Sydney’s Central Park residents to get energy efficient heating and cooling system
The developers of the $2 billion Central Park mixed-used residential project in Chippendale have signed an historic agreement for a new green energy infrastructure aimed at greatly reducing carbon emissions.
Central Park is a joint venture project between Frasers Property and Sekisui House Australia. It is being developed on 5.8 hectares of land that was formerly the Carlton & United Breweries (CUB) site on Broadway.
Construction has commenced on the energy plant, which is touted as being about twice as efficient as a coal-fired power plant.
It follows a $26.5 million Environment Upgrade Agreement (EUA) with the City of Sydney, Frasers Property, and Eureka Funds Management.
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This is the only the second such agreement to be signed in NSW, and the City of Sydney’s first EUA.
The trigeneration plant could reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 190,000 tonnes over the 25-year life of the plant, according to estimates from environment consultants WSP group.
This has the same effect on combating greenhouse gas emissions as removing 2,500 cars from the roads every year for 25 years.
The plant will run on gas and produce low-carbon thermal energy, providing heating and cooling for the 3,000 residences planned for Central Park and 65,000 square metres of retail and commercial space across 14 buildings in the development.
Electricity produced by the plant also has the potential to be exported to neighbouring buildings offsite.
Trigeneration is the simultaneous production of three forms of energy: electricity, heating and cooling.
A trigeneration system can provide power, hot water, space heating and air conditioning from a single system. It captures heat otherwise lost when generators create electricity, and uses it to generate both hot and cold water.
The hot water in turn generates an absorption chiller, which operates like a refrigerator. The chiller then creates water at a sufficiently low temperature to be used for air-conditioning.
When completed, the development will consist of around 2,100 apartments across seven residential towers, student housing, and 50,000 square metres of commercial office space across two towers.
An additional 20,000 square metres of retail facilities have also been planned, as well as the restoration of 33 heritage buildings.
A 6,400-square-metre public park will also be part of the development.
Central Park will be completed in stages, from May 2013 to 2018.
The energy plant will be completed and commissioned by December 2013. It will be housed in a multi-level subterranean bunker, which is part of the existing historic Brewery Yard building.
Frasers Property and Sekisui House are currently seeking expressions of interest for an owner/operator of the trigeneration plant, with the owner/operator to be in place prior to the commissioning of the plant in late 2013.
