Steensen Varming, Charter Hall and The Naked Duck
- Key initiatives:
- Procuring reusable coffee-mugs, cardboard boxes instead of plastic bags
Steensen Varming led an effective waste management partnership. They increased their waste streams in the office to include organic waste, landfill, mixed recycling, food packing/soft plastics, Nespresso capsules and cardboard. They engaged their building management Charter Hall to set up organic waste collection by their contractor, and also got onsite cafe The Naked Duck participating in organic waste, and are recruiting other office occupants of the building to scale the project up.
Steensen Varming also took on the CitySwitch coffee cup challenge, procuring reusable coffee-mugs for all their staff. They have also been considering changing their grocery supplier to company which delivers in cardboard boxes instead of plastic bags.
How do you improve on a six star tenancy? You tackle waste and lead your building to establish new recovery beyond the three bin system. They’ve demonstrated a creative, local and tangible partnership. It seems that impressive and sustained leadership is the Steensen Varming hallmark.
NSW judging panel
Department of Environment, Water and Natural Resources
As a result of government amalgamations, the Department of Environment, Water and Natural Resources (DEWNR) found itself operating out of seven locations in the Adelaide CBD. The decision was made to co-locate into the 35-year old Australian Taxation Office building, choosing to retrofit rather than occupy a new building. This was successfully achieved through an Early Contractor Engagement process, including the building owner and Schiavello as the fitout and base building upgrade contractor, and DEWNR as the tenant.
The achievement is a 6 Star Green Star Interiors rating from the Green Building Council of Australia, and has an agreement with the building owner to achieve a 5 Star NABERS energy and water rating. The environmental footprint has been reduced by nearly 40% in terms of leased floor space and 90% of the materials from the de-fit were diverted from landfill. The interior design has a focus on active working, with more than 30% of workstations being “sit to stand”, as well as centralised staff break out and printing stations. The partnership has achieved leadership in all areas of sustainability and shows that with strong partnerships extraordinary things can be accomplished.
The Department of Environment, Water and Natural Resources’ decision to consolidate multiple tenancies and retrofit a new tenancy to achieve a 6-star Green Star Interiors rating is an exemplary display of innovation, collaboration and engagement. Their close working relationship with Schiavello was pivotal both the process and exceptional outcomes achieved.
State judging panel
HFM Asset Management
HFM Asset Management (HFM) and TSA Group (TSA) engaged in an energy saving partnership in July 2016. As part of this partnership HFM undertook a comprehensive Energy Audit of the TSA tenancy in July 2016. Through the identification of energy saving opportunities and implementation of sustainability initiatives TSA is achieving 121,440kWh savings/annum, with a projected $37,646 financial benefit and 1.5 increase in their NABERS Energy Rating to 4.5 stars. HFM also has a 5 star NABERS Energy Rating.