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The TV stations don’t. Fairfax doesn’t. News Corp doesn’t. The NY Times Does

Posted by Bruce Rowse in Climate Positive | Energy Efficiency - (0 Comments)

Across Australia power bills are going up and the climate is clearly changing. So you would think that our mainstream media would be  bringing us good news stories about how we can cut our power bills and reduce carbon emissions, with a fast payback on investment.

But no. The focus is doom and gloom.The reporting I see is about how reducing carbon emissions is expensive, about how programs to reduce carbon emissions push up prices.

Have you ever picked up The Australian, The Age, The Sydney Morning Herald, The Courier Mail, the Australian Financial Review or any of our major papers and seen a good news story about how much money someone has saved from energy efficiency? I haven’t.

Have you ever seen a TV program that shows how different businesses are saving money and reducing carbon emissions through energy efficiency? I haven’t (but I admit I hardly ever watch TV).

Want a bit of cheer from your mainstream media. Sorry, you have to go to other side of the world.  Such as to the NY Times.

Why aren’t we seeing a lot of article like this in Australia? Believe me, there are lots of good news stories from energy efficiency if you want to look. Check out the good news interviews on our website for some of them.

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Energy efficiency – if you “get it” tell someone!

Posted by Bruce Rowse in Carbon Conservation | Climate Positive | Energy Efficiency | Leadership - (0 Comments)

Today’s Financial Review front page news was about the desperate need for more power stations in Australia. The article stated that according to the Australian Energy Market Operator electricity consumption is increasing at 2.5% per year, and we need between 700 and 900 MWh of extra generating capacity per year. And that to cope with increased demand and a carbon price, Australian power generators will have to invest up to $120 billion in new electricity assets over the next 20 years.

These comments, and the failure of the article to mention energy efficiency, clearly show that by and large most people just don’t “get” energy efficiency. Because if as a society we really got energy efficiency, we wouldn’t need any new power stations.

So if you “get” energy efficiency, tell someone. Let me give you some examples of what energy efficiency means:

  • A local government client has cut electricity consumption in its office complex by 32% (2010 vs 2006). The office complex contains three major buildings, two of which are over one hundred years old and subject to heritage constraints.
    • Local government electricity consumption

    Local government electricity consumption

  • One of our earliest clients, Westernport Secondary college, used 31% less electricity in 2010 than it did in 2004. Roughly same number of students. Maximum peak demand at the college has also dropped, by39%.
    • WPSC electricity consumption

    WPSC electricity consumption

  • The all-electric CarbonetiX office uses 35 kWh/m2/year – that’s everything – light, power, heating, cooling. Most comparable offices would use over 100 kWh/m2/year. We are certainly using much less than the previous tenant.

All these examples show what energy efficiency can do to reduce the demand for energy – and cut carbon emissions -whether a building be old or new, owned or leased. And the energy efficiency measures implemented at the local government office,  Westernport Secondary College and the CarbonetiX office haven’t been particularly complex or used leading edge technology. In fact some of the savings come not from technology, but from choice. Choosing to switch off, to only switch on when necessary, choosing to change the air conditioner temperature settings, choosing to be conscious of energy usage.

WPSC electricity demand

WPSC electricity demand - by time of day.

WPSC - maximum electrical demand by month

WPSC - maximum electrical demand by month

The example of Westernport Secondary College is particularly interesting. If every household and organisation that uses electricity could do what Westernport Secondary College has done we would need about 39% fewer power stations, not more.

I’m not the only one who “gets” it. New Scientist has recently reported on a study by Cambridge University which found that energy efficiency could cut world energy usage by over 70%.

Energy efficiency has multiple benefits:

  • It reduces carbon emissions
  • It saves money for the energy consumer
  • It reduces peak demand
  • It reduces upward pressure on electricity prices

So, if you “get” energy efficiency tell someone!

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The Venny – a sensible low energy building with an experimental green roof

Posted by Bruce Rowse in Climate Positive | Energy Efficiency | Low energy buildings - (2 Comments)

On the weekend I attended the opening of the new Venny, an adventure playground for children from the ages of 5 to 16 in Kensington near the public housing estate.

The new Venny replaces an older building, and from an energy perspective has outstanding, passive-solar design.  I’d encourage other local governments to learn from the Venny with any new community facilities they are building. The key principles being:

  • High levels of insulation, properly installed
  • A well sealed building
  • Lots of thermal mass, and a night purge system, to harness diurnal temperature swings rather than fighting them as is done in conventional building design.
  • Good solar orientation.
  • Solar PV to provide building energy needs.

Project architect Ralph Webster, from the City of Melbourne, summarises the building design

Ralph Weber talks about the Venny (video, 5:40)

Key energy efficient features of the building design are:

  • The green roof.
    Venny green roof

    Venny green roof

    Coupled with the foam “sandwich panel” ceiling, the R rating of the roof is estimated to be around 11 – or nearly 3 times that of most roofs. Foam sandwich panel construction has a key advantage over batts in that its much less likely to be poorly installed, reducing insulation effectiveness.

  • A 5.5 kW solar PV system
  • The 50 mm foam insulation on the inside of the shipping containers around the building, including sandwich panel on the roof to improve its strength and ability to take the load of the green roof.

    insulating board lines the containers

    insulating board lines the containers

  • The high quality windows, with an aluminium weather proof external finish, but the rest timber (so the frame provides a good thermal break). Glazing is double, low-e, with argon fill.
  • High thermal mass in the concrete floor. The floor is spectacular, a key feature of the building, incorporating children’s art, building plans, etc, encapsulated in the floor with a clear resin coating. (I’m not sure how the coating influences the performance of the thermal mass)

    Venny floor

    Venny floor

  • Use of a phase change material (PCM) in the plaster. A 10mm plaster thickness essentially has the same thermal mass as a 90mm brick. The PCM is a BASF product called Micronel, that is encapsulated in the plaster. At 26 degrees it changes phase from a solid to a liquid, absorbing a lot of energy as it does so (just like making ice requires a lot of energy).
  • Sensor controlled lighting, which is a combination of metal halide and T5.
  • Aggressive occupancy sensor timing settings on the toilet lights and fan, with a 5 minute timeout.
  • A night purge. This is used to “recharge” the PCM in the plaster. So for example on a hot summer’s day the PCM may have all melted. By having cool air pass through the building at night it “recharges” (ie solidifies) the PCM. The night purge consists of a couple of windows that open at ground level and a ceiling vent that opens at night. There is provision to install a fan if necessary. The use of a night purge has been the single best feature of Council House 2.

    phase change material (PCM) in plaster ceiling

    phase change material (PCM) in plaster ceiling

  • Ceiling fans to provide cooling via air movement if necessary
  • High efficiency gas wall heater with a balanced flue.
  • Exact due North orientation, minimal use of east and west glazing.
  • Focus on recycling materials (such as shipping containers) for low embodied energy.

CarbonetiX has been involved with the Venny with the provision of a real time monitoring system to track site electricity consumption and solar electricity production, and also to monitor performance of the green roof. Three different substrates have been used in the green roof on a trial basis. We have put temperature sensors in the substrates and are also measuring water use to each section of the roof. This will be used to help evaluate the performance of the different substrates, which is a research project being undertaken by the University  of Melbourne.

The hope is that the building will be a net exporter of energy. What I particularly like about the Venny is its sensible passive solar design, and reliance on simple control (just using the fire panel). Its easier to keep energy use low in a building where the controls are simple and easy to understand.

I would like to install some more sensors to monitor and understand the Venny’s thermal and energy performance in more detail, and Ralph is happy for us to do this, with the University of Melbourne probably available to assist with installation and data analysis. This will help us better understand the effect of the various factors that interact to determine the whole building performance, of use when looking at retrofit options for existing buildings.

If you know of anyone who might have research funding available for this let me know!

And if you are building a new community facility, please get us involved. I have a great personal interest in zero energy buildings, which I believe are possible with today’s technology. With good design believe a zero net energy building can be cost competitive with more conventional, energy inefficient, construction.

The Victorian Climate Change White Paper Implementation Plan

Posted by Bruce Rowse in Climate Positive | Leadership - (0 Comments)

The Victorian State Government’s Climate Change White Paper – Implementation Plan, shows determination to reduce the state’s greenhouse gas emissions, with the aim of lowering emissions by 20% compared with 2000 levels, whether or not there is global agreement on greenhouse gas abatement targets.  Around the world other states and countries have also set abatement targets. California has set a target of returning to 1990 emissions by 2020. And the UK aims to reduce emissions by 34% relative to 1990 levels.

In the White Paper 10 action areas for achieving this target are mapped out, which are:

  1. Climate change legislation to cut greenhouse pollution by 20% – The Climate Change Act, which passed state parliament in September .
  2. Moving towards a cleaner energy mix. This includes the prohibition of the construction of brown coal power stations, and also a commitment for emissions from existing brown coal powered stations to be reduced.
  3. Investment in renewable and clean energy in Australia. It has the vision of making Australia the “solar state” with 5% of our power to come from solar energy by 2020, and of bringing in a large scale solar feed in tariff. In 2010 93% of Victoria’s power comes from brown coal, by 2020 the aim is that this will be reduced to 60%, with the rest coming from wind (20%), natural gas (15%) and solar (5%).
  4. Support cleaner and more efficient homes. This will be achieved via expansion of the VEET (Victorian Energy Efficiency Taskforce) scheme and by requiring all homes to be 5 star by 2020.
  5. Positioning Victoria to be a global clean tech leader by 2015. This sees leadership in the area of carbon finance and in helping business reduce its carbon emissions. It doesn’t have any particular focus on a specific area (eg energy efficient buildings in a temperate climate). It sees skills developing in the areas of low energy homes
  6. Creating new opportunities in agriculture, food and forestry, with a focus on carbon offsets, lower carbon agricultural practices and soil carbon sequestration. A Victorian carbon exchange will be developed whereby these offsets can be voluntarily purchased.
  7. Delivering innovative transport solutions. This has a focus towards moving the transport of people and freight from motor vehicles to public transport and rail, and supporting vehicle technology with lower emissions.
  8. Greening government. This has a focus on increasing greenpower purchases, reducing energy use in buildings through an energy performance contract model and installing cogeneration systems in hospitals. It also provides support to local government
  9. Helping Victorians adapt to climate change, particularly in adapting to the effects of heat, floods and drought, and also in researching and understanding better the long term impacts of climate change, in particular along the coastline.
  10. Strengthening “Climate Communities.” This provides grants to community groups through the Climate Communities program. The AuSSI Vic Resource Smart Schools program will also be extended to all government schools.

Access the Whitepaper at http://www.climatecommunities.vic.gov.au/

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Wanted – A Leader To Develop Australia’s First Retrofitted Zero Net Energy Building

Posted by Bruce Rowse in Climate Positive | Energy Efficiency | Leadership - (1 Comments)

A zero net energy building is one that produces as much energy as it uses. Yet, to my knowledge, there is not one commercial building in Australia that has been converted to zero net energy use. Its challenging, but not impossible. I’m looking for someone who wants to take up the challenge with us and demonstrate leadership in what can be done with existing buildings.

The imperative for buildings with zero net carbon emissions exists in climate change. It is not practical to tear down all our existing buildings and replace them with new zero net energy buildings. Additionally, the embodied carbon in new buildings is high. There is a strong rationale for taking existing buildings and turning them into buildings that have zero net carbon emissions in their operation. Yet, while I believe this is achievable in many climates (such as Melbourne) with current technology, we are not yet doing it. So I’m looking for someone who wants to demonstrate leadership and start blazing the trail for other building owners to follow.

Globally there is growing support for Zero Net Energy Buildings, and a number of such buildings already exist. The Department of Energy in the US launched it Zero-Net Energy Commercial Building Initiative two years ago in August 2008. It aims to have such buildings marketable by 2025. It  hosts a database (http://zeb.buildinggreen.com/) that features eight buildings that have already achieved this status, ranging in size from 1,530 to 13,600 square meters. One of these is the IDeAs Z Squared Design Facility, a 1960 two storey office in San Jose California that was transformed into a zero net energy building in 2007.

Another example is the Zero Energy Office in Malaysia, built in 2008 and owned by PMT. This building achieves zero net energy in a challenging climate. Singapore also has a 4,500 m2 zero energy building, which was a retrofit, at an academic campus.

We have helped several of our clients achieve energy savings of 50% or close to 50%. I’m itching for the opportunity to go all the way and get a year round 100% reduction in energy imported from the grid, whilst delivering a workplace that is comfortable and healthy. This is extremely challenging, as energy use needs to be reduced to around 30kWh/m2/year for a single storey building – and even less than this for multi-storey – and then the roof covered with solar panels to generate all the energy the building uses year round. But I’m confident it can be achieved. In our existing leased premises we are using just over 30 kWh/m2/year. I know it’s possible to get energy use this low on the top storey of a building (which we are) or in a single storey building. A relatively narrow multi storey building, would also be suitable, but even more challenging.

And the economics? I think that zero net energy use could be achieved at little extra cost with an existing building that was in poor condition and due for a major refurbishment, including a complete changeover of the existing HVAC system.  It won’t be cheap, as zero net energy in Melbourne means a building that is very well insulated and sealed, has a good amount of thermal mass, and has good control over how the sun gets into the building. But if the building is in a bad state anyway, a fair bit of money will need to be spent in any case. The aim would be that anything extra spent on the refurbishment to achieve zero net energy would pay for itself in less than ten years in the energy savings.

Prerequisites are:

  • Single storey, or reasonably narrow multi-storey building no more than 4 storeys high.
  • Building must be a commercial building – for example, an office, library, etc – cannot be residential or industrial.
  • At least 1,000m2, but preferably in the range of 2,000 to 5,000m2 in area.
  • Building must be structurally sound.
  • Owner who:
    • Wants to have the first, or one of the first, existing commercial buildings in Australia to be retrofitted for zero net energy,
    • Is willing to really engage actively in the process,
    • Wants to stand up, be seen as a leader, and promote the concept of zero net energy building refurbishments.
    • Is ready to start now.

Please get in touch with me if you own such a building and are interested, or know of someone who is, or, if you are an investor and are willing to buy an existing building and turn it into a showcase.

Bruce Rowse

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