Case study: Chermside Bowls Club ecoBiz
Chermside Bowls Club is a recreational sporting club with facilities for functions, bistro meals, drinks, and many bowling and social activities. The club seeks to build, maintain and actively invest in a sustainable and strong local community.
Chermside Bowls Club joined the ecoBiz program in 2020.
Key initiatives to reduce energy use
- Replaced inefficient lighting with energy-efficient LED lights, halving energy use in comparison to the old fluorescent fittings
- Installed louvers in the office to allow natural lighting and to provide natural ventilation during the cooler months
- Installed sensors to turn off the office, kitchen and bathroom lights when not in use
- Increased zoning of air-conditioning by splitting the large function room into two
- Replaced inefficient air conditioning systems
- All of the club’s air conditioning units and the cool rooms are serviced regularly to maintain high efficiency.
- Replaced the leaking refrigerant tank in the cool room
- Replaced the old commercial dishwasher with a new eco-friendly version
- Installed an efficient combination oven which typically reduces energy costs by about 50 percent due to faster cooking times
- Staff turn off the lights and air conditioners at the end of each day and regularly service and clean filters for the exhaust hood in the kitchen.
Key initiatives to reduce water use and waste
- Capturing and storing rainwater for field irrigation and to water greens between 2am to 4am in the morning
- Watering is adjusted to suit weather conditions
- Use existing recycling programs for bottles, cardboard, paper and cooking oil
- Most grass clippings are collected by a volunteer for composting
- Actively source furnishings from other clubs or businesses that have closed down
- Communicating with members via email, website and social media to reduce paper use.
Register now for ecoBiz: a free program funded by the Queensland Government and run by Business Chamber Queensland. ecoBiz helps Queensland businesses audit their resource use, understand their carbon emissions and reduce costs from waste, water and energy bills.
“Don’t throw it away, throw it Chermside Bowls Clubs way”. Our club has been actively using second-hand furniture and fittings wherever possible. The ecoBiz program has helped us identify and implement this as a successful, sustainable and cost-saving initiative for our Club. The program also provided information about sustainability grants we could apply for to help us on our sustainability journey.”
Quote by: Michael McMahon, Chermside Bowls Club