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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11 May 2012 – The Victorian Government said today it had slashed red tape for planning. Key measures involved: Reform of the planning scheme amendment (rezoning) process – reducing the number of steps and the length of time involved A code assessment track for simple, low-impact permit applications Reform zones and planning provisions to simplify complex and lengthy regulations A review of the Farming Zone to give more flexibility to Victoria’s farmers and rural communities An increase in performance accountability for local councils and state referral authorities. The Victorian Planning System Ministerial Advisory Committee received 547 written submissions, and held meetings with over 130 individuals, groups, associations, peak bodies and local councils during 2011, Planning Minister Matthew Guy said. Details www.dpcd.vic.gov.au/planning  
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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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9 May 2012 –The Property Council of Australia, ClimateWorks and Seed Advisory has called on the Australian Energy Market Commission to streamline the grid connection process for embedded generators, and asked it to change the national electricity rules. The Property Council said that the electricity rules needed to be changed to: Provide an improved connection process for embedded generators that are ineligible for automatic access and a right of export. Allow electricity network companies to charge an optional fee-for-service to promote collaboration with their customers. Oblige electricity network companies to publish annual network reports identifying where capacity is limited. Provide an automatic right of connection to the grid and standard access terms. This would apply to generators that meet automatic access standards. Enable embedded generators a right to export electricity to the grid. “These improvements will replace electricity customers’ case-by-case negotiations... 
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9 May 2012 - Queensland planning projects swept the field  at the 2012 Planning Institute of Australia Awards for Planning Excellence in Adelaide on 1 May winning eight of the 12 awards. Read More  
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By Tina Perinotto 5 April 2012 – When Gunter Pauli fronts up to the audience it is like a sudden burst of (renewable) energy and excitement has gushed into the room. At a forum organised by Arup and AFR Boss at Arup’s Sydney office on Wednesday, Pauli, a Belgium-based economist, says our efforts need to be directed to a highly efficient, Read More  
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3 May 2012  – South Korea has passed legislation for a national emissions trading scheme, bringing to 34 countries around the world including Australia that, that will use emissions trading as the primary vehicle to drive carbon pollution reduction. “We are far from leading the world, as some have claimed,” Read More  
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3 May 2012 – The NSW Government has released a discussion paper for contribution to a new metropolitan strategy for Sydney over the next 20 years.. “Throughout the year the Department of Planning & Infrastructure will consult with communities, residents, businesses, workers, government and industry about what people want from Sydney,” an announcement form the Department of Planning and Infrastructure said. A draft strategy will follow in mid-late 2012. A final document will be released following community consultation. For details see: Sydney Over the Next 20 Years The Discussion paper  
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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 Lyn Drummond 24 April 2012 – The federal government is providing $3.75 million towards the City of Sydney’s Sydney’s trigeneration plant at Green Square, the major inner urban redevelopment project where work is now underway. Read More  
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By Jane Jose 10 April 2012 – This year could be a turning point for Canberra.  Just a year away from the national capital’s big party to celebrate 100 years as a planned city, the ACT Government is launching a renewed planning strategy with an integrated transport plan. The work is prompted by the community and government’s strong push to improve the city’s carbon footprint, while sustainably housing 80,000 more people. An estimated 55,000 additional homes are needed by the year 2030. The two new strategic plans for transport and land use are intended to work together to improve liveability, housing choice, environmental   sustainability and to make it easier for people to get around the city. Canberra is predicted to grow from its 2011 estimate of 365,000 to 457,300 by 2030 and the total population of the six local government areas that make up the Canberra region is projected to increase by 148,700 by 2030. The renewed planning strategy says:  “This population projection... 
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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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12 April 2012 – What makes a city a thriving hub of jobs and competitive advantage? SGS Economics and Planning held a forum in Sydney in late March that suggested agglomeration was the key. But if so, this raises important questions, the  speakers said. For instance, should the city centres be prioritised over the suburbs? Is density for agglomeration compatible with liveability?  Which transport connections should be the priority?  Is Infrastructure NSW the answer to the integrated transport and land use planning challenge? Read More  
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By Patrick Fensham 12 April 2012  – This article, focused on the opportunities in Sydney for jobs and more housing, is an edited version of a recent presentation by Patrick Fensham at a cities forum by SGS Economics and Planning, where he is a director. Geography and topography and existing development Read More  
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10 April 2012 –From Treehugger A set of crazy looking new era windpower generators to beat the anti windpower lobby with quiet turbines, no blades and even almost invisible versions starting to hit the market. One of these turbines, shown here, floats high in the sky, tethered to the ground. One version is from Australia, profiled here last year. Read the whole story  
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By Lyn Drummond 5 April  2012 – Energy expert Alan Pears says the current inquiry into the feed-in tariffs in Victoria runs the danger of looking only at pricing issues within the existing framework and ignoring the huge benefits that a “free and fair market” might allow. Another factor is the potential benefits of ridding the system of the monopoly power of network operators and providing better more fair treatment of investors in distributed generation, he says. Read More  
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By Tina Perinotto 4 April 2012  – City of Sydney and Origin’s Cogent Energy have overcome some of major barriers to ambitious plans for a low carbon emissions trigeneration energy network in Sydney and signed a heads of agreement for the first tranche of the rollout. Read More  
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3 April 2012 – The Venice Biennale’s new Australian face will be a dark box of the utmost simplicity Denton Corker Marshall has signalled a new view of Australian architecture with a geometric dark charcoal box in its winning design for the Australian pavilion for Venice’s Giardini della Biennale that will replace Philip Cox’s “temporary structure” built in 1988. Read More  
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By Tina Perinotto 3 April 2012 – The states and territories capacity for strategic planning and report card against key performance criteria are neither uniformly good or bad. There are some high achievers in some areas that could be good exemplars for other jurisdictions, but overall there is huge room for improvement. None of this is surprising. The assessment is from the Council of Australian Governments Reform Council’s Review of Capital Cities Strategic Planning Systems. Read More  
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By Ed Cotter 30 March 2012 ­ – Back in September 2011, BioRegional and the Centre for Design at RMIT University, hosted a two-day workshop that looked at how the principles that underpinned the BedZED EcoVillage could be brought to Melbourne. Read More  
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29 March 2012 – Melbourne consultancy, GIW Environmental Solutions Pty Ltd is calling for input into its draft submission to address what it believes are structural inconsistencies and technical irregularities in the Section J energy efficiency part of the National Construction Code (2014). Director, Gary Wertheimer, told The Fifth Estate input was welcome to the 11 part proposal for changes to the code, now on the company’s website. These sought to address what he perceived to be “a number of structural inconsistencies and clarify specific technical clause irregularities.” See Mr Wertheimer’s article http://www.thefifthestate.com.au/archives/14528 See submission http://giw.com.au/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=90:template&catid=1:latestnews&Itemid=5 Key concerns, Mr Wertheimer said, included: • Building permit compliance for a residential apartment building requires both energy ratings and an assessment under the provisions. Generally... 
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28 March 2012 – The convenor of a national urban design forum in Victoria next month, Bill Chandler, believes there needs to be a better understanding of the economic value of good urban design particularly in regional cities where more than four million live. “Bad design costs you money,” he told The Fifth Estate. There is a more subtle way to promote good design: encouraging people to enjoy street life, to be part of a community, to have the necessary facilities such as close public transport.” Mr Chandler, who coordinates The Australian Urban Design Initiative, a national network of some 420 members, cites an initiative of Associate Professor of Urban Planning at Deakin University, called Midicities. Interest across Queensland includes a group of Regional Development Australia committees and municipal, academic and agency partners. This is being led by the Logan and Redlands RDA, which will host a national MidiCities conference from 11-12 July in Logan City, Queensland. The... 
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By Lyn Drummond 29 March 2012 – Suters Architects has embarked on two major projects. It is partnering with ARTAS Architects on Tasmania’s $22 million Blundstone Arena, Bellerive redevelopment project and has been appointed to the $210 million Gold Coast University Private Hospital scheme. Read More  
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28 March 2012 – General Electric says it can see significant business opportunities in the distributed energy industry in Australia, after its natural gas-fired Jenbacher engines were selected for the cogeneration plant to be installed in the revitalised commercial district of Dandenong, south east of Melbourne. Read More  
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By Tina Perinotto 22 March 2012 - Engineers for the façade of the new UTS building in Sydney, designed by Frank Gehry and this week approved for construction, at one point considered robots to achieve its crumpled paper-bag look. Read More  
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By Lyn Drummond 20 March 2011 – Energy All-Star awards, initiated by the Australian Alliance to Save Energy, not only recognised excellence but inspired new generations of energy efficiency and smarter energy practitioners, the alliance’s chief executive officer, Chris Dunstan told The Fifth Estate. “Recognition for the achievements of people working in these areas has been a long time coming and the industry has been very positive about the awards’?introduction, “ he said. Read More  
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14 March 2012 –NICTA will spearhead a $5 million dollar project, initiated by the Australian Centre for Renewable Energy, to locate geothermal energy sources deep in the Earth. It is the first project to be funded under the Australian Government’s $126 million Emerging Renewables Program, which has been established to provide support for the development of renewable energy and enabling technologies across the innovation chain. Data Fusion and Machine Learning for Geothermal Target Exploration and Characterisation is a two year program with $1.9 million of the total cost funded by ACRE. Geothermal energy comes from the intense heat generated by rocks located several kilometres underground. It is abundant, renewable; and has zero carbon output – making it an ideal energy source. Locating suitable hot rocks, however, is a manual, expensive exercise, a NICTA statement said. NICTA – Australia’s Information and Communications Technology Research Centre of Excellence.– is leading... 
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By Tina Perinotto 14 March 2012 -– CarbonSystems, an Australian company barely three years old, has fended off competition from the world’s heavy hitters in technology to win a contract with Microsoft for its global greenhouse gas management and reporting to stakeholders. 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 Lyn Drummond 7 March 2012 – Building information modelling has the power to revolutionise the construction industry impacting all sectors, including buildings, infrastructure and industry, a report by WSP has shown. Partner and manager WSP, Sweden, Pontus Bengston, who spoke at the Green Cities conference in Sydney said the report, “10 Truths about BIM” was the result of research into how BIM is understood and being adopted by different sectors of the construction industry across the globe. Read More  
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