[Chris]

Hi Ray,

I can highly recommend Willoughby Council’s lighting seminar – Julien Freed is an expert in the area and has a lot of experience now with strata complexes.

There’s also a fantastic guide on Energy Efficient Lighting written by Julien and published by the Office of Environment & Heritage that you can download from http://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/business/lighting.htm

There are a number of case studies on the approaches taken in other buildings on the Green Strata and Smart Blocks sites. http://www.greenstrata.com.au/case-studies and http://www.smartblocks.com.au/case-studies

Try and take advantage of the incentives offered through the NSW Energy Savings Scheme if you upgrade your lighting. It might not be possible for small quantities, but it’s always worth asking the question. http://www.ess.nsw.gov.au

Solar systems are eligible for Small-Scale Technology Certificates (STCs). The installer normally handles these certificates, which means you get an up-front discount on the cost of your system. The rebate varies by location but is normally $500 to $600 for a one-kilowatt system. https://ret.cleanenergyregulator.gov.au/Certificates/Small-scale-Technology-Certificates/what-is-stc

You can also find more information on strata solar installations and case studies at http://www.greenstrata.com.au/topic/solar-photovoltaic-energy-production and http://www.smartblocks.com.au/what-can-i-do/install-solar/

Chris

[Chris]

Hi,

There are two companies I know of in Sydney that have successful installations of multi-function LEDs (with in-built rather than separately wired sensors) in residential strata buildings.

enlighten Australia http://www.enlighten.com.au

LED Direct Solutions http://www.leddirectsolutions.com.au

We also have a number of written and video case studies on such lighting and the results that have been achieved at http://www.greenstrata.com.au

Cheers

Chris

[Chris]

Water is becoming a contentious issue in strata where most of us only have one water meter for the building.

Even if it is legal, I don’t think attempting to split the bill by the number of occupants is equitable either. Someone who is water-conscious and has 3-minute showers with an efficient showerhead running at 9 litres/minute can still end up subsidising those having 10-minute showers under inefficient heads running at 30 litres/minute.

Your water consumption does appear to be excessive. If for example you’re under Sydney Water that is currently charging $2.13 per kilolitre, a rough calculation shows your usage to be around 320 litres/bedroom/day.  This is on the high side according to the recent benchmark data for apartments. More information on that is at http://www.greenstrata.com.au/category/know-where-your-water-used.

There are several options you could consider. Unfortunately none of them are quick and easy, and they’re also dependant on how your building is plumbed, and how old it is. A very quick summary of them is:

(1)    Eliminate a single cause

If your consumption increased dramatically at some stage, there could be a serious leak or a problem with the meter. You’re obviously on to that one with what your plumber is doing. Some buildings in the past noticed huge increases when their water meters were changed, because there was a faulty batch.

(2)    Individual water meters

This is the ideal equitable situation, but has physical, logistical and cost issues. If you want to spend time investigating this I suggest you talk to your water utility first. If it is physically possible depending on how your building is plumbed, you also need to have assurance that your water utility will have easy access to and will actually read the meters. The cost of doing this will also depend very much on your current plumbing.

(3)    Individual sub-meters

The next-to-ideal solution. Your water utility would still bill your owners corporation for total water consumption, but you’d allocate each apartment’s share by reading the sub-meters yourself. So there are upfront installation and ongoing administration costs.

(4)    Building-wide water efficiency project

Sydney Water’s study identified that over 90% of building-wide consumption is within apartments (info on this also at the above link). The steps to decrease consumption are the same as in houses – water-efficient fixtures, fittings and equipment. It’s just more difficult to achieve because you can’t force people to make changes inside their apartments. What you can do however is make easier for them.

A common approach these days is for the owners corporation to pay for and organise services such as Sydney Water’s WaterFix (https://www.sydneywater.com.au/Water4Life/InYourHome/WaterFix/index.cfm) . The payback on that is generally less than 12 months so it’s well worth the effort.

I know of a 70’s building of 14 units that reduced its consumption by 47% by facilitating the WaterFix and Toilet Replacement services (replacing single flush with dual-flush toilets) building-wide.

(5)    Annual inspection of all units

Unfortunately some occupants don’t do anything about leaks until they’re drastic and have also caused other damage. In a lot of cases we know of terrible leaks that no-one knows about until occupants change. An annual inspection for leaks, combined with inspecting those parts of common property that can only be seen from within an apartment, are beneficial both for keeping on top of consumption and also budgeting for common property maintenance.

(6)    Pass a by-law to avoid overcrowding

Seven occupants in a 2-bedroom apartment are too many. Overcrowding is a growing issue that not only impacts water consumption by also fire safety. Many buildings are facing this problem and are implementing by-laws that restrict occupancy to 2 adults per bedroom.

Cheers

Chris

[Chris]

If your strata manager has decent software systems it's easy to get more detailed reports. I've always insisted on them and have received them. It doesn't take any more than a couple of minutes to produce another report.

Before you give up, I'd ask your strata manager about what software they use and what reports can be generated. They could just be lazy!

[Chris]

Hi,

 

You can see the tax ruling on Income Tax for Bodies Corporate at

https://law.ato.gov.au/atolaw/view.htm?docid=ITR/IT2505/NAT/ATO/00001

 

Cheers

Chris

[Chris]

I don't have any personal experience with heat pumps, but from what I've heard of other people's experiences, the noise can be a lot more disturbing than a refrigerator. That's not to say they aren't a viable option – just make sure you know exactly what you're dealing with and that the owner concerned has to take any necessary measures to protect the amenity of all residents.

Cheers

Chris

[Chris]

Hi CBF,

 

We were all very surprised that the usage was so low, and asked the consultant to double-check that the readings were correct – which they were.

 

It cost us $800 for the 2 sub-meters. On the surface it may not appear in hindsight to be money well spent. However as our owners are now acutely aware of the inequities in how they pay for water, the assumption that the retail lots were being heavily subsidised by all other owners was becoming quite emotional. We've put that to bed with the facts now, so I think it was still worth spending the money to calm things down.

 

Cheers

Chris

[Chris]

Hi,

 

The update I promised after our investigation of water use by retail lots…

We installed a couple of sub-meters to get a better idea of what these premises were using. What we found, much to our surprise, is that the 3 most water-dependant businesses – 2 hairdressers and 1 nail parlour – between them only average 1kL/day. That's out of an average of 53kL/day for the whole building. So at least in our building we now know that the commercial lots are not being overly subsidised by everyone else, and it all comes down to what individuals do in their units.

 

I'd still be interested to know the impact of restaurants and laundromats in other buildings!

 

Cheers

Chris

[Chris]

Hi CBF,

 

Water usage in mixed developments is starting to become contentious, now that more owners have knowledge of how consumption billing actually works. At a conceptual level if residents start to question whether their levies should be paying for that used by water-dependant businesses, the businesses can then turn around and object to paying for expenses related to the residential  component (often many more lots) of the scheme.

 

In our building 4 of the 6 commercial lots are water-dependant, including two hairdressers. We’re now embarking on getting some facts before we determine if there’s a significant need to address the issue further.

 

The new benchmark data from Sydney Water is one part of the equation https://www.greenstrata.com.au/category/know-where-your-water-used (it’s the best available in the sorry absence of individual meters).

 

Our water consumption is logged and we can access data daily over the net. We’re about to install sub-meters on the feeds to the commercial premises to find out exactly what proportion of total consumption is attributable to them. What we find will determine our next steps. I’ll let you know how we go.

 

I know there are many issues with retrofitting individual meters to apartments, but I would think retrofitting them to ground floor commercial premises would not be that much of an issue. What does arise then if commercial lots are paying for their own water, is the need to calculate levies differently for residential & commercial lots. In NSW, perhaps the current review/reform should consider this.

 

Cheers

Chris

[Chris]

The issue of individual water meters in strata complexes is currently being investigated by a number of water authorities.

The intricacies of the physical installation and regular meter reading requirements can be quite complex for units. It’s generally a lot easier for townhouses and villas, and in many cases your water authority would be able to read the meters as they do for houses.

Individual water meters are also more attractive for investor owners after the most recent changes to the Residential Tenancies Act. The Residential Tenancies Act 2010 says:

39   Water usage charges payable by tenant

(1)  A tenant must pay the water usage charges for the residential premises, but only if:

(a)  the premises are separately metered or the premises are not connected to a water supply service and water is delivered to the premises by vehicle, and

(b)  the premises contain water efficiency measures prescribed by the regulations for the purposes of this section, and

(c)  the charges do not exceed the amount payable by the landlord for water used by the tenant.

If I were you I’d call your water authority and get them to assess the suitability of your particular site.

And the Residential Tenancies Regulation 2010 stipulates:

11   Water efficiency measures required for payment of usage charges by tenants: s 39 (1) (b) of Act

The prescribed water efficiency measures that residential premises are required to contain before a tenant can be required to pay water usage charges for the premises are as follows:

(a)  all showerheads on the premises must have a maximum flow rate of 9 litres per minute,

(b)  all internal cold water taps and single mixer taps for kitchen sinks or bathroom hand basins on the premises must have a maximum flow rate of 9 litres per minute,

(c)  there must be no leaking taps on the premises at the commencement of the residential tenancy agreement or when the water efficiency measures are installed, whichever is the later.

Note. Taps and showerheads having a maximum flow rate of 9 litres per minute have a 3 star water efficiency rating.

 

If I were you I wouldn’t give up yet, and contact your water authority and ask them to assess the suitability of your particular site.

[Chris]

I've done some searching at https://www.waterrating.gov.au to confirm my statement in the earlier post.

All new products — where the product has been manufactured or imported into Australia on or after 1 July 2006 — must now be registered and labelled under the WELS (Water Efficiency Labelling Scheme) before they can be sold. Products covered under this scheme are skwers, taps, flow controllers, toilet & urinal equipment, washing machines and dishwashers.

If the rain showers you're looking at have a WELS label you'd have to think they work?!

All this has reminded me that I'd like one too…

[Chris]

Hi johnkerr,

 

It's my understanding that inefficient showerheads can't be offered for sale any more. Also, the efficient ones aren't as painful as they were in the early days and with good ones you don't notice that you're actually using less water.

Just check out the flow rate of the system you're looking at. If it's 9 litres/minute or less you'll still be environmentally responsible.

[Chris]

Hi Cristiane,

Apart from the fact that there was no formal approval in the first place, you are right in that the issues need to be thought through and properly understood so that the appropriate approvals and by-laws can be put in place. It is very common that conduit and other system elements will need to be external.

You might like to have a chat to the QLD Dept of Infrastructure & Planning. There's some smart legislation they introduced, under the heading of “Ban the Banners”, to facilitate installation of solar hot water and solar panels for units and townhouses – and ensure that installations aren't prohibited on appearance grounds. You can find a fact sheet at

https://www.dlgp.qld.gov.au/resources/factsheet/sustainable-living/new-covenant-and-body-corporate-by-laws-factsheet.pdf

I don't know any of the finer points, but hopefully the department can give you some more detail on what the owners corporation can and cannot object to.

Another fact sheet compiled by the Go Solar project team here in NSW summarises the issues that need to be considered by an Owners Corporation:

https://reduceyourfootprint.com.au/media/uploads/projects/attachments/Go_Solar_Apartments_SP_FAQ_28_Oct_2010-0.pdf

I'd love to hear how you go.

Cheers

Chris

[Author]

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