Innovative solar solutions, a world-first pilot project using geothermal technology, and an inner-urban community battery are a few of the entrants embracing energy innovation in this year’s Premier’s Sustainability Awards.
This year marks the 20th anniversary of the Premier’s Sustainability Awards program – one that has continued to grow and reflect the outstanding efforts towards sustainability that are happening throughout Victoria across industry, business, and community.
Sustainability Victoria’s Interim CEO Matt Genever said the awards were an important opportunity to recognise the individual Victorians, community groups, councils and businesses who are making a positive impact on the world around us.
“By recognising the innovative work being done in sustainability, we aim to inspire others so that together we can progress faster towards our goal of a climate-resilient, circular economy with net zero emissions.
“We’re particularly excited to be working at the grassroots level discovering, assessing, and celebrating excellence in sustainable development across the state.”
Some of the finalists
Durra Panel, a finalist in the Circular Economy Innovation category, is creating panels for wall cladding and ceiling linings made entirely out of straw. Used in the construction of a range of buildings from commercial to residential, the material has excellent acoustic, thermal, fire resistant and durability benefits. Importantly, at the end of its life it will not lead to landfill, instead will break down to serve as nutrients for future growth.
Another finalist is Revival Projects, nominated in the Sustainable Places and Destinations category, which aims to normalise the responsible handling of existing building materials via their ‘Zero Footprint Repurposing’ initiative. From demolition to repurposing and installation, the Zero Footprint approach means materials never leave the construction site, and existing resources are given a second chance in new developments.
Revival Projects is currently collaborating with Assemble – a social housing developer who has an active portfolio in Victoria representing some of the biggest development sites currently in planning or construction. Many of the Assemble development sites have massive existing buildings on them, which need to be demolished to make way for new development. Revival is actively involved in planning for salvage and re-use of these materials back into the new developments, where the materials came from. The scale of these repurposing initiatives is unprecedented, on a global scale.
A third finalist, Rail Projects Victoria, tackled the task of converting existing infrastructure foundations into renewable thermal energy in a world-first trial for the Metro Tunnel. The project involved designing and installing three soldier piles or foundation posts to a retaining wall in State Library Station. Extensive data was then collected and analysed to discern the outcome.
The scientific results of this pilot show that geothermal renewable energy holds potential to meet energy demands of the built environment and may support a dramatic change in the way infrastructure and foundations are used as a thermal battery for renewable energy capture.
A fourth finalist, the Euroa Environment Group, who partnered with Mondo Energy and the Victorian Government to trial a small business microgrid and build resilience into the local power supply.
Their “Solar Pergola”, a 13.2kWh solar system featuring 36 panels, now delivers clean energy to six local businesses. All businesses have benefitted from a reduction in their power costs, as well as learning plenty about the capacity of the local grid network and how local contributors can play a role in building better capacity for local generation.
The Yarra Energy Foundation is another finalist to embrace collaboration in their approach to sustainability, launching Victoria’s first inner-urban community battery, which has enabled more rooftop solar, improved energy affordability, and alleviated points of congestion in the grid.
Under this new model, all energy-users connected to the battery will benefit—including renters—and not only those with rooftop solar.
Community batteries are an exciting new model that empower locals to engage with the clean energy transition and to influence their community’s transformation to a zero-carbon future.
Yet another finalist, Solar Thermal Australia’s new renewable and sustainable hot water system does not only help save the planet but can also help save consumers as much 80 per cent on their hot water bills.
This efficient and smart hot water system uses a natural refrigerant which has a global warming effect of one, significantly lower than most other refrigerants that have a global warming effect score of around 1400.
The system also offers a higher working pressure, meaning that it can reach higher temperatures much faster than most systems, thus making it much more energy-efficient and one of the best systems for cold climates such as Victoria.
