Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary

Springers Solar has worked previously with Lone Pine on solar designs and installation for their Platypus Enclosure, admin building, off-grid Solar powered electric scooter recharging centre, 2 x Tesla car charging points, and an off-grid solar powered bird of prey facility. The latest installation has been on the new state of the art scientific research centre designed to focus on genetic and environmental threats to koala populations. Lord Mayor Graham Quirk said the $2 million Council-funded facilities had been constructed in partnership with Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary and were one of several initiatives to conserve koala populations and keep Brisbane clean, green and sustainable.

“This world-class research centre will facilitate critical research into the challenges facing koalas in the urban context and will establish Brisbane as the ‘koala capital’ of Australia,” Cr Quirk said. This new facility has issues with shade from trees that could not be removed as they are part of the koala habitat and the centre also wanted to be as environmentally friendly as possible. The centre also experiences frequent blackouts and sensitive genetic material stored in two commercial fridges required constant power.

This is the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary Green Team statement available on their website.

Lone Pine is divided into two electricity ‘zones’. These are both measured and charged separately. A recent inclusion into the sanctuary is two large solar arrays (one in each zone) one on the roof of the Platypus House and the second covering the administration building. 

Covering the roof with solar panels reduces the amount of heat hitting the building, which in turn reduces the amount of energy required to control the temperature of the room. Not only this, but the solar panels provide more than enough energy to support the power requirements of the Platypus House, the Tesla charging station and any additional energy is used around the Sanctuary. The Administration Building is also covered with an array of solar panels. With the walls insulated, the direct sunlight being removed from the roof and the low energy consumption technology within the building, the solar panels are enough to power this building as well as feeding additional energy into the Sanctuary’s demands.

Since installing both the arrays and the geothermal technologies, Lone Pine’s Green Team have been monitoring and measuring the impact these sustainable alternatives have had using a range of applications. 

It is the goal of the Green Team to reduce our energy use of traditional sources by 80% by 2020. To do this, we are not only incorporating renewable energy sources into the design of the sanctuary, but we are using alternative materials, improving our current practices and upgrading old equipment when required.