Page 12 - Climate Control News Magazine May 2019

News
Call to license engineering professionals
THE AUSTRALIAN INSTITUTE of Refrigera- tion, Air Conditioning and Heating (AIRAH) has welcomed the Building Minister’s Forum’s (BMF) call for a nationally harmonised regis- tration scheme for building practitioners, in- cluding engineers.
At a time when Australia’s building and con- struction industry is suffering a crisis of public confidence, the BMF has developed a roadmap for reform.
One of the key changes it has signalled is the need for a nationally harmonised registra- tion scheme for building practitioners, includ-
Engineering is one of the few professions without a mandatory licensing scheme.
AIRAH CEO, Tony Gleeson
ing engineers.
The roadmap is a prod-
uct of the Shergold-Weir Building Confidence re- port, commissioned by the BMF in 2017 and published in 2018, with the aim of re- storing confidence in Aus- tralia's building and con- struction industry.
In the wake of the Opal Tower debacle and Neo200 facade fire in Melbourne, AIRAH CEO, Tony Gleeson, said there is a clear and urgent need for action.
“It is a considerable anomaly that engineering is one of the few professions not to have a manda- tory licensing scheme,” Gleeson said.
The BMF, which is supporting a national approach to registration, has prioritised six recommendations from the Building Confi- dence report.
The number one recommendation is that each jurisdiction requires the registration of building practitioners involved in the design, construc- tion and maintenance of buildings. This includes
builders, engineers and designers. The BMF has set a target of three years for this and other re- forms to be implemented.
In addition to these measures, AIRAH is advo- cating for the inclusion of an explicit require- ment and mandatory high-level process for whole-building commissioning within state and territory regulations. AIRAH has also called on state and federal governments to harmonise reg- ulations in the HVACR sector.
“We should have national licence schemes for all refrigerants; minimum standards of compe- tency for building services designers; and stand- ardised regulatory requirements for system maintenance,” Gleeson said.
Net zero targets in revised rating system
A PUSH TO net zero carbon buildings is among the raft of changes proposed in the next evolu- tion of the Green Building Council of Australia’s (GBCA) Green Star system.
In line with a 1.5C target in the Paris Agree- ment, any building seeking to achieve a 6 Star Green Star rating will be required to achieve net zero, bringing to the forefront low energy build- ings, powered by renewables to the highest of honours in sustainable building.
The new requirement is a highlight of the GB- CA’s proposed future focused rating system.
GBCA’s head of market transformation Jorge Chapa said the Green Star rating system had transformed Australia’s built environ- ment with the certification of more than 2,250 projects across the country since its introduc- tion in 2003.
“Now, in consultation with industry, we want to build on this success and deliver the next gen- eration of aspirational targets to ensure Austral- ia’s built environment stays at the forefront of sustainability,”hesaid.
“The next critical decade needs ambi- tious actions.
“Green Star for New Buildings aims to pro- mote ambitious action on carbon emissions with a drive towards net zero carbon and carbon pos- itive buildings.
“In order to ensure our ratings continue to rec- ognise Australia’s most sustainable develop- ments, we want to introduce a new set of catego- ries and credits that better reflect industry’s ambitions, and what it can achieve.
“We also want to continue to deliver an ac- cessible entry point, so through Green Star for New Buildings we are proposing to maintain our existing entry-level standards for a best practice Green Star building while taking steps to make the process of achieving this outcome less complicated,” Chapa said.
The consultation paper for Green Star for New Buildings reflects 12 months of preliminary consultation with industry and stakeholders across the country.
Davina Rooney, general manager of sus-
tainability at Stockland and incoming GBCA CEO said the consultation for Future Focus was exemplary.
“Green Star has been rethought from the ground up to deliver a relevant, accessible, and more valuable rating tool,” she said.
The consultation period is open until June 10, 2019. Details at https://new.gbca.org.au/green- star/future-focus/ ✺
ABOVE: Incoming GBCA CEO, Davina Rooney
ABOVE RIGHT: GBCA’s head of market transformation Jorge Chapa.
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