Auckland War Memorial Museum's sustainability journey
02 April, 2014Auckland War Memorial Museum is one of New Zealand's premier tourist attractions, with over 850,000 visitors each year. Established in 1852, the facility consists of a war memorial, heritage library, a vast collection of Maori and Pacific artifacts and an encyclopedic collection, totalling approximately 3.5 million pieces. It also attracts regular international exhibitions and provides educational services to over 60,000 school children annually.
ANU unveils the ACT's greenest building
13 March, 2014 by Lauren DavisThe Frank Fenner Building, located at The Australian National University (ANU), has become the first building in the ACT to achieve both 6 Star Green Star Office Design and As Built v3 ratings from the Green Building Council of Australia (GBCA).
Improving building performance
12 March, 2014At Total Facilities 2014, sustainability engineer and accredited NABERS and CBD assessor David Odd spoke about the approach to achieve and maintain NABERS ratings in existing buildings using modern risk assessment techniques including dynamic thermal modelling, BMS, energy alarming and the shift from planned preventive maintenance to condition-based maintenance.
Why is electricity consumption in Australia falling?
14 January, 2014For more than a century, the quantity of electricity consumed in Australia was more than the year before. That all changed in 2010, as explained by Hugh Saddler, Principal Consultant, Energy Strategies, pitt&sherry, in The Australia Institute report 'Power down: Why is electricity consumption decreasing?'
Improving energy efficiency for facilities management under a new climate change policy
02 December, 2013 by Ed Hanna*, Director Energy Action Sustainability SolutionsAustralian businesses are still expressing their commitment to reducing their carbon footprint, even though Energy Action has observed that there is perhaps a nuanced shift in the motivations that are leading companies to invest in energy efficiency and sustainability management.
Diamond facility for health and medical research
02 December, 2013Construction is almost complete on new innovative diamond-shaped 25,000 m2 purpose-built facility for the South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute (SAHMRI). The impressive 'intelligent' facility, on Adelaide's North Terrace adjacent to the Royal Adelaide Hospital, has been designed to foster researchers' creativity and productivity.
Improving energy efficiency in facilities management
01 December, 2013 by John Boothroyd, Asia Pacific Energy and Sustainability Leader, Honeywell Building SolutionsMuch like any other industry, facility managers are facing increasing operational cost pressures and, as a result, are looking to energy efficiency improvements as a method to tackle this. But no longer are simple energy-monitoring solutions sufficient in achieving significant cuts in consumption. In today’s environment, integrated and cloud-based solutions are the next step in improving operations and delivering real value for businesses.
NZI Centre's market-leading NABERSNZ rating
28 November, 2013Auckland's NZI Centre has been awarded a 5-star base building Certified Rating for energy use under NABERSNZ, the office building energy rating scheme. The scheme provides ratings between one and six stars, with the NZI Centre's rating putting it in the 'market-leading' category.
Fujitsu Data Centre achieves NABERS rating
31 October, 2013Fujitsu has announced its Noble Park Data Centre in Melbourne has achieved a NABERS Energy for data centres rating, making it the first in Australia to be certified using the NABERS data centres tools.
Cogeneration in food and beverage manufacturing
17 October, 2013It seems only a few months ago that major industrials were concerned about electricity price rises and saw gas as an easy option. With the emergence of competition for new gas supplies from large export projects, expectations are for a seller's market and we now see predictions of significant gas price rises over the next few years. In this article, pitt&sherry Principal Consultant Dr Steve Edwards discusses cogeneration as an alternative form of energy generation in food and beverage manufacturing.
6 Green Stars for BHP Billiton fit-out
16 October, 2013BHP Billiton was presented with a 6 Star Green Star Interiors rating for its Perth fit-out at Brookfield Place, which represents world leadership in green building outcomes.
Building control for energy efficiency
23 September, 2013A single advanced building control now in development could slash 18% - tens of thousands of dollars - off the overall annual energy bill of the average large office building, with no loss of comfort, according to a report by researchers at the US Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory.
Virtual race showcases buildings’ daily energy usage
16 September, 2013As part of the City of Sydney's annual Art & About Sydney festival, a special video installation will represent the energy usage of local offices through a race with virtual athletes.
GlobalData forecasts the global power capacity of 2030
12 September, 2013Research and consulting firm GlobalData has released a report forecasting a global renewable capacity of 2055 GW in 2030 - one fifth of the global installed capacity - growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 8.2% from 2013 to 2030.
Meridian Building has market-leading energy performance
09 September, 2013The Meridian Building on Wellington's waterfront - one of New Zealand's most iconic sustainable buildings - has achieved a 5.5 star base building rating. This is a market-leading NABERSNZ rating for energy performance - the highest to be awarded under the 6 star scheme.
