Opened in 2003, the Reservoir Civic Centre houses health services, youth services and Council’s Customer Service Centre. It also provides meeting rooms and a hall for community use. In 2004, it won the prestigious Banksia Award for Leadershipin Environmentally Sustainable Building, recognising it as one of Australia’s most sustainable buildings.
The building’s design began with sustainability principles and during construction, 500 tonnes of waste materials were diverted to recycling. Compared to a conventional building, the Civic Centre is using 60 per cent less water and 50 per cent less energy, saving 257 tonnes of greenhouse gas each year. It sources ten per cent of its energy from solar power and the remaining 90 per cent from Green Power; uses solar hot water and has a 70,000 litre rainwater tank.
The building is projected to have a 50 year life and will save $20,000 each year in operating costs.
Many of its features can be transferred to other buildings, including homes.
Council has now developed an Ecologically Sustainable Development checklist for all new capital works. A similar checklist has been developed for residential planning applications. Hundreds of visitors have taken tours of the Civic Centre, including staff from other Councils and students from universities.
The Centre also features on several sustainability websites as a leading case study. For more information, contact Emma Hopkins on (03) 8470 8405.
