BERNINNEIT, the Cowes cultural and community centre, has still not achieved Passivhaus certification.
The status of the accreditation process was revealed by Bass Coast Shire Council CEO Greg Box in answer to a community question about the issue at the shire’s March council meeting last week.
Local resident Philip Davy wanted to know who was footing the bill for the Passivhaus work.
“A recent newspaper article states that a contract for around $2 million over and above the cost of Berninneit has been let for alterations to Bernniniet in an endeavour to gain Passivhaus certification. Who is actually paying for this work, council ratepayers or the contractor who failed to provide Passivhaus?”
Response from CEO Box: “McCorkell Construction continues to lead the work required to achieve Passivhaus certification at Berninneit. The costs associated with the process have been met by McCorkell.”
Between February 3 and 26 this year level one of the Berninneit building was closed for additional works associated with the latest attempt to achieve Passivhaus accreditation but so far there has been no word on whether the building passed the rigorous airtight testing that is a feature of Passivhaus process.
As well as conducting internal works, contractors were again seen outside the building, using a cherry picker, to treat various vents and openings ahead of further airtight testing. It follows similar efforts in May 2024.
The letter writer said that a recent newspaper article “states that a contract for around $2 million over and above the cost of Berninneit has been let for alterations to Bernniniet in an endeavour to gain Passivhaus certification”.
In fact, according to Egis, a leading global architecture, consulting, construction engineering and operating firm, “an upfront capital cost of AU$1.2 million was proposed by the contractor as the Passivhaus uplift, which was intended to cover the increased amount of insulation, higher quality of window framing and glazing, airtightness detailing, and increase in labour effort”.
A council source told the Sentinel-Times last year this figure had blown out beyond $2 million, although the exact cost, over and above the construction cost, specifically to pursue Passivhaus certification has never been revealed.
Australian Passivhaus Association includes the ‘Cowes Cultural and Community Centre’ on its website as being “designed to Passive House Standard” but not on its register of accredited Passivhaus projects.
It also notes there are considerable costs associated with engaging Passivhaus Building Certifiers to undertake the certification process.
“The cost to certify: Just like design, engineering and construction costs, certification costs are not fixed. Passivhaus Building Certifiers are free to set their own price based on a combination of aspects including the size and complexity of the project.”
A prominent Melbourne architect, visiting the area recently, said that while Berninneit was a beautiful looking building, the decision to pursue Passivhaus credentials for a community centre, where by definition people were coming and going to use services in the building, was a misguided one.
While the cost of operating the building and its environmental footprint might benefit from its energy efficient standards, in practice, the day-to-day operation of the building was at odds with the whole Passivhaus concept.
What’s on display
Another question about Berninneit at last week’s council meeting was raised by John Trigt in relation to ‘Stored Artifacts’
“Can the Council/CEO advise the Phillip Island community when the stored artifacts removed from the old Cowes Cultural Community Centre will be permanently displayed in our new Cowes Cultural Community Centre - Berninneit. A timeline would be most helpful Mr Box.”
Response: All works and artifacts removed from the old Cowes Cultural Community Centre are managed under the Art Collections Policy. Council is committed to safe storage, rotation and display of all works within our collection. Some of these pieces include the John Adam historical mural that being installed at the Creative Arts Station in Cowes this Friday, March 21 for a period of three years. Another piece includes the tapestry that was on display for the duration of the PICES exhibition in January 2025 and will be on display during the Aspir exhibition over the Easter period.
