Braeside Park wins grant for an energy audit

Sustainability Victoria has awarded a grant to Braeside Park to undertake an energy audit on the assisted living and communal areas of the village.

Funded through the Community Climate Change and Energy Action Program, the grant will allow OCAV to identify what actions can be taken to improve the buildings’ energy efficiency, reduce costs and reduce associated greenhouse gas emissions.

The grant is another step in OCAV’s commitment to becoming a sustainable and energy efficient organisation.

Phillip Wohlers, CEO, said: “Caring for a rapidly ageing population and responding to climate change are two of the most significant challenges of our time.”

He said that Braeside Park had been chosen as the first village because it is not as energy efficient as OCAV would like because of the age of the buildings.

“They were built to best practice at the time, but technology and design has moved on considerably,” Phillip said.

“What we will gain from the audit is an understanding of what needs to be done and what it will cost,” he said.

The audit will allow OCAV to make decisions to ensure the village’s environmental footprint is reduced. This, in turn, will free up financial resources that can be diverted towards other programs that will benefit our residents.”

Mr Wohlers said that residents were concerned about the cost of energy supply, and wanted the villages to become more environmentally friendly.

OCAV has appointed independent energy auditors Green Moves to conduct the audit.

Green Moves is a small family-owned services company providing independent and fully qualified energy and sustainability assessors to the commercial and residential sector.

"We look forward to sharing our learnings and applying them at our other villages," Phillip said.