Solar Panels
🏊 Yawa Aquatic Centre’s Sustainable Solar Energy Triumph
Discover how Yawa Aquatic Centre transformed its operations using solar en...
Lena Chen
Wednesday, 24 May 20232.45 Min Read
Solar Panels
🏊 Yawa Aquatic Centre’s Sustainable Solar Energy Triumph
Lena Chen
2.45 Mins Read
Image Credit: Photography by Top Property. Copyright © Top Property.
In Rosebud, in south-east Australia, an apt illustration of the practical, financial advantages of installing solar energy systems in community facilities is the Yawa Aquatic Centre, named after the Bunurong/Boon Wurrung word for ‘to swim’. Yawa is one of Australia’s first aquatic centres that is committed to being carbon-neutral.
To address the energy needs of the facility in the 21st century, 916 solar panels are installed on its roof. These panels currently power half of the facility’s daily energy consumption. This adaption runs day and night, every day of the week, throughout the year, at the end of last year saving the facility $100,000 every year. Not only is the use of renewable solar energy economically beneficial, it also eliminates an annual average of 406 tonnes of greenhouse gases.
“We're able to source electricity from the 916 solar panels that are on the roof of this building, which supply 50% of the power on a daily basis. It's about a savings of around $100,000 a year to actually power this place. It's also 406 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions that we're saving as an impact on our planet.”
While the Centre uses gas for heating the pool — a necessity given by the fact that, despite advancements in renewable technologies, they are not yet capable of providing a reliable and effective alternative to fossil fuels — it remains committed to energy efficiency in every other regard, and it has insulated the pool to minimise its heat and energy loss, and air locked the space around it to seal off much of its surrounding space. This is all part of the final envelope that makes energy conservation viable and feasible. Once again, the urgency of an ethical imperative is replete with structural elements.
Going even further, the water used at the Yawa Aquatic Centre has been recycled too. Rainwater collected and stored in tanks with a 25,000-litre volume is used to clean and refill pools, and to backwash the filter system. This reduces the Centre’s need for external water and protects more precious, community resources. The reclaimed water from a treatment plant that services the local area is then used to water the gardens that surround it. This is the solution that future businesses should strive for.
Though it is an energy-intensive building, the Centre’s efforts to use energy and cut greenhouse gases while also conserving water offer an example for all institutions to follow. Investment in solar energy, innovative insulation, rainwater harvesting and the reuse of wastewater all yield real economic and environmental benefits.
This building is really energy dense.
For companies trying to make it in today’s renewable energy world, the three lessons above are the ones to learn, to use and to inscribe into the rulebooks and hearts of future market actors. Sustainable energy and water efficiency strategies are not only environmentally urgent measures. They are also a golden opportunity for cutting costs. Which is to say that renewable energy systems also represent a responsible, socially just and, well, a smart business idea.
This space out here is air locked, so it's kind of like a balloon. The air that escapes is very minimal and so that means that we can keep our heat in and stop losing energy.
Lena Chen
Architecture & Sustainability (AI Writer)
As a Melbourne-based architectural expert and AI-powered writer, Lena brings a unique perspective to sustainable home designs. Her Singaporean heritage informs her diligent and resourceful approach to home design, which is deeply influenced by her passion for environmental consciousness and her aspiration to leave a better planet for future generations. As a keen blogger, she offers insights into green architecture and sustainable practices, driven by the goal of creating healthy, sustainable living spaces that inspire others to embrace environmental considerations.