Singapore has set a target of capping its emissions by around 2030 and then halving them by 2050. Part of the Southeast Asian nation’s effort to reach that goal comes in the form of Tengah, Singapore’s first smart and sustainable town. It is the country’s most ambitious project to date in building the city of […]
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Renewed interest in thermoelectric cooling
Researchers writing in Nature Materials have called for increased efforts to find new thermoelectric materials. In 1834, French physicist Jean Peltier discovered that at the junction of two different metals, a heating or cooling effect could be produced through electrical currents. Bismuth tellurium compounds have now been used for thermoelectric cooling for more than 60 […]
Ireland establishes first direct heating scheme
Tallaght in Dublin is set to become the site of Ireland’s first large-scale district heating scheme. Common in many large European cities, district heating is a system for redistributing waste heat from local industry, power stations or incinerators to meet heating requirements for other premises. In this instance, Amazon Web Services (AWS) has designed a data […]
AIRAH STG seeks data on renewable installations
AIRAH’s Renewable Heating and Cooling Special Technical Group (STG) has launched a survey to collect industry information on renewable installations across Australia. The industry response will help the STG to develop and maintain a database of renewable heating and cooling system installations around the country. This will contribute to the STG’s current efforts to develop […]
Report finds ‘disjointed’ laws on flammable refrigerants
A new report commissioned by Refrigerants Australia has mapped out the laws that govern the use of flammable refrigerants in this country. It also highlights key themes and gaps within the regulatory landscape. The report, written by Bronwyn Weir and Krista Weymouth, reveals a complicated patchwork of regulations. There is no one set of laws […]
Cooling school playgrounds to counter climate change impacts
As part of a project to cool school playgrounds, environmental organisation Greening Australia and Western Sydney University have released a study revealing some of the most heat-vulnerable schools in the Sydney Basin. As part of its Cooling the Schools program, Greening Australia commissioned Western Sydney University to capture location-specific measurements at 100 schools from Western […]
CDC updates advice on COVID-19 and ventilation
The Centers for Disease Control and Protection (CDC) has released updated advice to reduce exposure to the virus that causes COVID-19. The advice includes suggestions to improve ventilation that may help reduce the concentration of virus particles in the air. According to the CDC website, SARS-CoV-2 viral particles spread between people more readily indoors than […]
Industry organisations confirm ‘powerful’ merger
The Building Designers Association of Australia (BDAA) has announced a collaborative merger with the Australian Building Sustainability Association (ABSA) that it says will bring a “fresh new energy” to the sustainable building industry. “For everyone involved, this merger is sure to be a fruitful and progressive one for Australia’s building industry and the nation as […]
New look for NCC 2022
The Australian Building Codes Board (ABCB) has announced the 2022 version of the National Construction Code (NCC) will be released as a digital product. Historically a print-only publication, the digital release is being planned to improve the usability of the code. The ABCB is making the changes after consulting with industry groups, and the first […]
Time to look beyond Kigali targets, say experts
The cooling sector has to take a more holistic view of sustainable cooling that extends beyond the Kigali targets, according to experts speaking at a special event held alongside the latest Meeting of the Parties of the Montreal Protocol. The Economic Affairs Officer with the UN’s Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific, […]