Draft NCC 2025 – Critical Comments Submitted

This is a follow up from our previous article in our June edition Vulnerability of National Construction Code (NCC) changes for 2025.

Formal public comment closed on Monday 1 July 2024, we commented to the Australian Building Codes Board (ABCB) on Condensation section (Condensataion mitigation measures) and Section J (Commercial energy efficiency provisions) to improve the NCC changes for 2025 .

We pointed out that the condensation analysis didn’t use the weather and climate data compiled directly from the records of the Bureau of Meteorology to include coincident hourly precipitation data (mostly rainfall) in the simulations of building component performance. We cited our extended abstractt: Tarquini, Lee and Ferrari “Improving Australian Weather and Climate Date Services” in Proceedings of the 2022 Asia Pacific Solar Research Conference) as a reference.

And, more importantly, we highlighted how the J1V3 proposal is based on “CSIRO Projected Weather Files” (actually climate files) for building energy modelling, all of which have multiple time off set errors making the simulation results in the Consultation Regulation Impact Statement (CRIS) potentially misleading and counterproductive. Worse still, the ABCB proposes this data as mandatory for simulations to verify compliance with the changed NCC 2025.

We highlighted that we addressed this time off set errors twice from two years ago and offered our articles (CSIRO timing offset error in several weather elements – Exemplary Energy Blog and Solar data timing error skews simulation results – Exemplary Energy Blog) and paper (Tarquini, Lee and Ferrari (2022). “Quality Assurance of Available Meteorological Data” in Proceedings of the 2022 Asia Pacific Solar Research Conference ) as a reference.

We look forward to seeing this feedback is adopted so NCC can perform more precise analysis for its proposed 2025 changes.

Update 2024-07-11: Just before close of business, CSIRO has circulated a statement of correction, with their climate files being “updated” to correct the errors that they have known about, and we have been urging them to fix, for 26 months. No statement has been made about how the erroneous data may have skewed the CRIS for the proposed changes to the NCC. Also, we have not checked that their “updated” files are now fit for purpose.

APSRC 2024 – Sponsorship and Five Presentations

Last year’s Asia-Pacific Solar Research Conference (APSRC) was held 3-5 December 2024, at the Stamford Plaza Hotel in Mascot, Sydney.

Exemplary Energy again supported this event through sponsoring awards and prizes:

Wal Read Memorial Award – co-funds the Best Poster Prize. Both undergraduate and postgraduate students are eligible.

Monica Oliphant Prize – $750 for Outstanding Poster for female Honours, Masters or PhD students.

John Ballinger Award – $750 for Outstanding Buildings related Extended Abstract by a Student.

This year, Exemplary is also sponsoring the end-of-conference drinks in honour of the late Prof Steven V Szokolay. See his obituary here.

Exemplary had five peer-reviewed abstracts accepted for presentation:

Consumer protections for heat pump water heater products – presented by Dr David Ferrari
Energy Efficiency Rating of Dwellings – Effects on ACT Sale Prices and Building Stock – presented by Trevor Lee proceedings
Enhancing Australia’s Weather and Climate Data for Energy System and Weather-proofing Simulations – presented by Trevor Lee proceedings
Disaggregating Daily Precipitation Data 1990 to 2022 into Half-Hourly Intervals Using LSTM Models – presented by Harrison Oates
Characterising the Uncertainty of a Fixed COP Calculation – presented by Dr David Ferrari proceedings

Three of these presentations and abstracts are not included in the incomplete conference proceedings and those links have been added above.

The other two can be seen here.

The APSRC, convened by the Australian Photovoltaic Institute (APVI) provides a regional forum for communicating research outcomes covering all aspects of solar-related research: PV devices, concentrating solar thermal, deployment & integration, solar heating & cooling as well as solar fuels and chemistry. With the theme of information, communication and integration, the conference provides a great opportunity for young researchers and professionals to share knowledge and network with the region’s leading innovators from industry and research institutions.

The conference also provides a unique opportunity to combine the annual research reviews of Australia’s key solar research groups, representing researchers from around the Asia Pacific.

The Conference is arranged into four streams where presenters submit peer-reviewed Extended Abstracts:

This year the APSRC will be held at the University of Queensland: 2-4 December 2025.

Investment Updates – Waste to Energy and Induction Cooking

Exemplary Investments Pty Ltd (EIPL), the company behind Exemplary Energy, has recently made two modest investments in ventures of likely interest to readers.

ATEC closes US$3.75M ‘Series A’ led by Schneider Electric Energy Access Asia (SEEAA) and Spark+ Africa for Global South Expansion

EIPL was a small participant in this recent capital raising by ATEC.

Although its HQ is in Castlemaine, Victoria, ATEC runs its international operations entirely in US Dollars. Initially promoting farm-based biogas digesters in Cambodia, it has since then led a push to change LPG-based cooking in cities in Cambodia and Bangladesh to induction electric. These changes use innovative financing arrangements applying pay-as-you-cook options with internet-of-things (IoT) technology to collect the micropayments (or draw-down of pre-payments) and confirm actual usage to allow selling of the carbon credits associated with the change of fuel into the global carbon off-set market and apply the proceeds to lower the cost paid by the end users. Although we already knew of ATEC through sources like OnImpact, EIPL’s executive director, Trevor Lee, was able to engage with ATEC’s regional office and show room in Siem Reap, Cambodia, in February this year to firm up the case for investing.

Unsurpassed Australian Grown (UAG) Bio Nutrients – Waste-to-Energy with Nutrient Reclaim

Cited in our article on the A2EP tour out of Brisbane reported in our April edition [Investing in Waste to Energy: UAG Bio Nutrients – Exemplary Energy Blog], EIPL has gone on to make a small investment in shares in UAGBN followed by a short term loan facility for working capital purposes.

As reported then, UAGBN has a demonstration plant in Hay, NSW, and laboratories in Alstonville, NSW, soon to move to the Lismore campus of Southern Cross University (SCU) and major expansion plans in the Hunter Valley and elsewhere.

Goulburn Community Energy Cooperative (GCEC) – Solar Farm Proposed for SE NSW

While this investment was made by EIPL a couple of years ago, GCEC has only recently reported on progress to the point of breaking ground soon. Such delays can cruel the financial merit of such a project so EIPL is most pleased by this overdue update. At the end of June, they reported to members (investors):

“At the moment we are still waiting on the council to approve our Construction Certificate. There were a couple of additional details we needed to submit for the application but this has now been rectified and we understand that Council will prioritise our application. As soon as we get approval work will re-start on the site with civil works – drainage, sediment control, enlarged sediment pond, etc. Fingers crossed!”

Profile: Victoria Grounds, B. Arch, Dip.U.R.P.

Prior to joining Exemplary four months ago, Victoria’s professional career focused on the integration of planning, architecture and landscape design, with an emphasis on restoring and/or improving the energy efficiency of residential buildings through renovating and extending existing housing stock as a more sustainable way of improving building comfort and usability for her clients while minimising environmental impacts.

That work includes the re-use and re-cycling of existing building components wherever possible. She now also applies her deep experience to our communications and early evaluation of potential investments.

As a sideline on the same theme, Victoria steers a long-standing company that makes and distributes an inexpensive and ‘instant’ retro-fit window insulation system, ClearComfort Intelligent Insulation.