The latest round of Victorian Government grants to help commercial building owners reduce their energy costs is helping Box Hill Company, Garda Capital Limited.

Garda Capital Limited will receive $30,000 through the State Government’s $1.76 million Better Commercial Buildings program, which helps building owners and tenants make their buildings more energy efficient.

The money will be used to to improve efficiency as the building is currently performing at a very low 2.5 Star NABERS and will target a 1 star improvement for the program while establishing a roadmap towards 4.5 Star performance. Key implementation items include building management system, car park ventilation modifications, mechanical plant optimisation variable speed drives and lighting.

The member for Eastern Metropolitan Region, Shaun Leane, said the Better Commercial Buildings program is helping many other local businesses reduce one of their most fundamental operating costs.

“The Better Commercial Buildings grants can help businesses identify and implement improvements, measure their success, gain access to further finance options and pre-approved service providers,” Mr Leane said.

“It’s a system that takes the guess work out of choosing suppliers, when you carry out energy improvement work,” Mr Leane said.

Common changes have included replacing out-dated heating and cooling systems, upgrading lighting and installing timer or movement switches, supplementing energy from the grid with solar panels.

Apart from helping to cut one of the most fundamental business operating costs, energy upgrades have been found to improve staff comfort and reduce complaints about hot and cold spots in offices.

The program can help improve a building’s rating under the National Australian Built Environment Rating System (NABERS) system by one star, on average.

The program is now fully subscribed. Further information about the program can be found at www.sustainability.vic.gov.au/grants.

Find out more about how Sustainability Victoria can help your business at www.sustainability.vic.gov.au/Business.