Mitchell Enviro Industrial Estate is the only
one of its kind in Australia. Our aim is to
boast a full carbon neutral footprint (working
on approvals), the estate is the first and
only industrial property in Australia to be
granted as an authorised EnviroDevelopment
by the Urban Development Institute of
Australia. The ten acre ‘eco-estate’ is located
in the highly sought after Yatala Industrial
Precinct, only minutes to the Pacific Highway.
Various technologies and
processes have been carefully considered and
then implemented on Mitchell Enviro Industrial
Estate to assist it in being self-sustainable
and creating its unique nature. These are as
follows:
1.Only environmentally responsible
materials have been used in the construction of
the estate. All sheds on the
estate have been salvaged from other sites,
reconditioned, painted and rebuilt. These sheds
were sourced from the Port of Brisbane, Surfers
Paradise (Expo 88 Ice World Shed), Burleigh
Heads, and Nunawading in Victoria.
2.All timber has been sourced from
sustainable forestry plantations or recycled
sources; not from the rainforests.
3.The property features a four
megalitre dam in the middle of the site, which
is shaded by native flora and fauna and provides
a home to wildlife and a recreation area for
employees.
4.The estate has an in-house water
and sewerage system, and is only connected to
the mains water supply for firefighting
purposes.
5.All rainwater is collected and
treated on-site to provide potable drinking
water, while runoff from the road is stored in
tanks and used for irrigation purposes.
6.Water pumps, street lighting and
the security system are driven by grid-connected
solar power.
7.All warehouses on the site have
energy-efficient lighting and gain passive solar
access through the northerly orientation of the
buildings and day lighting.
8.Warehouses also incorporate
insulation for the roofs and walls, which
maintains a comfortable working temperature for
all tenants and eliminates the need for
artificial heating and cooling.
9.The design of the sheds has
reduced the need for artificial heating and
cooling, as canopies have been fitted to entire
lengths of the sheds to protect the northern
walls from the sun in summer and all western
walls have been insulated.
10.Furthermore, artificial lighting
requirements have also been eliminated due to
the installation of high quality translucent
sheets that provide natural day lighting for all
of the sheds.
Also
set to feature in the Eco Centre is an eco
friendly eatery. The
Wild Thing Cafe will be "keeping it
fresh & simple with a touch of wild for
you.. and the planet" and will be located on the bottom
floor of the centre, and will serve organic
where possible using produce only sourced within a 100km radius of
the site. The Cafe is opening soon, stayed
tuned.
Mitchell Enviro Industrial Estate was an idea
conceived by eco-conscious businessman and
entrepreneur Bruce Mitchell. After owning a
popular chain of vegetarian restaurants in
Sydney, Brisbane and the Gold Coast, Mr.
Mitchell decided that he wanted to personally
address the incessant issue of climate change
and do something that nobody had done before.
The result; the discovery that self-sustainable
industrial sites can be developed and have
significantly less adverse impacts on the
environment.
After attending the 2006 Eco
Asia Trade Fair in Hong Kong with Gold Coast
City Council representatives, Mr. Mitchell saw
what the rest of the world was doing and
effectively discovered that sustainable
industrial estates had not yet been tapped into.
Now setting the benchmark for
future industrial developments in Australia,
Mitchell Enviro Industrial Estate is attracting
worldwide attention, having been visited by
delegations from China and Japan, interstate
visitors, the Urban Development Institute of
Australia, the Local Government Association, and
various universities.
In addition, Mr. Mitchell has
been invited to formally speak on several
occasions with Bond University and the
Association of Consulting Surveyors and all
organisations from around Australia, whilst also
appearing in numerous newspapers and magazines
including the Australian Financial Review and
Gold Coast Bulletin.
This
environmental self sustainable Industrial Estate
became official by the Gold Coast City Council on the 19th
Dec. 2006. The 10 acre Estate is in the Industrial
area of Stapylton and current plan is shown on the PDF on the right side of this
page.
All of the body corporate public street lighting &
water pumps & security systems etc will be run by
solar power, all the factories have been bought from
demolition companies, saved from destruction, been
reconditioned, made to look like new prior to being
built on site. The sheds all face North with
canopies to shade any sun during summer, the
southern long sides are built into the hill so as to
give a cooling effect, all the roofs are insulated &
are white Colour Bond for the coolest effect, the
western walls are to be insulated. The sheds will be
significantly cooler than what is acceptable in the
industry at present.
Click here
for the "cleaning Up Your Own Backyard"
PDF document.
The whole site has many features to save water,
they are;
(1)
All the water off the roads passes through Gross
Pollutant traps & then into 45000 litre concrete
under ground tanks & all the over flow (surplus)
from the tanks passes through a bio filter wet land
area then into a 4 million litre dam.
(2) All the roof water is also collected in
separate 45000 litre concrete tanks & then filtered to world
standards for use as potable water. All the surplus
water is directed into the dam.
(3) The road water is saved for our irrigation
needs, used for the rain forest plantings as well as
the other trees, some 2000 at least to be planted
including what will be saved during construction
work.
(4) The property has creeks built about the site
so as to re circulate the lake water to give the
lake all the oxygen that is needed to keep the
mosquito situation well below the normal acceptable
level.
(5) We have installed a Konia Mineral water
purifier which produces 22 litres of water per day
out of the atmosphere for drinking water for the
workers during construction.
(6) The Biolytix septic systems that has been
chosen for the sewage system produces clear (smell
free) water for our irrigation of many of the plants
The Offices that are to be built with the
Factories will have innovated energy saving
technology & all this information will be made
available on the completion of the project in a form
of an on site display.
There is:
(1) A designated foot path that will allow the
Factory staff & the public to walk from one side of
the property to the other.
(2) A barbecue area complete with a gazebo is set
aside over looking the lake that will be available
for the on site workers & their families during
working hours & weekends etc.
(3) A fully monitored security system for the
security of the site.
For enlarged picture Latest Concept Plan
click here
The site will have the following; Various sheds,
2 - ,500m2, 1000m2, 2000m2 & a 4000m2, plus all the
sheds to have associated offices varying in sizes.
There is to be a small take away & café style shop
and an extensive display centre with an administration office.
We will be providing at all the sheds & offices a
full recycle waste system that will have the 4 waste
management recycled process.
The development on this site is designed on Environmental
grounds so as to show that Industrial sites can be
developed economically without compromise & still
show a handsome return on investment. As water will
become an expensive commodity, it is imperative that future
development of Industrial sites will need to take on
board some of these initiatives if not all, as the cost
of water will be a major factor in the future.
"Winton Views, Varsity Lakes,
Robina, Gold Coast, Queensland is a wonderful new
development...
Rammed earth at its best.
The wine centre building as it was know is
occupied by the University of
South Australia. It is situated at the corner of Hackney Road
and
North Terrace it was to be the showcase for wine
industry. It has an architecturally
impressive and unique design with the largest rammed
earth walls in Australia.
Some other projects are:
Griffith University Eco Centre in Brisbane,
Queensland. The walls are the main feature that runs
through the entire length of the building.
