Spotless strives towards sustainability

There are very few businesses that don’t have to contend with the challenge of rising utility costs and aging assets. Electricity, gas and increasing water costs are volatile and present significant risks to productivity and profitability.

Whilst public debate around energy conservation, including solar and battery storage, has predominantly been focused on consumers, it is in fact more of a concern for property owners, managers, and commercial and industrial markets. This is where an integrated services provider, Spotless, comes in. 

Optimising performance through sustainability

Spotless’ comprehensive sustainability services portfolio helps businesses reduce their utility costs and optimise asset performance, thereby significantly reducing operating costs.

Its multi-disciplinary engineering team looks holistically and in-depth into utility costs and critical assets to identify and prioritise operating, maintenance, and life cycle costs. They then provide detailed costing and economic impact models.

Sustainability initiatives are incorporated into their new and existing contracts, including utilities, supply solutions, utilities, and asset optimisation, IoT energy, building, and asset management systems, together with innovative managed services agreements. They are harnessing drone technology to help perform high-risk tasks such as roof and building inspections, as well as smart sensors that can remotely monitor the condition of assets, as well as to conduct energy or water audits and efficiency assessments.

Few companies in Australia have the experience to install commercial battery energy storage systems. This, combined with solar, allows businesses to maximise their use of zero emissions, low-cost renewable self-generated electricity.

Spotless customers see benefits from reducing peak demand charges, shifting mains grid electricity consumption profiles, and making the most of solar and battery energy storage systems. Spotless’ latest sustainability initiatives in the utility sector also include the launch of a new smart electricity metering business that will help electricity retailers respond to new regulatory obligations. Spotless Advanced Metering (SAM) delivers a simple, efficient, scalable, whole-of-life metering asset and services proposition, which is delivered by a single accountable contract. It focuses on contract and operations efficiency, value, and effective risk allocation, allowing retailers to focus on their core retail energy business.

Many infrastructure upgrades, sustainability, or energy-saving solutions require a significant upfront investment, which is a challenge for organisations. Spotless provides innovative funding options to support this, allowing for a complete technical, implementation, and maintenance solution. Its size allows for a range of unique business and funding models, while long, expandable multi-service contracts leverage Spotless’ scale and breadth of services.

Whether for government, local councils, schools, or aged care facilities, Spotless provides tailored, whole-of-lifecycle solutions, with the capacity to deliver hundreds of integrated services. Our innovation and sustainable solutions agenda helps our customers to be smarter, faster, more energy-efficient, and, importantly, more cost-effective.

Case studies

ICC Sydney

Spotless is combining its skills and expertise with partners to ensure the new International Convention Centre (ICC) Sydney is run with optimal resource efficiency. From a ground-breaking operational energy model that provides detailed use of each individual space for carbon reporting, to maintaining the solar cells of the 520-kilowatt photovoltaic array system providing power across the venue, Spotless is continually looking for ways in which to enhance sustainability. Spotless is also partnering with Sydney University on a climate control program. Research has been conducted on the thermal comfort and energy optimisation of the event spaces, some of which have ceilings up to nine metres high.

City of Melbourne

Spotless provides carbon neutral street-cleaning across the City of Melbourne through a range of initiatives, including improved vehicle maintenance and route planning. Its street-sweeping fleet uses bio-fuels to reduce carbon emissions, as well as rainwater and recycled water for vehicle washing and pressure cleaning. To offset remaining emissions, Spotless has purchased carbon credits that support the Kariba REDD+ project, which focuses on preserving forests and changing lives in Zimbabwe.

Sydney Town Hall

Spotless company, AE Smith, is responsible for trigeneration power system now supplying power, heating, and cooling to the heritage-listed Sydney Town Hall and neighboring Town Hall House. The mechanical services firm designed, constructed, operates, and maintains the gas-fired, Microturbine trigeneration plant, situated on the Town Hall House roof. It is the first trigeneration system in New South Wales to feed into the power grid.

This story originally appeared in the Business Excellence Magazine, Volume 10, Issue 2, Winter 2017.

James Dunstan General Manager Sustainability Services