23 March 2018, Workshop, Sydney - Ventilation for Indoor Air Quality and Cooling

The AIVC and the CRC (Cooperative Research Centre) for Low Carbon Living, in collaboration with the Australian Government Department of Energy and the Environment ASHRAE, AIRAH, venticool and UNSW Sydney, presented on March 23 a one day workshop in Sydney on ‘Ventilation for Indoor Air Quality and Cooling’

The seminar aimed  to inform Australian researchers, engineers and scientists about recent developments in the field of ventilation, cooling and air quality technologies.

Senior researchers and engineers from Australia presented their latest scientific research while international experts visiting Australia had the opportunity to present global research to their local counterparts. The workshop showcased research that determines optimum ventilation levels and the development of advanced ventilation technologies to promote comfort, energy conservation and better indoor environmental quality in buildings, while also  providing a forum for international and local experts to discuss the future of ventilation technologies for the building sector.

The workshop was attended by almost 100 policy makers, regulators, researchers, developers, sustainability experts, consultants and contractors. The results of a participant survey taken during the workshop concluded that :

• The expansion of mandatory energy disclosures for buildings could highly contribute to further boosting energy conservation in Australia
• Indoor air quality is an important problem in several types of buildings like schools, and further technological and regulatory actions must be undertaken
• Energy and environmental certification of buildings is an important tool that can help to improve the energy and environmental quality of buildings and protect  residents
• Energy efficient ventilation technologies can replace air conditioning,  and provide indoor comfort especially in mild climatic zones
• There is a strong need to develop more efficient cooling and ventilation technologies to counterbalance and compensate the expected increase in energy consumption induced by population increase and local and global climate change