MEDIA RELEASE 13 March 2010
1 Bligh Street - Sydney's first high rise office tower to incorporate blackwater technology
DEXUS and co-owners DWPF and Cbus Property announced that NSW Water Minister,
Phil Costa today awarded the first combined private network and retailer's water
recycling licence to the 1 Bligh St development, making it Sydney CBD's first
high rise commercial office tower to incorporate blackwater recycling
technology.
Minister Costa said construction is under way on a recycled treatment plant in
the basement of the new development to treat waste water for use in the
building's toilets and cooling towers.
"This licence is the first of its kind to be granted to a Sydney high rise and
will save 100,000 litres of precious drinking water a day," Minister Costa said.
"This licence, granted under the Water Industry Competition Act 2006 is part of
a NSW Government strategy to secure Sydney's drinking water by attracting
private investment in recycled water projects."
Under the project:
- Wastewater is mined from the nearby sewer main and the base building
- Wastewater will then be treated to the highest standards approved by NSW
Health at the recycled water plant in the basement
- Water is then distributed around the building for non-drinking purposes,
with 75,000 litres used for cooling towers and 25,000 litres will be used
for flushing toilets.
"Recycling is an important part of our Metropolitan Water Plan to secure
Sydney's drinking supplies, along with key initiatives including desalination,
water efficiency, and dam upgrades," Minister Costa said.
"It is vital we attract private investment into water recycling to ensure we
meet our target of recycling 12 per cent of Sydney's water needs by 2015.
"This project will reduce the volume of wastewater being pumped to Bondi and
entering the ocean."
The 1 Bligh Street development is co-owned by DEXUS, DEXUS Wholesale Property
Fund and Cbus, and being built by Grocon. Aquacell will build and operate
the recycled water infrastructure.
Aquacell CEO Colin Fisher said the granting of the licence is an important part
of a sustainable future for NSW. "Recycled water schemes like this will ease
pressure on water, energy and land as our population increases -this legislation
ensures ongoing management is robust and a level playing field is achieved. Only
organisations that meet the highest standards can be issued a licence which
streamlines the approval process for future schemes. We are really honoured to
be the first company to be granted the licence.
We plan to add other sites in NSW to our licence, which will open the way for
developers to access private sewer and recycled water schemes where they are
urgently needed."
DEXUS CEO, Victor Hoog Antink said: "Consistent with the co-owners commitment to
sustainability. 1 Bligh Street has been designed to be the next generation in
high performing sustainable office space, incorporating world leading technology
and design innovation. We are delighted to be announcing today another key
milestone in 1 Bligh Street's development with the awarding of the new
blackwater recycling licence; a first for Sydney and the first high rise office
building in the CBD to incorporate this leading technology".
Grocon CEO, Daniel Grollo said the company's core value of sustainability was
being embraced with the incorporation of blackwater sewer mining on 1 Bligh St.
"Water is a precious resource and its preservation is being achieved through the
use of this system. This system provides 100% recycled water for toilet
flushing, as well as 90% of cooling tower makeup water -thus demand on the water
infrastructure is drastically minimised. It has been great to work with
DEXUS/Cbus Property and Aquacell on this initiative."
NSW Minister Costa said the 1 Bligh St development will be opened in May 2011.
"We have some of the largest recycled water projects in Australia under
construction or online across greater Sydney and we are on track toward the
Metropolitan Water Plan target of producing 70 billion litres a year by 2015,"
Minister Costa said.
"Water efficient devices such as taps, showerheads and washing machines, and
Water Wise Rules will help save up to 24 per cent of Sydney's water needs by
2015.
Metropolitan Water Plan key initiatives include:
- $119 million on deep water storage from Sydney's dams providing up to an
extra 10 per cent, providing Sydney with 6 months supply in extreme drought;
- $30.5 million has been spent on recycled water projects across greater
Sydney towards the target of providing 12 per cent savings by 2015;
- $1.9 billion on the Desalination Plant to provide up to 15 per cent; and
- $26 million on almost 1 million rebates and offers helping to save up to
24 per cent by 2015 along with educational campaigns and our new Water Wise
Rules.
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High res images available on request
Media contacts:
Aquacell, based in NSW, is 100% Australian owned and builds and operates
water recycling plants for business, industry and government in Australia and
USA. Aquacell's focus is on non-potable (non-drinking) water for use in a
variety of applications including surface irrigation, clothes washing and
toilets. Aquacell's plants recycle grey water which is water discharged from
showers, baths, basins and washing machines; and black water which is any water
that has been contaminated with water discharged from a toilet. For more
information on Aquacell, visit
www.aquacell.com.au.
About 1 Bligh
1 Bligh Street is the next generation in high performing sustainable office
space, jointly owned by DEXUS, DEXUS Wholesale Property Fund (DWPF) and Cbus
Property. www.dexus.com/1bligh 1
Bligh Street team
DEXUS is one of Australia's leading
property groups specialising in world-class office, industrial and retail
properties with total assets under management of $13 billion. In Australia,
DEXUS is the number 1 owner/manager of office, number 3 in industrial and, on
behalf of third party clients, a leading manager and developer of shopping
centres.
DEXUS is committed to being a market leader in Corporate Responsibility and
Sustainability and has been recognised for the second year running as one of the
Global 100 Most Sustainable Corporations at the World Economic Forum in Davos.
DWPF is an open-ended, unlisted, diversified property trust managed by
DEXUS Property Group. DWPF is one of the largest unlisted wholesale property
funds in Australia with more than A$2.8 billion of funds under management as at
31 December 2009. The Fund's objective is to provide wholesale investors with a
balanced return of capital growth and income over the medium to long-term.
Cbus Property with assets
under management exceeding $1.5 billion is a wholly owned subsidiary of Cbus,
the national construction industry superannuation fund. Cbus Property has
responsibility for the performance and management of Cbus' direct property
investment and has extensive development experience. With a commitment to
utilising our considerable experience in investment and delivery we will
continue to provide a benchmark for both economical and environmental
sustainability in property development.
Grocon is Australia's largest
privately owned development and construction company. The company was originally
started as a concreting business by Daniel Grollo's grandfather, Luigi, in the
late 1950's building suburban swimming pools and community facilities. Luigi's
son, Bruno, turned the company into a development and construction giant in the
1980's and 1990's, building such iconic structures as Melbourne's Rialto Towers
and in Sydney Governor Philip Tower for DEXUS Property Group and restoring the
heritage GPO building at No.1 Martin Place in Sydney.
Designed to the performance brief developed by DEXUS in 2006,
Architectus in Australia and
Ingenhoven Architects in
Germany have teamed to create the design for an entirely new generation of
Australian high-rise.
Released for Aquacell by Dennis Rutzou Public Relations (www.drpr.com.au)
For further information please call Nicola Rutzou or Kim Larochelle on (02) 9413
4244.
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