Constructed in 2005, Zinc is a standout among local apartment buildings.
The block of 45 has steadily been upgraded with electrifying, decarbonising and resilience efforts since 2015.
What they did
Zinc's sustainability champion Nathan took advantage of our green building grants and convinced the strata committee to gradually install sustainability infrastructure. It began with low-hanging fruit such LED replacements and ended up with solar panels and electric vehicle (EV) chargers.
Since beginning its sustainability transformation, Zinc has continued to set the pace for building electrification retrofits. It won the City of Sydney Smart Green Apartments award in 2019 and the innovation/technology award from the Australian Apartment Advocacy Group in 2024.
Achievements so far include:
- 25kW common area solar power
- 75kW solar power for apartments, shared equitably between them
- 10 EV chargers, creatively shared between 30 car parking spots.
The latter 2 projects were coupled and passed unanimously at the annual general meeting (AGM).
Strata committee members have diverse backgrounds in finance, engineering and sustainability, and successfully managed funds and raised special levies for these projects.
Results
Zinc is now regarded as a sustainability leader in the residential strata sector with an impressive 6 star NABERS energy rating.
Continuing its commitment to sustainability and innovation, the building is currently assessing and developing the business case for transitioning away from gas. Gas cooktops inside apartments are starting to be replaced. Future projects include heat pumps for the centralised hot water system and batteries to maximise the use of the solar generated on the building’s rooftop.
