Energy Performance in the Australian Built Environment

The pressures from climate change, population growth and other social, health, well-being, liveability, usability and affordability factors on Australia’s built environment are significant and complex, as it is the case with many developed and developing countries around the world. Increasing evidence from around the world is demonstrating that improving the environmental sustainability of our built environment can help to address a number of these elements such as reducing environmental impacts, improving occupant health and reducing operating costs. This chapter outlines the state of play of energy performance of the built environment in Australia and places it within the global context. Despite many examples of improved buildings and outcomes for the environment, occupants and society, most new and existing buildings around the world fall significantly short of such low/zero carbon performance outcomes. This is a cause for concern as we transition towards a low-carbon future, with the globally scientific and political consensus that we must take urgent action to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions if we are to mitigate significant climate change outcomes.

Climate change is set to significantly impact cities and those who live and work within them. This chapter reviews the changing climate in Australia and its consequent role in the transformation of Australian cities with emphasis on the impact to the built environment. Following this, a discussion explores the application of strategies to mitigate the adverse impacts of climate change on buildings and cities. While these strategies will be important for a transition to a low-carbon future, there is still a requirement for innovative research and developments that would pave clearer directions to achieve a lower carbon society.

In the light of climate change predictions, the increasing number of hot days will cause a significant impact on public health, mortality rates, energy demand and economy of Australia. Heat is also an occupation hazard, which is a growing concern in many industries. Heat stress hazards can be categorized as clinical, human performance diminishing and accident causing. The risk can be exaggerated in certain industries, including the construction industry, due to specific environmental conditions, work characteristics and occupational settings. This chapter discusses the main problems and risks associated with heat stress, with a particular emphasis on the construction industry. Various heat stress indices and advances in the assessment of heat stress in recent years are discussed. Finally, this chapter discusses the strategies and controls that can be implemented to mitigate the impact of heat stress in the construction industry. Various acclimatization protocols, hydration, self-pacing and exposure time limits or temperature risk control regimes are discussed by analysing standards, guidelines and policies and practices. This chapter contributes to resolving a timely and strategic occupational hazard through a holistic view of the thermal environment in construction industry settings.

This chapter provides a review and critique of the development and current status of approaches to improve energy efficiency and broader sustainability in the Australian built environment. The focus is on the minimum building performance requirements set through the National Construction Code—Building Code of Australia, but the chapter also includes other mandatory and voluntary approaches which have been introduced over the past two decades. The chapter concludes with a discussion that highlights current gaps that relate to the delivery of a low-carbon/low-energy built environment. It recognises that Australia currently fails to meet international building performance best practice standards, particularly in the residential sector, and this situation can only be reversed if various levels of government in Australia increase the regulated level of energy performance of buildings coupled with a more holistic and progressive inclusion of all energy consumed and generated within a building. This would be better aligned with improving actual impacts a building has over its lifecycle and on the community at large.

Growing concerns over negative impacts associated with buildings have compelled governments across the world to introduce minimum requirements for energy efficiency. Energy and environmental performance rating tools and minimum energy performance standards have become widespread in the last two decades. This chapter reviews the status of environmental rating systems in the non-residential building sector in Australia and compares with other leading international rating systems with a focus on those relating to new building design and construction. The major non-residential rating system in Australia, Green Star, was introduced in 2003 by the Green Building Council of Australia and is broadly comparable to international tools such as LEED and BREEAM. While Green Star has been an important driver of improving energy efficiency in non-residential buildings in Australia, it has suffered from inconsistent commitment to climate action from both major Australian political parties. Even though Green Star has similar criteria and performance standards in comparison to LEED and BREEAM, the market penetration of this rating system falls behind other systems in terms of adoption rate. Proper government support and improvement of supply chains would certainly help the rating systems to penetrate the wider market.

This chapter aims to demonstrate a building energy audit process using a case study of high-density multi-residential modular development in inner Melbourne, Australia. An energy audit is essential to understand where and how energy is used in buildings and consequently to identify those areas where improvements can be made. It includes a series of activities such as pre-survey data collection, walk-through inspection, data collection, analysis of the data collected and formulation of energy efficiency solutions. Extensive data were collected including indoor condition monitoring, occupant feedback and utility usage. The occupant survey identified thermal discomfort in summer, reporting overheating, dry and stuffy conditions. Energy consumption in the case study building was found to be significantly less than the average consumption in the same suburb. Surprisingly, energy consumption was found to be more likely to be affected by housing tenure types than physical building conditions such as orientation and height. The impact of building materials on occupants and the provision of air conditioning systems in the individual unit need to be further researched to resolve overheating problems. It is recommended that not only the design and physical conditions of buildings but also the socio-economic status of building residents could be main factors to achieve a high level of energy efficiency in multi-residential buildings.

Rising energy costs are significantly impacting low-income households. These households can struggle to pay their utility bills, and/or self-ration how much energy they consume which impacts on liveability within the home, such as the provision of appropriate thermal comfort. While incremental progress is being made in terms of improving the energy efficiency of housing in many developed countries, such improvements are typically inaccessible to low-income or social housing tenants. This chapter presents outcomes of a multi-year evaluation of a cohort of low-energy social housing from Horsham in regional Victoria, Australia. The analysis includes technical performance data and is supplemented with the occupants’ own stories about improved liveability outcomes. It is clear that the evidence supports aspirations by the state housing agency, which owns and maintains the housing, to move beyond their current minimum housing standards for new construction. A combination approach, whereby the thermal performance of the dwelling is improved, in addition to including renewable energy generation, will address several goals of social (or public) housing providers—namely improving quality of life, health outcomes, finances and poverty. In addition, such housing will help them achieve organisational or broader government sustainability goals such as reducing greenhouse gas emissions and fossil fuel energy consumption.

Climate change is leading to increased frequency, intensity and duration of heatwaves not only in Australia but globally. Children are among those who are most physically vulnerable to the changing climate. Schools buildings and facilities are critical infrastructure which are at risk of the adverse impacts of extreme weather conditions, particularly to the schools’ indoor environments. This chapter reviews the diverse policies on cooling and ventilation in educational facilities across Australia and brings together a multidisciplinary appraisal which can provide starting points for designers, building scientists and policy makers on:

Universities are a key stakeholder in our built environment with buildings in many major cities around Australia and the world. Due to their primarily urban locations, size and number of staff and students, universities and their activities are a significant contributor of greenhouse gas emissions. Increasingly universities both in Australia and globally are looking for ways to improve their sustainability outcomes. This recognizes that higher education institutions can do more to help in the transition to a low-carbon future, but also that by adopting sustainability initiatives, universities help reduce operating costs and facilitate healthier and more productive staff and students. This chapter explores the role of universities and their sustainability initiatives including their challenges of servicing complex stakeholders in a transition to a low-carbon future. After discussing relevant policies and rating tools, five key examples that go significantly beyond minimum performance requirements from prominent Australian universities are presented. Evident from the examples is that there continues to be no one-size-fits-all approach for universities to become more sustainable. It will require complex considerations of the requirements of the university anticipated future needs as well as a wide-ranging evaluation of the most appropriate pathways forward. Ultimately, it is encouraging to see key universities engaging more seriously with improving sustainability outcomes, not only in Australia but also globally. Universities have the opportunity to not just improve sustainability of their facilities, but to also demonstrate to their hundreds of thousands of students and staff how the built environment can be designed to benefit both the environment and the occupants.

Aquatic centres are popular recreational facilities in Australia. These buildings have experienced increasing demand over the past few decades. Aquatic centres are complex building types accommodating diverse facilities that are distinct in their functional requirements. The high-energy intensity and growing desire for better indoor environmental quality in aquatic centres have resulted in a marked increase in energy consumption in this sector which presents a great challenge in terms of new construction and renovation. This chapter provides an overview of the characteristics of aquatic centres, highlighting the challenges in evaluating the performance of these buildings. A methodology for evaluating the design and operational performance of these buildings is also proposed.

Solar photovoltaic (PV) energy has emerged as an innovation for greenhouse gas reduction in the building and construction industry due to the calculable advantages it possesses. Although there is evidence supporting the inclusion of small-scale roof-mounted PV systems in detached houses, limited studies have been conducted on the implementation of PV in the commercial sector especially within high-density urban areas. This study conducted a detailed value assessment to optimize the cost of applying PV systems in a high-density city area of Melbourne. The Net Present Value results evidence the feasibility to apply roof-mounted polycrystalline PV products in the case study buildings. This research supports investors’ decisions by understanding the financial values of prefabricated PV systems in high-density regions and provides suggestions to building professionals on value-for-money design.

Housing in the Melbourne metropolitan area is in the midst of a push towards intensification through increased densification of high-rise apartment dwellings. This reflects similar international trends in housing provision, a consequence of increasing global populations and the need to intensify land use in the quest for more sustainable urban areas. However, the Melbourne housing market is inexperienced in the planning, design, delivery and habitation of high-rise development. Evolving planning legislation, which draws on existing international high-rise planning policy, recognises that current developments entering the market are lagging behind international standards in relation to the degree of liveability these buildings afford residents. This chapter examines the characteristics of liveability and design in the context of high-rise residential developments which include consideration of building amenity, apartment amenity and external amenity. It then presents the findings of 13 semi-structured interviews with key stakeholders involved in the design and construction of high-rise apartments in Melbourne’s CBD. The interviews explore perceptions of liveability as they inform and consequently manifest in current projects. The findings identified that liveability is a subjective term encompassing a variety of characteristics which different stakeholder groups emphasised differently based on their disciplinary background. The findings are important as there exists a limited understanding of how the industry conceptualises high-rise developments and in turn makes design and development decisions in the context of liveability. Further, it was recognised that all participants wanted to improve the liveability of their development and were prepared to collaborate across discipline to achieve such outcomes. This goal will not be achieved if interdisciplinary understandings are not identified, shared and built into the process.

Net zero energy building standards have been gaining prominence lately as the next performance target for buildings. However, despite the demonstrated benefits of such building performance across triple bottom-line concepts, Australia is yet to formulate a policy toward adopting a net zero energy building standard. Evidence from various scholars suggests that Australia cannot delay the implementation of deep improvements in energy efficiency in the built environment any longer, as issues of energy security, affordability and increasing greenhouse gas emissions have become critical. This chapter reviews recent advances in the high-performance building standards with emphasis on global developments of net zero energy standards and discusses how Australia is positioned in relation to this standard and the ways Australia might move forward to this standard.

The world is rapidly changing. Climate change is recognised as one of the greatest challenges facing the world today, and Australia is not an exception (see Chapter “Urban Climates in the Transformation of Australian Cities”). Environmental degradation is mainly due to anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions. We are already seeing changes to weather patterns and more extreme and frequent weather events. This impacts on our built environment, our cities and our way of life. For example, hotter weather causes rising electricity demand due to increased requirements for cooling in buildings. A changing climate is also creating significant health and well-being challenges, especially during extreme weather events. The built environment is a significant contributor to rising greenhouse gas emissions. Increasing energy demand over recent decades, mostly from fossil fuel, needs to be addressed if the built environment is to transition to a low carbon and sustainable future. This chapter touches on the key themes emerging from the preceding chapters and discusses what they mean for achieving a sustainable built environment, not only in Australia but globally.