Electrification of the Monash University Science Precinct

Monash University is committed to achieving 100% renewable energy, which requires transitioning away from fossil fuels and fully electrifying existing assets. To achieve this transition, Monash turned to FG Advisory for its expertise in asset planning and design to fully electrify existing thermal services in a live and critical research environment. The Science Precinct at the University’s Clayton Campus represented an industry first, and was a significant and complex challenge.

As the principal consultant and services engineer, FG Advisory worked closely with Monash Asset Planning and Projects to develop a comprehensive technical master plan, full services documentation and detailed staging strategy . FG Advisory’s multidisciplinary team planned and designed extensive mechanical and complex services upgrades that served to consolidate ageing services infrastructure into a new district energy plant. The team also undertook a retrofit and recalibration of airside services for more than 100 internal live teaching, learning, and research spaces, including critical chemistry and biomedical laboratories.

The project’s enabling works set the foundation by decommissioning and rationalising the legacy boiler plant and reconfiguring the central plant room. Stage-1 completion provided electrification, and improved central plant efficiency, and reliability. Monash University is now one step closer to achieving its goal of 100% renewable energy, thanks to the exceptional work of FG Advisory.

FG Advisory’s approach aligned with Monash’s Net Zero and Smart Energy Cities strategies, resulting in one of the first large fully electrified heat pump-based thermal precinct applications in a live research application.