The Sydney Opera House has achieved certification against the Australian Government’s National Carbon Offset Standard (NCOS) and claims to have successfully reduced its CO2 emissions by creating efficiencies in how it manages energy and waste with help from Major Partner EnergyAustralia.According to the Opera House, the key drivers to its carbon neutral certification include reducing electricity use by 14% from baseline, increasing its waste recycling rate from 25% to 60%, and offsetting remaining emissions with help from EnergyAustralia.In order to reduce the electricity usage, the incandescent bulbs in the Opera House’s Concert Hall have been replaced with custom LED lights to achieve a 75% reduction in electricity consumption (2014). A new building management control system has been implemented to monitor energy and water use and manage climate control (2017). The building’s heating and cooling has been optimized by replacing chiller units connected to the Opera House’s pioneering seawater cooling system (2017) resulting in a 9% energy reduction, states the Opera House. A new waste management program has also been implemented, introducing new recycling streams and transferring food waste which would have otherwise gone to landfill to an organics facility to be turned into energy (2017).Sydney Opera House CEO, Louise Herron AM, said: «Sustainability is in the Opera House's DNA. Architect Jorn Utzon incorporated sustainable design into the fabric of the building in the 1960s. We aim to honor and enhance this legacy by embedding sustainable thinking into everything we do. I'm proud to announce that thanks to long-term focus, creativity and the support of our partner Energy Australia, we've become carbon neutral five years ahead of target.”NSW Minister for Energy and Utilities & Minister for the Arts Don Harwin said: »By slashing energy use and ramping up recycling the Opera House has truly set the stage for others to follow and I congratulate the Opera House team on their transformational work."EnergyAustralia Managing Director Catherine Tanna said: “No country on earth can give us a blueprint for the transformation to an energy system reliant on renewables, with low or zero emissions. Our challenge — and our job — is making sure families have access to cleaner, affordable and reliable power no matter where they live or what they earn. We’ve shown it’s possible for Australia’s most famous house to offset its carbon emissions, and we’re making it simple for millions of households around the country to do the same.”Click on the slideshow for a sneak peek at the images from Sydney Opera House.http://www.blouinartinfo.com/                                                              Founder: Louise Blouin   Read more