Bond University’s Mirvac School of Sustainable Development building was the first educational institution in Australia to achieve a 6 Star Green Star – Education PILOT Certified Rating for design by the Green Building Council of Australia. The building was designed to embrace world’s best practices for energy efficient and sustainable development within a built environment.

Situated within the Institute of Sustainable Development and Architecture, the Mirvac School of Sustainable Development also houses the Living Laboratory which provides students with an interactive space for sustainable education. Here they can research sustainable building development, using data collected from their own environment which operates to these very ideals.

Information boards at 13 viewing stations at the Institute of Sustainable Development and Architecture explain the sustainable processes that have earned the building its 6-Star rating.

One of the primary objectives of the university was to meet an energy efficiency target of 101,851kWh/year power usage. By sourcing 84,508kWh/year through renewable energy sources, this equates to total emissions of only 19,800 kgCO² per annum, compared to around 113,252 kgCO² PA for a similar sized building.

To achieve these goals, the university required a building management system (BMS) to control the integrated heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) system. Integration with the lighting control, photovoltaic solar panels and with wind turbine renewable systems was also a requirement. This was necessary so that the systems could be efficiently utilised, as well as effectively monitored.

Other environmental systems, such as rain water harvesting and grey and black water recycling also require monitoring by the BMS to track their energy usage and efficiency. The regenerative drive lift, which generates electricity on descent and then feeds this back into the internal electricity utility where it can be reused, is another system which has been integrated with the BMS so its energy consumption can be monitored.

Construction of the building included extensive use of recycled materials, including recycled timber and loose furniture, as well as low emission paints and environmentally friendly carpet. Care was also taken to ensure waste was disposed from the site in an environmentally friendly fashion.

Monitoring of the system was an important consideration for employees at the university, who wanted to display the results of green initiatives in the building in an engaging and entertaining way.

Schneider Electric was able to deliver the energy efficient solution for Bond University on time and on budget, exceeding the design requirements of the project. Energy savings are on target to meet both the kWh and emission requirements of the design and a 6-Star Green Star design rating has been achieved.

• Sustainable, world class facility
• Reduced energy consumption by 75%
• Reduced carbon emissions by 82%
• Increased awareness of energy consumption through energy visibility displays
• 6-Star Green Star rating

A Schneider Electric BMS had previously been installed at the site, so the initial stages of the project involved extending this system to the newly constructed areas. The access and security system was also extended so that the existing ID cards could be used across the whole campus.

Sub-meters continually compare actual performance to energy benchmarks in real time.

To complement the mechanical HVAC system in the building, Schneider Electric installed a multimode air-conditioning system. This technology conditions the air passively, supplementing the natural conditions so that there is a reduced load requirement on the mechanical system. A weather station, which detects wind speed and direction, as well as rain, is located on site to feed data to the multimode system so it acts accordingly.

Another energy efficiency feature of the system is automated lighting control. This feature turns lights on and off based on occupancy detection, and automatically adjusts lighting conditions based on the level of natural daylight that is available at any given time.

To monitor campus energy use, Schneider Electric has programmed the BMS to log reports specifically designed for direct import into the fields required by the Green Building Council to validate the Green Star rating. This monitored data is then inputted into an audio/visual display which showcases the energy and sustainability features of the campus. Visitors and students can access this information through a touch screen.