mass concrete ceilings the building·
which improve air • shower towers’ that cool
circulation, cooling and water and air using low
natural light and reduce amounts of energy
energy demands by 14%
in summer • a green roof space
generating oxygen
• photovoltaic cells, which • roof mounted wind
power a façade of louvers. turbines that purge air
These track the sun to during the night and
ensure the building is generate electricity during
shaded the day
• a water mining plant • solar shading on the
delivering 100,000 liters exterior and interior of
of recycled water per day the building
• roof top solar panels for • automatic night-purge
water heating windows to cool the
concrete ceilings
• Facilities: Other facilities include;
• Bike spaces: 80
• Showers for cyclists: 9
• Car spaces: 20 plus one disabled space
• Goods and Services: Contractors, service providers and
companies supplying products are required to meet strict
standards of sustainability in their products and services. As a
result CH2:
• has the largest per capita expenditure on green products
across all categories, including recycled, energy saving,
water-saving and non-toxic products;
• won the UN Association of Australia World Environment
Day Awards.
BUILDING COSTS
Total building costs $51.045 million, including:
• $29.9 million for the base building (2,334$/m2 or 58.5% of
cost)
• $11.3 million for sustainability features (884$/m² or 22.1%
of cost).
• $2.8 million on education and demonstration (218$/m² or
5.5% of cost).
• $7.1 million on requirements specific to Council use, such
as special design and communications(553$/m²) )13.9%of
cost).
FINACIAL SAVINGS
Total financial savings of $1.45 million annually, including:
• $1.12 million through effectiveness and wellbeing
improvement.
• $330,000 in electricity, gas and water
CH2 will pay for its sustainability features, worth $11.3 million,
in a decade.
ENERGY EFFICIENCY
The building consumes 373,012 kWh of electricity and
65,963kWh of gas annually. Compared to the previous Council
building (c1970), this equals savings of:
• 82% electricity consumption
• 87% gas consumption
• 72% mains water supply
• 4.9% improvement in staff effectiveness as a result of the
healthier building (clean fresh air and non-toxic finishes)
APPLICATION
CH2 has been successful because it has taken a ‘ground up’
green design approach, for example:
• designers considered the best environmental options and
solutions
• recycled products such as concrete, cement, steel and timber
were used in construction
• sustainable and energy savings products were used at every
point
• a formal accreditation system was set up requiring all
contractors, service providers and companies supplying
products, to meet strict standards of sustainability in their
products and services.
CONTACTS
Shane Power
Manager Major Project Delivery
City of Melbourne
Tel +61 3 9658 8626
Fax: +61 3 9658 8840
Mobile: +61418 589 227
[email protected]
The facts and figures in this case study have been provided by the highlighted city
governments to the Clinton Climate Initiative.

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CASE STUDY: BUILDING

Eco-Building Cuts CO2 87%, Electricity 82%, Gas 87%

• Technology: The sustainable technologies used in CH2 are

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