Dandenong Wellbeing Centre’s energy-efficiency projections scaled back

Greater Dandenong Council has scaled down its ambitious projections on the proposed Dandenong Wellbeing Centre’s energy-efficiency.

Earlier this month, the all-electric $98 million aquatic centre - to replace Dandenong Oasis - was touted to use 204 kWh per square metre.

Greater Dandenong City Improvement Manager Craig Cinquegrana at a 27th March council meeting said the original figure had been offset by the Centre’s rooftop PV solar energy.

However, as reported by the Dandenong Star Journal, without the solar offset, the Centre’s efficiency is projected as being 261 kWh per year.

Responding to this, Greater Dandenong Councillor Rhonda Garad said it did appear that the initial figure was “calculated incorrectly by using solar inputs”, expressing concerns about the DWC’s expanses of glass and the resultant and costly loss of heat.

Nonetheless, the Council’s revised projected efficiency still far surpasses the ‘Passivhaus’ design in St Sidwell’s Point Centre in Exeter, UK with a 375 kWh per square metre efficiency.

Other facilities in Victoria range between 415-1,666 kWh per square metre while the Oasis centre currently uses 750 kWh per square metre.

Greater Dandenong Council recently announced an independent audit to verify the Dandenong Wellbeing Centre (DWC) project’s green credentials as “additional due diligence”.

Dandenong Wellbeing Centre Chief Executive Jacqui Weatherill recently said the DWC was the third all-electric aquatic centre behind Brimbank and Northcote that is aiming to achieve net zero carbon emissions.

Noting that other aquatic centres in Victoria ran primarily on gas heating, with some on co-generation, Weatherill stated “the DWC uses all electric technology, making the DWC an exceptionally energy efficient building.”

The Federal Government has pledged $20 million to the DWC and an upgrade of the Council’s Noble Park Aquatic Centre (NPAC). About $17 million of that will go to the DWC project.

Construction on the project is due to start next year, with the facility to open in 2026.

Image: Render for the Dandenong Wellbeing Centre.