By Lyn Drummond 15 May 2012 – A refrigerant black market could be among the dramatic outcomes of a steep carbon equivalent levy due to be imposed by the federal government after 1 July, according to the Australian Institute of Refrigeration Air Conditioning and Heating. In concerns raised by the institute with the federal government chief executive officer Phil Wilkinson said the levy’s price impact across the main refrigerant gases would range between 300 and 500 per cent at the point of import. Read More  
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12 May 2012 – The annual Australian heating, ventilation, air conditioning, refrigeration and building services awards and hall of fame induction ceremony was held after ARBS in Melbourne on 9 May. The awards, presented by ARBS chairman Ian Hopkins, went to: Young achiever Daniel Tan Teng Yeow. Mr Tan Teng Yeow joined Fantech after graduating from university in 2006. His first major project was to assess the potential of impulse technology using JetVent products for the Australian market. Mr Tan Teng Yeow has written a design guide on the technology and .presented his findings to the Standards Committee for AS1668.2 with the intention of updating a supplementary guide for the Standard. Outstanding service and maintenance provider- Hi Flow Industries Hi Flow Industries was founded by Brett Saunders in 2005. At the time, it battled the stigma of being a small business, with a lack of an established client base. Now the company employs 50 full-time people, and has won several awards, including... 
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26 April 2012  – The Department of Climate Change and Energy Efficiency will launch a guide to heating, ventilation, airconditioning/high energy system strategy at the ARBS 2012 exhibition and conference in Melbourne on 8 May. The HVAC High Energy System Strategy is a 10 year strategy under the joint Commonwealth, State and Territory National Strategy on Energy Efficiency. It focuses on ways to achieve long-term energy efficiency improvements in the installation, operation and maintenance of the HVAC systems in commercial buildings. The DCCE  has developed the HVAC/HESS Guide to Best Practice Maintenance and Operations of HVAC Systems for Energy Efficiency for typical HVAC systems installed in commercial office buildings. Target audience comprises building owners, facility managers, building occupants, maintenance service providers, maintenance technicians, control and commissioning specialists, design engineers and energy maintenance auditors. Dr Andrew Ivory of the Commercial Building... 
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By Lynne Blundell Lighting is far more complex than meets the eye. Greater efficiency might come with dangerous levels of mercury, or metals that need to be disposed of. July 2010  – FAVOURITES: Lighting is hot right now. Every week, Read More  
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13 March 2012 – Architect Michael Green and Engineer J. Eric Karsh have produced a  240 page document that documents how to build a 30 storey timber structure. And it’s free, under a Creative Commons licence. See: The Case For Tall Wood Buildings: How Mass Timber Offers a Safe, Economical, and Environmentally Friendly Alternative for Tall Building Structures. (PDF Here) Read More  
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By Caroline Noller 17 March 2011 – Favourites: Caroline Noller has delved into the secrets of six of our world’s most important materials  and found elements of genius, commercial know-how, colourful characters and the nasty truth about their embodied carbon. This article will be in two parts. This issue will focus on bricks, cement and concrete; next issue, the even more amazing story of aluminium, steel and glass. Read More  
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By Lynne Blundell 8 February 2012 – Geothermal systems are the latest technology to be embraced by wealthy residential clients who wish to be green leaders, according to architect Luigi Rosselli, with one of the firm’s Sydney clients recently installing a geothermal system that will see energy costs almost halved. Read More  
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By John Brodie 8 February 2012 –In the world of climate change and inefficient buildings everyone is clamoring for more efficient airconditioning systems and improved lighting to reduce energy loads and carbon. Airconditioning uses a large proportion of energy in buildings.The rule of thumb in trying to drop air temperature down from something quite hot – say 38 degrees Celsius external temperature to a default comfort level of around 22 degrees – is that airconditioning uses around 40 per cent of the energy in a building. If we stand back and take an objective look at building design and what inhabitant thermal comfort is really about we may be able to significantly reduce that airconditioning energy use by adjusting our notions of comfort. We would need to consider natural ventilation as either the main option for ventilative cooling and providing fresh air or at least have it working in conjunction with airconditioning. In an airconditioned building with comfort levels controlled... 
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19 December 2011 – Umow Lai has won the Australian Institute of Refrigeration, Air Conditioning and Heating excellence in sustainability award for its work on Melbourne’s Pixel building.  Read More  
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By Lynne Blundell 8 November 2011 –Sustainable design featured prominently in the Gold Coast Urban Design Awards this year, with two major projects that incorporate sustainable elements, Metricon Stadium and Broadwater Parklands, receiving top awards. The solar powered Metricon Stadium (pictured) was awarded the Helen Josephson Award for Innovation in Urban Design, while Broadwater Parklands received the Sue Robbins Award for Excellence in Urban Design and the People’s Choice Award. Read More  
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By Rebecca Pearce 22 July 2010 – FAVOURITES : Tackling the fundamental problem of carbon emissions from older style buildings is one of the key issues for the property industry. However, one Australian fund manager has proved that existing buildings can be upgraded to target a five star NABERS energy rating at a fraction of the costs cited by many property analysts. Local Government Super controls six office buildings in Sydney, all of which have been managed by CBRE for the past eight years. Under its Sustainable Portfolio Program, LGS has significantly improved the energy efficiency of its office assets and, in more recent times, has made some exponential leaps aided by the Federal Government’s Green Building Fund grants. Assisted by consultancy firm Napier & Blakeley, LGS successfully applied for six GBF grants – including one which has allowed it to make a bold and highly visible environmental statement at 2-4 Lyonpark Road, Macquarie Park. In contemplating how to... 
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By Tina Perinotto 2 November 2011 – According to Queensland based AECOM managing director for water and infrastructure services Andrew Macleod there is a “desperate” need for skilled people across the entire engineering sector. Some of this is driven by the mining boom, but in his area, a significant part of the demand is driven by the massive reconstruction work after the Queensland floods and the Christchurch earthquake. Read More  
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By Tina Perinotto 26 October 2011 – A new wind turbine whose manufacturers claim is “almost silent” has been launched at Geelong in Victoria and is attracting significant attention, amid a recent backlash against wind power generation in Australia. The Eco Whisper Turbine, stands 21 metres high and features a unique, intuitive blade design that is virtually silent, according to Renewable Energy Solutions Australia Holdings Ltd. Eco Whisper business development manager Michael Le Messurier said there had already been more than 300 requests for information following the launch this week. The announcement comes as momentum has built to stop wind farms, with residents and political groups citing noise issues, but which defenders say is not evident in other countries, nor in detailed surveys of residents Read More  
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By Lynne Blundell 19 October 2011 – GPT’s 111 Eagle Street building in Brisbane was given an innovative façade treatment for its glass lift shaft to overcome issues of heat ¬– the first time the method has been used for lifts. Scheduled for completion in 2012, the Eagle Street project, developed by GPT, has received a six Star Green Star design rating and is aiming for six star Green Star As-Built and five Star NABERS Energy ratings. It was designed by Cox Raynor architects and engineering firm Arup and constructed by Leighton Contractors. Read More  
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By Scott Willey 22 November 2010 –  Favourites: The Building Code of Australia has controlled the energy efficiency of glazing in office buildings since 2006. It is the tightening of the control in the 2010 provisions of Section J that could toll the end for the ubiquitous “glass box”. Read More  
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By Ashak Nathwani 20 September 2011 – Here’s one for the books: “The single-minded pursuit of GreenStar and NABERS sustainability ratings for buildings is leading directly to compromises on indoor environmental quality and productivity.” In response the University of Sydney is building an indoor air quality environment lab to work out what’s going on, says Ashak Nathwani Read More  
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7 September 2011 – Cate Blanchett and husband Andrew Upton were the star attractions on Friday last week when arts groups resident at Sydney’s The Wharf launched a new rainwater harvesting and reticulation system that will provide 100 per cent of non-potable water to the precinct. Read More  
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By Lynne Blundell 17 March 2011 –One of the biggest challenges facing designers and construction companies today is the selection of building materials for minimum environmental impact. In his keynote address at Green Cities, Michael Green, principal of Canadian architectural firm mgb Architecture+Design, argued strongly for timber as a superior alternative to concrete and steel, from the suburban home to the tallest high-rise tower. World housing and climate change are the two great issues of our time Read More  
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By Caroline Noller Caroline Noller has delved into the secrets of six of our world’s most important materials – those that contribute most of our carbon emissions. Here is part two of her investigations: See Part I here Aluminium 25 March 2011 – Paul Louis Heroult (1863-1914) is the enigma behind the invention of aluminium with electro-chemistry in 1886, and the Steel electric arc furnace in 1901. Known for an unruly, highly strung personality, some claim Heroult’s inventions “appeared suddenly, out of the blue, a stroke of common sense, or of genius, sometimes during a lively game of billiards, his favourite pastime” . Read More  
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6 May 2011 – Bluescope Steel last night won the Insurance Council of Australia Resilience Award Competition with an innovative home design, by Caroline Pidcock of Pidcock Architects, aimed at preparing Australian communities for extreme weather conditions and assist disaster affected families to remain in their own homes post-disaster. The design addressed five major weather events: hail, inundation, bushfire, extreme rainfall, and cyclone, in a sustainable context. Ms Pidcock said Pidcock and Bluescope were able to work together to integrate durable materials into a very good design that understood the problems to be addressed and was inspired by this. Prize for the winning entry was $50,000 from the general insurance industry. Bluescope’s winning design was inspired by the recent Queensland floods, which affected many of the company’s customers and some of its staff. The company took elements of its existing building products range (such as cladding, roofing) and incorporated well... 
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By Lynne Blundell A second case study from the Australian Institute of Refrigeration Air Conditioning and Heating, conference, held in September in Melbourne, on the theme of  just how critical good facilities management is for achieving energy efficiency in buildings. See The AA3 building, Charles Sturt University, Albury: controls are “absolutely critical AIRAH 2010 conference, Melbourne – 30 September 2010 – Another project that highlighted the importance of co-operation between designers, builders and facilities managers was the refurbishment of Northbank Plaza at 69 Ann Street in Brisbane. Refurbishment of the 30 year old building was completed to a Property Council of Australia A Grade standard and NABERS Base Building 4 Star Commitment Agreement in 2009. Connan Brown, Senior Associate and ESD Manager with Norman Disney & Young, told delegates it was the client’s contractual arrangements with the builder and the builder’s back-to-back requirements of subcontractors... 
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6 April 2011 – US Green building and water conservation consultant Jerry Yudelson claims he knows the best way to deal with urban water crises which are a growing concern in the US. A graphic reference tool of critical new opportunities in water conservation, efficiency and new supply, “The Pyramid of New Water Sources,”  based on research for his 2010 book, “Dry Run: Preventing the Next Urban Water Crisis”, organises opportunities for extending urban water supplies, going into a hotter and drier future.This tool shows future water supply sources in the form of a pyramid diagram with 10 steps, each of which increases in cost and complexity. The pyramid ranks the following measures: Changing behaviour, with such measures as public education, effective water pricing, water audits and web-based information Low-cost/no-cost measures, such as fixing leaks and retrofitting lower water-using fixtures Irrigation measures, including native plantings and drip irrigation,... 
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By Lyn Drummond 29 March – Sustainability knowledge particularly in research and development is far more important for senior people in the building services industry than five years ago according to an Australian recruitment company. Simon Black, consultant at Australia Wide Personnel Engineering, Manufacturing and Technical Recruiters, said this criteria was particularly crucial for airconditioning manufacturers. They were challenged by state and federal government demands for improved efficiency of machines and competing against international companies with the resources and green star ratings. Australian companies would have to lift their game to compete, particularly as Australia’s state governments had the leading efficiency requirements in the world. “They need to look at research and development innovation by buying licensed technologies,” Mr Black said. He cited the case of a 29-storey building which had five chillers to keep the whole building cool Monday to Friday. ... 
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In energy efficiency land they’re really busy By Tina Perinotto 31 March  2011 – Busy? That isn’t the word for it, says Paul Bannister,  highly regarded building engineer,  managing director of energy efficiency experts Exergy and a key author of the original NABERS Energy rating tool. “It’s the biggest lolly scramble of the year. Every man and his dog has put a bid in for the Green Building Fund,” Bannister says. Days to go and the urgent message is: “we have to get a bid in.” The reason? Building owners have figured Read More  
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20 April 2011 – Tristram Carfrae, leader global building design for the international engineering and design company, Arup, recently returned to London after 20 years in Australia. He leaves behind an impressive body of work both in this country and elsewhere, much of it representing breakthroughs in technology and design and always with a firm eye on sustainability. In Carfrae’s view the definition of a “good” building is one that “consumes less materials, energy, time and money while at the same time providing greater amenity and being beautiful.” Read More  
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23 March – From The New York Times: When Macarena Chiriboga came to Bali in 2009, she had just finished a master’s degree in architecture in the US doing her thesis on the use of bamboo as a building material. The trip was meant to be a vacation. But drawn by the unusual architecture of a school on the island — the Green School, whose buildings are all made from bamboo — she was soon back, and is now designing buildings for a “green village” being built by the developer Ibuku International about an hour’s drive from the Indonesian island’s beaches. With Effan Adhiwira, a 28-year-old Indonesian who is senior architect and also oversees construction at Green School, the Ibuku team is creating a collection of structures that look more like treehouses and pirate ships than luxury villas. But they are actually luxury villas. Perched on huge bamboo poles, and overshadowed by lush green jungle on the edge of the rock-strewn Ayung River, they have multiple, verandah-like levels,... 
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24 March 2011 – Case Study: According to mySmart CTI, a Sydney-based company that provides energy efficiency solutions, refurbishment of an art deco heritage building at 99 Macquarie Street in Sydney showed that it was possible to provide the building with a modern and sustainable lighting system while preserving the heritage listed building interior. Situated in Sydney’s busy CBD, 99 Macquarie Street is a heritage listed art deco landmark, home to Mulpha Australia Limited and other tenants Read More  
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  17 March 2011 –The first green-plumbing trade school in Victoria has been opened in Melbourne by the Minister for Climate Change and Energy Efficiency, Greg Combet and the federal member for Deakin, Mike Symon. The federally-funded Swinburne TAFE school in Croydon, Melbourne consists of a trades building and plumbing tower to deliver green training for the building, construction and plumbing fields. The school will also run short courses on solar energy. The $10 million project was part of the federal government’s $200 million “training infrastructure investment for tomorrow” program which delivered 32 projects at TAFE institutes across Australia.  The project added approximately 3500 square metres of floor space to the Swinburne campus. “It’s a boost for Croydon and an important step to meet the growing need for skilled workers in green trades,” Mr Combet said.  Mr Symon said 10,000 new apprentices would be trained over the next five years.  A total of 120 apprentices... 
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By Craig Roussac 10 March 2011 – Electricity use in Sydney office buildings can more than double in extreme heat, but responsive management can keep a lid on greenhouse emission, research by conducted by the Green Buildings Alive project has found Growing peak period demand is one of the major causes of rising electricity prices and any reduction in energy use at these times can bring substantial financial savings, reducing pressure on the network. The largest buildings can pay around $150,000 per year in peak capacity charges and $350,000 in network energy charges for the largest of CBD buildings. Capturing data during extreme events like heatwaves shows that what you can’t see matters. The environmental impact of buildings changes from hour to hour and day to day. For example, research of 11 Sydney buildings by GBA on the effect of a heatwave between 31 January and 6 February 2011 found 11 out of 20 experienced their highest electricity consumption during this week than on any... 
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11 March 2011 – Updated 7 April 2011 – The bar for sustainable construction has just been raised. Australia now has the first scientifically reliable and independently validated database for life cycle assessment of building products and its developers say the impact will be impressive. The Building Products Innovation Council’s Life Cycle Inventory, flagged by The Fifth Estate was launched on 28 February. It is free to all industry stakeholders from BPIC. The BP LCI will provide life cycle environmental impact information on more than 100 building material categories as well as guidance on data use consistent with the internationally recognised standards for LCI and LCA work. The BPLCI will also contribute to the larger scale sustainability initiative being developed by the Australian Life Cycle Inventory Database which takes into account other environmentally sensitive areas such as transport, water, agriculture and energy. The BP LCI will next develop Environmental Product Declarations... 
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