ClimateClever Council

Willoughby City Council Mayor Pat Reilly signing the Mayors Agreement on Climate Change in 2007

Willoughby City Council Mayor Pat Reilly signing the Mayors Agreement on Climate Change in 2007

Solar Farm

Solar Farm

Recently installed tanks at the Willoughby Leisure Centre harvest rainwater for reuse
Recently installed tanks at the Willoughby Leisure Centre harvest rainwater for reuse

Council's Sustainability Charter outlines a carbon reduction target of 50% by 2010, beyond this time Council will work to reach carbon neutrality. To achieve this Council is working to integrate sustainability design features into its new and existing buildings. A range of innovative energy and water saving measures have already been incorporated to reduce Council’s environmental impacts. Willoughby City Council prioritises these measures by firstly conserving energy, then using energy efficient products, then deriving energy from renewable sources.

Various initiatives are detailed below.

Energy

We are one of a few Councils to meet its greenhouse gas reduction target. Major works conducted during this financial year included installing solar power at various facilities and implementing a lighting efficiency program –we are aiming to be the first ‘halogen free’ Council. By the end of 2011, Willoughby Council will provide 2.1% of its energy through solar power! For comparison, solar power in Australia currently only contributes 0.1% to the national grid.

Solar Farm

A 350kW Solar Farm is being installed on the top level of a carpark in Chatswood increasing this percentage even further. Phase 1 of the solar farm a 33kW system is powering the nearby Devonshire Street Childcare Centre.

Willoughby Leisure Centre

Council is currently working to reduce water and energy consumption at the Willoughby Leisure Centre through a number of innovative initiatives. An efficient filtration system will reduce water consumption and a cogeneration plant will generate electricity via a gas fired turbine. A state of the art software program will be used to monitor the technologies to ensure they operate at their optimum.

Artarmon Kids Cottage Community Centre

The Artarmon Kids Cottage Community Centre is a trial building for a voltage conditioning device. This product reduces the voltage entering the building to what is actually required by the mechanical and lighting circuits. In the first week of operation, the electrical consumption fell by 19.86 per cent.

Council will be installing these devices on three more buildings in the near future and will monitor them for one year to note any seasonal fluctuations. As with all data collected by Council it will be made available to all organisations to enable better decision making.

Chatswood Library

The new Sustainability Education Space is now complete and can be found located in The Concourse Library. The space highlights all the sustainability features of the building and sustainability initiatives currently being undertaken by Council. The kids will be amused by the rotating game while you learn all about your environment and how you can be more sustainable and a touch screen TV can take you on a virtual tour behind the scenes of The Concourse.

Northbridge Library and Bales Park Community Centre

Northbridge Library and Bales Park Community Centre will have underground rainwater collection tanks installed and linked to toilets. The water will also be used to irrigate grounds, saving a significant amount of potable water and reducing the volume of storm water leaving the site.

Willoughby Council Depot

The Willoughby City Council Depot is to demonstrate best practise of sustainability building design. The construction phase of is nearing completion. A 110 kilolitre underground rainwater tank has been installed and the water will be used within the building and to fill street sweeping vehicles.

The depot has also installed a six kilowatt photovoltaic solar system. There are plans to install another 30 kilowatts with excess electricity to be fed back into the grid. The depot’s outdoor lighting is solar powered and LED bulbs have been used to minimise energy use. The building will utilise a gas boosted soar hot water system with krypton gas sealed in the panel to increase insulation. An anemometer is also being installed to measure wind speed and will provide the necessary information to plan for a wind turbine.

Finally much of the concrete used onsite was ‘green concrete’ which is less energy intensive as it is mixed with fly ash – a residue captured from coal-fired power plants that can be recycled for use in concrete.

Demonstration Sustainable Building Centre

Council’s Sustainability Hub at 34 Devonshire Street, Chatswood showcases simple, budget conscious sustainable renovations. These include installing high efficiency lighting, retrofitting single to double glazed windows, using non and low VOC paints, insulation, non PVC carpet squares with recycled PET backing, recycled content chairs, cellular blinds, a 5,000 litre water tank and a fantastic edible garden with a worm farm and compost bins. A 2.1 kilowatt solar power system and a ventilation system have also been installed.

The backyard is now a community garden - built using reclaimed pavers and mulched with compost waste from our commercial worm farm. It provides our community centre with vegetables for their delicious fare.

You can tour the building to see all this and more at our sustainable home renovations workshop on Wednesday 4 May or during Sustainable House Day on Sunday 9 September 2012.

Council Car Fleet

The Council is introducing more hybrid and smaller vehicle options into its car fleet through a subsidy program. Carbon emissions are being offset with Gold Standard carbon credits. Biodiesel is also being investigated to supply trucks and machinery. Staff are encouraged to use bicycles.

ClimateClever Shop

The online ClimateClever Shop uses the power of collective bargaining for discounts. New preferred suppliers are now providing even better deals to residents. To our knowledge it is the first of its kind developed by a local Council. 

Water

Council is working to significantly reduce its drinking quality water use and runoff by implementing innovative stormwater harvesting, and recycling projects. Over the last year Council has installed rainwater tanks capable of capturing over 20,000 litres at popular facilities, as well as upgraded Chatswood mall with water sensitive urban design. The Concourse has an integrated water management system to collect and treat water for reuse in the facilities bathrooms, irrigation and for the first time cooling towers. The system has a massive holding capacity of 5 ML saving 80% on typical water consumption for a building of this type or the equivalent of 33 Olympic swimming pools annually.