Sydney retrofit Grade B building ahead of the curve

Local Government Super (LGS) has announced one of its upgraded commercial properties has been awarded a 5.5 star NABERS rating (without factoring in its use of Green Power) and is now one of the lowest energy-intensity office buildings in any Australian CBD.

The 10-storey, 20-year-old building at 120 Sussex Street in Sydney’s CBD underwent an upgrade in 2010. The sustainability development project was designed to improve waste, energy and water efficiencies, and resulted in a reduction in the building’s energy use by 54% and water consumption by 46%.

LGS also embarked on a study at four of its buildings including Sussex Street to measure the link between base building sustainability and the Indoor Environmental Quality (IEQ), and the financial benefit of the improvements to tenants. Independent consultants CETEC were commissioned to measure the IEQ before and after the upgrade, and found that: average tenant satisfaction rose from 66 to 82% after the base building upgrade; and the improved IEQ, including better air quality, thermal comfort and lighting, gave tenants an average financial benefit of $188 per square metre.

LGS CEO, Peter Lambert, said: “In order to get consistently good returns for LGS members, we must keep tenants happy and our buildings full. It is important to note this upgrade was to base building aspects of the site only; however, the resulting increase in tenant satisfaction was strong. We were pleased with the scale of the improvement to the building’s productivity.”

LGS tenants backed up the LGS/CETEC study. Alon Bernstein, CFO of recruitment agency, Xpand Group, said: “There has been a noticeable improvement in our working environment and this, in turn, has meant better employee satisfaction.”

Chris Probert, Financial Director at Informa Australia, said: “The lighting upgrade has contributed to our staff’s comfort and productivity, and it’s good to know we are running on 100% accredited Green Power.”

LGS now plans to widen the CETEC study to regularly measure the indoor environment quality of other buildings in its property portfolio.

www.lgsuper.com.au/investments/sustainability/sustainability.asp.