Energy efficiency

Hot water heat pumps at work at the elephant enclosure.

Three-quarters of the world's carbon emissions come from burning fossil fuels.

Zoos Victoria has implemented a number of energy efficiency projects and programs to improve our energy efficiency and reduce our carbon emissions. 

We are improving our energy efficiency in various ways across our three zoos.

Sustainable lighting

Lighting technology has improved significantly, especially with the advent of energy efficient LED technology.

We are in the process of making the following changes:

• T5 in-line conversions for older fluorescent lamps (T8), delivering an efficiency improvement of 22%
• LED replacements for halogen downlights, delivering an efficiency improvement of 90%.

Sustainable heating and cooling

Zoos Victoria aims to deliver the best in animal husbandry and welfare. 

Having animals in our collection who naturally inhabit different climates to Victoria can present challenges, especially when housed in open exhibits. 

We are committed to finding efficient means of providing heating and cooling to the animals we house. This achieves both environmental outcomes and appropriate climate and humidity control for many species in our care. 

Some examples include:

• Infrared technology heating for Elephant barns
• Double glazing of the roof structure at our Butterfly House
• Heat pump hot water systems
• Installation of ceilings around exhibits

Sustainable IT

Zoos Victoria has replaced all of our older CRT computer screens with more energy efficient LCD screens. The newer LCD screens have energy-saving features built into them. 

Gradually replacing our computers with more energy efficient models will help us to save about half of the power used in conventional computers.

Sustainable energy consumption: energy audits

Zoos Victoria continues to conduct energy audits across our three properties to identify opportunities to reduce our energy consumption. 

If you have any queries or suggestions, please contact our environment team.