CASE STUDIES

Investa recognises the importance of vigilant testing of cooling towers for Legionella in all our buildings, as outbreaks of Legionnaires Disease can have devastating consequences in human and commercial terms.

In the past twelve months we have renegotiated treatment and testing contracts for cooling towers across the portfolio and in many respects we have redefined industry best practice. Examples of innovation include:

• the installation of remotely monitored controllers that assist in the control of treatment chemicals (refer to the case study in the section on water);
• performance-based contracts for treatment contractors using industry-leading KPIs;
• complete separation between the roles of treatment provider, air-conditioning contractor and testing laboratory;
• hard-wiring chemical dosing equipment to avoid inadvertent disconnection;
• daily inspection of towers and dosing equipment by each Investa Property Supervisor;
• testing of all towers in Investa buildings, including towers maintained by tenants; and
• insistence that P3 filter masks be worn by anyone coming within three meters of a tower.

There were no reports of Legionella counts that may pose a risk to public health in any of our buildings during the period.