Council Civic Centre saves big on lighting
Council’s Moss Vale Civic Centre is set to save big on electricity costs with the recent replacement of the building’s old light fittings with energy saving LED fittings.
In total 600 old inefficient fluorescent light fittings were replaced with energy efficient 26 and 34 watt LED fittings across the January fit-out.
Council’s Environment and Health Systems Coordinator in charge of the project, Therese Smart said the project would pay for itself within four years.
“We’ve estimated that the new light fittings will reduce the Civic Centre’s annual electricity consumption by 149 megawatt hours,” she said. “That translates to a saving of around $26,000 a year!”
All savings achieved through reduced power bills will be diverted into Council’s Revolving Energy Fund REFund scheme which helps finance future energy reduction projects.
Ms Smart said the re-fit carried out by local installers would have long-lasting benefits.
“It’s estimated the new efficient LED’s won’t require any maintenance for at least the next five years,” she said.
“On top of that they also provide greater light quality and comfort for staff and guests to the building.”
The Civic Centre lighting upgrade attracted a $30,000 rebate from the NSW State Government’s Energy Savings Scheme. This scheme encourages businesses to achieve savings by replacing, improving or installing energy saving equipment.
“Another great part of the project was that we managed to recycle all components of the old light fixtures,” Ms Smart added. “This included all the metals, plastic diffusers and fluorescent globes as well as all the packaging from the new lights.”
“This was all carried out at Council’s Resource Recovery Centre and via other licensed recyclers.”
Council staff delivered the project using knowledge gained from the NSW Office of Environment and Heritage’s (OEH) energy efficient lighting course. Post training support was provided by the OEH to assist with the implementation of the lighting upgrade.
The replacement of the light fittings follows an earlier lighting project completed at Council’s Bowral Library in 2014 which has seen an annual saving of $1900 a year in electricity costs since implementation.
Other energy related projects recently undertaken by Council include the installation of solar panels at Council’s Resource Recovery Centre, the refurbished Southern Highlands Welcome Centre, Bowral Library and the Mittagong Rural Fire Service Building.
For more information on OEH’s training courses visit the Office of Environment & Heritage at www.environment.nsw.gov.au/training.