City of Greater Dandenong senior contact auditor David Russell demonstrates the Utility Tracker system.GREATER Dandenong Council has saved $215,000 in utilities expenses since installing a new system that tracks which of the council’s facilities are energy wasters.
The Utility Tracker has allowed the council to chart actual utility usage with daily, monthly and annual cost reporting.
It also provides real-time site usage costs.
Greater Dandenong mayor Youhorn Chea said the data was extremely valuable for organisational budgeting requirements.
“This system enables us to monitor utility usage at 239 sites managed by the council,” he said
“As a result, we have saved hundreds of thousands of dollars by identifying abnormal usage patterns and taking steps to address any significant increases.”
Meanwhile, the council plans to shave more than $16,400 a year from its electricity bill and maintenance costs with the replacement of light fittings and bulbs at two of Dandenong’s multi-deck car parks.
The work, carried out by Dandenong business Globepro, will see the replacement of 355 fittings at the Thomas Street complex and 287 fittings at the Walker Street one.
Cr Chea said the projects marked another step towards making Greater Dandenong a greener city.
“The new lighting systems will be brighter, cheaper to maintain and more environmentally friendly than the old systems,” Cr Chea said.
The car park replacement initiative is expected to cut power usage and maintenance costs at Walker Street by more than 46 per cent.
A 34 per cent saving has been projected for the Thomas Street facility.
Cr Chea said an external audit had been commissioned to identify the top 10 electricity users among the city’s council-owned infrastructure.
“This is expected to be complete by the end of November,” he said.
