Sydney Opera House
Member Story
The Sydney Opera House is one of the nation’s premier tourism destination, a world-class performing arts centre and celebrated community meeting place. Welcoming 10.9 million visitors to the site annually including more than 2.1 million performance and tours patrons. It is inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List.
Certification goals
The Sydney Opera House reduce its carbon footprint through a number of energy, waste and building efficiency projects. They replaced hundreds of incandescent light bulbs in the concert hall with custom-made LEDs and reduced the venue’s energy consumption by 75%. They replaced ageing chiller units connected to its pioneering original seawater cooling system to optimise the heating and cooling of the building.
A water management program has increased its recycling rate from 25% to 60%. Food water from the millions of meals served at the Opera House’s onsite bars and restaurants is now transferred to organics facility Earth Power where it is converted into energy.
Highlight
The Sydney Opera House received carbon neutral certification with Climate Active five years ahead of their original goal.
Certification type
Organisation
Founding member since 2017
Impact
Electrical energy consumption contributes more than 80 per cent of the Opera House’s total carbon footprint, so improving energy efficiency has been an ongoing focus.
“As a symbol of modern Australia, the Opera House’s role has a responsibility to lead by example. Climate Active certification enables us to reduce our own environmental impact and inspire others organisations to take action.”
The Opera House employs a unique seawater cooling system to efficiently cool the building. Photo credit: Sydney Opera House.
