La Trobe University is on its all electric journey
La Trobe University is on its all electric journey and heading for net zero by 2029!
La Trobe University is striving to be net zero by 2030 and is electrifying and investing in renewables to get there
La Trobe University Bundoora are aiming to be net zero before 2030 and have already taken many major steps towards making this a reality through activities such as:
- installing LED lighting across all sites, over 40,000 fittings
- installing solar power systems onto every suitable building for a current total of 2.6 MW with near 100% on-site utilisation of the solar generation
- all new builds and significant retrofits are being built to 5 star green star standard minimum and new builds are fully electric
- more major works are in the pipeline with details to be revealed as they progress.
La Trobe are also a leader in electric transport. They have electrified 25% of their fleet and installed 40 electric vehicle (EV) chargers that are available for fleet or public use, with no cost beyond the standard hourly parking rates. One recent milestone was installing fast EV chargers at the Bundoora, Bendigo and Albury-Wodonga campuses to enable convenient inter-campus travel in staff EVs.
Andrew Jennings, Director of Carbon Neutral Strategy at La Trobe University, explained ”there is strong support for the move towards net zero emissions from both the board of management and the staff and students at LaTrobe.
"We have some longer-term challenges such as the on-site centralised heating system which we still have to work through. The three 7 megawatt (MW) gas turbines power a high-temperature water distribution network which is used to provide space heating in our older buildings on site. When it was installed it was state of the art and it is still considered an efficient way of providing for a very large heating demand, but we now want to move away from gas. We are continuing to consult with major engineering and energy efficiency firms to see what suitable replacements there might be for this system.
"In the longer term we are looking to gradually transition to centralised heating and cooling systems for clusters of buildings, which will enable us to gradually retire the gas turbines. We are making great progress, but there is still lots of work to be done”.
Thinking of going all electric?
If you are a local Darebin business or organisation that wants to jump on board the all electric transition we can help you through our Energy$mart program. Energy$mart can help you upgrade to an efficient split system for heating and cooling and heat pump for hot water. Our program connects you to reputable installers and products, offers support and a rebate of up to $1,000 on top of other government subsidies. Find out more and register your interest online by completing our short sustainable business registration form below:
Sustainable business registration