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Workzone West is a seven level “A” grade office building with 15,602sqm NLA located on the outskirts of the Perth CBD in Western Australia. The building is owned by Elanor Funds Management and managed by Knight Frank Australia.
In December 2018 Infrared Services was awarded the electrical maintenance contract for the property on a three-year term. As Infrared Services have worked closely with Knight Frank Australia on many similar assets in the past, and collaboratively created significant improvements to energy efficiency in the process, we were excited to see what could be achieved at this property.
In August 2021 the building was awarded a 6-star NABERS energy rating (the highest possible). This is an impressive achievement for all involved, and we are extremely pleased and grateful to have had the opportunity to contribute to the team effort. Of course, the approach to the improvements to electrical efficiency was multifaceted and carefully staged over the previous few years; Rome was not built in a day.
On the electrical infrastructure side, the opportunities for improvement at this asset consisted primarily of upgrades to the lighting and lighting controls. All lighting solutions were carefully selected to ensure they met with the original design intent and aesthetic of the building and importantly did not compromise illumination levels or general appearance in any areas. It should be noted that all depleted lamps, batteries, and luminaire bodies were carefully recycled in accordance with environmental best practices. Infrared Services is always able to provide recycling certificates for every lighting upgrade project, and like a responsible and highly respected blue-chip asset manager Knight Frank Australia would accept nothing less.
STAGE 1 – CARPARK LIGHTING – 3rd QUARTER 2019
The original car park lighting at Workzone West consisted of twin 36w T8 fluorescent lights throughout, 250w HID “lowbay” lights at the ramped entrance, and DALI monitored emergency lighting. Light switching is via Dynalite PIR occupancy sensors, and there had been significant issues with the reliability of the Dynalite system at this site in the past. In close consultation with Knight Frank Australia a plan was formulated to upgrade the luminaires to a modern LED equivalent and carefully review the Dynalite control system to ensure correct, and reliable, operation of the occupancy sensors moving forward.
The fluorescent lights were removed and replaced with 40w LED batten lights from Haneco and Clevertronics, the HID lowbays were replaced with Robus Sonic 100w LED highbay lights. In total 123 luminaires were upgraded, resulting in a reduction of total lighting load from 10.1kW to 5.4kW, or approximately 47.5%. In addition, the lighting controls were substantially reviewed and correct operation of the Dynalite PIR occupancy sensors was made possible. This resulted in significant energy savings in the base building car park and basement plantroom areas. It also reduced maintenance costs to virtually zero; in almost 2 years since not a single lighting repair has been required in the upgraded areas.
The total cost of this work was approximately $28k.
STAGE 2 – STAIRWELL LIGHTING – 2nd QUARTER 2020
Following the success of the car park lighting upgrade the previous year, a plan was developed between Infrared Services and Knight Frank Australia to compound these efficiency gains by upgrading the stairwell lighting in the three emergency escape stairwells to LED. The stairwells were constructed with surface-mounted oyster lights with 36w compact fluorescent lamps, with DALI control and DALI monitored emergency lighting. Similar to the car park areas, there was also a history of unreliable operation from the PIR occupancy sensors.
The fluorescent lights were removed and replaced with 25w LED oyster lights from Ektor, with DALI addressable drivers and emergency lighting control gear. In total 47 luminaires were replaced. This resulted in a reduction of total lighting load from 1.7kW to 1.2kW, or approximately 30%. The Dynalite lighting control system was also carefully reviewed to ensure correct operation of the PIR occupancy sensors. Again, this gave rise to considerable energy savings and created an installation that is virtually maintenance-free. Since the upgrade was complete no lighting repairs or replacements have been required in the stairwells.
The total cost of this stage of the work was approximately $18k.
STAGE 3 – BACK OF HOUSE LIGHTING – 2ND QUARTER 2020
The standard and specification of the lighting in the back of house areas on the ground floor and chiller plantrooms were similar to that of the car park. The original construction called for twin 36w T8 fluorescent lights throughout, including DALI monitored emergency lighting. Utilising a similar specification to the car park lighting upgrade, Infrared Services, and Knight Frank Australia were able to build on previous success and develop a program to upgrade these areas as well.
In total 40 fluorescent lights were removed and replaced with LED equivalents from Haneco and Clevertronics. The total connected lighting load in these areas was reduced from 3.2kW to 1.6kW, or a decrease of circa 50%, and the upgraded lighting system remains maintenance (and maintenance cost) free to this day. Again, the controls were reviewed for correct operation to ensure optimal energy efficiency throughout.
The total cost of this stage of the work was approximately $7.5k.
STAGE 4 – EXTERNAL LIGHTING – 3rd QUARTER 2020
In order to improve the external aesthetics of the property, as well as create even further energy and maintenance efficiencies, a further upgrade plan was formulated to convert the external lighting on the main structure of the building to LED, as well as pole mounted lights in the private courtyard and public open spaces.
The existing external lighting consisted of 35w HID downlights, and 70w HID pole mounted floodlights. The HID downlights were replaced with 25w LED COB downlights from Haneco, and the pole mounted floodlights were replaced with 35w LED streetlights from S-Tech. In total 35 luminaires were upgraded, and the total connected load was reduced from approximately 1.4kW to 0.9kW, a decrease of close to 35%. Continuing the theme of energy improvements for this asset, of course, this gave rise to considerable energy savings, and again created an installation that is virtually maintenance-free.
The total cost of this stage of the work was approximately $6k.
STAGE 5 – GARDEN LIGHTING – 4TH QUARTER 2020
Between Workzone West and the adjoining property, there is a large private courtyard and public open space. These areas had originally been fitted with compact fluorescent recessed wall lights in the garden retaining walls. Because the existing lights had been cast into the concrete walls it was not a simple matter of swapping one light out for another. Replacement luminaires had to be carefully selected to ensure their exact dimensions would allow for a proper fit, and custom mounting arrangements fabricated to ensure a seamless installation into the fabric of the building without the requirement for costly builders’ works. Despite these challenges, between Infrared Services and Knight Frank Australia we were able to carefully formulate and execute a plan to upgrade these luminaires to a modern LED equivalent.
The original luminaires were specified with 20w CFL lamps, fed via 240v low voltage cabling. The 240v supply, in particular, was a challenge, as ingress of water into the luminaires and buried cable joints had previously resulted in inevitable, and inconvenient, nuisance tripping of the protective devices. The cabling was carefully removed, jointed, weatherproofed, and resupplied at 24v ELV to ensure ongoing reliability and ease of maintenance. The fittings were replaced with a 3w LED equivalent from SAL, resulting in a reduction in connected load of 85%.
The total cost of this stage of the upgrade was approximately $5k.
STAGE 6 – LOBBY LIGHTING – 2ND QUARTER 2021
The main lobby of Workzone West was fitted with T5 35w “cove” lighting, concealed within feature bulkheads throughout the lobby, as well as extruded aluminum architectural feature lights above the main entrance. These luminaires consume considerable energy, at approximately 23w per linear metre, and require regular (inconvenient) maintenance and repairs. In keeping with the long-term energy efficiency goals for the building, Infrared Services and Knight Frank Australia formulated a specification and strategy to upgrade these lights to modern LED equivalents.
Because it was necessary to maintain the existing aesthetic of these areas, fit seamlessly into the existing building fabric of the lobby, and avoid any potentially costly builders’ works, planning and experience in similar works were required. The old T5 fluorescent cove lights were removed and high-power linear LED strip and aluminum mounting extrusions from Robus were carefully retrofit in their place. Similarly, for the T5 extruded aluminum architectural luminaires, the existing fluorescent lighting arrangement was removed and an LED equivalent retrofit in place. In total, more than 100 linear metres of fluorescent lighting was upgraded to LED. Prior to the upgrade, the connected lighting load in these areas was approximately 2.4kW, after the completion of the upgrade it was reduced to 1.3kW. This represents a decrease of approximately 45%. Of course, as an added benefit the LED solution can be expected to remain maintenance-free for the foreseeable future. The total cost of this stage of the upgrade was approximately $12k.
