Page 8 - Climate Control News Dec-Jan 21

News
Net zero push to eliminate gas in buildings
It is the beginning of a new era for Green Star ratings.
THE GREEN BUILDING Council of Australia is pushing to eliminate natural gas in buildings with the biggest overhaul of its Green Star rating system in 18 years.
The Green Star Future Focus tools, Green Star Buildings, sets a clear new requirement that buildings must be net-zero – fully electric, fossil fuel free and 100 per cent powered by renewables – to achieve the highest possible 6 Star rating.
GBCA CEO, Davina Rooney said the release of Green Star Buildings marks the start of a new era that will drive the transformation of buildings to net-zero at scale.
While there are currently a lot of nearly net- zero buildings in Australia, Rooney said there are only a handful of genuine net-zero buildings.
She said Green Star Buildings has been designed with industry and government to ensure net-zero becomes the norm.
"There is overwhelming support from industry to eliminate carbon emissions from buildings and construction to meet our obligations under the Paris Agreement, prevent assets becoming stranded and, ultimately, put a stop to unsustain- able changes to our climate,” Rooney said.
“Climate change is a global challenge that man- ifests itself in very local ways. The bushfires and
coronavirus pandemic have shown us that our buildings need to be more resilient to changes in climate and more focused on the health of people.
“Green Star Buildings responds to these challenges in very practical ways introducing, for example, a new filtration requirement to help clean the air that we breathe and reduce the risk of disease spreading.
“We’ve been excited to see Darebin City Council’s plans unveiled for the Northcote Aquatic Centre which is targeting 6 Star Green Star certification to become a fully electric powered swimming pool,” Rooney said.
“We also have some great examples of industrial facilities targeting Green Star certifi- cations including a banana ripening facility and Charter Hall’s new temperature-controlled logistics hub which will have capacity to hold 730 million Mars Bars.”
“With buildings accounting for one-quarter of Australia’s carbon emissions on average, Green Star Buildings is the rating tool we need to achieve the level of change our nation and our future generations need,” Rooney said.
Green Star Buildings will be supported by the launch of an online Green Star portal in the first quarter of 2021. ✺
CLIMATECONTROLNEWS.COM.AU
EEC CEO, Luke Menzel
Boost to energy efficiency
The Energy Efficiency Council (EEC) has welcomed plans by the South Australian government to invest $60 million in improving the energy efficiency of government buildings.
The investment will create hundreds of jobs while cutting carbon emissions and public sector energy bills.
EEC CEO, Luke Menzel, said the South Australian government is a leader in energy efficiency.
“This investment of $60 million to upgrade schools, hospitals and other public buildings is pretty much the smartest action they could take to kickstart their economy right now,” he said.
Menzel urged other state and territory governments to follow South Australia’s lead.
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