Environmental upgrade agreement for Sydney office building

The City of Sydney has signed an environmental upgrade agreement (EUA) to help fund an energy-efficiency upgrade to one of the city’s commercial office buildings. The $700,000 agreement will fund energy-efficient lighting, air conditioning and building management system upgrades to St James Hall, which is owned by the Anglican Church Property Trust Diocese of Sydney on behalf of the Parish of St James.

An EUA is a voluntary tripartite agreement between a property owner, a finance provider and a local council. The financier provides the building owner with funds for the upgrade and the owner repays the loan by paying an additional charge on their rates notice. Tenants provide contributions from the savings they make on their utility bills, which can be used by the building owner to service the loan repayments.

Churchwarden James Balfour, Lord Mayor Clover Moore, CEFC CEO Oliver Yates and Rachael Scott from Eureka at St James Hall.

Lord Mayor Clover Moore said EUAs help building owners take advantage of long-term financing options to install up-to-date, quality technology and improve building performance. The St James EUA is expected to reduce base building energy use and outgoings by approximately 30%.

“It’s encouraging to see building owners using this type of finance to improve building performance and reduce emissions,” the Lord Mayor said. “I hope to see many others access EUAs to continue to deliver great results for our city.”

NSW Environment Minister Rob Stokes added his support for the scheme, stating, “EUAs are a great way for property owners to gain competitive finance for work that improves the value of their assets.

“It is not just the building owner that benefits - buildings with high energy productivity are generally better places to work, have higher tenancy rates and have a smaller carbon footprint, and that is great for our economy and environment,” he continued.

Work on the efficiency upgrade for St James Hall, which is tenanted by barristers’ chambers, has already begun and is due to finish by October. Finance for the EUA will be provided by The Australian Environmental Upgrade Fund, managed by Eureka Funds Management and featuring the National Australia Bank and Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC) as contributors.

“[The project] reflects a growing market for EUAs and demonstrates the typical improvements achievable in existing buildings to reduce operating costs and improve their attractiveness to tenants,” said CEFC CEO Oliver Yates. Eureka Funds Management Director Niall McCarthy added the funding mechanism offers building owners long-term capital of up to 10 years, on top of existing arrangements held with banks.

The City of Sydney’s first EUA was signed with Eureka and Frasers Property last year to install a trigeneration plant at its Central Park development. The EUA scheme is part of the city’s commitment to reduce carbon emissions across the local government area by 70% by 2030, based on 2006 levels.

For more information on EUAs, visit www.cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au/eua.