Solar Panels

The Balcony’s eastern and northern roofs incorporate photovoltaic (PV) solar panels which generate up to 22 kilowatts of electricity in full sunlight. Over a year, they’ll generate about 25,000 kilowatt-hours – enough to power four typical Australian households. The PV system is one of the largest of its type installed in Australia and incorporates clear glass laminate panels that filter the light coming through the roof onto the verandah below. The laminated panels were manufactured by BP Solar in Germany, while another style of PV panel used one our roof was made at BP’s Homebush, Sydney plant.

Rainwater Tanks

Shelly's rainwater capture and reuse system, harvests rain from the club’s massive roof. The six tanks under the verandah store 160,000 litres. It is expected that in a normal rainfall year, the tanks will be emptied and filled more than 10 times, supplying enough water to meet the annual demands of about 8 typical homes. The water is used in the toilets and it is hoped that in the future, with sufficient rainfall, it can also be used to top up the air conditioning cooling towers.   In a month of low rainfall the club's water saving is approximately 20% and 50% with higher rainfall.

Worm Farm

Shellharbour Workers' Club has an industrial-size worm farm with the capacity to handle more than one tonne of food waste every week. Shelly's currently generates about 600kg of food waste per week, which is otherwise expensive to dispose of and generates methane, a harmful greenhouse gas, when deposited into landfill. The worm farm devours all forms of organic waste (including citrus and bones) at Shelly's, providing an environmentally friendly method of disposal.

No more plastic... Shelly's, that's fantastic!

Shellharbour Workers' Club has removed all plastic bags within the Club for such initiatives as meat trays, take away food and bottle shop purchases.

The Balcony

The Balcony is, of course, totally naturally ventilated. For a Club like ours, building a shady outdoor area of this size was novel: usually, Clubs are extended with fully enclosed, artificially-lit, air-conditioned spaces. To air condition an area this size would typically consume around 375,000 kilowatt-hours a year, producing around 370 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions –  the equivalent annual greenhouse impact of more than 80 cars. The Balcony significantly reduces the solar load on the building, as the eastern and northern facades are now heavily protected from direct sunlight. The balcony is lit mainly by high-efficiency 70W metal halide lamps directed at the lightly coloured ceilings to reduce glare and effectively disperse the light. These were used instead of less efficient mercury vapour lamps that would also have had to be spaced much closer together. As a prelude to the Balcony project, the Club had a major upgrade installed to its air conditioning system. The original equipment could no longer supply the cooling required but, rather than scrap the whole system, detailed analysis showed that its capacity could be upgraded with the installation of a range of new technologies. Now, club patrons enjoy vastly fresher air delivered all year round via a 100 per cent outside air system that incorparates large rotating heat exchangers that also save energy. 

Recycling

In the Balcony’s construction, the builders maximised the reuse of all salvageable materials. For example, a large aluminium and glass external wall was relocated, rather than being scrapped, and brought up to current building codes.Waste was carefully controlled throughout the construction phase and much of the waste that left site was separated for recycling.  The Club also has a very proactive approach to recycling.

Landscaping

The landscaping incorporates local native plants ideally suited to the soil and climatic conditions found in the Shellharbour area. This has meant that all the soil and rock excavated during construction was able to be reused on site and a costly irrigation system wasn’t required.