August 28, 2020
Anthony Wright – Cluster Leader
What a start to the year! When we sent out our last newsletter fires were raging across south eastern Australia and smoke circled the globe. Now I’m writing from my (uninsulated) study during one of the wettest winters I can remember. And there seems to be some sort of global pandemic going on – it’s hard to tell with the kids shouting all the time. My sympathies are with our Victorian readers and those who have been victims of COVID-19 in one way or another. We have received mixed reports from energy raters on the state of the housing market but from our perspective, overall NatHERS certificate activity seems to be holding up.
The Building Simulation, Assessment and Communication team have reached several important milestones in the last six months.
- We have delivered a version of AccuRate to the Department of Industry, Science, Energy and Resources which incorporates all the services regulated under the NCC. This includes, lighting, hot water, heating and cooling devices as well as photovoltaics. We watch with interest as the Australian Building Codes Board considers options for an increase in stringency in the minimum standards for energy efficiency in 2022.
- We have also developed an ‘alpha’ version of AccuRate, hosted in the cloud. Cloud hosting allows AccuRate to take advantage of several opportunities. We will deliver a beta version to users in early 2021 and incorporate batch processing, stock modelling, artificial intelligence, quick building scanning/measurement apps, and many other features over time.
- We will also make an API available to third party developers wanting to develop applications that integrate with our AccuRate software. In lieu of our Australian Residential Energy Rating conference we have delivered two (One and Two) in a series of webinars. Subscribers to this newsletter should receive invitations to these webinars which we will keep free of charge and relaxed in format. Please let us know if there are topics that you think would be of general interest.
- There will be another Energy Rating conference on Thursday the 20th to Friday the 21st of May 2021.
We should have a lot more achievements to share in the next six months. Stay safe.
