Built environment

Over the past decade the HVAC industry has experienced a maturity in fault- detection diagnostics. From a technical standpoint this has resulted in historical analytics, streaming analytics, forecasting, modelling, and a welter of other innovations changing the way to figure out what’s wrong with our buildings. Ideally this data can be used to radically change the way things are done, make BMS professionals more efficient, and actually generate some outcomes for facility owners and building owners.

District heating and cooling could offer an important pathway to decarbonisation – and one of the biggest barriers to its uptake might simply be our mindset, writes Mark Vender.

Using a hybrid of dynamic thermal simulation and detailed hourly spreadsheet calculations, the analysis identified design and operation strategies to size PV and batteries for various degrees of grid independence.

Located in South Korea’s capital, the HQ for a luxe fashion brand boasts several sustainability initiatives, including a high-performance façade.

The Australian building industry is on the path to electrification, signalling an end to a reliance on natural gas for hot water, heating and cooking. Sean McGowan explores how this path is being forged with Bruce Precious M.AIRAH, principal consultant at Six Capitals Consulting; Yale Carden, M.AIRAH, founder and managing director at GeoExchange Australia; VA Sciences’ James Moyes and Simon Witts, M.AIRAH; and RMIT industry fellow Alan Pears. 

Hospitals aren’t just another building; they are a processing facility in which lives are being saved daily – this requires reliability and energy. So, can we please stop bundling them in with other building types when it comes to talking about green buildings? James Moyes, Simon Witts, M.AIRAH, and Broden Kay are asking this pointed question.

In a quiet street in Sydney’s northern suburbs resides New South Wales’ first Passivhaus Premium certified building. The residential home is the result of more than five years of painstaking research and planning by a family determined to future-proof their investment against climate change.

The redevelopment of the Walsh Bay Arts Precinct on Sydney Harbour is not only preserving the wharf’s heritage but has incorporated renewable thermal energy to deliver energy–efficient cooling to the facility. Sean McGowan reports.

In Memphis, Tennessee, a 1957 building has been converted into a net-zero energy net-zero carbon project.

A multi-award winning, mixed-use development in Melbourne’s prestigious Collins Street has brought building managers, service technicians and energy optimisation specialists together to collaborate on operational performance improvements post-completion. Sean McGowan reports. 

As we learn to live with COVID-19, improving indoor air quality (IAQ) has been touted as a potential solution in our return to the workplace. Sean McGowan explores the issues with VA Sciences national division director Simon Witts, M.AIRAH; Mechanical project engineer, principal and Australian discipline leader at Stantec Patrick Chambers, Affil.AIRAH; Litmas technical and managing director Claire Bird, Affil.AIRAH; and Probuild technical director Sean Treweek, F.AIRAH.

AIRAH launches COVID-19 knowledge hub: the IAQ Assembly

The new-look 388 George Street office tower in Sydney’s CBD represents one of the largest commercial office building refurbishments the city has ever seen. As Sean McGowan reports, the multidisciplinary approach taken by consulting engineer Arup has delivered world-class amenity, connectivity and comfort to tenants. Importantly, the clever refurb integrates the site with a newly pedestrianised George Street.

CSIRO energy leader Dr Stephen White, F.AIRAH, is one of the founders of i-Hub.

A finalist in the Excellence in Sustainability category for the 2021 AIRAH Awards, The Annex at 12 Creek Street is set among Brisbane’s heritage-listed fig trees. As Sean McGowan reports, the building’s design promotes connection with the outdoors, as well as with others.

Hotel quarantine has officially ended in Victoria, with the purpose-built Victorian Quarantine Hub becoming the sole quarantine site for unvaccinated travellers as of this month.

There is strong demand for HVAC&R monitoring and metering solutions that incorporate cloud data collection and real-time or near-real-time cloud-based control. This is enabled by reductions in the cost of sensors and meters, advances in communication technologies, the development of the Internet of Things (IoT) as a lower-cost alternative to traditionally vertically integrated systems, and the move to more frequent data collection. 

One question that has generated debate in clinical settings is whether UV disinfection contributes to health outcomes when added to existing HEPA filtration systems.

The Doone Kennedy Hobart Aquatic Centre, owned and operated by the Hobart City Council, was recently upgraded as part of a major project to create a more sustainable city. One area that required work was the motors and drives used to manage the pool filtration and water circulation system, HVAC central plant, and grey water systems.

Hansen Yuncken CEO Peter Salveson has picked out what he calls the four Cs of post-pandemic construction: complex challenges, culture and climate.