Bendigo initiatives
Bendigo Bank Tour
Andrea Francis, a representative of La Trobe University, visited the 5 star rated Bendigo Bank headquarters building in June 2009 to learn about sustainable office environments. She noticed that the bank:
- encourages bike riding by providing storage space, showers and change rooms
- recycles all of their grey water
- has no individual offices - it is all open plan
- mainly uses natural light
- uses low-wattage lights when necessary
- has solar hot water
- uses rain-water tanks on the roof to water the plants.
For more information visit Sustainability Victoria.
Bumper Harvest
The Buildings and Grounds Division in Bendigo has been working tirelessly of late to find a solution to the problems caused by water shortage at their campus. In the last couple of years, the dedicated team in Bendigo have been exploring the most effective ways to manage and save water. Waterless urinals, bore water and connection to a recycled pipeline are just a few methods that were explored. The winner by a country mile though was water harvesting using above ground tanks.
This important project has involved the installation of two sets of water harvesting tanks and a number of water storage tanks which are distributed at various locations around the campus. Water from these tanks will be used for toilet flushing, irrigation of gardens and operation of the water feature. Currently the only thing left to do is the install the electronic metering system and controls and it should all be up and running!
The completion of this project which is due at the end of May is a defining moment for La Trobe’s Bendigo Campus who has suffered the devastating consequences of water shortage for many years. In addition it will provide valuable information on the costs associated with water harvesting and will likely impact the design of toilet amenities at the University in the future.
Please visit the Bendigo news and events page for more detail on this exciting project including the water storage capacity of the tanks and project costs.
