Looking ahead:
The first quarter of 2021 has been filled with far more optimism that the same period twelve months ago. With the rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, business starting to see results from pivots and repositioning, and a cautious reactivating of social gatherings, this year just seems to feel more hopeful somehow. SBEnrc has also been considering how we might continue to be relevant in our new world context and we are optimistic about our future.
Feature project: Harnessing onsite renewable energy in commercial precincts
While the residential sector has seen strong uptake of rooftop solar – largely thanks to government rebate programs – implementation has been much slower on commercial and industrial buildings. This has, in part, been due to network operators seeing the high levels of generation as a risk to their business.
The results of a recent SBEnrc project suggest that, rather than rooftop solar on commercial buildings being a threat, it could in fact be the basis for several new opportunities if properly managed.
Rooftop solar is also a chance for the property sector to provide a clean, affordable and flexible energy supply option that is likely to retain existing premium tenants, attract new ones, and support land development on the precinct.
Key findings from the research suggest that industry precincts and other embedded networks should focus on network optimisation rather than fixate on energy retail. Reframing the emphasis to create new governance and customer engagement models, build business structures that encourage tenants contribute to precinct-scale storage, and design tariffs to reflect the network impact of energy use and generation, will open up a new world of possibilities for network operators.
Call for Papers — CIB World Building Congress
The next World Building Congress (WBC2022) is just a little over 12 months away and organising activities are in full swing under the stewardship of Prof Ron Wakefield from RMIT, a core research partner of SBENRC.
Focussed on how the built environment might respond to the global challenges we presently face, the aim of WBC2022 is to inform practice to enhance the lives of current and future generations. We are hopeful that this event will be a highlight of the world returning to international face-to-face conferencing and a showcase of Australia’s ability to host a world class event. There are also options to attend virtual sessions available as well.
The call for abstracts and papers is not open and we strongly encourage you to develop a paper, review or case study on one of the congress themes. You can also enter the abstract competition for a chance to win free registration by simply explaining in 300 words or less how your abstract relates to “Building Our Future” and describe how the future of your research area will look. For more details, visit the congress website.
Vision for the future
As we consider the Centre’s ongoing relevance in a world forever changed by COVID-19, our Board has resolved to continue to build our future throughout the next triennium and beyond. To this end, we are pleased to share the SBEnrc strategic plan for 2020-2021.
The Centre is well-positioned to continue to address the ongoing challenges and opportunities delivered through the evolution of Australia’s housing, building and infrastructure sectors. We will do this by delivering focussed, partner-driven research which will serve as seed projects or incubators for leveraging into a range of funding mechanisms such as the Australian Research Council, the Cooperative Research Centres Program, and product stewardship funding. Our involvement in ongoing programs will deliver even greater value for our partners as they benefit from deeper research over a longer period of time.
We have a long history of leveraging our research through broader programs. Work like our Asset Intelligence project, and our ARC funded collaboration with Griffith University to develop an effective building integrity system to rebuild trust in residential building construction, are just two examples of how we make the most of our research network .
We believe that our research efforts will have much broader reach and more impact by addressing industry challenges in a more comprehensive manner through leveraging partnerships and funding schemes.
We want your research ideas!
We are currently working with our networks to identify and develop themes for the next round of research projects. If you have a ‘wicked’ problem that could form the basis of our future research projects, we want to hear from you. Contact our CEO, Keith Hampson to talk about your industry challenge.
Dr Keith Hampson, Chief Executive Officer
Sustainable Built Environment National Research Centre, Australia
Curtin University, Perth, Western Australia
k.hampson@sbenrc.com.au
Our challenge is to continue growing the value and impact of our applied research more deeply and broadly across Australia. Australia’s Sustainable Built Environment National Research Centre (SBEnrc) is acknowledged as an excellent example of a CRC that has graduated into an independent organisation delivering unique industry, government and research collaboration.
