Building much more than show

With the Royal Adelaide Show in full swing, Adelaide Showground’s new Goyder Pavilion is providing a leading example of sustainability on the national stage. 

The Pavilion is named after George Woodroffe Goyder who delineated the limit of land suitable for farming based on his observation of changes in native vegetation.  We now know this as ‘Goyder’s Line’.

The Pavilion has been designed with both energy efficiency and water saving as key initiatives. 

The building has one hectare (10,000 m2) of solar panels installed on the roof, making it the nation’s largest solar power project.  The panels were funded by the State Government, and will generate enough power for the Pavilion, as well as about 40% of the annual electricity requirements of the whole Showground. 

The installation is the largest rooftop photovoltaic installation in Australia, and is five times larger than the second largest installation at Melbourne’s Victoria Markets.  The renewable energy generated will reduce greenhouse gas emissions from activities at the Showground by around 1,400 tonnes of CO2 equivalent per year.

The nation's largest solar power project

Rain water tanks with a volume of 3.5 million litres have been installed under the Goyder Pavilion and will collect and store enough water to supply more than half of the water requirements for the entire 26 hectare site. 

The water will be used for irrigation, toilet flushing and water features in the new building.

Throughout its development, the project has incorporated a number of features to reduce environmental impacts.  Two major buildings that formerly occupied the site had 80% of its materials recycled to minimise waste going to landfill.

Design features in the new building include minimal glazing on the façade to reduce heat loads, blinds on all windows to reduce glare and sun penetration, passive relief air pathways that can operate in natural ventilation mode, and high efficiency electric motors in the evaporative cooling units. 

All of these features will assist with reducing air conditioning costs and energy use.

Energy use by lighting has also been minimised with the installation of high efficiency fluorescent lighting in the main hall, sky lights in toilets and gallery areas, and movement sensors in toilets that reduce energy use when the areas are not occupied.

Wind turbines will generate up to 20 mega watt hours of electrical energy and will pump water from the underground tanks to a header tank which will supply ‘energy-free’ water for watering street trees. 

Recycling by users is encouraged by the provision of storage areas for recyclable wastes.

This new facility demonstrates Adelaide Showground’s commitment to minimising its impact on the environment, and provides a prime example of sustainable business development, that reduces environmental impact. 

Many event, conference and exhibition organisers now require venues that meet strict environmental criteria and the Goyder Pavilion will provide a significant selling point for these markets, being good for business as well as for the environment.