Climate Change Champion (Employee – Individual or Team) Shortlisted Finalists

Entries are listed in alphabetical order of surname

Adam Clarke, Program Coordinator City Innovation and Sustainability, City of Newcastle

Adam is passionate about developing and implementing projects that provide financial and environmental returns for the City. From MW-scale solar projects and street lighting upgrades to electric vehicles and battery storage, he is focused on big reductions in carbon emissions for the city.

Projects of note include:

Leading the Energy Hunter program, which assisted 500 Hunter businesses to reduce their electricity consumption and save annually over $1.1 million. The program was awarded the NSW Green Globe for Climate Change.
Overseeing the installation of a 100kW solar system on the State Heritage listed Newcastle Museum.
Developing Council’s landmark 5MW solar farm project.
Delivering a range of smart city projects including smart street lighting, a city-wide fibre and WiFi network, autonomous and electric vehicles and renewably powered public EV chargers.

Adam is also on the technical panel for the Business Renewables Centre Australia. Prior to joining Council in 2012, Adam worked at Low Carbon Australia on its Energy Efficiency program, a role which encompassed developing innovative finance models to increase investment and uptake of energy efficiency in the commercial sector.

Lisa Hall, Technical Officer Development & Environment, Nambucca Shire Council (NSW)

Lisa is passionate about helping Nambucca Shire Council move toward a more environmentally sustainable future and has achieved the following:

Rolled out Council’s Renewable Energy Action Plan, which has set short, medium and long term actions for the installation of solar panels on council buildings, and set targets for renewables and the reduction of carbon emissions. The plan is also guiding the potential use of vacant Council managed land for renewable energy projects, including land at Council’s waste transfer station.
Installed two Electric Vehicle charging stations
Assisted with running the Festival of Solar, in conjunction with Coffs Harbour City Council and Bellingen Shire. This was a one day festival, designed to assist individuals and families in understanding the latest advances in solar and battery technology.
Serviced Council’s Clean Energy Committee that seeks to make recommendations to Council on increasing it’s clean energy use.

Lisa’s next aim is to install solar systems on Council’s community halls.

Sam Kelley, Sustainability Projects and Reporting Officer Randwick City Council

Sam has been in his role for just 18 months and has shaped it to be responsible for a comprehensive approach to energy conservation, efficiency, generation and monitoring of renewable energy.This includes all aspects of advocacy, planning, budget oversight, design, implementation and review of all Council’s energy related projects.

Sam’s focus to date has been to reduce energy consumption, increase efficiency and reduce greenhouse gas emissions across Council operations as well as influence opportunities to reduce energy consumption and achieve emissions reductions in residential dwellings, schools and local businesses.

Sam has not only championed Council’s energy related opportunities to achieve major savings, he has taken the information and approaches provided through Cities Power Partnership seminars and resources to champion and implement what he’s learned across Randwick.

Sam has demonstrated a willingness to persist and go beyond basic requirements to tackle, identify and implement creative and substantial emissions reduction and energy saving solutions in areas that are both directly and indirectly his responsibility.

Brendan Ling, Senior Environment Officer, Logan City Council (QLD)

Brendan oversaw the development of Logan City Council’s Carbon Reduction Strategy and Action Plan which was endorsed by Council in January of 2018. The document sets Council an ambitious carbon neutral target by 2022 for Council’s entire operations and outlines the specific actions that Council will take to get there.

Several of the actions have already been delivered by Brendan specifically or others across the organisation including annual carbon accounting, installation of energy sub meters at high energy using sites, investigation of the business case of power factor correction and solar PV, and the utilisation of power saver settings on Council computers.

The largest of the projects delivered under the Carbon Reduction Strategy so far are the three 100 kilowatt solar PV system installations that will generate an estimated $60K and 332 tonnes of CO2 emission savings annually.

Sustainability Team, Northern Beaches Council (NSW)

The Sustainability team, working across corporate and community sustainability, champion climate change action and the Cities Power Partnership program across the entire Northern Beaches Council to accelerate environmental sustainability action and embed it into our culture.

Over the past year alone this team has:

Won the Response to Climate Change Award for Building Resilience into Infrastructure Assets through a joint project with the Institute of Public Works Engineering Australasia (IPWEA)
Assisted Council to achieve Bronze status as part of OEH’s Sustainability Advantage Program
Delivered webinars
Continued work to embed sustainability throughout the organisation as they develop the draft Environment and Climate Change Strategy and work closely with Strategic Planners to prepare the draft Local Strategic Planning Statement, Local Environment Plan and Development Control Plan
Completed energy and water audits and solar feasibility studies to guide future works programs
Administered the multidisciplinary Energy and Water Efficiency Working Group
Worked with key internal stakeholders to deliver capital works including pool pump upgrades, street and internal lighting upgrades and HVAC energy efficiency upgrades which have generated over 3,000 ESCs to date and
Installed 144kW of solar panels on Council facilities