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OPINION


Your letters


Our Aussie friends can teach us a lot about building performance, says Andrew Pettifer


This month: In defence of biomass, Australia leads way on operational ratings, and who says ‘anyone’ can be an engineer?


Good NABERS As an expatriate living and working in Australia, I always enjoy reading the CIBSE Journal and catching up with what is going on back in Ol’ Blighty. In many areas of our profession, the


work of CIBSE and the other related UK professional institutions and research groups are regarded as representing global best practice. Curiously though, in the area of accurately predicting and then delivering the energy performance of buildings, the UK seems to be lagging, as highlighted by Dave Cheshire (October 2012 Journal). His statement that ‘It is rare for designers to be asked to provide a design-stage prediction of energy performance in operation’ really struck me – here it is rare that we aren’t. The CIBSE team looking at developing a TM guide on this subject would do well to study the National Australian Built Environment Rating Scheme (NABERS). This is now a very mature and well-proven protocol that can


be used to accurately predict real, in-use energy performance in design. Moreover, the NABERS rating is fundamentally about the actual in-use performance, and is now enshrined in mandatory disclosure legislation, requiring that the energy performance of commercial buildings is audited and published whenever a building is to be leased or sold. There is no question that NABERS


has made a major contribution to the understanding of actual energy use in buildings, and the development of a similar approach in the UK is long overdue. Andrew Pettifer, FCIBSE, principal, Australasia building services leader


Check your sources I would like to respond to both the biomass article (December Journal, page 22) and the letter by David Elloway in the last issue. I did feel that they both painted biomass in a somewhat negative light, and yet biomass does have a bright future on the right sites with the right skills.


While it is true that the burning Australia’s best buildings aim for 6


of wood in an unsustainable way is polluting, when biomass is sourced sustainably it is virtually carbon neutral. To get to this conclusion, one must consider that although there is a carbon cycle of 20 to 40 years for the direct up-take of the carbon emitted, the trees growing and biomass burning occur


16 CIBSE Journal February 2013 His


statement that “It is rare for designers to be asked to provide a design-stage prediction of energy performance in operation” really struck me – here it is rare that we aren’t


in a continuous never-ending process, which does result in a neutral carbon result. The remaining carbon footprint of biomass arises from transport and processing – even this, when compared to oil, is lower. I would refer any who wants to know more to an excellent factsheet by the World Bioenergy Association, called: The carbon neutrality of biomass from forests. Of course, there are limits to the deployment of biomass, both in terms of site suitability and in the basic resource itself. This is true of any resource, including gas and oil. However, we are nowhere near reaching global biomass capacity yet. The Department for Energy and Climate Change (DECC) judges that 40% of UK forests are unmanaged, and there are plenty of suitable sites. The obvious conclusion is that the


future will consist of a wide range of energy sources, selected for suitability of the site conditions and engineered for high efficiency. There are pitfalls associated with designing and installing a biomass system, and the article rightly identified some of these. However, there are pitfalls with all technology; it’s just that we’re so used to installing gas boilers that we don’t notice them! Biomass is slowly becoming more mainstream, but I would urge the employment of experts to ensure successful project delivery. The rise of biomass has awoken


interest in flues and flue design. I, too, would welcome more guidance on design and the regulations. Perhaps this is something that CIBSE could look at? Tim Rook CEng MCIBSE Sustainability engineering manager


•Introduction to biomass heating systems, 5 June, London


•Biomass heating systems operations and www.cibsejournal.com


The editor says: A new CIBSE Application Manual on Biomass Heating is scheduled for publication later this year. CIBSE is also running two training courses focusing on biomass heating, to help both designers and system operators gain background and understanding of these systems:


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