Issue 4 - December 2009
Issue 4 | December 2009
Welcome to the ASBEC Member Exchange. Produced three times a year, the Member Exchange enables members to share their projects and research. Thank you to all the members who contributed. Please circulate this newsletter to others within your organisation.
New Executive Officer Appointed
ASBEC are pleased to announce the appointment of our new Executive Officer; Julieanne McIntyre. Julieanne begins on the 11th of January and will be housed in the ACEA building in Sydney. We welcome her to ASBEC!
Julieanne has worked across public, private and political spheres on a wide range of issues including climate change, defence, mental health, taxation, refugee policy, international finance and fiscal policy. Julieanne comes to ASBEC from Green Capital as the Sustainable Business Engagement Leader, raising awareness on corporate sustainability. Green Capital is the business engagement arm of the Total Environment Centre, which has a 35-year track record in the environmental movement.
She was previously with the Federal Department of Climate Change, working on Australia’s international climate change policy including international negotiations, stakeholder engagement and policy development on biodiversity, sustainable development and biofuels. She spent three years at the Treasury, developing tax policy for not-for-profit organisations, and on Australia’s engagement through the APEC finance ministers’ process. She has also been a ministerial adviser at federal level.
Julieanne holds a degree in economics (social sciences) with a major in public administration from the University of Sydney, and is currently studying interior design part-time with a focus in sustainability.
Julieanne is excited to bring together her passions for ‘triple-bottom-line’ sustainability (economic, social and environmental) and the built environment in a professional capacity as the ASBEC Executive Officer.
- Welcome to the Plumbing Industry Commission Victoria
- Welcome to the QLD Department of Infrastructure and Planning
- Welcome to Think Brick Australia
- Wecome to Standards Australia
- Welcome to the City of Melbourne
Member News
- Towards Climate Safe Homes Report
- ACF's Smart Cities Roundtable
- GBCA: New Green Star Rating tool for the residential sector
- Green Building Council of Australia Precinct Project
- ACTU President appointed to GBCA Board
- AGIC Update
- RICS awards Bonds University
Other News
Government Activities
- Guidelines on magnetic fields in government offices introduced in Queensland
- South Australia’s New Building Innovation Fund
- Minister Garrett greening low income households
ASBEC News
Welcome to the Plumbing Indutry Commission Victoria
The Plumbing Industry Commission is a Victorian Government statutory authority and has regulatory responsibility for Victorian plumbing work, within the portfolio of the Department of Planning and Community Development. The role includes responsibility for the Victorian Plumbing Regulations, the Victorian plumbing workforce and industry consultation through the Plumbing Industry Advisory Council. The Advisory Council includes major stakeholder organisations such as the Master Plumbers & Mechanical Services Association Australia (MPMSSAA), the Communication Electrical and Plumbing Union and City West Water. PIC operates in tandem with the Victorian Building Commission.
Welcome to the QLD Department of Infrastructure and Planning
Building Codes Queensland is a division of the Queensland Department of Infrastructure and Planning. There are four branches within the BCQ; Building, Pluming, Building Reform and Tribunal/Legislative Services. BCQ is responsible for developing and implementing a range of regulatory measures to improve the sustainable design performance of new and existing buildings.
BCQ is responsible for administering several pieces of legislation, such as the Building Act 1975, including the Queensland Development Code, and Plumbing and Drainage Act 2002, including the Queensland Plumbing and Wastewater Code. It administers the Building and Development Tribunal and industry consultative groups. BCQ has representation on the Building Code Board and the National Plumbing Regulators Forum.
Welcome to Think Brick Australia
Think Brick Australia works with the people who design, build, live and regulate the built environment to promote energy efficient and sustainable houses. Think Brick Australia aims to communicate tangible information from its major research projects with Universities and consultants in innovative and easy to understand formats. Think Brick Australia represents the clay brick and paver manufacturers of Australia. We conduct the communications, marketing and research on behalf of the industry to promote the categories of clay brick and pavers to the people who design, build, live and regulate the built environment. Our purpose is to make sure clay brick is recognised as a pre-eminent building material.
Welcome to Standards Australia
Standards Australia is recognised by the Commonwealth Government as the nation’s peak standards body. It is a not for profit, non government organisation that co-ordinates standardisation activities and facilitates the development of internationally aligned, Australian Standards by working with Government, industry and the community. Standards Australia’s Sustainable Buildings coordination group, SB- 000, was established to address standards related sustainability issues across a range of committees within the building sector. The group aims to develop solutions that are practical, relevant, effective and affordable.
Welcome to The City of Melbourne
The City of Melbourne is a local government municipality covering 37.6 square kilometers and accommodating almost 90,000 residents from a wide range of cultures and backgrounds. The City of Melbourne is committed to creating a more sustainable and livable Melbourne. To best achieve this, the City focuses programs on residents, businesses and buildings within the municipality. Programs aim to improve the municipality’s environmental performance through the reduction of water and energy consumption, minimising greenhouse gas emissions and improving water quality and waste management practices in the built environment (residential and commercial).
A number of strategies pertain to the goal of reducing the environmental impact of commercial and residential buildings including Zero Net Emissions by 2020 Update 2008, Total Watermark City as a Catchment and the Waste Management Strategy.
Towards Safe Climate Homes Report
On 17 September ACF, Environment Victoria, the Alternative Technology Association, Friends of the Earth and the Moreland Energy Foundation released this report - Towards climate safe homes: The case for zero emissions and water saving homes and neighbourhoods.The report calls on the government to fast track new building standards to 7 star and beyond to reduce greenhouse emissions and water use, and to help Australia’s homes and families cope with future temperature and price shocks.
The report shows that emissions from the average home can be reduced by more than 75 per cent with energy efficient design and appliances, while the rest of the home’s energy needs can be supplied by renewable energy. This means our houses can be effectively emissions free and part of the climate change solution. The report also advocates for a 40 per cent water savings target to be applied to new homes to reduce our dependence on increasingly unreliable water supplies.”
http://www.acfonline.org.au/articles/news.asp?news_id=2456
Australian Conservation Foundation is convening a Smart Cities Business Roundtable. Building on ACF’s strong history of fostering successful and productive partnerships to drive public policy, the Smart Cities Business Roundtable is a collaborative project involving businesses and leading sustainability researchers.
The aim of the Roundtable is to develop an ambitious but achievable vision for the physical infrastructure, governance structures, and finance arrangements required to design, operate and sustain quality urban environments in all Australian cities. The seminar will introduce the broader concepts of this vision and explain how the Roundtable can contribute to this debate through discussion, collaboration, and the co-funding of research (to be conducted by the Institute for Sustainable Futures).
The initial focus of the Roundtable will be on energy, water and transport sectors and their integration and overlap. The Roundtable will also provide a forum to utilise the collective wisdom of Australia’s most innovative businesses to call for national reform where required and take steps towards implementing such reform through engagement with the community and policy makers. An introductory seminar was held on Thursday 29 October.
If you are interested to know more please contact Matthew Trigg, Smart Cities Project Coordinator at the Australian Conservation Foundation via m.trigg@acfonline.org.au.
GBCA: New Green Star rating tool for the residential sector
The Green Building Council of Australia (GBCA) has released a new Green Star environmental rating tool for the residential sector. The Green Star – Multi Unit Residential v1 tool will deliver a single third party certification that the residential market can understand and trust, and that property developers can use to demonstrate their developments’ green credentials.
“Residential buildings in Australia are responsible for 13 per cent of the nation’s greenhouse gas emissions, and Australia’s level of emissions per home is one of the highest in the world. The new Green Star – Multi Unit Residential v1 rating tool will help to reduce our emissions and support new stringent energy efficiency requirements in the Building Code of Australia,” said the GBCA’s Chief Executive, Romilly Madew.
The Green Star – Multi Unit Residential v1 rating tool is freely available for download from the GBCA website, as well as for independent third party accredited assessment. For more information, visit the GBCA website: www.gbca.org.au
Green Building Council of Australia Precincts Project
The GBCA Precinct Project aims to develop a national framework to deliver best practice for our communities and precincts, which achieves environmental, cultural, social, governance, place-making and economic outcomes. It is envisioned that the project will apply to a range of precinct and community developments, encompassing residential, commercial and mixed use buildings, business parks and other master planned communities. The project has commenced with the support of our partner VicUrban, and is being guided by a Technical Reference Committee representing Government, industry, academia and professional associations and practitioners. The project is implementing a two stage process which involves the initial development of a national framework for sustainable precincts and communities, followed by the development of a national tool for assessing these projects. Stage 1 is underway, and project sponsors are still being sought.
For further information contact the GBCA Project Manager Adam Beck on adam.beck@gbca.org.au
ACTU President appointed to GBCA Board
President of the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU), Sharan Burrow, has been appointed to the board of the Green Building Council of Australia (GBCA). Announcing the appointment, the GBCA’s Chair Tony Arnel said Ms Burrow would be an asset to the strong leadership already present on the Council’s Board of Directors.
“We are delighted to welcome Ms Burrow to the board as an Independent Director. Her appointment is appropriate and timely, given the potential of the green building industry to create thousands of ‘green collar’ jobs essential to Australia’s future,” Mr Arnel said. Ms Burrow is also a founding member of the Southern Cross Climate Coalition, formed last June by the ACTU, the Australian Conservation Foundation, the Climate Institute and the Australian Council of Social Services.
It has been a busy and exciting month for AGIC, the highlight being their inaugural National Conference. The event was held on Wednesday, 7 October at the Sydney Convention and Exhibition Centre. Over 180 sustainability professionals from across Australia listened to industry leaders present on the social, economic and environmental impacts the infrastructure industry is facing, and how to deal with the challenges around sustainable infrastructure investment, delivery and operation. In other news, AGIC’s new Board is settling in well and is about to address the challenges of building AGIC as an organization. The first major step in this journey will be AGIC’s strategic planning workshop to identify and develop strategies which will provide a framework for our 3-5 year Business and Marketing Plans.
Funding for the development of the rating scheme remains the most critical issue for AGIC. The $1.25m government investment seems reasonable when compared to current infrastructure spending and the benefits that will flow from the scheme’s introduction. The formal structure the 27 sub categories will provide and the resulting timely metrics for project managers will highlight areas of waste and facilitate optimization processes. We urgently need the scheme now to address the huge challenges facing Australian infrastructure, or once again we will simply wind up adopting overseas schemes – a second rate solution for Australia.
Queensland’s Bond University Mirvac School of Sustainable Development has taken out the internationally prestigious RICS Award for Sustainability. The award was presented to the Vice Chancellor of Bond University at a gala ceremony held in London. Bond beat an impressive international field to take out the award.
“We are very excited for Bond University.” Says Kaye Herald, Managing Director RICS Oceania. “The school has demonstrated its commitment to the development of carbon friendly and sustainable practices.” The Sustainability Award measures a project’s commitment to the efficient use of resources and celebrates schemes that provide sustainable environments. The judges look for a scheme that is sustainable in design and operation, balancing the economic, environmental and social criteria of the project.
The Mirvac School of Sustainable Development is the first educational building in Australia to achieve a 6 star Green Star – Education PILOT Certified Rating for its sustainable and cutting edge design. Professor George Earl, Head of School, Bond University Mirvac School of Sustainable Development said,” On behalf of Bond University, the Bond University Mirvac School of Sustainable Development and the whole design team we are honoured to have taken out this award.”
ASBEC strongly support the work of the Australian Green Infrastructure Council. Both public and private infrastructure programmes and projects require more attention to issues of sustainability – social, economic and environmental. Projects need to clearly address sustainability outcomes.
One major gap is the lack of an effective and usable infrastructure sustainability rating scheme and tool. Rating schemes such as NABERS and Green Star have, and are, improving performance at the building and the neighbourhood level. AGIC’s research would broaden this trend by including infrastructure. Not the least challenge will be to ensure that our current and future infrastructure takes adequate account of the need to adapt to our changing climate. ASBEC looks forward to ongoing cooperation with AGIC.
Cost of Green in New York City Report by USGBC, NY Chapter
As a member of the the New York City Chapter of the US Green Building Council, Tom Roper received a copy of the Cost of Green in New York City. The research demonstrated that there are no significant additional costs for building green.
Visit the website for more information http://greenhomenyc.org/post/1823.
Euro ACE has released a position paper on the recasting of the EU Energy Performance of Buildings Directive.
Visit the website for more information http://www.euroace.org/index.htm.
The Queensland Department of Public Works has recently introduced guidelines for the management of low frequency magnetic fields in those office buildings that it both owns and manages. These guidelines are based on the “As Low as Reasonably Achievable” (ALARA) Principle and set a target level of 5 microTesla (µT) as a maximum for all workstations and other areas that are regularly occupied by employees on an ongoing basis. This target level is conservative in comparison with the recommended limit for continuous exposure of 100µT nominated by the Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency. Under these guidelines, the Department has also made a commitment to the annual measurement of magnetic fields in all such buildings that also house electricity substations. The introduction of these guidelines is one further initiative in support of the Department’s goal of optimal indoor environmental quality in all the office accommodation it provides for its client agencies as well as its own employees.
A copy of the guidelines can be obtained by emailing technicalservices@publicworks.qld.gov.au.
South Australia's New Building Innovation Fund
Five sustainable building initiatives were recently funded through the first round of South Australia’s new Building Innovation Fund. Among them are a living green wall of vegetation and a living wall feasibility study that can be used for other building works in the future.
When announcing the results of the first round, the Hon Jay Weatherill, SA Minister for the Environment and Conservation stated that "these grants are about encouraging owners of commercial office buildings to experiment with and use innovative technologies to reduce energy use and cut greenhouse gas emissions.”
The following grants were awarded:
- $309,900 to ESS Properties Pty Ltd to refurbish 87-91 St Vincent St, Port Adelaide with air engines and solar cells.
- $134,000 to Aspen Group to install green roof systems to the city’s Darling Building.
- $214,000 to Aspen Group to develop and install a “living wall” on the former telephone exchange.
- $27,000 to Aspen Group for a feasibility study on a “living wall” system for the City Central Tower 8.
- $20,000 to Chesser Properties Pty Ltd for a feasibility study for large-scale office buildings, comparing the energy performance of technologies using solar, wind, geothermal heat exchanger systems, and natural ventilation.
Minister Garrett Greening low-income households
On November 25, 2009, Environment Minister Garrett announced a new $130 million program to help improve the energy and water efficiency of low income and disadvantaged Australian households.
To see the full article click here.
Climate Change Task Group – In 2008 released “The Second Plank – Building a Low Carbon Economy with Energy Efficiency Buildings”. The report discussed how more energy efficient buildings could achieve deep Greenhouse Gas Abatement (GHG) and outlined a comprehensive set of measures to remove barriers limiting reductions. Since the publication the CPRS White Paper and Treasury modelling have provided new data which is now being taken into account to provide a 2009 update to the original report.
Business Case Task Group – Have just begun a scoping study to develop a business case software tool to quantify the benefits of sustainable buildings over their entire lifecycle, in order to enable the quantification of payback periods associated with investments in the various aspects of sustainable buildings.
Distributed Energy Task Group – This newly formed task group are examining the prospects for encouraging distributed energy systems in Australia. The taskforce will develop a strategic plan for raising the environmental self sufficiency of Australian buildings and precincts.
Constructing Cities of the Future Task Group – A draft baseline consultation report has recently been completed, analysing the complex interaction between factors that shape urban land use, transport planning and greenhouse gas emissions. ASBEC produced this report with contributions from members and BEIIC. The task group will be holding a workshop or workshops to discuss the report and develop alternative scenarios for cities, which will be modeled in detail.
Zero Net Homes – ASBEC facilitated a workshop for the Commonwealth in September and will follow up with the assistance of members including the Property Council of Australia. Please visit www.asbec.asn.au/zeronet
Promote your event, stakeholder forum or training course for free
Holding an event, stakeholder forum or training course why not promote it on the ASBEC website? Simply click this link, which is also available via our events page. Once you fill in the details of the event post it and drop us a line at and we will publish it. http://asbec.asn.au/node/add/event
Go to the member event page to see events members currently have listed.
http://asbec.asn.au/events