News in brief: October

Nurses to withdraw support for Inner West Council’s Fairer Future plans

23 October: Nurses have joined protesters against the Inner West Council’s Fairer Future Plan, an ambitious rezoning of Sydney’s inner west to increase density by 31,000 homes, adding to the current tally of 80,000.

The issue became a lightning rod for Sydney’s housing crisis, where YIMBYs and other residents came to a head in a meeting in July. And now the RPA Hospital Branch of the New South Wales Nurses and Midwives Association has passed a motion to oppose the development and is requesting the wider association withdraw its previously stated support.

The group is particular concerned about the low levels of social housing and recreational open space in plans for up to 90,000 new residents. It also has concerns that existing low-income and affordable housing will be sacrificed to pave the way for brand new and more expensive homes. Some residents, including in 17 affordable rentals, are already reporting eviction notices via QR code at sites with approved new development of their homes.

Gladstone could be leading the clean energy charge

Beyond Zero Emissions has released a new report, Powering Up Gladstone,which discusses the potential ofthe coastal city of Gladstone to become a leader in clean commodities with the right coordination and support. The town 517 kilometres north west of Brisbane and 108 km south east of Rockhampton, is home to Queensland’s largest multi-commodity shipping port.

The report finds the regional approach could unlock $7.8 billion of new investment in renewables and generate 11,000 local jobs in a region; however, it currently faces uncertainty due to Queensland’s new Energy Roadmap scrapping coal power plant closures, increasing gas generation and delaying new targets.

Meanwhile, industry ambitions in the area are strong, with major players such as Rio Tinto and Orica setting “bold emission targets backed by renewable power purchase agreements.” The report said the state government is giving “conflicting policy signals”, which undermines investor confidence.

ALC calls for a net zero fund to target road freight

The Australian Logistics Council (ALC) is calling for the federal government’s proposed Net Zero Fund to target “catalytic” investment into decarbonising the nation’s freight and logistics sector. The organisation said the government must address “structural market failures” that currently prevent investment in low emissions technologies for the sector.

It recommends implementing a tiered funding model that allows the industry to access grants, concessional loans and private capital guarantees, prioritising battery electric and hydrogen trucks, depot and terminal electrification, short haul battery electric locomotives, hydrogen refuelling networks and precinct-scale renewable energy systems.

In its submission to the Department of Industry, Science and Resources, the organisation said freight was a “national productivity and competitiveness issue” and that success “should be measured by emissions reduced per dollar invested, private capital leveraged and growth in domestic manufacturing and jobs.”

New Energy Transport trial success

And while we’re talking about logistics, New Energy Transport, which operates a fleet of fully electric trucks powered by wholesale renewable energy, recently completed a trial replacing diesel trucks in delivering a 12 metre container from Port Botany to a distribution centre in Western Sydney for Who Gives a Crap.

The company’s co-founder and director, Daniel Bleakley, said it showed a heavy electric truck can operate under the same conditions as diesel trucks, transport the same payload on the same route, but with zero emissions, pollution and reduced road noise and at the same price as diesel.

Conry Tech secures funding

Conry Tech, a Greenlister, has secured $3 million in a seed funding round, taking its total funding to $13 million. The new funding will help the company finish its development and expand its team. The round was led by climate tech investor Audacy. 

The startup hopes to raise money to build manufacturing facilities in Australia. The two co-founders, Ron Conry and Sam Ringwaldt, had previously run successful businesses in Canada and the US, including Turbocor, which received $26 million from the Canadian government in 1999 to scale up.

Toby Chan, partner and co-founder at Audacy, said the startup’s revolutionary HVAC system will be crucial as cooling demands are projected to skyrocket in the APAC, a region impacted by rising temperatures, rapid urbanisation and economic growth.

NSW government introduces mandatory climate reporting reforms

The NSW government is introducing new mandatory climate related reporting reforms for government entities, such as departments, agencies, and state-owned corporations. Climate Change Minister Penny Sharpe and Treasurer Daniel Mookey said the reforms will provide accountability and transparency over government action in managing climate risks such as frequent and severe heatwaves, bushfires and floods.

The government believes the move will drive private investment in climate action and strengthen state finances through increased investor confidence in the state’s delivery of climate commitments. It said the World Bank and other investors are increasingly using government climate disclosures in due diligence requirements.

NSW government waves through gas pipeline

Just days after the climate reporting reforms, the NSW government gave the green light to gas infrastructure group APA Group to take over and repurpose the use of an idle pipeline to move gas from South Australia to the east coast of NSW.

The government insists it will help replace aging coal power stations, and the pipe will pump 20 – 25 terajoules of gas per day, helping fulfil a gas “supply gap” on the east coast.

Nature design guide released

The Living Future Institute of Australia has released its new Nature Design Guide that offers actionable nature-based solutions to help project teams, clients, and partners incorporate nature positive outcomes and benefits into their design on single buildings or precinct-scale projects.

The guide aims to equip professionals designing new developments to do more than target the minimisation of harm and actively protect, regenerate, restore and respect cultural landscapes and the natural world.  It also includes a decision-making tool on the benefits of nature based designs.

Collaborators on the guide include: Nature & Climate, Lendlease, OCULUS, Harrington & Low Consulting, Living Seawalls, Francisii Ecology, Hollow Log Homes, Fytogreen, Curtin University, Mott MacDonald, Arcadis, Global GreenTag International, AECOM and Mansfield Advisory.

Heat pump feasibility grant extended

The NSW government’s heat pump feasibility grant has been extended until 24 November.  The grant provides $30,000 to cover 75 per cent of the cost of a feasibility study on installing heat pumps in a business.

As previously reported in TFE, the total funding amount of the grant is only $1 million. The fine print of the guidelines states that the grant is part of a pilot program and will only benefit 29 participating businesses.

Applicants must have an NSW business site address and use between 5,000 and 10,000 gigajoules of gas per year. Businesses also need to have a specialist consultant who can complete the assessment on hand.

Origin Energy retrain Eraring employees

Origin Energy has taken on the task of reskilling its employees of the Eraring power station, saying 98 per cent of eligible employees have now engaged with the program, 513 training courses have been funded, with 231 courses already completed, thanks to recognising employees’ prior learning. The monthly newsletter with resources has an 80 per cent average readership.

Jobs

Leone Lorrimer, who recently retired as national practice leader of GHD Design, reflected that collaboration in her profession had changed profoundly, adding that early in her career, “architects managed every aspect of a project”.

“Now, we work alongside contractors, engineers, planners and project managers, integrating expertise to deliver outcomes that are safer, more sustainable and more responsive to society’s needs.”

She also added that she was “especially proud” of the progress in diversity and inclusion.

“When I joined the board of Woods Bagot, I was the only woman in executive leadership in any large architecture practice in Australia,” and that senior women in architecture were “rare and invisible.”

But now, women can be seen with the title of “director” and CEO, leading large practices. “I’m proud to have been there as a role model and I continue to sit with senior women in architecture, sharing a coffee, talking through challenges and ways to break through the barriers that still exist.”

CIBSE launches Embodied Carbon Verification

9 October: The Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers (CIBSE) is launching its Embodied Carbon Verification (ECV), a register of verified mechanical, electrical, and plumbing (MEP) products to help consultants with “distinguishing between manufacturers claims and independently verified results”

“When selecting MEP products, embodied carbon data is only as reliable as the methodologies used for collation and the organisation providing assurance,” the institute said. The certification “in the absence of EPDs” can provide assurance that the manufacturer’s data is independently verified, uses robust and credible raw data and calculations, and can be consistently compared to other MEP products.

The tool from will be available to use from late October and will also allow manufacturers who achieve CIBSE certification to benefit from increased promotion of their products and consultants to protect their clients by using verified data and drive higher standards across the supply chain.

CRREM Foundation forms technical council

Global monitoring system Carbon Risk Real Estate Monitor (CRREM) Foundation has appointed several members to its newly restructured technical council, including Australian experts Jorge Chapa and Dr Sven Teske.

The new team will review the organisation’s global energy pathways.

The organisation said the appointment will ensure they remain practical and relevant for real world decision making and reinforce its role as a trusted, science-based tool for real estate investors, owners, occupiers, and other key stakeholders.

The foundation said the council includes 13 “internationally recognised” experts:

• Jorge Chapa, chief impact officer, Green Building Council of Australia
• Heather Clark, senior fellow, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
• Chiara Delmastro, energy analyst buildings, International Energy Agency (IEA)
• Dr Jacques Gordon, director, Graaskamp Centre for Real Estate, University of Wisconsin-Madison
• Dr Jens Hirsch, chief scientific officer, BuildingMinds
• Michael Izzo, senior managing director, energy & decarbonization, Hines
• Josh Kace, research affiliate, California Institute of Energy + Environment
• Cary Krosinsky, lecturer, Yale University
• Erik Landry, director of climate change, GRESB
• Dr Lina Makrodimitri, energy and net zero carbon lead, Schroders Capital
• Dr Jan Rosenow, professor of energy and climate policy, University of Oxford
• Dr Sven Teske, professor & research director, University of Technology Sydney
• Benjamin Towell, executive director, OCBC

Jobs news

COX Architecture has appointed Christian Derix to its newly created role of head of futures and innovationtolead the embedding of data-driven spatial design across various sectors including sport, urban design and workplace, helping the practice to challenge design conventions and build impactful futures strategies.

Derix has been working at the well known Saudi development project NEOM.

Prior to that, Derix was advising on data science, machine learning, urban planning and design for urban and infrastructure projects across Europe through his Frankfurt, Germany based practice derix + associates. Derix is credited as one of the early founders of computational design and held visiting professorships at several European universities and completed a PhD on people-centric design computation. He introduced AI to spatial planning as early as 2000.

Property advisors Charter Keck Cramer is expanding its Sydney office after snapping up three new talents, including Mark Daniel, who joins as national director and will lead both the advisory team and manage the Sydney office.

Daniel is the former owner and managing director of real estate advisory for Property Beyond, a role he will be leaving behind for the new gig. With him are two former employees taking on similar roles to their previous jobs: Craig Middleton as director and Rebecca Rooney as associate.

Also joining them in Sydney will be its senior executive, Oliver Daniel.

What we are reading

A low cost V2G tech could be coming to Australia

The We Drive Solar project, based in Gothenburg, Sweden, features a model of V2G (vehicle to grid) cars available to people through car sharing services – meaning people can benefit from V2G without owning an EV.

In Australia, Portia Rooney, founder of Net Zero Engineering Solutions, has received an iMove Cooperative Research Centre grant for a project that aims to adapt this model for Australian conditions. The model will feature AC (alternating current) V2X (vehicle to everything), which would be significantly cheaper than DC (direct current) models, as it would leverage inverters already in the cars. Unfortunately, there will still be technical and regulatory challenges ahead of this project. Read more here on The Driven.

Solar panelled homes are worth more

1 October: A new report by Cotality finds that homes with solar power systems are valued 2.7 per cent more than homes without, which at the national average means around $23,100 more.

According to report calculations, each NatHERS (Nationwide House Energy Rating Scheme) star rating creates a median uplift of about 1.3 per cent in a home’s national value, which is roughly $10,560 per star.

Nationally, 29 per cent of houses have rooftop solar installed, but coverage exceeds 40 per cent in Perth, Adelaide and Brisbane. Meanwhile, Hobart, regional Victoria and regional Tasmania fall below 20 per cent.

GBCA joins global database

The Green Building Council of Australia is partnering with global real estate sustainability database Measurabl to make the nation’s Green Star building certifications accessible across the globe through its platform.

The move to integrate Australia’s certification into the platforms allows for better benchmarking, fuller transparency and comparability to other countries’ green building certifications for investors and lenders, the GBCA said. Already available on the platform is the US’s LEED certifications, the UK’s BREEAM certification and Japan’s CASBEE certification.

The platform aims to establish a standardised, investor-grade sustainability data infrastructure.

The next generation of energy experts

As Australia is about to face a critical skills shortfall in the clean energy transition, including for sparkies and other workers in energy, gas and renewables, there are two programs trying to rouse interest in energy careers in high schools.

This includes NET Z(ED) in NSW, a secondary school program that aims to educate students on trades and energy career pathways. The program creates short and easily deployable lesson plans for Year 7 to 10 students.

The first is on designing photovoltaic systems is now spread across the geography, science and maths curriculum. The lesson was curated by Professor Paul Dastoor, founder of Kardinia Energy, provider of lightweight and flexible printed solar, teaching fundamentals of energy, power and economics of designing the systems.

The other program is NEOEN’s Learning Hub & Futureville game, distributed to Year 9 to 12 students at schools and community fairs to educate students about the renewable energy sector. The gameplay includes navigating around a regional town to meet different people working in the renewable sector, learning how a wind farm works and running a community engagement session.

DCCEWW busts illegal tyre waste smugglers

The Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water (DCCEEW) recently intercepted 10 shipping containers of illegal tyre waste after the Australian Border Force detected a 280 tonne shipment of tyre waste leaving from Sydney to Malaysia.

The content included a mixture of non-compliant baled waste tyres and bags of shredded waste tyre pieces. Following the inspection, the Melbourne-based tyre exporter has been ordered to deal with the non-compliance and must collect the containers from the facility at their own cost. They must also pay container detention, inspection and transport costs, estimated to exceed $30,000, and are responsible for any additional costs to process the tyres to legal standards.

The department said it aims to stop exporters from taking advantage of markets that don’t apply the same recycling standards for higher profits “at the expense of the environment.” It warns that anyone found doing the same can face up to five years imprisonment and fines of up to $198,000 for individuals and $990,000 for a company.

Since implementing the rules, the department has intercepted 61 shipping containers over 14 separate consignments by both licensed and unlicensed holders, stopping 1700 tonnes of illegal waste tyres from leaving the country.

Sustainable finance on the rise

In the latest issue of ING Bank’s quarterly sustainable finance review, the bank said it had mobilised €68 billion (A$120 billion) in sustainable finance in the first half of 2025 for green loans and sustainability linked finance. Much of this is taken up by Singapore, where corporates and financials are stepping up financing decarbonisation.

In terms of growth, Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) accounts for 61 per cent of the growth, the Americas 26 per cent and the Asia-Pacific accounting for 13 per cent – with regional variations.

In the US, financing issuance contracted due to reduced policy support, whereas the EU has shifted focus towards competitiveness. Meanwhile, APAC is on track for a record breaking year.

EVs surging ahead in China

The ING report also said that China is leading the EV transition, with EVs expected to reach nearly 50 per cent of new car sales by 2025, followed by Europe at 20 per cent and the US at 10 per cent. Global penetration remains low at 5 per cent due to infrastructure gaps, particularly in Southern and Eastern Europe, where Germany records 23 EVs per charger.

What we’re reading

Second hand EV battery industry on the rise

According to Pickles Auction, buyers of second hand EV batteries are emerging with certain buyers repurposing them for everything from solar storage units to off grid energy system to replace diesel generators, thanks to car batteries storing five times as much as the average home battery.

The auction house said it was selling around 100 salvaged EVs every month, in an industry that emerged only in the past 18 months, according to an article in The Guardian.

Andrew Chadwick, a lithium battery repair specialist at Second Life Battery Sales, said solar batteries required a lot less output than EVs, so even if the battery is no longer good for EVs, for example, at 70 per cent capacity, it would be perfect for a solar system with a “little finessing.”

Sale values are current $9000 to $14,000 for a battery with an average age of 2.5 years and less than 15,000 kilometres travelled, and $2500-$6500 for an average age of 12 year and an average of 130,000 km travelled.

Jobs news

Brisbane City Council has appointed Juliet Alabaster as City Parkland’s new CEO, starting 27 October.

Alabaster is currently the chief operating officer at the Brisbane Economic Development Agency and has spent three years on the board of City Parklands. She is also currently a board director on the Queensland Tourism Industry Council. Brisbane Mayor Adrian Schrinner added that with Alabaster’s appointment, two thirds of the council’s subsidiaries are now run by women.

Law firm Baker & McKenzie is looking for an Associate – Commercial Real Estate (Environment & Planning), who will join the Environment and Climate Change team led by Sam Allam. “Disruptors encouraged. Insurgents preferred,” for the candidate, Allam said on social media. “It’s the job a million girls would kill for”.