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Energy efficiency – if you “get it” tell someone!
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 ...
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Sea level rise creeps up… very slowly… at first
As with many people climate change science has been on my mind with the devastation of the floods and now hurricane Yasi in Queensland. Sea level rise is one of the likely impacts of climate change, driven by a melting of ...
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Don’t trust your home’s star rating to reduce your environmental impact
Reports recently published in newspapers indicate that the government’s mandatory energy star rating schemes of homes is rather inaccurate. The scheme has been heavily-criticised by the building industry (HIA and ...
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Baw Baw Shire council cuts electricity use by 30% in a rented office.
Last week I caught up with Raj Maniher of Baw Baw shire council in their Smith Street Community Development office that council is renting in Warragul. Raj has implemented a number of measures to cut energy use in the office, ...
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The Venny – a sensible low energy building with an experimental green roof
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 ...
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LED comments by an early innovator
Mal Oldis, an earlier innovator with LEDS, contacted me recently with the following comments on our report LED as a fluorescent substitute: I have read with interest your assessment ...
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Greenwashing and carbon accounting standards
I’ve been invited to comment on a recent article by Hunter Richards of Software Advice on greenwash. The article calls for an improvement to environmental accounting infrastructure through software, so that consumers can have greater confidence ...
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The Victorian Climate Change White Paper Implementation Plan
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 ...
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Government funding for “disruptive and innovative” energy efficiency
The US government has set up a special agency within the Department of Energy called the Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA) to promote “Disruptive and Innovative Approaches” to clean technology. ARPA has the following objectives (from the
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Wanted – A Leader To Develop Australia’s First Retrofitted Zero Net Energy Building
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 ...