Awards 2021


CitySwitch National Partnership of the Year 2021

 

Property NSW in partnership with JLL - winner

Property NSW JLL

 

Property NSW manages a complex and regionally diverse asset base of NSW government owned and leased offices. They do not have on-site facility staff but partner with JLL to operate a regional hub model. Together they aim to achieve or exceed the targets set out in the NSW Government Resource Efficiency Policy 2019. Their initiatives include ongoing interval data monitoring, building fine-tuning and optimisation for energy and water. Internet of Things (IoT) smart building systems enables remote monitoring. They have 27 sites with rooftop solar PV and 14 sites with LED lighting. The results of 2021 demonstrate their leadership and excellence in sustainability. Total annual electricity savings for 2021 were 1,043,231 KWh equating to $276,084. This is a 17.3% reduction. In May 2021, well ahead of NSW government NetZero targets, they achieved a major milestone as the first Australian commercial property organisation to achieve Climate Active (carbon neutrality) certification at 22 sites. They also achieved a NABERS weighted average energy rating across the portfolio of 5.4 stars without Greenpower. Beyond their owned sites, Property NSW, together with JLL, work closely with CitySwitch to deliver toolkits, offers and case studies to tenant agency representatives. Since 2016, they have delivered about 50% cost reductions and substantial NABERS energy and water improvements for their tenant agencies. They work together with landlords on a quarterly basis to review energy efficiency performance and initiatives to achieve a minimum 5-star energy rating without greenpower. Lastly, Property NSW are proud to share their learnings and outcomes across the NSW internal government agencies and beyond.

CitySwitch National Signatory of the Year 2021

 

Commonwealth Bank of Australia - winner


CitySwitch National Signatory of the Year 2021 - Highly Commended

 

Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation (Victorian Branch - highly commended

ANMF


CitySwitch State winners

 

Western Australia

Metis Design and Engineering - winner

>EML

 

Metis Design and Engineering use the latest technology to provide mechanical design, 3Dmodelling, simulation and
engineering certification. They understand sustainability is a key element of modern business practices and they shine
in their commitment to leading the industry. Achieving an indicative NABERS rating puts their office space at 5.5 stars
and they also work with a carbon accountant to help address their footprint. This team is passionate about reducing their
impact on the planet, in addition to their engineering services they are also running The Hub on SX and Microplastix. The
Hub on SX provides co-working space for start-ups and SME businesses whose vision and purpose are underpinned by
the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Microplastix is fighting microplastic pollution, by supporting activists,
researchers, governments, companies, and communities tackling microplastic pollution locally. Metis DE continuous
commitment to improving practices has raised the company profile to the forefront of sustainable engineering; their
initiatives have been showcased at events from Business Station, Engineers Australia Sustainability Committee
Newsletters and more recently being awarded by Fremantle Chamber of Commerce for The Best Sustainability Initiative.


 

New South Wales

EML - winner

>EML

 

With the arrival of COVID in March 2020, and the subsequent emptying of nearly all 23 floors of their fourteen tenancies around the country, EML quickly recognised that this presented them with a unique opportunity to take advantage of this unanticipated circumstance to maximise both the short- and long-term environmental efficiency of those now-empty tenancies. The team created a project with two tranches to formulate and implement approaches to generate the best energy reduction outcomes across the bulk of the EML tenancy portfolio. Following the implementation of tranche one, immediate short-term electricity consumption reduced by 43% to 80,000kw/h per month. Tranche two,long-term savings, covered four actions and reduced electricity consumption by 9035 kw/h per month. NABERS ratings have been assessed as 5.5 – 6 stars across the four locations included in the project. This project innovated during a challenging time and the efforts have paid off.


 

South Australia

Commonwealth Bank of Australia - winner

 

The Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) takes its responsibility seriously as an industry leader fighting climate change and ensuring commitments outlined in the Paris agreement are adhered to. In order to ensure this, the Group has released its Environmental and Social Framework and has collaborated with the Green Building Council of Australia to develop its best practice carbon positive roadmap. The FY20 operations of the group are carbon neutral as per Climate Active carbon neutral standards. As part of the framework, energy efficiency and reduction sits at the top of the hierarchy. Since 2009, CBA has reduced its scope 1 and 2 emissions by over 65% and in FY21 they reduced their operational energy consumption by 10.4% equating to 12,766 MWh. In South Australia the group reduced its energy use by 9%. The team utilise Envizi & rsquo;s energy management platform to identify opportunities for improvement such as LED lighting upgrades, updates to HVAC assets, UPS downsizing and fine-tuning building operation systems. In terms of the commercial office footprint, CBA is one of the largest signatories of NABERS Tenancy Energy program. The commitments and actions undertaken by CBA cement their status as the Australian financial institution with the least amount of environmental impact per capita without relying on offsets.


Victoria

Shine On - winner under 2000sqm

Shine On

 

Since joining CitySwitch in 2013 Shine On has been on a
journey of continuous improvement. As part of the energy
efficiency industry they were early adopters of many
energy efficiency technologies. They took on the challenge
to identify smaller incremental changes over time that
would result in a big impact on sustainability status and
contribute and support the ISO14001 framework.

A selection of highlights of their achievements are below:
• Reduced energy use by 45% and emissions through
purchase of carbon neutral/100% green power via
Powershop.
• Solar PV system generating 17,984 kWh electricity per
year (which exceeds electricity drawn from grid)
• Moved from initial 3 Star indicative NABERS rating, to
6 Star indicative NABERS rating without GreenPower
• Installed low flow showerhead in their shower
• Improved awareness of and attitude towards
sustainable practices amongst staff members,
including reducing waste to landfill by 50% and
improved recycling methods via behavioural change
campaign supported by CitySwitch
• Achieved ISO14001 certification in 2019
• Increase in engagement of sustainable suppliers
and supplies, such as Who Gives a Crap toilet paper
and Office Fruit Group, and environmentally and
philanthropic-friendly product lines such as Thank You.

 

 

Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation (Victorian Branch)  - winner over 2000sqm

ANMF

 

COVID-19 added substantively to the workload, stress,
and challenges for ANMF (Vic Branch) members and
staff. However, they recognised climate change as
an ongoing global emergency with no hiatus during a
pandemic. Working from home meant environmental
office projects were at risk of being left behind. In
response, the Environment Committee (EC) continued
to meet monthly and identified activities to maintain
presence and productivity. In the last 12 months ANMF
(Vic Branch) switched to 100% GreenPower, accelerated
transition away from combustion vehicles, worked with
other unions on the role of health in climate change,
developed a sustainability resource page for members
and developed a public facing brochure about their
Environmental Management Plan (EMP). They tackle
sustainability on many fronts. The outcomes achieved
include a reduction in water use, carbon emissions
reduced by 10t CO2-e and a 91% hybrid fleet. The
organisation also does a fantastic job of onboarding new
staff and tenants within their building regarding their
sustainability initiatives.