A perfect place to inspire

Saving energy, water and carbon emissions in a holistic way. #CreatingPerfectPlaces

Creating perfect places Educational needs are changing as the world changes. Being adaptable and resilient to change is more important than ever. Situated in the centre of Melbourne, Australia, RMIT’s City campus reflects the trends that have shaped the city, as well as the university’s commitment to leading by example on sustainability, making use of building technology from Siemens.

A perfect place to inspire RMIT is a global university of technology, design and enterprise. The university’s mission is to help shape the world through research, innovation, quality teaching and engagement, and to create transformative experiences for students – getting them ready for life and work. Led by its organisational values, RMIT is committed to challenging and championing important issues across the community. In line with this, RMIT incorporates sustainability principles and practices into learning and teaching, research and operational activities.

Committing AU$128 million to the future

In 2007, RMIT set out on an ambitious sustainability program to reduce energy and water use and carbon emissions by 25 percent. At the time, the Sustainable Urban Precincts Program (SUPP) was the largest of its kind in the southern hemisphere. The Program represented a commitment of AU$128 million across its three campuses in Melbourne, with Siemens responsible for the works on the City campus. Targets were set to reduce grid electricity use by 263 million kilowatt hours over eight years and achieve an annual reduction in carbon emissions of 30,000 tons and 53 million litres of water. Impressively, these targets were achieved four years ahead of schedule.

Bringing new to old at City campus

RMIT's City campus takes up roughly six percent of the central business district and includes some of Melbourne's oldest buildings. With a mix of old and new buildings, RMIT wanted to better connect and integrate its utility systems and services in order to improve efficiency.

The Energy Performance Contract is predicted to provide RMIT with a 16,500-tonne reduction in emissions on the City campus.

The distributed energy system integrates three previously independent substations for greater efficiency.

Smart building automation makes the campus a comfortable and pleasant place to study.

A unique offering

Smart building automation for a perfect place to learn

The modern HVAC systems and building management platform Desigo CC give full control of temperature and air flow in every area of the campus, making it a comfortable and pleasant place to learn and work. The chiller and boiler systems were upgraded and some 12,000 lights were replaced with modern, energy-saving bulbs. A water management system was also implemented, saving 37,000 kilolitres of water annually.

Data-driven performance that is shown to all

The campus is monitored by Navigator – the cloud-based energy and sustainability platform. 17,000 data points are connected and the information analysed to give actionable insights on how to maximize the building’s performance.

Read more on Building Performance and Sustainability

Powering the campus through a local energy solution

A key aim at the campus solution was to become less dependent on mains electricity by installing a local energy supply solution. A single point of connection was created with the high voltage ring main, integrating three sub-stations and an autonomous cogeneration power system. The high voltage ring main solution was one of the most ambitious precinct infrastructure upgrades in Australia, with significant technical barriers that needed to be overcome. Not only does this build resilience to potential grid constraints, it also makes operations much more efficient. Learn more about the possibilities of local energy supply solutions for infrastructure facilities and campuses here.

References Sustainability and building efficiency success can take many forms. Take a look at some of the projects we were involved with to find out how organizations like yours have benefitted from our expertise and services.

Algonquin College

Canada

Higher Education

A sustainable partnership like no other

Infrastructure upgrades and financing plus sustainability research
3.7 million US$ projected annual operating cost savings
1,200 tons annual CO₂ emissions reduction

NKC

Sweden

Manufacturing

Bearing retainer manufacturer goes for green

20% yearly return on investment over 5 years
Building performance monitoring and optimization services
Energy Performance Contracting

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