BREF - 9 February 2010 - The NSW Government is searching for a family of the future - and if yours is selected you will live rent free in a house that uses the latest energy efficient appliances, generates and stores its own electricity on site and where the family car is electric.

Oh…you also need to blog about your experiences.

The Smart Home project part of the Smart Village project where 1000 households in Newington and Silverwater in Sydney’s west can use new technologies to reduce their environmental footprint and household utility bills.

NSW Minister for Energy John Robertson said the trials were designed to test smart grid technologies “in real homes using real families to help change the way we use water and energy.”

The $10 million, two year smart grid trial is being run by the NSW Government in partnership with Energy Australia and Sydney Water.

Another experiment in smarter homes underway in Victoria at VicUrban’s Aurora development in Epping North which will trial fuel cell technology. (See our recent article on this here)

Mr Robertson said the Smart Home would be powered by rooftop solar panels and a fuel cell on site that converts natural gas into electricity .

“Entertainment will be beamed into the lounge room from an ‘Organic LED’ TV, while mum and dad cook dinner in the energy efficient kitchen, complete with a worm farm.”

Another feature is that lights and appliances will be able to be controlled remotely through an Iphone or computer and a monitor will keep tabs on energy and water use.

Australia’s first Smart Home is expected to be ready for occupation by mid year. Features will include:

• Remote control of household appliances using an iPhone and a household website
• Driving and re-charging a plug-in electric car
• Battery storage technology and micro generation including a “Blue Gen” Ceramic Fuel Cell
• A new type of heat-exchange air conditioner
• State-of-the-art lighting
• Water saving appliances and gardens

Applications for the Smart Home close on 22 February.  Details here.

SCHOLARSHIP - 9 February 2010 - How passionate are you about community housing? What about sustainability?

If you work for a community housing organisation and can outline a strategy for these two major issues of our day in a convincing 1500 words essay you could be on your way to  Berlin in April.

On offer is attendance at the Housing Exchange conference, along with representatives of  40 of the world’s major nonprofit affordable housing developers and owners from the US, the UK, and Canada.

The scholarship is sponsored by banking group mecu, which aims to be a “socially responsible banking brand”.

Applications should be submitted to: Steven Lynch at mecu: steven.lynch@mecu.com.au); and Larry O’Brien (larryo@lmhs.com.au ).
.

What do you mean you're not going to the community planting day at Peace Park in Chippendale on 20 February?

NOTES AND LISTINGS

10 February
Sydney
FILM - ‘The Age of Stupid’ Premiere
Future Green Leaders premiere of The Age of Stupid starring Oscar- nominated Pete Postlethewaite as a man living alone in the devastated world of 2055, watching archival footage from 2008 and asking: why didn’t we stop climate change whilst we still had the chance? L15, 179 Elizabeth St, Sydney 5.30-8.00pm. Book online.

18 February
Brisbane - Sustainability leadership: how to become a more effective change agent. Working with the Sustainability Specialist Network and the Young Water Professionals Group the  Australian Water Association presents  a series of half-day training sessions designed to create and empower sustainability change agents, focusing on leadership skills. See here for details

20 February
Sydney - Community Planting Day,  11 am, Peace Park, Chippendale- Community Planing Day, with Sydey Lord Mayor Clover Moore to mark completion of the Chippendale streetscape improvement project. Free juice and muffin to the first 150 people. Bring your own gloves and garden clothes. Meet TFE columnist and street gardener Michael Mobbs.

21-24 February
Melbourne Convention Centre - Green Cities 2010
Keynote speakers announced: Malcolm Smith (Arup UK), Jeffery Yudelson (principal Yudelson Assoc. USA) and Christoph Ingehoven (principal, founder Ingehoven Arch.) details at http://www.greencities.org.au/

23 February
Sydney, Building a Strong Solar Industry in 2010, Griffith Hack Offices, Level 29 Northpoint 100 Miller Street, North Sydney 5.45 pm - , by Australian Solar Energy Society and Griffith Hack Clean & Sustainable Technologies. Tim Gartrell will talk about strategies to engage with the Rudd Government in this election year and the importance of a strong industry voice. Free. Contact: George Hardy by 18th February on (02) 9402 1638

24 February
Sydney, The New International Carbon Offset: Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation, New Law School Bulding, Eastern Avenue, University of Sydney-  Deforestation, especially in the tropics, contributes around 20 per cent of annual global greenhouse gas emissions. The Copenhagen Accord recognises the crucial role of reducing emissions from deforestation and degradation and the need to enhance removals of greenhouse gas emissions by forests. Under the Accord, financial resources from developed countries to developing countries will be mobilised through the immediate establishment of a mechanism including REDD-plus. Go here for more details 

8-10 March
Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre - OzWater ‘10
Australia’s National Water Conference and Exhibtion, for more details visit http://www.ozwater10.com.au/

12th Venice Architecture Biennale – Vernissage: 26, 27, 28 August 2010; Exhibition: 29 August – 28 November 2010... The Venice Biennale has for over a century been one of the most prestigious cultural institutions in the world. Ever since its foundation in 1895, it has been in the avant-garde, promoting new artistic trends and organising international events in contemporary arts. It is world-beating for the International Film Festival, for the International Art Exhibition and for the International Architecture Exhibition, and continues the great tradition of the Festival of Contemporary Music, the Theatre Festival, now flanked by the Festival of Contemporary Dance.

March 17-18
Adelaide - The Stamford Plaza- Sustainability Conference, Powerhousing Australia, on rent models, capital, growth, managing debt,and environmental issues such as building retrofits, maintenance and tenancy. Designed for  Board members, CEOs, CFOs, Property Development Managers, Project Managers, HR Managers, Asset Managers, Tenancy Managers, Research and Policy workers and other housing professionals. Speakers include Rowan Dowland of mecu

12-14 April
Sydney -  Convention and Exhibition Centre - The ninth IIR Gustav Lorentzen Conference on Natural Working Fluids, will feature Norway’s Petter Nekså and Macedonia’s Risto Ciconkov as keynote speakers. Hosted by the International Institute of Refrigeration  and AIRAH (the Australian Institute of Refrigeration, Airconditioning and Heating) Petter Nekså is a senior research scientist at SINTEF Energy Research in Trondheim, Norway and will “lift the lid on the subject of CO2 – a refrigerant from the past that he says has prospects of being one of the main options in the future and Risto Ciconkov will deliver a talk on the subject of natural refrigerants in developing countries. Contact www.airah.org.au/iir-gl2010

20-21 April
Berlin. British Embassy.The International Housing Exchange Conference, followed by two days of study visits  to energy efficient and sustainable projects (new construction and retrofits) in Germany (Berlin, Leipzig and Dresden) and northern Poland (Szczecin). The overall focus of the meeting and visits will be on energy conservation and environmental sustainability—specifically centered on four areas: new construction; retrofit; property operations (including management and resident involvement); Interaction/initiatives with energy providers. Contact: penelopem@lmhs.com.au

A $6000 scholarship is available from mecu to attend this conference. Contact steven.lynch@mecu.com.au)

21-23 April
Perth, International Property Conference 2010
See website for details

30 August - 1 September
Canberra - 3rd International Urban Design Conference
See website for details

EVENTS AND PHOTOS

Rob Adams wins the Sidney Luker Medal

Sydney’s Top 100 7 December 2009

NABERS lauches new shopping centre ratings tool 1 December 2009

Landcom’s sustainability conference 18 November 2009

By Tina Perinotto

FAVOURITES - 15 January 2010 - The Green Building Council of Australia is seeking public comment on its revised PVC credit, which paves the way for some PVC products used in flooring, pipes and conduit to contribute to a green star rating.

GBCA chief executive, Romilly Madew, said the new credit revisions follow an 18 month investigation period and will encourage the development and use of best practice PVC material in Australia.

“Rewarding best practice PVC products within the Green Star rating system will stimulate demand for best
practice, responsibly-produced PVC products in Australia.”

The guidelines for PVC, or or Polyvinyl Chloride, cover the key areas of:

• Chlorine (production of materials for PVC);
• Vinyl Chloride Monomer (VCM) (production of materials for PVC);
• Waste, Water, Air and Product Emission thresholds for Ethylene Dichloride (EDC), VCM, and PVC Resin (manufacture of PVC);
• Stabilisers and Plasticisers (manufacture of PVC); and
• End of Life Product Stewardship (disposal and recycling of PVC).

Green Star executive director, Robin Mellon said the credit for the past 5-6 years encouraged all PVC to be minimised but that the reality was that developers and builders still need to use flooring pipes and conduits made from PVC.

He said that PVC products from China still tended to create mercury and chlorine by-products but that the credit was available to manufacturers from any country if they wished to comply with the new guidelines.

“We’re not putting up a defacto  trade barrier. The guidelines were available for any country manufacturer to meet,” he said.

Mr Mellon said an executive summary of the guidelines were available from the GBCA website and that feedback would be sought from green groups such as Greenpeace.

“We really do need to receive feeback,” he said.

The move was a response to the continued use of PVC in development, Mr Mellon said.

“Because people still need to use it - people still need pipes and need conduits - [the credit] has not had the uptake we wanted and it hasn’t been a driver for change.

“Saying all PVC is bad is not a driver for change. It’s not an incentive for change.

“So now in the manufacture of the product they [the manufacturers] can say, yes these process have minimised any health or environmental impacts during the use of the product and at the end of its life.”

In some cases companies such as Interface have a buy-back policy so the material can go back into the “product loop.”

“The new credit provides an incentive for a manufacturer to develop new processes in a way that cuts out concerns.”

Ms Madew said there were already signs that the introduction of GBCA’s Best Practice Guidelines for PVC
would push the PVC industry towards better production techniques.

She said the revision of the PVC credit is part of a wider review of four of the GBCA’s Green Star Materials category “credits” - Steel, Timber, PVC and Concrete.  The results of the Timber credit were released in December 2009 and results from the Steel and Concrete reviews will be released in 2010.

The new PVC, credit will be open for public comment for five weeks.

The Fifth Estate - sustainable property news

tperinotto@thefifthestate.com.au

By its second year of operation, the Szencorp Building’s water usage was 94 per cent below the industry average and it had achieved 71 per cent energy savings on pre-refurbishment levels.

FAVOURITES - 6 April 2009 - Peter Szental explains how the Szencorp Building at 40 Albert Road, South Melbourne, claims it is the country’s highest sustainability achiever with top ranking in each of the three major ratings systems.

Szencorp’s headquarters achieved a 6 star Green Star Office Design v1 certified rating from the Green Building Council of Australia, and two 5 Star NABERS ratings for each of water and energy performance.

With its real time monitoring of performance Szencorp has also set itself up for continual public accountability for its building, but the results have been well worth it. Our company has enjoyed greater interest in its activities, a leap in market share and more credibility in its work to influence industry and government sustainability policy.

Before the refurbishment, the building was a typical inner-city inefficient office block that was built in 1987. Today it is a sustainable commercial building that is internationally recognised, has won numerous awards, and achieved a number of industry “firsts”.

Key achievements include:

• First Australian building refurbishment to receive a 6 Star Green Star Office Design v1 certified rating from the Green Building Council of Australia, and becoming Australia’s first occupied 6 Star building.
• First Australian building to achieve a 5 Star rating on a “whole building” basis under the Australian Building Greenhouse Rating Scheme (now NABERS Energy).
• First real-time monitoring of building water and energy performance - this information is publicly available on the Szencorp Building website, setting a new standard for accountability and commitment to sustainability performance and improvement.

By its second year of operation, the Szencorp Building’s water usage was 94 per cent below the industry average and it had achieved 71 per cent energy savings on pre-refurbishment levels.

A significant portion of the building’s electricity needs are generated on-site and the remaining greenhouse footprint of the building, including all business car and air travel, is offset by purchasing abatement – making it Australia’s first zero emissions building.

Now more than three years old, the building continues to monitor and verify its performance to continually improve its operating efficiency and maintain its position as Australia’s highest rated building.

The building was designed to achieve an 82 per cent reduction in water use over the industry average.

It was the first Australian building to achieve a 5 star NABERS office water rating, which requires water use of 350 litres a square metres a year or less.

In its first year of operation after refurbishment water result was 116 litres a sq m a year (90 per cent below the industry average) rising in the second year to savings of 94 per cent less than the industry average.

Features:

• Two rainwater tanks with a total capacity of 2.2 kilolitres
• Greywater system that treats water from showers and female hand basins then mixes this water with rainwater to flush toilets
• Dual flush toilets that have a low volume flush of 3-4.5 litres
• Waterless urinals
• Reduced flow (6L a minute) and electronic taps in most bathroom and kitchen areas
• Reduced flow shower heads (9L a minute)

A 5 star NABERS rating for energy, 100 per cent green power, 59 individual meters to track energy use, three photovoltaic arrays produce 7.55 kilowatts of power, an evacuated tube solar hot water system and weather station to open and close windows and vents...

Energy

The Szencorp Building is a zero emissions building. It sources 100 per cent green power for the building’s electricity requirement and carbon credits offset the CO2 emissions from gas use and transport.

The Szencorp Building has a 5 star NABERS rating for energy performance. In its first year of operation, 61 per cent of energy was saved and in the second year, this saving rose to 71 per cent.

Features:

• An integrated sensor system manages occupancy lighting, HVAC and security control
• The Managed Lighting System controls lighting in response to occupancy and dims artificial lighting to compensate for natural lighting levels
• The building is split into 21 zones; occupancy and daylight sensors ensure that lights and air-conditioning are only activated in each zone when needed
• Mixed mode air-conditioning uses natural ventilation and gas-driven air-conditioning units. Natural convection currents supplement or replace mechanical air-conditioning wherever possible
• The weather station located on the roof communicates with the Building Management System to open and close windows and vents to heat and cool the building using outside weather conditions
• Fifty nine individual meters to monitor and track energy use
• Electricity, gas and water usage is remotely monitored allowing maintenance personnel to be alerted to any activity outside of expected performance bands
• A Central Vacuum System has a 40 per cent reduced energy consumption and its low noise levels enables cleaners to vacuum during normal work hours
• * Three photovoltaic arrays produce 7.55 kilowatts and have an estimated CO2 saving of 6.24 tonnes a year
• * An evacuated tube solar hot water system on the roof
• * The car park has sensors to control ventilation and lighting based on occupancy
• * The building’s lift was upgraded and now includes energy efficient controls and occupancy lighting sensors

Waste Management

Around 80 per cent of waste is saved from going to landfill. Waste generated is 94 kilograms a year for each staff member, which is 54 per cent lower than the established benchmark of 173 kg a year for each person for commercial buildings. Of the material being collected for recycling, the average contamination rate is 2-3 per cent, which indicates that the office recycling program is effective.

Features:

• Coded bins separate organic food and co-mingling waste for recycling in the kitchen areas on each level
• White office paper only desk bins are located throughout office areas
• Installing a compost bin was investigated but the ventilation requirements discounted this option.

Air quality to rival rural air

Materials and Indoor Environment Quality

The Szencorp Building uses a variety of materials to improve indoor environment quality. Indeed, the building’s internal air quality is equivalent to rural air.

Features

• Polyester (not vinyl) privacy and graphics film were used to provide a degree of screening on office glass panels
• Office areas are fitted out with 90 per cent post-industrial recycled aluminium ceiling tiles
• The carcasses of all the joinery use E-zero (low emission) particle-board
• All face joinery and wall-panelling use E-zero medium density fibre-board
• All desktops use phenolic resin, which has no VOC impact and is very durable
• Where joinery requires handle pulls, hardware has been minimised by designing the pull handle into the joinery unit
• Leather upholstery is specified as non-chromium treated
• Meeting room tables use recycled stringy-bark timber
• Rubber flooring in kitchen areas has negligible volatile organic compounds (VOCs) no PVC content and is very durable - it has none of the compounds found in many common vinyls
• A dedicated tenants exhaust riser improves indoor air quality

Transport

The building is located close to a number of tram and bus routes and has facilities to encourage staff to cycle to work. However, most employees drive a car or motorcycle to work, while some take public transport and a small minority cycle. The emissions generated from car, air and public transport travel of all occupants (including travel to and from work) are offset in an effort to reduce the broader greenhouse footprint of the building to zero. Transport performance is a good example of where building design cannot guarantee behaviour changes and environmental outcomes sought by developers.

Features

• Bicycle storage racks in the basement for staff and a rack for visitoros at the front of the building
• Shower and changing facilities for staff and visitors
• The building is located close to the St Kilda Road Domain Interchange, which is a major stop for numerous tram routes
• Reduction in the number and sizes of car spaces to discourage staff from driving to work
• Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle

Szencorp worked with the University of Technology in Sydney to develop a more sustainable mode of automotive transport for staff business travel. In 2008 the Szencorp Building became home to Australia’s first plug-in hybrid electric vehicle. The converted Toyota Prius was retrofitted with additional batteries that allow it to drive without using its petrol tank for at least 30km. The car can be charged from a standard power point, creating the opportunity to power the vehicle using renewable energy. Energy stored in the car can also be fed back out into the building’s power supply in periods of high demand, thereby reducing the burden faced by electricity networks at these times.

Facts and Figures

• Net lettable area: 1215.1 sq m
• Storeys: four office levels and 2 car park levels
• Construction time: nine months
• Project manager: Lascorp Development Group (Aust)
• Architects: SJB Architects
• ESD / services engineers: Connell Mott MacDonald
• Specialist solutions consultant: Energy Conservation Systems
• Mechanical services contractor: D&E Air Conditioning
• Quantity surveyor: Rider Hunt
• Builder: Construction Engineering
• Air conditioning suppliers: Mitsubishi Heavy Industries / DryKor

Peter Szental is managing director, Szencorp