8 minute read
Cultural Icon
One of Australia’s oldest and most important cultural institutions, the Powerhouse has occupied the converted electric tram power station in Ultimo (from which it gets its current name) since 1988.
Following a decision by the New South Wales Government to build an new flagship to complement the heritage-listed Ultimo site, work has commenced on what will be the first major NSW cultural institution to be established in Western Sydney.
Located on the city’s riverbank, Powerhouse Parramatta is the largest investment in cultural infrastructure by the NSW Government since the Sydney Opera House. It is also one of the most architecturally complex projects under construction in the country.
Lendlease is building the Moreau Kusunoki and Genton designed museum, which will feature 18,000m² of exhibition and public space. Exhibition Space 1 is of monumental scale and will be the largest columnfree exhibition space in Australia.
The column-free design is achieved via three different types of steel lattice forming an intricate exoskeleton with transparent glazed façade. Following a competitive tender process, A.G. Coombs was awarded the mechanical services design and construct (D&C) contract by Lendlease in late-2021. As well as collaborating with the project team and local architect Genton, A.G. Coombs has lent on the expertise of the Group to valueengineer a mechanical services design that will achieve the strict indoor environment parameters required for the seven exhibition spaces while allowing services to be exposed.
This work included the removal of trench heaters on the glazed façade, the fire engineering of ductwork associated with the smoke exhaust and the reconfiguration of air handling units (AHUs) to reduce the amount of plant and equipment required.
“Given the building’s range and size of spaces – from exhibition spaces requiring close temperature control to others with a wide allowance suitable for natural ventilation – the museum will feature a constant volume, mixed mode HVAC design,” says Paul Archer, Engineering Leader NSW/ACT for A.G. Coombs Projects.
The all-electric thermal energy plant on the rooftop will feature new 4-pipe chiller technology that can operate in air cooled mode or provide heat recovery to deliver energy efficient simultaneous heating and cooling.
The museums studio apartments – part of the Lang Walker Family Academy that will support high school students to stay on site and engage with education programs – are conditioned via individual fan coil units (FCU). As part of its role as services lead on this highly complex project, A.G. Coombs has employed cloud-based online building information modelling (BIM) as well as Revizto+ for clash detection and coordination.
These technologies will enable offsite prefabrication as part of the mechanical services construction methodology, including prefabricated risers, pump skids, fan coil modules and AHUs. A.G. Coombs will also pre-join as much metal ductwork as possible offsite to ensure a high quality finish.
Construction of Powerhouse Parramatta commenced in 2022, with A.G. Coombs expecting to be on site in early-2023.
“A.G. Coombs has already proven to be a committed and valuable partner to Lendlease during the design phase of Powerhouse Parramatta,” says Angus Morten Senior Project Manager for Lendlease.
“We look forward to their team contributing further to the construction of this culturally significant project.”
The new Moreau Kusunoki and Genton designed museum will feature 18,000m² of exhibition and public space. Exhibition Space 1 is of monumental scale and will be the largest column-free exhibition space in Australia
This experience helped inform the design of the mechanical services systems that will serve the seven exhibition spaces at Powerhouse Parramatta, and ensure the museum’s world-class collection can be enjoyed for decades to come.
Since 2017, A.G. Coombs has provided preventative mechanical services maintenance at the Powerhouse and adjacent Harwood building in Ultimo, as well as the Sydney Observatory – also part of the Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences.
Image: Moreau Kusunoki and Genton The building will feature all-electric thermal energy plant on the rooftop including new 4-pipe chiller technology that can operate in air cooled mode or provide heat recovery to deliver energy efficient simultaneous heating and cooling.
ELECTRIFICATION
Out of Gas?
Natural gas has always had a place in the Australian commercial building market where gas water heaters have provided cheap and efficient domestic and heating hot water to support HVAC systems and amenities – until now.
ELECTRIFICATION
While the rapid rise in the cost of natural gas is being felt at both a commercial and consumer level, there is another reason for the growing demand of de-gasification in Australia’s commercial property market.
That driver is the industry-wide adoption of net zero emissions targets – specifically as they relate to Scope 1 (direct) and Scope 2 (operational) emissions.
Responsible for nearly 25% of Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions, our existing building stock provides some of the lowest-cost abatement opportunities in the economy. Consequently, building owners and managers have identified the removal of Scope 1 emissions associated with natural gas as the next logical step in their net zero journey.
This is the case at 101 Collins Street in Melbourne, where A.G. Coombs Advisory recently led an award-winning gas hot water plant conversion.
The project converted domestic hot water (DHW) generation from the original calorifiers connected to the building’s natural gas-fired heating hot water (HHW) plant, to a system featuring highly efficient commercial heat pumps, smart thermal storage calorifier tanks and solar PV collectors to provide off grid DC electrical energy production as the primary form of heat generation.
Separating the systems will also enable the gas-fired HHW plant to be able to be shut down during summer periods, further reducing gas consumption, pumping energy, plant operating costs and associated plant maintenance.
Through careful planning, coordination and staging, the new system was able to be cut-over on a weekend so as to avoid any impact on tenant and occupant amenity.
During the initial period following commissioning, the new plant was found to have reduced energy consumption by 81% compared to the previous plant, and reduced associated greenhouse gas emissions.
A second stage of works is now underway as the management at 101 Collins continues on its de-gasification journey.
BE spoke with Jamie Park, Senior Engineer with A.G. Coombs Advisory, about the opportunities and challenges de-gasification presents to the Australian commercial building market. >
Interview
BE: How significant is the drive towards de-gasification?
Jamie Park: When you look at the existing building stock in Melbourne for example, the retrofit market is huge but we are only just scratching the surface.
It’s the bigger, national portfolio building owners who are setting targets of net-zero and carbon neutral and they’ve been the first to recognise the opportunities de-gasification brings.
BE: What opportunities exist in typical commercial office buildings for de-gasification?
Jamie Park: For domestic hot water, it is straight forward with technology like heat pumps, thermal storage tanks and solar PV collectors well understood, but the bigger opportunity – particularly in southern states with colder climates – is the conversion of heating hot water and comfort heating into some form of electric-powered heating system.
That, in itself, represents a massive opportunity and already forwardlooking building owners are completing feasibility studies around it.
BE: What technologies will allow the de-gasification of heating hot water to be viable?
Jamie Park: It has to be heat pumps – but it is the delivery of the water temperature that remains challenging. When you are connecting to existing systems that traditionally operate on 80˚C water, and heat pumps commonly operate at 50-55˚C, there’s a gap that needs to be addressed. Do you replace all the heating coils in the building with lower water temperature designs that will be larger to achieve the same capacity, or do you explore expensive heat pump technology that promises 80˚C water?
“Having recently celebrated its 30th year, 101 Collins Street continues to be an iconic corporate landmark in Melbourne,” says John Kiff, Senior Engineering and Sustainability Manager at 101 Collins Street Management.
BE: Beyond the water temperature, what are the other considerations?
Jamie Park: The obvious one is that heat pumps need to be outside. Basement plantrooms usually won’t be suitable, so it requires investigation as to whether a rooftop plant is feasible on the building.
While converting domestic hot water to heat pumps is usually not an issue due to the relatively small capacities required, achieving 3.5MW of heating hot water capacity for a building such as 101 Collins Street might result in up to 10 tonnes of heat pump equipment – twice the weight of the existing gas-fired boilers – and they need to be outside.
BE: How does the electricity supply also feed into these considerations?
Jamie Park: When you are de-gasifying plant, you are effectively electrifying it. So the question needs to be asked as to whether there is enough local electricity supply to cater for the change, and is the building’s electrical infrastructure capable of supporting the conversion.
BE: Has the introduction of predicted emissions factor changes to NABERS Energy tools impacted plans by property owners to de-gasify quicker than they otherwise would have?
Jamie Park: Last year, NABERS updated their Energy tools to use the latest National Greenhouse Accounts (NGA) Emissions Factors to calculate ratings, ensuring the tool accurately takes into account the decarbonisation of the grid. The NGA Emissions Factors are used to reflect the emissions linked to different fuel sources used in a building, including gas. As part of that update, prediction tools were released to allow building owners to see the impact on their ratings in 2025 and 2030. Consequently we’re finding property owners and managers are planning capex works with an eye on these targets – de-gasification included, particularly those that rely on large gas consuming equipment such as gas boilers and cogeneration systems to currently drive their NABERS energy ratings up.
A.G. Coombs Advisory’s work on the 101 Collins gas hot water plant conversion was recognised at the Energy Efficiency Council’s 2022 National Energy Efficiency Awards with the Integrated Clean Energy Award.
This award recognises projects that have demonstrated excellence in integrating high levels of energy productivity and renewable energy at the site, portfolio, precinct or community level.
