NPA’s sustainability strategy and decarbonisation road map is well on track thanks to the support of the Reserve Bank of Australia Workplace team. Having collaborated for the last two years, the RBA has been proactive in helping reduce NPA’s emissions footprint in three major ways: Energy management, energy infrastructure, and sourcing of renewable energy.
NPA’s decarbonisation objective is to reduce its carbon emissions by 50% by 2030 against its 2019 emissions levels.
"The RBA's support has been outstanding and NPA has been highly appreciative of the initiatives undertaken that are helping drive emissions down," says NPA's Chief Commercial Officer, Blair Gibbs, who is responsible for sustainability at NPA.
In regard to energy reduction, much time has been dedicated to understanding electrical consumption across the business which was not an easy task due to the lack of energy monitoring devices at the machine level. Quantifying energy consumption was the starting point for gaining insight into improved energy management practices and regulating temperature and humidity within NPA’s Main Production Building emerged as the major energy use.
“While this finding was unsurprising given the building was constructed in the late 70s when energy efficiency was a low design priority, we took the time to understand exactly how our energy is consumed across the business,” says Blair.
Ensuring energy was only being consumed during working hours in non-production areas throughout the NPA facility has resulted in an average of 1,458 kWh saved per week. This was achieved by alterations to scheduled run times of the HVAC system.
In regard to energy infrastructure, the RBA has been extremely proactive, with a clear schedule to upgrade to more energy efficient air-conditioning units, replacing all five elevators in the building with the latest technology, and replacing all light fittings from old technology to LED.
“This capital works program is well underway and the collective impact of all these initiatives will be felt by the end of 2024 when the majority of this work will be completed,” says Blair.
Furthermore, the RBA has approved the installation of a solar panel array with a total installed capacity of 1,033 kWp (i.e. peak power rating) which will be delivered by 2,042 panels. This substantial renewable energy installation is expected to generate 1,295 MWh of electricity in its first year which represents approximately 13% of emissions.
“This is a significant undertaking and a very exciting development for NPA. It sends a very tangible message to our industry and the community about where the RBA and NPA stand on taking action on climate change,” says Blair. “The installation is expected to begin later this year and will be completed in 2025.”
Finally, as of 1 July this year NPA's Main Production Building will move from 20% green power to 100% green power with the RBA taking advantage of a new energy contract period to renegotiate the site’s energy supply. Without factoring in the solar power installation, this initiative alone is estimated to reduce NPA’s carbon emissions by 37%, which will help NPA make major inroads into achieving its emissions reduction goal of 50% by 2030.
“The solar panels will lower NPA’s overall energy demand from the grid at a time when many tens of thousands of other business and homes are seeking to also move to 100% renewables,” says Blair. “Not only is NPA taking responsible action to reduce its carbon emissions, but with the RBA’s help in lowering our energy usage and installing solar panels we are also taking a socially responsible position with the Australian community.”
Power Surge: The RBA’s first foray into renewables occurred at the Bank’s Business Resumption Site in which more than 500 solar panels were installed and have successfully operated. The project was led by ( L-R) Ehsan Rahman, Kate McAlpine, and Ahmed Atia from RBA’s Property & Infrastructure team. The Craigieburn installation will be four times larger.