The RUC at Turner may have been dubbed an "Energy Star" by winning the category at the recent 2023 Climate Choices Business Awards, but the club's secretary manager Jeremy Wilcox says it is just the start of shifting the business towards more energy-saving measures.
The rugby union and bowls club in the heart of Canberra was recognised at the ACT Government awards for installing rainwater tanks and solar panels, and upgrading to more efficient lighting, cool rooms and heating and cooling.
Mr Wilcox said most of the work happened in the last year as part of the club's overall refurbishments. A big change was removing costly and inefficient gas heating and switching to electricity-run air-conditioning.
"If we could be bigger with a smaller footprint, less of an impact, that was one of the goals," he said.
The next step if becoming gas-free is to upgrade the kitchen appliances to electric.
"The only problem with that is the site doesn't have enough power to be able to do that so we're reliant on Evoenergy and the government to supply us with more power which isn't as easy as it sounds," Mr Wilcox said.
A spokesperson for Evoenergy said it was "seeing an increase in applications to transition from gas to electricity similar to what the RUC have done".
"For businesses, where the increase in electrical demand required is larger, this will most likely require Evoenergy to install additional electrical infrastructure onsite," they said.
That comes at the cost of the customer.
"In line with network regulations, the cost of upgrading a customer connection is funded by the customer," the spokesperson said.
"The cost is wide-ranging, depending on the scope of the upgrade and the existing infrastructure. Our approach is to evaluate the current supply capacity, design an optimal solution for increased capacity, and then implement the necessary changes."
But the push from gas to electricity in the ACT may require some overall network changes.
"As the ACT transitions to full electrification, the electricity network will require upgrades to allow for additional electricity usage," the Evoenergy spokesperson said.
"Every five years we submit a plan to the Australian Energy Regulator about how we will operate, maintain and invest in the electricity network to meet the future needs of Canberrans.
"We take ACT Government policy into account in our planning, and our next five year plan is with the Australian Energy Regulator for review.
"This plan includes upgrading parts of our network to meet the expected increase in electricity demand."
RUC members, meanwhile, are enjoying the revamped facilities, and the behind-the-scenes upgrades.
"It's warmer at the moment and it's cooler in summer and it's more comfortable and it looks better. Hopefully bigger and better but less impact. More sustainable," Mr Wilcox said.
