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July 4, 2008
Premier of WA opens Alcoa's Peel Regional Office
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The Premier of Western Australia, Alan Carpenter, has today officially opened Alcoa’s new Peel Regional Office which has positioned the region as a global ‘centre of excellence’ for the alumina industry.
The office is a demonstration of Alcoa’s ongoing commitment to the region and furthers its economic contribution through future employment opportunities for local community members, increased local expenditure for goods and services and community capacity building with more people living and working locally.
Alcoa Managing Director, Alan Cransberg, said: “The region is already home to our Pinjarra and Wagerup alumina refineries as well as the Willowdale and Huntly bauxite mines, so it makes good business sense to bring Alcoa’s essential support services closer to our sites.”
The Peel economy has been boosted thanks to a number of services being supplied to Alcoa locally. These include: office security, cleaning, building maintenance, gardeners, recruitment companies, waste disposal and caterers.
“Our move proves to industry that support roles can and should be co-located near to their operations so local employment and economic benefits are brought to local communities,” Mr Cransberg said.
"Sixty people have relocated to the new office from Alcoa’s head office at Booragoon and that means they are likely to take advantage of local services like drycleaners and doctors which is all positive for the region.”
Alcoa has also reaffirmed its position as a business leader in sustainability with the new office being an example of best practice in energy efficiency.
The state-of-the-art building falls into line with Alcoa’s global commitment to sustainability and has been designed to achieve a 4-star 'base building' Australian Building Greenhouse Rating (ABGR). The sustainability features of the office include:
• The use of large roof overhangs to limit solar gains;
• Light coloured, well insulated roof planes to limit heat absorption and the need for mechanical heating and ventilation;
• Window placement which brings natural light deep into the work areas to reduce the need for artificial lighting. 50 per cent of the building’s occupants sit immediately next to a window;
• The retention of rain water. Rain water is captured and channeled through a filtration trap into the adjacent wetlands area while rain water run-off is deposited into our garden beds;
• The use of low energy materials or recyclable materials, like aluminium which limit energy consumption in the production processes;
• ‘Comfort’ glass to limit heat absorption through windows;
• Energy efficient lighting;
• The most up-to-date and environmentally friendly air conditioning technology;
• Over 1000 water wise plants around the building.
- ENDS -
Media Contact: Sarah Tempest 0404 800 417
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