Executive Director of NECA Queensland Mick Logan has praised the quality of entrants into the 2014 Queensland Excellence awards.

“The number and quality of entries in this year’s awards is at the highest level we have seen for some years now, showcasing the quality of the industry in Queensland,” Mick says.

This year’s winners were recognised at a star-studded event attended by Clive Palmer, MP, and hosted by HGNelson.

Category 3 – Energy Efficiency and Environment
Winner – Blue Star Atlantic
JBS Australia is the country’s largest meat processor and exporter. This project has cut the facilities greenhouse gas emissions by the equivalent of 44,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide per annum.

Blue Star Atlantic’s works expanded throughout the project and included general light and power, electrical automation and controls, switchboards, cable reticulation systems and communications for the upgrade of the waste water treatment system. This was done in conjunction with a bio methane gas recovery system from new and existing ponds, integration of bio methane gas as fuel for the existing gas fired boiler, a red waste stream dissolved air flotation system replacement and a tallow recovery system.

Category 4 – Lighting Project
Winner – Q Electrical Services
The architectural vision was to highlight the unique structural elements (fig-tree branches) that climb the full length of the tower, making the building readily identifiable across Brisbane.

Under the artistic guidance of the architect, Q Electrical undertook detailed design, and built and tested multiple custom fixture and control options for the client and lead architect.  The prototypes were continually improved until a custom fitting with the desired effect was achieved. As each internal column is set at a unique angle, each fixture was a one off in terms of dimensions.

Q Electrical then undertook the procurement, manufacture and installation of the over 800 custom made fittings, along with the automated control system.

Category 5 – Industrial – Small Project
Winner – Blue Star Atlantic
AJ Bush & Sons recycle one million kilograms of meat and poultry by-products every day, creating fertilizer, stock food and tallows. With an annual energy bill of $3.9 million, the company was looking to reduce its energy and carbon costs. Blue Star Atlantic’s scope of works, was to complete the electrical and communications services required to install 2 new coal fired boilers and 1 new biogas fired boiler.

Selection of equipment was difficult due to the corrosive atmosphere inherent in these facilities.

The capture of biogas from anaerobic ponds, coupled with the new energy-efficient boilers, has reduced the plant’s energy cost by 46% and substantially reduced emissions.

Category 6 – Industrial – Large Project
Winner – ECM
The Queensland Curtis LNG Upstream Works Project is situated in the Surat Basin of Southern Queensland.

The project included the supply, installation and certification of electrical, instrumentation and communication works for the Ruby Jo Field, Compression Station or FCS and Central Processing Plant – the CPP.

The site is in a cyclone, bushfire and flood prone region and despite bad weather and flooding across the area, ECM made good progress on the project, that once fully commissioned, will produce enough gas to sustain half a million homes a day.

ECM worked in excess of 230,000 man-hours to successfully complete the Ruby Jo Central Processing Plant and FCS, and has now completed over 500,000 hours to date across the Surat Basin.

Category 7 – Voice/Data
Winner – Q Electrical Services
The ADF’s huge Greenbank Training Area ranges from vehicle obstacle courses, through to an urban simulation area.

Q Electrical were responsible for the HV and LV electrical installation, including MSB and sub boards, road lighting and rail crossing system, general power and lighting  – along with the complex communications network – including underground reticulation, fibre and copper communications backbone, communications to end user, AV conduits, Fire Detection & Monitoring.

With dangerous wildlife in the area, it was mandatory for Q Electrical staff to wear long pants on site. All company vehicles had snake bite and first aid kits and all employees working in remote areas of the site had these kits with them at all times.

Category 8 – Commercial – Small Project
Winner – Blue Star Atlantic
The refurbishment of the GABBA posed unique challenges for Blue Star Atlantic. The electrical works included the Coaches Boxes, with a four channel Clearcoms system to the upgraded AFL Interchange Benches, and refurbishing the Cricketer’s and Player’s facilities, corporate boxes and media area.

These disjointed work faces, spread across five separate locations within the GABBA, offered limited access for cable reticulation.

The GABBA refurbishment project was used as a trial site for newly developed ‘Blue Start Card’ system. Every employee “takes 5, to assess the potential hazards and risks with each task to be undertaken that day. Since implementation, Blue Star Atlantic has recorded a significant reduction in minor incidents and near misses.

Category 9 – Commercial – Medium Project
Winner – Baylec Group
Baylec was contracted to design and install all electrical, communications, nurse call, mechanical ventilation and air conditioning for this 118 room facility. The brief from Palm Lake was to inspect one of their earlier built facilities and design an improved facility from the input provided by the staff onsite.

With every room monitored by movement and bed sensors reporting back to multiple nurse stations, the attention to detail during the early stages of construction was key to the ultimate success of the project. 

Hundreds of kilometres of cabling was required to create a system allowing the comms, nurse call and monitoring systems, to work together, ensuring the nurses are kept abreast of any issues as the arise.

Category 10 – Commercial – Large Project
Winner – Nilsen QLD
The 12-storey Verde Tower features seven levels of office space, along with ground floor retail, fours levels of parking, and a plant room on the twelfth floor.

Verde includes one floor specifically designed to be used as a post-disaster coordination facility. To supply back-up power for the Disaster Relief Centre, the building is equipped with two 1100kva Generators in the Plant Room.

Nilsen’s design included the use of three in-slab conduits to each room in the office floor – the first for Power, second for the Lighting / Dali Cabling, and the third as a spare. This eliminated over-crowding of ceiling spaces and saved labour, with less cabling tied onto cable trays.

Today, the best New South Wales electrical and communications contractors were recognised at the annual electrical industry Excellence Awards hosted by peak Australian industry body the National Electrical and Communications Association (NECA).