Exterior Image of Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Center at night
Objective

In 2014, Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre in Australia began the once-a-decade process of cleaning the facility’s roof. In line with the Centre’s sustainability policy, operations staff developed a plan to minimize the project’s environmental impact, with a focus on water usage and runoff.

Approach

The Centre’s staff blocked the storm drains in the areas being cleaned and redirected used water to ground-level containers. This water was then filtered to remove contaminants and pumped back up to the roof for reuse in the cleaning process, preventing pollution from entering the storm water system and minimizing water use. When available, the Centre also used water captured in its rainwater collection system rather than potable water.

 

Results

With approximately 37,500 square meters of roof to clean, this was a massive project that demanded significant resources. Over the course of the five-month roof cleaning process, Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre cut the project’s potable water footprint in half through use of recycled water and rainwater, recycling 170,000 liters on site.