Buildings account for close to 40 per cent of energy used in most countries (International Energy Agency, 2009).
The City of Melbourne’s 1200 Buildings project will facilitate the retrofitting of 1200 commercial buildings within the municipality.
The commercial building sector is responsible for the majority of greenhouse gas emissions in the municipality, accounting for 48 per cent of total greenhouse gas emissions across the City of Melbourne.
Why 1200 buildings?
Zero Net Emissions by 2020 – Update 2008 is a strategy that sets the City of Melbourne the target of achieving carbon neutrality by 2020. The strategy identifies a number of areas for improved energy efficiency and reduced energy consumption.
If 1200 existing commercial buildings are retrofitted to improve energy performance by 38 per cent, the potential for greenhouse gas mitigation is 383,000 tonnes of CO2–e. This substantial improvement in energy efficiency will benefit building owners, the industry and the wider community.
Why focus on existing buildings?
While regulations now require major new office buildings to meet minimum sustainability standards, new buildings represent only a small proportion of all buildings in the municipality. The majority of the municipality’s commercial buildings are existing buildings. Read more about 1200 Building's Background and vision.
Case studies
There is already some great retrofitting work being done around Melbourne and we are always keen to hear from building owners or facility managers who are planning or currently undertaking retrofitting work on their buildings.
The 1200 Buildings program will be a collaborative initiative where industry can share ideas and openly discuss details of the successes (and failures) of their project work. You can view information on some of our initial retrofitting case studies below.
500 Collins Street, Melbourne
500 Collins Street (PDF, 70kb)
500 Collins Street (Text only, 843kb)
530 Collins Street, Melbourne
530 Collins Street (PDF, 51kb)
530 Collins Street (Text only, 302kb)
Participate in the program
The need for action in the commercial sector is clear and the 1200 Buildings program will assist Melbourne in reducing its carbon footprint.
The program has now begun. Register your interest now.
Read more