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Perth’s QV1 office tower has been recognised for its ongoing sustainability improvements taking out the Sustainability Award in the 2022 RICS Awards.
The team at QV1 has risen to the challenge of upgrading the building’s sustainability performance by a significant margin. The acute challenge arises from the age of the building, the owners’ sustainability aspirations and time and budget constraints.
In a recent interview with the Fifth Estate, Building engineering manager, Joe D’Alessandro, discussed the focus on constant improvement.
"Refurbishment and ongoing improvements are essential," D’Alessandro said, "because the pace of change in sustainability is so fast. Buildings must continually improve to keep up."
“It has good bones, but if we don’t continually keep up we’ll be left behind,” he said.
“It’s a constant journey of reinvestment and upkeep of the asset, to maintain the premium asset and future proof it along the way.
“We are aligning upgrades and maintenance to support research and science, what’s proven to be working in the market, and how to be ahead of the game.”
The team at QED has collaborated with the facility management team at QV1 since 1999, and have supported with compliance monitoring of indoor air, potable water, cooling towers, slip resistance, waste and hazardous materials over that time.
QV1 is known to deliver a safe, compliant, reliable and resilient product and experience to the building’s occupants and visitors. The evidence of this being in the sustained high performance of the building, as reflected by the base building NABERS Energy, Water and Indoor Environment Ratings, which currently sit at 5.5 Star, 4.5 Star and 6 Star respectively.
Energy efficiency upgrades, and consistency of the onsite management team, consultants and contractors are also key to what makes everything run smoothly. QED Environmental Services has been monitoring air quality in the building for over 25 years, they’re pioneers in that space," D’Alessandro said.
Ongoing performance and fine-tuning isn’t a walk in the park. “Maintenance isn’t a tick and flick,” he says. The building has to align with performance standards, and there must be regular upgrades to BMS and energy efficiency and reporting packages. “Good data in is good data out.”
Strong outcomes have been achieved by the team’s approach, characterised by continuous improvement, innovation, project management (of capital investments) and professionalism in dealings with tenants, owners and suppliers. As a key supporter of the sustainability journey the QV1 team has taken, we have observed these wonderful characteristics at close quarters, and regard them as market leading.
The specific projects we have supported, and provide testimony for the performance of the QV1 team:
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We believe tenants should engage with landlords on the indoor environment quality with the same level of importance at which they consider the energy consumption of a building – it will improve their bottom line faster!
