Even on a sweltering hot day in the tropics, consultant Anya Lorimer is ready to rug up for meetings in Darwin's heavily air-conditioned office buildings.From May, government builds costing more than $3 million will have to meet minimum energy efficiency standards
"You'll walk up the mall with your jacket off but you'll always take your jacket to a meeting," she said.Researchers say the Top End capital is one of the world's highest consumers of cooling energy. For more than a decade, construction in the Northern Territory has not had to meet minimum energy efficiency standards adopted around the rest of the country.The result is a city full of commercial buildings using large amounts of energy to battle hot conditions outside and inefficient design within.
Instead Labor has commissioned a cost-benefit analysis of implementing section J for commercial construction. Darwin-based energy consultant Matt Hoogland, who is leading the study, said a "split incentive" could mean builders and developers sought to keep construction costs low, at the expense of the occupant's future electricity bill and a building's environmental impact.
Source: Energy Industry News (energyindustrynews.net)
There needs to be a will to design, implement scientific advice and build better - for all people, for the environment. No one should be left behind. Community housing is top priority.