The City of Vincent says the hi-tech features of its $17 million redevelopment of Beatty Park demonstrate best practice in environmental sustainability and will deliver an energy saving of 5,000 mega watt hours per annum.
A chief focus of the redevelopment, which commenced in September 2011, was to reduce Beatty Park’s environmental impact and engineer its operations towards responsible use of resources.
Vincent Council has committed Beatty Park to play a leadership role in the responsible and economic use of resources and promote sustainability within the community.
Mayor Alannah McTiernan said Council had strived to use the redevelopment opportunity to drive down energy costs and the facility’s carbon footprint.
“Creating a leaner, greener facility was paramount in the design and engineering of the new Beatty Park and this new facility is a game–changer.”
One of the major features is a geothermal heating system which draws hot water from deep underground to heat the facility’s swimming pools. A geothermal bore more than 1000m deep taps a hot aquifer, producing water temperatures of 48.5°C at the well head. The water is re-injected into the aquifer at 750m so the volume and heat of the aquifer is not compromised.
“With an eye to the future, the Council approved a larger bore than was necessary for the primary task of heating the water in all pools.
“We are now doing the business case for heating the air in the indoor pool area and also piping the water to our administrative and community facilities 300 metres down the road.”
Insulated below-ground pipe work would transmit hot water to each facility, with the geothermal energy transferred to each building’s heating system via plate heat exchangers installed in the existing plant rooms.
In addition to supplying Beatty Park’s pool heating requirements, the proposed expansion is expected to save 36 percent of the energy currently used at the other facilities.
Above ground, Council has installed 150 250W solar modules, which are expected to generate in excess of 53,400kWh of energy and contribute significantly to powering the Centre’s electrical equipment.
These measures are in line with the energy actions set out in the City’s Sustainable Environment Strategy 2011–2016.
Also at the new facility, presence detectors will ensure lights in less frequently used areas are only on when needed and will reduce the energy bill for lighting these spaces by 20 percent.
Super-efficient hand dryers will save up to 80 percent of the energy used by conventional driers, and for the cost of one paper towel can dry up to 19 pairs of hands.
Together the new technologies will save the City of Vincent over 5,000 mWh of energy each year, equivalent to the electricity used by 890 Vincent households over the same period.
The City plans to continue monitoring developments in renewable energy technology, and use renewable energy sources in City-owned facilities where practical.
