The winning projects included the installation of solar panels on the ‘halo’ roof of Metricon Stadium on the Gold Coast, the complete refit of electrical and data installations at AAMI Stadium in Melbourne, the d’vineRipe Power Plant in South Australia and an impressive private residence at Bar Beach in Newcastle.

The Australian companies received their awards in front of 500 guests at the black-tie event held at the Grand Hyatt in Melbourne on 24 November.

NECA chief executive officer James Tinslay, says the Excellence Awards are an opportunity for the industry to showcase the advancements in technology, energy efficiency and home automation.

“The projects and companies that won awards were simply outstanding and the level of sophistication in the electrotechnology industry at the moment is remarkable,” James says.

“All of these projects showed genuine skill and are classic examples of why Australian companies are leading the world in electrical and communications installations. The NECA Excellence Awards always highlight the cutting edge of our industry and in 2011 the winning companies have demonstrated that what was once only a futuristic dream is now a reality for homes, commercial installations and big industrial projects.

“Energy efficient solutions are now at the core of our industry and these winning projects are saving the environment and saving their clients money while providing fully integrated electrical and communication installations.”

The Shadow Minister for Climate Action, Environment and Heritage, the Hon Greg Hunt, attended the awards and spoke about the challenges facing Australia and how the electrical industry is contributing to the solution.

The winning projects and companies are listed below.

Category – Domestic Residence

A single residence project in the domestic sector where the applicant’s contract value is less than $1 million.

Winner: Automated Innovation
Project: Private Residence in Bar Beach
Why: Automated Innovation provided solutions for their client’s every need from the ground up. This included the access to TV, Pay TV, DVD and multi-room music for entertaining. The house has current innovative features including lighting, air conditioning, floor heating control and a high-end security system.

Category – Small Contracting Business

A small contractor, employing less than 10 technical employees, demonstrating a wide range of skills.

Winner: Power and Drive Solutions
Project: d’VineRipe Power Plant
Why: Power & Drive Solutions won the contract to upgrade the power generation plant including the new power house, generators, control system, distribution and mains integration. The key objective was to install natural gas generation to run in parallel with the utility network, if required. The seamless transition of services to the new generators required a high level of skill and planning to ensure power was maintained to the site at all times, as even a 15 minute loss of power can cause millions of dollars of damage to crops.

Category – Environment and Energy Efficiency

A project where the design, product select ion, lighting, processes or technologies are considered to preserve a site’s natural environment and/or to create an energy efficient and sustainable installation.

Winner: Stowe Australia
Project: Metricon Stadium Solar ‘Halo’ Roof
Why: As an Australian first, The Metricon Solar ‘Halo’ Roof project by Stowe Australia was truly unique. Most outstanding was the fact that it is Australia’s largest generating building integrated photovoltaic (BIPV) system with seamless integration into the building fabric roof, covering approximately 2,500 square metres, and suspended 30 metres above the stadium’s 25,000 spectators.

System design was a critical factor as Stowe had to guarantee its performance. This was an engineering feat involving 580 BIPV modules with 290 combinations of orientation and inclination.

The installation will off-set energy consumption by 20% per year. It will generate appr oximately 276 megawatt hours of electricity per year or enough to power 250 homes. Metricon Stadium is now one of Queensland’s healthiest buildings, providing the state with an excellent example of energy efficient sustainability.

Category – Occupational Health and Safety

A business, individual or project that has demonstrated commitment to achieving an optimal occupational health and safety environment.

Winner: O’Donnell Griffin
Project: Incident Investigation Process
Why: O’Donnell Griffin developed and implemented an Incident Investigation Process that is used to investigate all significant incidents that result in injuries to employees or disruption to site operations. With the implementation of this new process, O’Donnell Griffin have achieved a lost time to injury rate of zero.

Category – Industrial Project Small

An industrial project which may include, but is not limited to, undertakings of a civil, mining, high voltage, manufacturing or process nature where the contract value is less than $2 million .

Winner: Electrical Construction & Maintenance
Project: Nippon Metals N-Chlo Pilot Plant
Why: Bateman Engineering awarded Electrical Construction & Maintenance (EC&M) the contract for all electrical and instrumentation installation works on the Nippon Metals N-Chlo Pilot Plant.

The plant’s unique chloride leach process, enables cyanide free extraction of metals from flotation concentrates.

This challenging project involved working in a hazardous warehouse environment. One of the major challenges was the risk of fire or explosion, due to the presence of flammable vapours. EC&M had to develop specific safety proc edures to ensure no incidents could occur.

A key success factor, was the expertise of the EC&M team, working cohesively with all contractors to achieve the client’s objectives. The successful result has led to EC&M being awarded another Pilot Demonstration Plant project by Bateman Engineering.

Category – Industrial Project – Large

An industrial project which may include, but is not limited to, undertakings of a civil, mining, high voltage, manufacturing or process nature where the contract value is greater than $2 million.

Winner: Downer Australia
Project: Reliance Rail Maintenance Facility
Why: The NSW Government and RailCorp entered into a public private partnership contract with Downer Australia’s Reliance Rail consortium to design, build and maintain a new maintenance facility for Sydney’s new passenger rail fleet. The facility features DC overhead wiring, traction return power, communication and signalling networks, rail safety systems, electrolysis and corrosion protection, retractable-arm conductor rail system and significant civil works.

Category – Voice/Data

A voice or data project of any contract value.

Winner: Security Electrical Solutions (SES)
Project: SA Aquatic and Leisure Centre
Why: SES were contracted for the design, supply and installation of a high level integrated access and visual security system, incorporating 100 cameras and access security throughout the South Australian Aquatic and Leisure Centre. The project began as a basic job with 49 analogue cameras and door access controls, but the scope grew significantly to meet the client’s demand for a high quality surveillance system which also incorporated facial recognition.

Category – Commercial – Small Project

A commercial project where the applicant’s contract value is less than $500,000.

Winner: D & M Electrical and Communications
Project: Westside Hotel
Why: .Westside Hotel Dubbo contracted D & M Electrical and Communications for the supply and installation of all electrical works for their refurbishment. This included main switchboard, distribution boards, all lighting, power, emergency systems, data and C-Bus controls. Technical expertise was shown in the Keno installation, AV switching between different function and bar areas and use of creative lighting effects.

Category – Commercial – Medium Project

A commercial project where the applicant’ s contract value is more than $500,000 and less than $2 million.

Winner: Heyday Group
Project: Schneider Electric Sydney Co – location
Why: Heyday Groups ACC Technologies division provided the electrical services fit-out for Schneider Electric’s relocation for a high quality 7,900 sqm fit-out over five floors. The project involved the installation of standby generator services, new sub-mains, lighting, access controls, CCTV and MATV systems, emergency system and all data and communications systems.

Category – Commercial – Large Project

A commercial project where the applicant’s contract value is greater than $2 million.

Winner: KLM Group
Project: AAMI Stadium
Why: This project was a major development for the soccer, rugby and rugby league stadium within the sporting precinct of Melbourne. Due t o the unusual structure of the stadium, KLM Group were required to conceal cabling where possible. The unique canopy roof structure presented many difficult installation problems and the entire lighting system is fully automated and controlled by a Dynalite control system. This project involved an integrated installation of all of the electrical, data, voice and communications systems throughout the entire stadium.