ANZ is building one of the most environmentally friendly commercial office buildings in Australia. We are also improving the environmental performance of the buildings we currently occupy and some special challenges in the Pacific are also driving innovation.
ANZ's new building in Melbourne's Dockland's precinct, due for completion in late 2009, is designed to achieve world-wide best practice environmental standards for an office building.
Innovations such as the use of solar power and wind turbines to supplement energy supply and the reuse of stormwater and grey and black water are designed to deliver real results through reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, water savings and energy efficiency. We are seeking to achieve the highest current Green Star rating from the Green Building Council of Australia.
The building will be a powerful symbol of our commitment to improve our environmental performance. However there is also a real business case for this investment. Investment in energy efficiency measures today, such as those reflected in the design of our new building, can pay off in the long term, not only through lower energy costs but also in the form of carbon credits.
IMPROVING EXISTING BUILDINGS
While the building is an important step forward for ANZ, it will address only part of our footprint. ANZ occupies over 33 large office buildings around the world, including 12 in Melbourne alone, and we also need to address the environmental performance of these buildings to make real progress on reducing our footprint and adapting to a carbon-constrained future.
However, this can pose challenges. The latest environmental technology cannot always be incorporated into an older commercial building. In many cases we are only one tenant in a building, and our capacity to influence the infrastructure changes to make these buildings more receptive to environmentally friendly measures can be limited.
This means our approach to 'retrofitting' environmental technology must be flexible according to what is a reasonable investment in each building.
'Sustainability considerations are now part of our business-as-usual approach,' says Keith Woodward, Head of ANZ Property Operations.
'Specific initiatives occur wherever they are technically appropriate and provide value.'
This year we completed an eco-efficient fit-out of five floors of 55 Collins Street Melbourne, a 20-year old office building in Melbourne's CBD. The fit-out is intended to showcase a variety of innovations which can be incorporated in other ANZ buildings.
Water-saving measures, including low-flush toilets, flow restrictors, AAA showerheads and water sensors on basin taps, are expected to save an estimated 750,000 litres of water a year.
The installation of waterless urinals has highlighted the challenges of adapting older infrastructure to new technology. Waste generated by these units is undiluted and therefore has a higher acidity. The existing copper piping at 55 Collins Street would corrode with this increased acidity and so needed to be replaced with PVC as part of the installation.
Energy efficiency has been another focus of the 55 Collins Street project. New-generation fluorescent lamps, which consume 25% less power than industry standard T8 lamps, have been installed, and lighting sensors ensure they automatically switch off when the floors are unoccupied or dim when there is sufficient natural light on the floor.
NECESSITY BREEDS INNOVATION IN THE PACIFIC
The short supply of mains electricity has accelerated our investment in renewable energy in many of our Pacific operations. This year we launched solar-powered banking services in the Solomon Islands and Cook Islands.
Our first solar ATM was unveiled in the Solomons village of Tetere in April 2007. The village has no mains electricity, so solar is a cost-effective way of delivering banking services. Four more solar ATMs will be rolled out in the Solomons by the of 2007 to connect remote communities with mainstream banking.
ANZ is now taking renewable energy to other parts of the Pacific. Our first solar branch opened in September at Aitutaki in the Cook Islands.
The branch generates 100% of its power from 48 solar panels. These run the ATM, lighting, alarm system and computer. In order to minimise the branch's power demand, the teller uses a laptop and the computer server is based in Rarotonga.
A second solar branch on Christmas Island in Kiribati is scheduled to open by the end of 2007 and is also designed to be 100% carbon neutral.
