New report calls for hospitals to electrify
More than 10 influential health organisations want the federal government to fund feasibility studies to electrify nine pilot hospitals across Australian states and territories.
They’ve supported a new report, All-Electric Healthy Hospitals: a Cost-Benefit Analysis report, they say, finds that electrifying 10 per cent of Australia’s public hospitals each year from 2027 to 2036 would save $59 million a year in energy bills and greenhouse gas reduction equivalent to taking almost 150,000 petrol cars off roads.
The launch at Parliament House in Canberra last Thursday was attended by independent MPs doctors Monique Ryan and Sophie Scamps, Lucid Consulting, the Royal Australasian College of Physicians, the Australasian College of Emergency Medicine, Australian Federation of Medical Women, Doctors for the Environment Australia and the Climate and Health Alliance. Representatives from the Australian Medical Association, Royal Australasian College of Surgeons, Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists, Australian Nursing & Midwifery Federation and Lung Foundation Australia.
AIA’s new First Nations guidelines
The Australian Institute of Architects’ First Nations Advisory Committee and Cultural Reference Panel has released a new resource on how built environment professionals can engage meaningfully with First Nations Peoples and Country in their projects.
The institute said it looks at case studies of works by Indigenous Elders and knowledge holders, architects, designers, activists and academics who have advanced respectful and meaningful approaches with First Nations makers, individuals, communities and organisations.
It also provides guidance on communication protocols, relationship-building, Indigenous cultural and intellectual property, funding models and procurement pathways specific to working with First Nations Peoples, as well as help architects meet competency requirements in the national standards for architects 2021.
The untapped value of VPPs
Distributed energy resources expert, Dr Gabrielle Kuiper, told The Fifth Estate for our building and energy tech special report that virtual power plants (VPPs) are a slew of missed opportunities.
Now, Energy Consumers Australia has come out with its own report calling for increased uptake of VPPs. Its research found that only 4-10 per cent of battery owners participate in VPPs.
Meanwhile, reasons stopping its uptake include 36 per cent of those surveyed not knowing enough about how it works, 29 per cent concerned about losing control of their batteries and how they are used, and 28 per cent don’t know what the benefits of joining VPPs are.
The report said the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) estimates that households could save up to $1000 a year if they participated in VPPs, but consumers were either not aware or didn’t trust the technology. It says the path forward was for energy companies to establish genuine consumer trust in energy companies and for energy ministers to ensure fairer outcomes for consumers.
Cost-based approach to affordable housing
A new report from RMIT finds that Australia needs more than just another funding round as social housing declined from 5.2 per cent in 1997 to 3.9 per cent today.
Instead, it should have a coherent cost-rental system that asks for rents based on efficient, verified lifecycle costs of financing, operating, maintaining and renewing homes. There should be sustained public capital investment, land policy and low-term, low-cost finance and assistance to households unable to meet costs, the university said.
The report also argues there should be common rules for providers, asset locks and a limit to profits with mandatory reinvestments through mechanisms that recycle loan repayments into renewal or supply.
Report author Julie Lawson said it also examines wider international discussions such as how cost-rental principles can be adapted to federal, multi-provider housing systems for Europe. Other authors include academics such as Jago Dodson, Liam Davies, Mike Berry, Laurence Troy, Ryan van den Nouwelant and Greta Werner.
- See our podcast with Jago Dodson here.
Flat pack HEMS to educate students
G.L.O.W. House, a 3D-printed model home that brings everything in a Home Energy Management System (HEMS) down to the size of a dollhouse, is now available at 500 libraries and community locations to educate children on the technology behind household electrification.
The realistic model will show real time kilowatt readings through its HEMS, with mini solar panels and batteries that power the model and react to artificial sun coverage and weather conditions. Children can complete a number of challenges from beginner to expert on managing the model’s household energy to survive the night, survive intense weather conditions, and save money on solar and battery alone.
