THE LATEST INDUSTRY NEWS
FROM NECA
THE ECOSMART ELECTRICIAN
TEMPERATURE
GAUGE
In this article Ian Johnson from EcoSmart
Electricians investigates market
opportunities for electricians created
by global warming. Recent reports
from Forbes and research published by
Navigant Research from the United States
suggests commercial building owners
and managers will invest close to $960
billion globally between now and 2023
to retrofit existing facilities with energy
efficient technologies.
Bushfires scorched the Adelaide Hills
in January 2015 and southern Australia
was the hottest region on the planet.
At the same time, the respected Japan
Meteorological Agency announced 2014
as the warmest year the world has seen
since reliable measurements began
in 1890.
All of the world’s top 10 hottest years
have now taken place since 1998.
Melbourne city matched 2007 as the
warmest year by mean temperature
in records going back 158 years, with
conditions a full 2 degrees above average.
Nationally, mean temperatures in 2014
came in 0.91 degrees above the 1961 1990 average, behind only 2013 and 2005
according to the bureau.
Only one month in the past two years
- February 2014 - was cooler than the
1961 - 1990 average reference period.
In Melbourne, the most recent month
of below average mean temperatures
was December 2008, meaning the
past 72 months have all been warmer
than normal.
Clearly, things are escalating. In the next
decade it’ll be hotter, the next hotter still.
In a few decades, summer in Australia
will be truly scorching.
By the end of 2015, almost 200 nations
will gather in Paris to negotiate a global
treaty aimed at keeping temperature
increases to less than 2 degrees above
pre-industrial times (versus about 1
degree increase so far).
In the push and shove of international
negotiations about climate change
actions and on-going commitments, what
can be done now?
Building energy efficiency is the low
hanging fruit.
Strategically timed to attract minimal
exposure and comment, the government
released the long awaited National
Energy Efficient Building Project report
commissioned by COAG on 20 December
last year. The comprehensive Pitt &
Sherry / Swinburne document was
completed in June 2014.
The report details chronic and systematic
national failure of all aspects of the
building supply chain and regulatory
process across all building types. The
survey found 65 percent of stakeholders
considered the building code energy
efficiency provisions are not implemented.
The report also cites a survey in Adelaide
that found non-compliance rates up to
70 percent.
In Victoria, it is expected that Lisa Neville,
the Minister for Climate Change, will
take a much higher profile on this issue
than her Liberal Coalition predecessor.
Energy Minister, Lily D’Ambrosio has
also signalled a keen interest in energy
efficiency and renewable energy.
The research published by Navigant
cites the world economy is increasingly
constrained by energy cost, energy
availability, and energy-related
environmental regulations. With existing
building stock dwarfing the amount of
building space added on an annual basis,
retrofits are a critical pathway to greening
the world’s commercial buildings.
Regulations and policy measures,
technological advances, and cost
reductions are all driving increased
investment in energy efficiency retrofits.
Cumulative investment in commercial
building energy efficiency retrofits will
total $959 billion from 2014 through 2023.
“Led by the Asia Pacific region, the global
market for energy efficiency commercial
building retrofits is expected to grow
at more than 7 percent a year through
to 2023,” says Eric Bloom, principal
research analyst with Navigate Research.
While government mandates play an
important part in driving growth, many
retrofit projects are being undertaken
on a voluntary basis as corporate
sustainability initiatives spread.
The payback periods for energy efficiency
retrofit projects are slowly decreasing,
but they remain a critical factor for most
building owners and managers according
to the report.