Insights and observations from our practice and elsewhere
What does five minute settlement on the grid mean for Australian buildings?
If you're in Australia, you may have heard about a rule change that commenced from the 1st of October regarding 5 minute settlement on the National Electricity Market (NEM). The main reason for the change is to support investment in 'fast-response' technologies...
Clean energy needs actively engaged buildings
If the world is to reach net zero emissions by 2050, electricity networks will need to be carbon-free in advanced economies by 2035 and globally by 2040. This will require rapid scaling of renewable energy investments, tripling to around USD $4 trillion per annum by...
Net Zero Carbon: The hidden ingredient
It’s time to rethink what ‘energy efficiency’ means for buildings. Energy efficiency is the most powerful tool we have for accelerating progress to Net Zero Carbon (NZC), but as the California Energy Commission explains in its Energy Efficiency Action Plan: “… it is...
NABERS will soon use the latest NGA Emissions Factors
For the first time in NABERS’ history, the National Greenhouse Account (NGA) factors that are used to calculate NABERS Energy ratings are going to change. Read on to find out what that means for your rating and what you can do to maintain (or improve) your building’s...
How do they do it? Next level GRESB performance is… all about performance!
Buildings Alive works with only a tiny fraction of the more than 1,200 entities and 96,000 assets that participated in last year’s GRESB Real Estate Assessment, and yet we count a surprising number of the global and regional sector leaders as clients (i.e., the best...
Introducing REF+. Finally, smart technology that saves time!
Ever since we conducted our first experiments and built our first prototypes almost a decade ago, Buildings Alive has been saving people time. Sure, our main purpose is to help building owners, operators and occupiers achieve their energy and environmental efficiency...
Demand response goes back to the future
The stability of the electricity grid and incentives for electricity users to change their behaviour is once again topical as we approach another Australian summer with the expectation of greater than ever demand. However, load management has been a challenge for...
Dealing with the new normal: energy efficiency strategies for shoulder seasons
The first priority of building operators—at all times—is the health, safety and well-being of occupants. And right now the challenges are unprecedented. Here are some measures that can improve your building's health and safety while also ensuring it remains as...
Managing the impacts of COVID-19 on NABERS ratings v3.0
The COVID-19 outbreak has disrupted almost every aspect of daily life, with the subsequent lockdowns bringing numerous challenges to commercial building owners and operators. With large changes in occupancy, one of the difficulties has been ensuring energy use has...
3 ACEEE Summer Study 2020 Papers
Continuing to operate at the leading edge of building energy performance analysis, Buildings Alive commits a significant amount of resources to research and development activity. Several of Buildings Alive’s staff have again had research papers accepted to the...
The electricity market is about to turn upside down
On 31 August 2018, three public advocacy groups wrote to the Australian Energy Market Commission (AEMC) asking for it to change the rules governing how the Australian electricity market works. Their request? Allow consumers to be paid for electricity they avoid using....
What is a reasonable target for energy savings during COVID-19?
The number of people working in office buildings has fallen dramatically since COVID-19 control measures were introduced. In this short video we illustrate, with real-world data*, the range of energy efficiency outcomes that commercial office building owners and...