Summary Update from Workshop 24 May 2013
At the University of South Australia’s city west campus on 24 May 2014, a project workshop was held to discuss the research needed to facilitate the transition to viable zero-carbon housing.
At the University of South Australia’s city west campus on 24 May 2014, a project workshop was held to discuss the research needed to facilitate the transition to viable zero-carbon housing.
The workshop covered the following topics:
A. Zero Carbon Housing requires thinking in terms of systems and materials at all levels:
B. Sub-division design vs. energy issues.
D. Market research on what motivates people to ask for higher star ratings.
E. Compliance issue: Do we actually get what was designed? How do we ensure this?
F. Definition of ‘low carbon living’ and the role of house design vs. in and out of house behaviours
G. Zero Carbon apartments/row houses?
H. Using an agreed algorithm to compare appliances with the aim of improving a house’s energy-efficiency.
I. Validate star-rating bands in the rating tools and consider behaviour and lifestyles: confirming occupancy profiles/user profiles to validate energy loads.
J. Detailed comfort study for the various climate zones in Australia.
K. The need for a central monitoring database containing all the data from around the country.
L. A central communication point for data users and data owners. How to overcome the ownership barrier?
M. A centralized platform to provide client education on how to operate the building as designed, how to choose appliances etc. in a whole-of-system context.
N. A decision tree for people to make their own decisions when building new homes. It needs to be simple to use yet able to provide more detail when required. In the end people should be able to see how they arrived at the whole-of-system integration.
O. Collecting convincing evidence to regulate the mandatory disclosure of building performance information.
A. Tools to help users to determine user behaviour and occupancy themselves for the use of building rating tools.
B. Improve current tools with validated monitored data.
C. Provide proofs for Mandatory Disclosure:
D. Improve the credibility of current tools through:
A. Carbon rating and labelling on products.
B. Re-using existing facilities to develop associated manufacturing industry (e.g. an obsolete car factory might make new energy-efficient products).
C. Supply chain and market drivers.
D. A common framework for energy monitoring eg. common time intervals
E. New data is required as some existing data is approaching 10 years old.
F. Ways to measure things that can’t be measured numerically, e.g. the opening of windows.
E. Improve the credibility of current tools via: