WorkZone West achieves 6 Star NABERS Energy Rating

17 September 2021

WorkZone West, located at 202 Pier Street in Perth, was built in 2013 and was designed as a 5 Green Star building. The A grade building accommodates seven levels of office area and ground floor retail across 15,601 sqm NLA, with 141 bays in the basement parking.

The property was acquired in 2018 by Elanor Investors for $125m from a Charter Hall Fund. One of Elanors strategies was to push the improve the environmental credentials of the building even further.

The challenge was to reduce energy consumption and improve efficiency in the base building to reach a 6 Star NABERS Energy rating while meeting tenant comfort requirements.

Knight Frank were awarded management of the building in August 2018 and worked up a strategy to achieve the higher neighbours rating. The strategy included:

  • Removing the permanent lighting schedule and enabling passive infrared (PIR) sensors to the car park lighting system
  • Upgrading the car park, back of house, external pole lights, plant room, garden beds and lobby areas with LED equivalent
  • Replacing fluorescent Oyster lights with LED Oyster and enabling PIR sensors to fire stairs
  • Changing the control strategy for the secondary condenser loop servicing tenancy air conditioning from 24 hours to a set point of 29 degrees
  • Maximising usage of higher COP chiller by adjusting the chiller scheduling to suit ambient temperatures
  • Improving the control strategy for the lift shaft air conditioning, previously overridden from 24/7 operation
  • Upgrading the cooling tower filtration and backwash system so the pump only operates when required
  • Setting up the ambient lock out set points for chillers and boilers, thereby reducing operational hours
  • Implementing an optimum start strategy which reduced air conditioning operating hours

The WorkZone West Facilities Management team, in partnership with Elanor Investors Group, have spent the last three years focusing on consistent fine tuning, energy monitoring and implementing energy saving initiatives, resulting in the achievement of a NABERS 6 Star Energy Rating.

WorkZone West is now the only office building in Western Australia to have a 6-star energy rating without green power.