A recent EcoResults project, Elenara Rooming House in St Kilda, by the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), has been named a finalist in the prestigious Victorian Premier’s Sustainability Awards for an upgrade that incorporates a range of sustainability features. Elenara House was selected as as one of three finalists in the Environmental Justice category.
Elenara House is situated opposite Port Phillip Bay in the inner Melbourne suburb of St Kilda. This upgrade took a 100 plus year old heritage building and gave launched it into the 21st century without losing any of its Edwardian soul or its historical significance.
The Elenara Rooming House Upgrade was a major turning point for socially and ecologically sustainable, heritage-sensitive, and government-led, building practice in Victoria. It was also a feat of complex stakeholder coordination, with architects, engineers, builders, technical consultants, community housing managers and public servants working together to achieve a wide range of benefits.
The $6.2m renovation to Elenara House, a 110 year old historic building, replaced shared facilities with 30 self-contained studio apartments – including two wheelchair accessible units –while also providing additional amenities for social group activities. Elenara House now provides long-term savings on utility bills for residents and the service provider, and increased quality of life for tenants.
CEO of Sustainability Victoria, Stan Krpan, describes the project as ‘exceptional’.
“The upgrade to Elenara House demonstrated to the judges that they have translated the principles of sustainability into practice to achieve outstanding results for our environment and the state of our future. Victoria is an amazing place to live and this project is helping to keep it that way; we congratulate them as a finalist,” he said.
EcoResults was intimately involved for several years as ESD and Waste Management Consultants. The whole team at EcoResults is extremely proud to be associated with this project as ESD Consultants, and all the way through the planning and building approval phases.
Unlike many projects, one of the key requirements in our brief from DHHS was that this project exceed current best practice outcomes for ESD. As such, the the ESD benchmarks achieved were well above minimum Council and Building Code requirements. Key ESD benefits included:
- 7 star NatHERS energy ratings
- Built Environment Sustainability Scorecard (BESS) Assessment Score of 70, which is ESD Excellence
- STORM rating of 132%, a 32% improvement on Best Practice
- 93% of construction and demolition waste was reused or recycled
- Double glazing
- Victorian-made Kingspan insulation throughout
- Super-efficient state of the art solar powered chiller system for room heating, cooling and hot water
- 17,000 L tanks for rainwater harvesting and reuse in toilet flushing and laundry facilities
The ESD results are an extraordinary achievement for a 100+ year old building and are a testament to the hard work and determination of the whole project team.
To see a one minute drone video (shot by Toby from our office) which showcases the beautiful 100 year old building in all its glory, CLICK HERE.
To vote for Elenara House in the People’s Choice Award of the Premier’s Sustainability Awards 2018, CLICK HERE.
If you'd like to have a chat about the ESD and WSUD measures that were selected to achieve such great results for a very old building, don't hesitate to get in touch.
We congratulate the DHHS Property and Asset Services Project Management Team, primary consultant Colcept Architects, building contractor Jeff Williams Building Services, St Kilda Community Housing, the City of Port Phillip and all of the many other consultants and stakeholders who worked on the project. We keenly anticipate the awards announcements in mid-October!
