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Smart cities, built from scratch

Wed, 06 Mar 2024 00:00:00 +1100

There are few things more ambitious than the smart city built from scratch. These futuristic metropolises are founded on the idealistic principle of high-tech, integrated systems working together for the benefit of the community. In a smart city, the Internet of Things (IoT) works smoothly to produce more efficient transport, more sustainable buildings and even, potentially, better health for citizens through sensors that monitor the contents of the fridge or medication cabinet.

With their reliance on interconnected systems, the IoT and sustainable technologies, smart cities present a host of opportunities for the electrical, communications and data industries.

The smart city concept is both old — with origins in the late 1960s — and remarkably current, as witnessed in the imminent plans for Indonesia’s new capital Nusantara and Australia’s very own Bradfield, an aerotropolis destined for Western Sydney. These days, most cities deploy some form of smart technology, with many identifying as ‘smart cities’ on the basis of this, but the smart city built from the ground up represents a whole new level of vision and risk.

Given that a few smart cities have been built over the past 20 years or so, while various others have failed before getting off the ground, and yet more are planned for the near future, now seems like an opportune time to assess the effectiveness of the smart city idea in order to avoid mistakes in future.

Getting it right

Two recent studies have examined the opportunities and challenges presented by smart cities through analysis of carefully chosen datasets.

‘Smart Cities—A Structured Literature Review’¹, published in July 2023, used Web of Science and Google Scholar to identify relevant research articles on smart cities. It then combed this body of research using a list of 10 questions. These questions related to the definition of a smart city, its advantages and disadvantages, implementation challenges and funding, among other topics. The study also analysed the implementation of smart city solutions in international contexts and proposed strategies to overcome associated challenges.

‘What is the impact of smart city development? Empirical evidence from a Smart City Impact Index’², published in November 2023, developed a special index to measure the positive and negative impacts of smart city development. Its focus was on cities in South Korea, a country that began to initiate smart city projects in the mid-2000s. This study compared non-smart cities with first-wave smart cities (which focus on transportation and security infrastructure) and second-wave smart cities (which emphasise comprehensive urban management).

Cautionary tales

Both studies identified security and privacy as areas of concern in the modern smart city.

“The integration of technology and data-driven solutions in smart cities has the potential to revolutionize urban living by providing citizens with personalized and accessible services. However, the implementation also presents challenges, including data privacy concerns, unequal access to technology, and the need for collaboration across private, public, and government sectors,” wrote the authors of Smart Cities—A Structured Literature Review.¹

Indeed, this was the main reason Canada’s ambitious Sidewalk Toronto project folded in 2020. Proposed by Google subsidiary Sidewalk Labs in response to a callout by Waterfront Toronto in 2017, the ultra-sustainable neighbourhood was going to be built on 12 acres of industrial land along Toronto’s waterfront. Critics, however, objected to the minute level of digital scrutiny that residents would seemingly be subjected to, allegedly for their own benefit — something that was made even less appealing given Sidewalk Labs’ close relationship to one of the world’s data giants.

Some commentators and researchers³ have similar concerns about Toyota Woven City, a high-tech, ultra-sustainable community that the mobility company started building in 2021 in Tohoku, at the base of Mount Fuji in Japan. Run on hydrogen and billed in Toyota’s promotional materials as a “human-centred, living laboratory”, the community is designed to eventually be home to 2000 people. In Woven City, sensors will monitor residents’ health, track their food use and prompt household robots to keep the fridge stocked. Most of this highly surveilled population will be Toyota employees and their families.

In contrast to Sidewalk Toronto, the Songdo International Business District in Incheon, South Korea, has achieved a degree of success. Built on 1500 acres of land reclaimed from the Yellow Sea and completed in about 2015, the district is by all accounts a marvel of integrated technology, with sensors monitoring energy use and traffic, loads of smart home features and — impressively — pneumatic tubes that pump residents’ garbage directly from home to the rubbish facility.

However, it seems that all the seamless technological integration in the world cannot produce a vibrant community. The district has not as yet attracted the multinational tech companies and skilled international workers that were part of its initial vision, and residents report feelings of alienation and coldness⁴, with a lack of opportunities to meet others in the flesh.

Bradfield: “Australia’s first 22nd century city”

Named for the chief engineer of the Sydney Harbour Bridge, Bradfield is part of the NSW Government’s Greater Sydney Region Plan for a “metropolis of three cities”: the Western Parkland City (Bradfield), the Central River City (Parramatta) and the Eastern Harbour City.

Part of what is ultimately planned to be a much larger aerotropolis, Bradfield City Centre will be constructed on 114 hectares in close proximity to the new Western Sydney International Airport at Badgerys Creek. More than 15,000 people are expected to eventually live there in about 10,000 new dwellings, with 20,000 new jobs created. Promotional videos from the Western Parkland City Authority show an artist’s impression of a vibrant, walkable city with plenty of landscaped public space where young professionals and families gather. The city’s draft Master Plan is currently on public exhibition.

ECD contacted the Western Parkland City Authority (WPCA) for details on how Bradfield City Centre is progressing.

A WPCA spokesperson said that the city’s First Building, housing commercial industry tenants and the Advanced Manufacturing Research Facility (AMRF), is due to open in mid-2024, adding that construction would soon get underway on the Second Building, the two-hectare Central Park, and the roads and services within the city.

Integration is a primary consideration

The WPCA spokesperson said that the first stage of Bradfield City Centre will integrate technology in order to improve day-to-day experiences in the city and allow people to stay connected.

The WPCA is planning a system of innovative multi-function poles capable of accommodating lights, sensors, cameras and telecommunications equipment to ensure Bradfield has the supporting infrastructure in place for smart city technologies, the spokesperson said.

A fibre-optic network throughout the new city will support rapid connection to this digital infrastructure.

At the time of publication, the WPCA was on the point of releasing an expression of interest (EOI) for the market to engage in a number of opportunities to provide digital infrastructure and services supporting smart city functionality in Bradfield City Centre and to improve the visual amenity of places.

Sustainability measures

A key concern in relation to Bradfield has been its location in one of the hottest parts of Sydney, where temperatures during heatwaves can be up to 10 degrees higher than in the coastal suburbs.

The WPCA spokesperson said the draft Master Plan includes controls aimed at curbing the urban heat island effect, including a minimum tree canopy coverage target of 40% and the use of water-sensitive urban design to keep water in the environment to green and cool the city.

“Buildings will feature greenery in the form of extensive landscaping and green roofs, to cool and protect buildings,” the spokesperson said. “Planning controls also aim to reduce active heat production from electrical systems and transport in the city.”

Additionally, resilience and climate change risk principles are being incorporated into the design of buildings and infrastructure.

The design of the First Commercial Building exemplifies these principles, with the spokesperson saying it “sets the benchmark for Bradfield City Centre as a connected, green and advanced city, while promoting design that is of its place and connected to Country”.

The First Building has a timber structure composed of prefabricated modular components that are fixed together. This means that it can be disassembled, expanded and even relocated over time.

Water management is an important consideration, with the building capturing and storing rainwater for landscape irrigation. As might be expected, the First Building roof will also incorporate solar PV to generate power.

Additionally, the roof will be filled with native planting and low-maintenance vegetation to support local biodiversity and improve the microclimate of the building, the WPCA spokesperson said.

Gathering momentum

Once Bradfield’s Master Plan is finalised, land will be released for private sector development, building on the momentum created in the lead-up to Western Sydney International Airport opening in 2026 along with the new Western Sydney metro line.

The Western Parkland City Authority intends to create “a thriving 24/7 hub of culture, creativity, and innovation over time”. It will be fascinating to see it taking shape.

_{1. ‘Smart Cities—A Structured Literature Review’, by Jose Sanchez Gracias, Gregory S. Parnell, Eric Specking, Edward A. Pohl and Randy Buchanan

Smart Cities 2023, 6(4), 1719-1743; https://doi.org/10.3390/smartcities6040080}

_{2. ‘What is the impact of smart city development? Empirical evidence from a Smart City Impact Index’, by Yirang Lim, Jurian Edelenbos and Alberto Gianoli

Urban Governance, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ugj.2023.11.003}

_{3. See, eg, ‘Smart Cities and Data Privacy Concerns in Japan’, by Muneo Kaigo & Natalie Pang

https://www.kas.de/en/web/politikdialog-asien/digital-asia/detail/-/content/smart-cities-and-data-privacy-concerns-in-japan}

_{4. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-06-22/songdo-south-korea-s-smartest-city-is-lonely}

Image credit: iStock.com/gremlin

The big value of infrastructure digital twins is finally here

Thu, 29 Feb 2024 00:00:00 +1100

Unless you have been living under a rock for the last few years, you have probably noticed that digital twins have become a hot topic across infrastructure sectors. What was once considered futuristic eye candy is now a powerful and valuable way to combine and leverage data from disparate sources and multiple disciplines. Sure, digital twins are particularly useful for visualisation, but their real power comes from combining timely, yet potentially siloed data for a holistic, virtual view of an infrastructure asset.

Whether in design, construction or asset operations, engineering firms and owner-operators are facing resource constraints. Project demand is outpacing the number of people available to do the work, driving the sectors to transform and change how work gets done. Adopting digital twin-powered workflows can boost productivity, increase throughput and deliver better results. Infrastructure digital twins are becoming critical enablers of the design, construction and operation of assets.

Digital twin-powered workflows enable firms to seamlessly conduct design reviews and structural analysis, calculate carbon footprints and quantity take-offs, and plan construction schedules, all based on a single, up-to-date, data-rich digital twin. An infrastructure digital twin is a structured way to federate information from various systems. In addition to bringing siloed data together, a digital twin can unlock data from existing design files, essentially ‘lighting up dark data’. This unlocked data is the foundation for quickly and easily applying artificial intelligence and machine learning to drive actionable insights and better outcomes.

If you are still not convinced, here are some specific examples of how digital twins are being used in each phase of infrastructure lifecycle management.

Planning phase

After identifying the need for a new asset or infrastructure system, the planning phase begins by collecting information on costs, timing and implementation. Planning also includes feasibility studies, due diligence, asset specifications, budget estimates, contract negotiations, funding and public comments.

Infrastructure digital twins deliver value in the planning phase by helping to evaluate whether a project is economically or technically viable. A digital twin also presents a virtualised as-built environment or renders conceptual designs for stakeholder engagement.

A real-world example of an infrastructure digital twin being used in the planning phase is London’s South Dock Bridge, a high-profile pedestrian bridge linking South Quay with the city’s iconic Canary Wharf business district. Led by Arcadis, a company specialising in sustainable design and engineering, the project’s digital twin incorporated the complexity of existing multistorey basements with above-ground rendering so that all stakeholders — including the public — could visualise the design and create a plan to mitigate construction challenges in the highly developed neighbourhood.

Design phase

The conceptual project idea comes to fruition with technical details and specifications for its construction and operation, which includes requirements and criteria that consider regional, urban and environmental data, as well as other important information.

Digital twins can be used for design optimisation, clash detection, energy savings and carbon footprint reduction. They also provide better visibility into building information modelling (BIM) data and can run simulations to reduce the risk for issues such as flooding and subsidence. Another big benefit of using a digital twin in the design phase is that it can be used as a single source of truth for multidiscipline engineering data, keeping engineers, project managers, owner-operators and other stakeholders on the same page with the latest information.

WSP, an environmental engineering firm, used digital twins to design its Port of Melbourne Rail Transformation Project. With only three months to deliver final designs, WSP presented weekly design reviews to a large and involved stakeholder community, including the construction contractor and port officials. This real-time collaboration led to a right-first-time design approach, which identified potential issues early on, reducing waste and rework.

Construction phase

During construction, infrastructure digital twins can bridge the gap between project management and the field by making all plans and data accessible through any mobile device. Digital twins can expand BIM from 3D to 4D to enable better scheduling. Better scheduling and resource planning can increase the safety and efficiency of construction sites, helping to reduce carbon emissions, soil movement and delays. Digital twins can also expand 4D to 5D and include cost information, making budgets and change orders more predictable during construction.

For design and consulting firm WSB, leveraging infrastructure digital twins and workflows on road transportation projects has shrunk schedules, generated savings and, most importantly, reduced traffic disruption. For example, digital twins saved the Minnesota Department of Transportation more than US$15 million during the conversion of 2.8 miles of TH 169 into an expanded freeway with upgraded interchanges, bridge and underground utilities.

Operations and maintenance phase

The operations and maintenance phase ensures an asset performs effectively throughout its life. The phase includes monitoring, maintenance and upkeep, scheduled repairs, part replacement and inspections.

Real-time data from IoT sensors in the field can be incorporated into infrastructure digital twins to help with remote monitoring and inspections, saving time and money — and, in the case of hazardous inspections, increasing safety and reducing risk. Digital twins can optimise maintenance schedules, reduce the risk of failure and allow project managers to make better decisions related to asset replacement or decommissioning.

The Yuba Water Agency uses a digital twin to actively monitor the New Bullards Bar Dam, the second-tallest dam in California and the fifth-tallest dam in the United States. Given the height of the dam, the remote location and the rough terrain surrounding the dam, physical inspections were dangerous and difficult. A digital twin integrated with numerous IoT sensors, however, allows the Yuba Water Agency to implement remote monitoring and inspection, saving time and money and reducing risk to personnel. In addition, the digital twin proved invaluable in ensuring the dam’s structural safety following a recent earthquake.

Similarly, the Australian Rail Track Corporation is implementing a digital twin across its entire network of 9000 km of track. Using the digital twin to facilitate predictive maintenance and proactively identify potential failures will help the company avert delays, avoid downtime and minimise risk.

Conclusion

Regardless of infrastructure type, over time the digital twin of a project or an asset will become both its lifeblood and its central nervous system. Whether you use it during planning, design or construction, or for continuing operations and maintenance, an infrastructure digital twin can save time, money and rework; reduce delays, waste and risk; and increase safety. Overall, using an infrastructure digital twin results in better project delivery and asset performance.

Michael Campbell is the Chief Product Officer at Bentley. He joined Bentley in 2022, having previously worked for PTC Inc. He is responsible for defining Bentley’s product strategy and for managing product development to advance the company’s leadership in infrastructure engineering software. Prior to Bentley, Michael has held various positions, managing product development, product strategies and entire software businesses. He holds a Bachelor of Science in mechanical engineering from Boston University.

Image credit: iStock.com/metamorworks

Finding one faulty solar panel in a sea of millions

Mon, 26 Feb 2024 00:00:00 +1100

Up until now, finding faults in individual panels on a solar farm has been a time-consuming and expensive business. A tech startup from The University of Queensland has developed an AI-based system designed to address this problem.

“The challenge with large solar farms is detecting any faulty or underperforming solar panels hidden in a sea of millions,” explained Associate Professor Rahul Sharma from UQ’s School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science.

“It’s impractical to install monitoring hardware on each panel, inspect every panel for damage or clean every panel to remove dirt. We needed to find a way to automate that process.”

Sharma and his team developed Solaris^AI in order to detect faults in solar farms without the need to install additional hardware, making the process fast and cost-effective. The technology works at the array and string panel level and sequentially extracts vital information, monitoring for degradation, soiling, wiring faults and tracker problems, as well as pinpointing any maintenance needed.

“Underperformance in Australian solar farms costs the industry around $400 million a year,” Sharma said. “We’re aiming for Solaris^AI to reduce those losses by half, and potentially deliver an uplift in revenue of up to 8%.”

There are plans for the technology to be deployed at Edify Energy’s Hamilton solar farms at Collinsville in North Queensland and Genex Power’s Kidston solar farm in North-West Queensland.

Edify Energy CEO and founder John Cole said it was an exciting project.

“The key to maintaining grid reliability and achieving success as a network operator is effective and efficient asset management,” he said.

“This technology has the potential to drive solutions to the world’s energy crisis.”

The UQ team partnered with German-based electronics and connection technology company Weidmüller to develop early prototypes. Solaris^AI was founded by UQ’s commercialisation company UniQuest, spearheaded by investment from Uniseed as well as the UniQuest Investment Fund.

“UQ is committed to sustainable energy and renewable energy generation,” said UniQuest CEO Dr Dean Moss.

“This is a fantastic commercial opportunity backed by top-notch research with the potential to generate huge economic and environmental benefits.”

Image caption: Associate Professor Rahul Sharma.

Smart homes, cities and industry: Wi-Fi HaLow moves into the real world

Thu, 08 Feb 2024 00:00:00 +1100

The Wireless Broadband Alliance (WBA), a global organisation that connects people with the latest Wi-Fi initiatives, is moving its ‘Wi-Fi HaLow for IoT’ program into a new phase, showcasing 802.11ah Wi-Fi HaLow solutions in real-world use cases with contributing industry members.

Wi-Fi HaLow will be trialled for a range of applications, including smart home, smart city, building automation, smart retail, industrial IoT and agriculture technology.

Through these commercial deployments, WBA aims to demonstrate how Wi-Fi HaLow can extend the benefits of Wi-Fi into more Internet of Things (IoT) applications where unique technical challenges must be overcome to realise business benefits.

Wi-Fi HaLow’s reported advantages include extended ranges, improved material penetration capabilities, extended battery life, enhanced device density, minimised end-to-end delay, a higher level of security, ease of installation and management, and elevated data throughput in IoT scenarios.

In coming months, the project team will test the following use cases and applications:

Smart home — Evaluate Wi-Fi HaLow against traditional Wi-Fi in security cameras, HVAC, appliances, detached garage connections, solar power systems, power backup generators and EV chargers.
Smart city — Focus on infrastructure monitoring, smart utilities and traffic management to highlight wider coverage benefits, high data throughput, increased device density and low-cost maintenance.
Smart building automation — Conduct testing to support smart building applications such as physical security, surveillance, access control, safety alarms and water sensors.
Smart retail — Showcase how Wi-Fi HaLow enhances consumer satisfaction and increases productivity for retailers and partners. The assessment will cover scanners, readers, point-of-sale equipment, asset tracking, security monitoring, warehouse robots and handlers.
Industrial IoT — Focus on industrial applications including asset tracking, infrastructure monitoring, remote equipment control, safety automation and security monitoring.
Agriculture technology — Trial smart agriculture or precision farming systems, including environmental monitoring, soil monitoring, plant health monitoring, actuator control and data collection for predictive breeding.

“The move to demonstrating Wi-Fi HaLow in real-world scenarios is an important milestone for the WBA and the contributing industry members supporting these activities,” said Tiago Rodrigues, CEO of the Wireless Broadband Alliance.

“Each scenario will highlight how Wi-Fi HaLow solves connectivity problems, which previously may have required non-standard RF radio technology or incurred higher costs of ownership. A detailed analysis from these deployments will inform new deployment guides, helping wider industry to successfully roll out IoT solutions, without having to resort to proprietary or non-IP technologies to gain the automation, insights and business benefits that IoT promises to deliver,” Rodrigues added.

Wi-Fi HaLow’s features include operation in the sub-1 GHz radio band, the use of narrow channel bandwidths, an increased number of supported devices and new operating modes to accommodate battery-operated devices. It builds on the foundations of Wi-Fi, retaining such features as the most up-to-date levels of security and native-IP support inherent in all internet connectivity.

“The extensive capabilities and robust connectivity features of Wi-Fi HaLow elevate IoT to a heightened level, overcoming limitations imposed by older connectivity standards,” said Zac Freeman, Vice President of Marketing & Sales of Newracom.

“This technology enables the deployment of IoT solutions with unprecedented scope, fully realising the vision of smart services without constraints. We are genuinely enthusiastic about sharing the transformative influence of Wi-Fi HaLow in real-world scenarios.”

The WBA’s ‘Wi-Fi HaLow for IoT’ white paper gives an overview of the features, expected use cases and markets for Wi-Fi HaLow.

Image credit: iStock.com/DKosig

How does HVAC stand up to bushfire smoke?

Fri, 02 Feb 2024 00:00:00 +1100

Recent Australian research has revealed the dangerous composition of bushfire smoke, as well as the potential of heating, ventilation and air-conditioning (HVAC) systems to protect us from it.

Scientists from University of Technology Sydney (UTS) and UNSW Sydney analysed bushfire smoke by examining particles caught in commercial air conditioning filters. Their study, published in the journal Environmental Pollution, highlights the importance of having bushfire-ready infrastructure.

Bushfire smoke can cause or exacerbate conditions such as asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and heart disease, and lead to an increased risk of hospitalisation and death.

“The bushfires that raged across Australia during the 2019–2020 ‘Black Summer’ produced an enormous amount of air pollution, with plumes of smoke travelling long distances and cloaking Sydney and surrounding areas,” said UTS PhD candidate in environmental science Raissa Gill, who led the study.

“We wanted to find out more about what was in the bushfire smoke we were breathing. By using commercial air-conditioning filters, we were able to capture and analyse the chemical composition of particles that would otherwise have been inhaled,” she said.

The researchers collected particulate matter from HVAC filters in UTS Buildings 4 and 7 during the peak of the Black Summer bushfires, as well as one year later as a reference point.

They found daily particulate matter concentrations were generally 2–3 times higher than normal, with hourly concentrations reaching up to 10.5 times the usual maximum. This exceeded the national standards on 19% of days across the four-month sampling window. The particles were also finer and contained a different mixture of toxic chemicals.

“Bushfire aerosols contained much smaller, rounder particles than urban aerosols, making them more likely to be inhaled into our lungs and to transfer toxic elements into our bloodstream,” said co-author UTS Professor Martina Doblin.

“These particles also contained more soluble forms of mercury, as well as higher concentrations of sulfate, nitrate and fluoride ions and metals including manganese, cobalt and antimony. Mercury is quite toxic even in low concentrations and can cause neurological problems and lung damage.”

The study revealed the diverse chemical changes that severe bushfire events exert on the atmosphere. Understanding these changes is crucial for assessing the impact of bushfires and their potential consequences for human health and environmental quality.

“While air quality in Sydney is usually good by world standards, recent evidence has clearly shown that the handful of days that we get every year with high pollution loads from bushfires and dust storms lead to significant disease and death in the community,” said co-author UTS Associate Professor Fraser Torpy.

“Studies that build an understanding of these high pollution events are critical in helping us determine what is causing these health crises, and will lead towards a better understanding of how we can protect vulnerable members of the community,” he said.

While HVAC systems are generally not designed specifically for bushfire smoke, research¹ on indoor air quality in Canberra during the 2019–2020 fires showed that outdoor concentrations of fine particulate matter were up to 10 times higher than measured values indoors with air conditioning.

Encouragingly, the current study shows the UTS HVAC filters were able to capture a significant portion of bushfire smoke, reducing exposure to toxic particles for staff and students working in these buildings. It also underscores the importance of considering higher-rated HVAC filters during fire seasons and maintaining and replacing the filters regularly.

“Australians face significant obstacles in achieving satisfactory air quality during major bushfire events. Many homes and older buildings rely on natural ventilation or have poor HVAC filtration efficiency and gaps that allow smoke to enter. These systems can also be costly and complicated to manage for effective protection during bushfires,” Gill said.

“Given that severe bushfires are projected to increase with climate change, the role of bushfire-ready infrastructure in maintaining public health, as well as the need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, is now more pressing than ever.”

_{1. https://journal-buildingscities.org/articles/10.5334/bc.87}

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Five ways data storage can advance your sustainability ambitions

Tue, 30 Jan 2024 00:00:00 +1100

As the world becomes increasingly focused on environmental, social and governance (ESG) initiatives, IT departments are actively driving sustainability efforts. No wonder, as IT is a significant contributor to energy consumption and there are considerable sustainability gains to be made with taking the right approach.

Many organisations are already heading down that sustainability path. According to the Dell Innovation Index, 52% of companies in Asia–Pacific and Japan (APJ) are actively working to reduce their overall IT carbon footprint. Additionally, 40% of APJ companies are turning to technology to get better visibility into their carbon impact. This tech lets them make data-driven sustainability decisions.

And the reality is, there’s a pressing need for companies to lift their game when it comes to sustainability. The massive growth in data has a knock-on effect in terms of data centre and storage power consumption and efficiency.

Then there’s the fact that we’ve seen the most significant energy price increases in the last 50 years, which makes data centres — and the massive amounts of power they consume — expensive to own and operate. Globally, they consume¹ approximately 200 terawatt-hours (TWh) of electricity, which is nearly 1% of all global electricity demand. It’s no surprise that implementing a green data centre² and hitting the “Environmental” aspect of ESG is top of mind for IT decision-makers.

That’s where modern storage comes in. There are five key benefits to sustainable data storage and how it can pave the way for a more energy-efficient and sustainable future.

1. Energy efficiency

Sustainable data storage solutions are designed to minimise energy consumption by utilising advanced hardware technologies, including solid-state drives (SSDs) and energy-efficient processors. By optimising power usage, organisations can significantly reduce their electricity bills while also shrinking their carbon footprint.

Software-defined storage: Virtualisation technologies and cloud computing play a pivotal role in sustainable data storage. By consolidating physical servers into virtual machines, you can achieve higher server utilisation rates, reducing the energy required to power and cool your hardware. Cloud-based storage solutions further enhance sustainability by offering on-demand scalability, allowing you to scale your storage capacity efficiently. The cloud’s shared infrastructure also enables resource pooling, optimising energy consumption and reducing waste, leading to a greener data centre.

2. Cost savings enabled by advanced technologies

The adoption of sustainable IT data storage can lead to substantial cost savings for your organisation. By optimising resource allocation and implementing advanced solutions that help drive energy efficiency, you can reduce your hardware and maintenance costs. High-density storage arrays can maximise your physical data centre footprint while reducing your carbon emissions and environmental footprint. For instance, the PowerMax 2500 delivers over 5x the effective capacity per watt consumed (PBe/watt) compared to the previous PowerMax generation.

Edge computing and artificial intelligence: Optimisation continues to gain traction as sustainable alternatives to traditional centralised data storage. By decentralising data processing and storage, edge computing reduces latency, enhances data security and minimises the need for extensive network infrastructure.

This aligns well with businesses’ sustainability goals, as you can reduce energy consumption and achieve greater operational efficiency. Additionally, AI-powered algorithms can analyse and optimise your data storage processes, ensuring energy-efficient operations. Machine learning algorithms can identify patterns in data usage, enabling proactive measures, such as data tiering, where frequently accessed data is stored on faster, lower-energy drives. By dynamically managing data placement and resource allocation, AI optimisation can reduce your energy consumption and enhance overall storage efficiency.

3. Minimising data footprints

Data deduplication and compression techniques are gaining popularity in sustainable data storage strategies. These methods eliminate your redundant or duplicate data, reducing storage requirements and enhancing overall system efficiency. Minimising your data footprint creates cost savings, improves backup and recovery times, and reduces energy consumption. As data continues to grow exponentially, deduplication and compression technologies will become increasingly vital for sustainable storage practices.

4. Environmental conservation

Traditional data storage infrastructure often consumes massive amounts of energy and relies on non-renewable resources. Sustainable data storage solutions, on the other hand, leverage renewable energy sources, such as solar and wind power, reducing carbon emissions and minimising environmental impact. Moreover, adopting renewable energy sources to power your data centre further reinforces your commitment to a sustainable future.

5. Regulatory compliance

Governments and regulatory bodies worldwide are imposing stricter environmental regulations, including those related to data storage. Sustainable storage practices help you comply with these regulations, avoiding penalties and legal complications. By embracing eco-friendly data storage solutions, you can stay ahead of compliance requirements and demonstrate your commitment to sustainable business practices.

Advancing sustainability, together

The growth of sustainable data storage is a testament to the industry’s commitment to mitigating the environmental impact of data storage practices. From virtualisation and cloud computing to renewable energy integration and emerging technologies like edge computing and AI optimisation, sustainable data storage continues to evolve. As organisations adopt and advance these practices, they not only secure their long-term viability but also contribute to a greener, more efficient and sustainable future.

_{1. https://www.datacenterfrontier.com/voices-of-the-industry/article/11427887/for-the-balance-sheet-and-the-sake-of-the-planet-its-time-data-centers-reduce-power-consumption-by-improving-utilization

2. https://www.dell.com/en-us/blog/rising-to-the-challenge-of-a-green-data-center/}

Image credit: iStock.com/baranozdemir

Exploring the impact of bright lighting on wildlife

Thu, 25 Jan 2024 00:00:00 +1100

Aotearoa New Zealand scientists have looked into the effects on flora and fauna of an increasingly lit-up nocturnal world.

Dr Ellen Cieraad and Dr Bridgette Farnworth from Nelson Marlborough Institute of Technology (NMIT) Te Pūkenga used satellite data to study the spread of artificial light at night (ALAN) in Aotearoa. They also summarised all the published literature on the impacts of ALAN on species and communities that have been described in the country to date, placing this information within the context of impacts observed globally.

They found that although most of New Zealand (95.2%) has no direct artificial light, its lit surface area increased by 37.4% (from 3.0% to 4.2%) between 2012 and 2021. Too much light at night can disrupt the daily routines and behaviour patterns of animals such as bats, wētā and seabirds, and affect the growth and seasonal cycles of trees.

“The rate at which New Zealand is brightening is faster than the global average,” Cieraad said.

In their paper, published in the New Zealand Journal of Ecology, the researchers single out LEDs as a potential area of concern. LEDs are characterised by a broad wavelength spectrum with a strong peak in the blue part of the spectrum. While representing a move towards greater sustainability, the global transition from high-pressure sodium (HPS) lights to LEDs nonetheless has the potential to substantially increase the magnitude of effects on species that are sensitive to specific wavelengths.

However, transitioning from HPS to LED lighting has also enabled the dimming of Auckland’s public streetlights for much of the night — something the researchers note may have contributed to fewer reported environmental impacts compared with cities experiencing similar transitions elsewhere.

Fortunately, light pollution is relatively easy to address if there is enough will to do so.

“We have the technology to reduce the impact of the light we emit into the environment, including shielding the light, using motion sensors, dimmers and different colours of light. But the first question should always be: Do we really need light here, in the first place?” Cieraad said.

In addition to technological measures, the researchers called for greater regulation of guidelines and standards across Aotearoa New Zealand; these are currently adopted on a voluntary basis by commercial fishing vessels, the cruise industry and the lighting industry.

Cieraad and Farnworth intend their study to provide a foundation to support the development of future research directions and relevant mitigation measures for artificial light at night in New Zealand.

“We found that artificial light at night is a highly understudied pollutant for New Zealand. More than 30% of the existing research here was based on simple observations of how light alters animal behaviour rather than proper, experimental trials. So clearly, this indicates we need additional research,” Farnworth said.

This is not about banishing light. It’s an opportunity for us, as a nation, to think about how we can convert ourselves to be ‘shadow architects’ and build ecofriendly places that include darkness as part of the habitat,” she concluded.

Image credit: iStock.com/Skyimages

The global need for better cooling

Mon, 22 Jan 2024 00:00:00 +1100

Unless drastic action is taken, the cooling sector presents an alarming threat to our rapidly warming planet. This was the overriding message of ‘Keeping it Chill: How to meet cooling demands while cutting emissions’, a report published during the COP28 climate talks in Dubai.

Initiated by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP)’s Cool Coalition, the report found that cooling equipment currently represents 20% of total electricity consumption, with this figure expected to more than double by 2050 based on current growth trends.

Greenhouse gas emissions from the industry’s power consumption will increase, alongside leakage of refrigerant gases, most of which have a much higher global warming potential than carbon dioxide. Under a business-as-usual scenario, emissions from cooling are predicted to account for more than 10% of global emissions in 2050.

It’s not all doom and gloom, however. The report states that if key measures are taken to reduce the power consumption of cooling equipment, this would cut at least 60% off predicted 2050 sectoral emissions, provide universal access to life-saving cooling, take the pressure off energy grids and save trillions of dollars by 2050.

The report was released in support of the Global Cooling Pledge, a joint initiative between the United Arab Emirates as host of COP28 and the Cool Coalition. Over 60 countries have signed up to the Pledge with commitments to reduce the climate impact of the cooling sector.

“The cooling sector must grow to protect everyone from rising temperatures, maintain food quality and safety, keep vaccines stable and economies productive,” said Inger Andersen, Executive Director of UNEP.

“But this growth must not come at the cost of the energy transition and more intense climate impacts. Countries and the cooling sector must act now to ensure low-carbon cooling growth. Fortunately, the solutions are available today. Getting energy-efficient, sustainable cooling right offers an opportunity to cut global warming, improve the lives of hundreds of millions of people and realise huge financial savings.”

Climate change, population and income growth, and urbanisation are all contributing to an increased demand for cooling. Around 1.2 billion people in Africa and Asia lack access to cooling services, putting lives at risk from extreme heat, reducing farmers’ incomes, driving food loss and waste, and hindering universal vaccine access.

Rising demand for often inefficient equipment, including air conditioners and refrigerators, will require large investments in electricity generation and distribution infrastructure. Inefficient equipment will also result in high electricity bills for end users, particularly in Africa and South Asia, where the fastest growth is predicted.

“The private sector has a huge role to play in financing and driving innovation to advance sustainable cooling, which can help fulfil vital local development needs and support global carbon reduction targets. We are pleased to contribute to the Global Cooling Stocktake Report and to support the Global Cooling Pledge,” said Makhtar Diop, Managing Director, International Finance Corporation.

What steps can be taken?

The report lays out sustainable cooling measures in three areas: passive cooling, higher energy efficiency standards and a faster phase-down of climate-warming refrigerants. Following the measures outlined in these areas would deliver the previously mentioned 60% in cuts; adding in rapid power grid decarbonisation would reduce sectoral emissions by 96%.

Passive cooling measures

Passive cooling measures — such as insulation, natural shading, ventilation and reflective surfaces — can dramatically reduce cooling loads. These can be provided, in part, by the development and enforcement of building energy codes that incorporate passive cooling, as well as through urban design.

Such strategies can curb the growth in demand for cooling capacity in 2050 by 24%, result in capital cost savings of up to US$3 trillion in avoidance of new cooling equipment and reduce emissions by 1.3 billion tons of CO2e.

Higher efficiency standards

Higher efficiency standards and better labelling of all cooling equipment would triple the global average efficiency of cooling equipment in 2050 from today’s levels, delivering 30% of modelled energy savings, lowering energy bills and improving the resilience and financial viability of cold chains.

Critical implementing policies include regularly updated Minimum Energy Performance Standards (MEPS), financial instruments to encourage demand for higher efficiency products and regulations to avoid the dumping of low efficiency cooling equipment into developing countries.

Kigali Amendment

The world has committed to phasing down HFCs through the Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol — a global deal designed to protect the ozone layer and slow climate change.

Faster action is possible and can achieve a halving of HFC emissions in 2050 — compared to the Kigali phase-down timetable — through rapid uptake of better technologies in new equipment, better refrigerant management and stronger national enforcement.

Finance is critical

According to the report, the sustainable cooling transition will be made affordable through total life cycle cost savings of $22 trillion ($17 trillion in power cost savings plus $5 trillion in power generation investments). Existing business models need to be scaled to use these savings to reduce upfront costs and make the transition affordable for all.

Financial tools include on-bill financing (when a utility pays for an upgrade and recovers the cost through monthly power bills), risk-sharing facilities, public and private investments, green mortgages and seed financing for cold chains. For many developing countries, dedicated concessional finance will be needed as well as incorporating sustainable cooling criteria into banks’ lending practices.

“As temperatures rise, it is critical that we work together to improve energy efficiency and reduce emissions from the cooling sector while increasing access to sustainable cooling,” said Dr Sultan Al Jaber, COP28 President.

“This access is especially important for the most vulnerable communities, who have often contributed the least to climate change but are the most exposed to its impacts.”

Image credit: iStock.com/RealPeopleGroup

Optimising Australian networks and speeding electrification

Thu, 21 Dec 2023 00:00:00 +1100

Multiple reports released throughout 2023, including the New South Wales Government’s Electricity Supply and Reliability Check-Up, have reinforced the main challenge facing Australia’s energy sector: we need to diversify our approach to the clean energy transition or risk losing grid reliability. In fact, this report’s specific recognition of untapped capacity sitting within the grid highlights the pressing need for infrastructure optimisation beyond physical projects and transmission lines, with new methodologies like digital analysis critical to maximising the grid’s full potential.

Australian network service providers (NSPs) are increasingly deploying AI and machine learning-powered capabilities to unlock untapped network capacity and bring renewables online faster. This diversified approach aims to de-risk the clean energy transition by sourcing untapped capacity, but technology can and should be playing a greater role in stabilising energy supply as renewables are brought online.

Based on digital modelling of the NSW network, there are up to 10 gigawatts of available yet untapped capacity sitting within the existing grid with a clear accessibility pathway. This volume of available power requires little network augmentation and funding and could provide more energy than HumeLink, Central West Orana and Eraring combined. Essentially, this would give us enough renewable generation in time to counter the exit of fossil-fuelled power stations like Eraring, without waiting for the delivery of new transmission projects.

With further analysis and modelling, this figure could rise significantly not only in NSW but across Australia. Neara’s AI-enabled digital modelling of Essential Energy’s network, which covers nearly 900,000 homes and businesses, allowed the network to unlock significant capacity across its 1.4 million conductors by showing the volume of energy distribution available to be transported could more than double with only minimal cost and time investment required. By modelling each span individually, capacity in certain parts of Essential’s network was twice as high as previously thought under a crude standards model. These findings alleviated the requirements for export limits on rooftop solar and allowed larger systems to be installed on residential and commercial premises.

Sourcing network capacity with advanced digital line ratings

Digital line ratings can play a critical role in bringing renewable energy online at an accelerated pace. In the United States, EMPACT Engineering scaled its adoption of Neara’s platform for wider processes including line ratings, allowing the identification of more opportunities to bring more electricity online using only existing assets, finding 94.5% of lines could safely run at double their capacity. This assisted EMPACT in helping utilities more effectively navigate extreme weather and resultant demand spikes while bringing more clean energy online faster.

While there are still limits to how much energy utilities can run at once, technology in this use case helps utilities implement standards at a line-by-line level offering critical flexibility not provided by crude, conservative models traditionally deployed for safety. Traditional line rating methods that evaluate capacity usage are still largely manual, requiring individual engineers to be sent into the field to record, compile and analyse data from each stretch of the network. This process is incredibly time-consuming, laborious and cost-intensive, and fails to provide the level of detail or visibility needed to accurately assess true capacity across an entire several-thousand-kilometre-long network.

This method has caused utilities to err on the side of caution to avoid the risk of overloading lines with potentially dangerous levels of current, as well as downstream clearance risks. This has left many utilities unable to reap the benefits of abundant clean energy projects because the conservative approach leaves little room for new energy integration. Without digitisation of the network to understand the actual capacity, clean energy projects otherwise ready to go are being put on hold due to a lack of confidence as to whether the capacity for them to be safely activated exists.

The potential of technology-driven transmission

The path to a sustainable energy future will be radically shaped by the convergence of technology and innovative thinking. Utilities are already combining multiple data sources including LiDAR, geospatial and satellite imagery to create a more accurate network picture at speed and with greater context. This not only means utilities can action infrastructure changes more efficiently including the strategic addition of taller poles or alternative conductors to accommodate more current, but to identify and aggregate latent network capacity pockets of all sizes to increase the flow of clean energy.

The shift from a manual, conservative approach to scalable data-driven analysis will play a pivotal role in unlocking capacity and fostering a transition towards a more sustainable, optimised future where clean energy is a reality. The combination of innovation and infrastructure will mark the success of the clean energy transition, serving as the paradigm shift required to ensure that 2030 and 2050 targets are not a possibility but a reality.

Image credit: iStock.com/zhengzaishuru

Thought Leaders 2024: Glenn Parsons

Tue, 05 Dec 2023 00:00:00 +1100

What growth opportunities do you predict for your industry in 2024?

In 2024, I see several growth opportunities for the industry as an increasing number of higher density optical fibre cables and connectors are deployed in international and national markets. The thirst for higher bandwidth services such as 5G wireless and 250 Mbps fixed line services, along with massive growth in cloud-based services, is driving demand for increasing levels of connectivity.

Telecommunications is constantly evolving and improving. The technology never stays still. New networks can take years to roll out and as they approach end of life, they are eventually replaced with the next generation of equipment. In this environment, the opportunity for growth can be realised through innovation, end-to-end next-generation solutions, maintained quality control and an unwavering focus on the customer and the challenges they face in transitioning their networks.

What are the three biggest challenges or threats facing your industry in 2024?

Three of the biggest challenges facing the industry in 2024 are as follows:

Maintaining supply chain stability

Maintaining reliable and consistent component supply for production and finished goods is critical to meeting customer requirements. Recent global events such as the COVID-19 outbreak in 2020 have shown us how supply chains can be disrupted causing long delays in material supply. As a result, carefully considered alternate supply chain options should be implemented wherever possible to mitigate the risk of supply chain disruption.

Controlling costs

The global economic outlook is uncertain. Rising inflation and rising interest rates are a common thread across many economies. The wars in Ukraine and the Gaza strip are adding to the uncertainty. Minimising increases in costs can be a significant challenge in this environment. Further escalation of global instability in 2024 would provide a significant challenge to the industry.

Continuing to fund R&D activity

Continuing to fund the required R&D activity in the current climate of rising interest rates is a challenge. However, as described above, to grow the business in 2024, ongoing development will be required.

How is your company mentoring staff and developing workforce skills in 2024 and beyond?

In recent times, employee training programs have been conducted on an as-need basis to assist employees with their current role. Most of the training has therefore been on-the-job training as required. The company has spent considerable time and effort focusing on quality control procedures to enhance the efficiency of the production line. This has reduced the lead time of product deliveries and enabled the production line to become more agile in its approach.

Attracting and maintaining a strong, capable workforce is a priority for the company in 2024. To assist with this endeavour, the plan is to further enhance the workforce development program by introducing additional online training focusing on developing the individual. It’s a more holistic approach which I hope will greatly benefit the employees and the company alike.

What resource recovery initiatives is your company planning to implement in 2024?

WBT is planning to expand our resource recovery initiatives in 2024 through a reduce, reuse, recycling approach. We have a well-established recycling process for metal, cardboard and electronic waste. In 2024, we are looking to further reduce and minimise our reliance on non-recyclable packaging materials. We are also looking to explore schemes that promote reuse of packaging materials with our customers for specific products where this makes sense. Some of these initiatives can be implemented in isolation. Other initiatives will require significant cooperation across the industry including suppliers, logistics partners and our customers.

We recently established a repair centre supporting the refurbishment and repair of legacy equipment for our customers. The repair centre has the capability to determine the failure modes of active equipment, repair it and then test against required specifications. In 2024, we are looking to extend the number of products supported by the repair centre allowing customers to extend the life of aging devices (as required) by repairing and reusing legacy devices in a cost-effective way.

Glenn Parsons, an innovative technology leader with an illustrious career, currently serves as the Chief Technology Officer at Warren and Brown Technologies. Joining the organisation in 2016, Glenn has played a pivotal role in shaping the company’s technological landscape. With a rich background in the tech industry, he brings a wealth of experience and expertise to his role.

Expanding Australia's grid: is underground power the answer?

Tue, 05 Dec 2023 00:00:00 +1100

The federal government has set a goal of more than 80% of electricity coming from renewable energy by 2030; one of the key pillars of this transition is the expansion of the grid to connect regional wind and solar projects, which involves new or upgraded transmission lines.

In order to better understand the challenges of expanding Australia’s grid for renewable energy initiatives, scientists from Curtin University and The University of Queensland have undertaken a detailed comparison of overhead and underground transmission lines.

Their report, ‘Comparing High Voltage Overhead and Underground Transmission Infrastructure’, presents the complex technical, economic, environmental and social factors that affect the public’s response to grid expansion projects.

Report lead author and Director of the Curtin Institute for Energy Transition Professor Peta Ashworth said the research underscores the need for increased public understanding of why new transmission infrastructure is needed and the trade-offs involved.

“While the decarbonisation of Australia’s energy system is a global imperative, an informed and engaged public is crucial to ensuring fairness and understanding during this transformative journey,” Ashworth said.

“Our research makes it clear that without strategic grid expansion, a successful transition to an eco-friendly economy is at risk and navigating the challenges ahead requires strong leadership, community involvement and fair consideration of all stakeholders.”

The report underscored a growing debate about what grid expansion means for the natural landscape, farming practices, property values and tourism — all common issues emerging from the case studies.

However, when the benefits of underground lines such as environmental, aesthetic or reduced maintenance were presented, these were not sufficient in people’s minds to overcome the issues surrounding cost. Some of the views expressed by Queensland focus group participants included the following:

“We’ve got wide spaces and a huge amount of countryside and obviously [for the costs involved] to be putting in underground powerlines in, you know, the middle of the outback would be absolutely ridiculous.”

“I think the problem is that we only have a limited of money to spend, whether it’s at the state, local or federal level. So if someone said we can either put everything under the ground or we can have free public health care for all Australia, I’ll probably go preferably health care.”

The report found that transmission infrastructure projects are facing several challenges because of global and national factors such as increasing costs, availability of skilled labour, supply risks and delays in gaining approvals.

It also found that alternating current overhead transmission lines have been proven worldwide over a long period of time to be the lowest-cost system for safe and reliable delivery of large amounts of energy over long distances.

However, it was difficult to ascertain the capital cost of underground compared to overhead transmission infrastructure due to the lack of recent projects, as well as current global and local economic factors with cost ratios varying from 3 to 20 depending on construction type, route length and specific project factors.

Co-author Professor Tapan Saha from The University of Queensland’s School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science said the team also found that, from a technical standpoint, high voltage alternating current (HVAC) underground cable transmission, while feasible, is limited to relatively short lengths due to the high electrical capacitance of transmission cables. On the other hand, high voltage direct current (HVDC) transmission can be considered as a viable option for long point-to-point connections and other specific applications.

“The challenges of underground cable transmission are rooted in the significant charging currents associated with their highly capacitive characteristics and reactive power compensation plants are necessary to mitigate the resultant energy losses, making this option economically demanding,” Saha said.

“But overseas experience shows to gain public acceptance and regulatory approvals, undergrounding certain sections of transmission lines was necessary in specific locations, particularly urban and environmentally significant areas.”

Despite the cost considerations, many study participants were looking for outcomes that can strike a balance between differing interests and priorities:

“I feel that everything needs a nice, even balance. You use overhead where it’s going to be more cost-effective and you use underground where it’s going to be more efficient. And I think that, you know developers: if they’re working smart, they will deliver in a way that is environmentally friendly, is cost-effective, but also it is going to keep the cost down and keep the power on.”

Ashworth said while there is no one-size-fits-all answer, involving both project developers and communities in open discussions can help to build trust in the process and more successfully lead to the identification of a preferred option.

“Our mission is to facilitate a sustainable energy transition that ensures fairness and understanding in embracing these challenges, and by engaging our communities to foster an improved understanding of the trade-offs, we can pave the way to a climate-friendly future,” she said.

The research was funded by Powerlink, a state government-owned corporation that develops, operates and maintains the high-voltage electricity transmission network in Queensland.

It should be noted that participants in the focus groups were from communities in Queensland and were not directly impacted by current or proposed transmission line developments.

The final report is available here.

Image caption: Workers lay high-voltage underground cable installation in Rarotonga in the Cook Islands. Image credit: iStock.com/chameleonseye

HVAC under strain as El Niño bites

Wed, 29 Nov 2023 00:00:00 +1100

With the Bureau of Meteorology declaring an El Niño event for this summer, bringing with it warmer and drier conditions and an increased likelihood of heatwaves, HVAC systems in Australia’s million-plus commercial buildings will need to work harder than ever, producing higher energy bills and greater emissions.

“Given that all Australian state capitals already have many days exceeding 35–40 degrees, the Australian Standard* for offices and factories of 21–24°C is going to be under some large pressure,” said Michael Fisher, Managing Director of Boon Edam Australia, part of a global group specialising in architectural revolving doors and security entrances.

“Given that commercial buildings are responsible for about 24% of Australia’s total energy consumption, the pressure is going to be on to maximise efficiencies while minimising emissions from hard-working air-conditioning plant,” Fisher said.

Keeping commercial energy bills down

Building owners and managers particularly prone to higher energy bills, closer emission scrutiny and duty-of-care issues this summer include those in charge of:

data centres and financial computing centres, which already draw large amounts of energy overall and face calls to reduce emissions;
public and private office buildings;
health centres, which have a particular responsibility to maintain even temperatures for their patients;
hotels and retail centres concerned about guest and customer comfort (Australia has more than 1600 shopping centres of more than 1000 m², and about 6000 hotels and similar establishments);
industrial workplaces, which have a duty of care for worker conditions, and also to maintain hygienic temperatures around delicate processes and perishable goods;
Australia’s 10,000 primary, secondary, TAFE and university colleges, which accommodate more than 5.6 million students and academic staff (including more than 4 million primary and secondary students and about 1.5 million at higher education facilities).

“Many of our stock of a million-plus non-residential buildings are upgrading their HVAC systems to the best modern standards, while architects, builders and managers generally are paying far greater attention to producing ‘tight’ buildings that don’t leak expensively conditioned air and place greater load on plant,” Fisher said.

“Many also are highly aware of the amount of HVAC air that is dumped out onto the footpath every time a sliding or conventional door is used — which is nearly all the time in busy government and private buildings, particularly service and transport centres.

“We don’t pretend for a moment that revolving doors are a total answer to energy sustainability objectives — that is a multifaceted issue — but we do believe that some buildings have a sustainability blind spot when it comes to the obvious benefits of revolving door entrances, with their ‘always open, always closed’ functionality.

“One of the difficulties in the past has been actually measuring the doors’ impact on sustainability, and obtaining practical ROI information as the cost of energy continually goes up and the ROI continually tracks down.”

Measuring energy savings

Boon Edam — which operates in 27 countries globally — has set out to provide architects, builders and managers with a reliable estimation tool to quantify the gains.

The company partnered with Delft University of Technology (TU Delft) to develop a scientifically validated software that is now available in Australia, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea.

“The software’s science-based approach gives specifiers the chance to demonstrate to their clients what many of them have known for years: revolving doors offer permanent gains in energy efficiency across the spectrum of commercial building types, both existing structures and new buildings seeking NABERS or National Electricity Market (NEM) measurable sustainability credentials,” Fisher said.

The software was first used to test Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane building models. It showed that the payback period for installing a revolving door, instead of a less energy-efficient sliding door, is shrinking rapidly as energy prices accelerate quickly. Calculated on this year’s prevailing energy prices (which are due to rise again early in 2024), Melbourne has the quickest payback time of four years, followed by Brisbane at 4.9 years and Sydney at 5.7 years and shrinking.

The energy calculation software quantifies the benefits of revolving doors compared to sliding doors when considering energy savings and prevention of draught. Users are provided with a format into which to enter specific data for their facility, which is then processed by the new Boon Edam propriety software. The software calculates and reports on data including:

energy savings in kWh per month throughout the year when a revolving door is installed instead of a sliding door;
payback time of a revolving door compared to an automatic sliding door;
the area of the floor behind both door types, where according to DIN standards, serious discomfort from draught can be expected.

Fisher said that for building specifiers seeking to achieve green performance ratings, it can no longer be a question of ‘What is the cheapest door upfront?’, but rather ‘How can we create a sustainable, secure and comfortable environment that meets national and global standards of sustainability and returns benefits starting immediately and extending over decades?’

_{*AS1837- 1976 Code of Practice.}

Image credit: iStock.com/ DNY59

Are virtual site visits the key to a net zero construction sector?

Tue, 21 Nov 2023 00:00:00 +1100

Almost all (95%) construction, engineering and property (CEP) business leaders in Australia say that decarbonisation and emissions reduction is central to their organisation’s overall sustainability agenda, compared to just 86% of those from all other sectors, according to research commissioned by aerial technology company Nearmap.

The construction industry alone is one of Australia’s largest industries, responsible for approximately 9% of the country’s GDP. However, the built environment sector has a disproportionate amount of greenhouse emissions — reportedly being responsible for one-quarter of Australia’s emissions. This presents a significant opportunity for the industry to lead in achieving net zero carbon for Australian buildings, and it could be a reality by 2040, as laid out in a guide produced by UNSW Sydney.

According to Nearmap, location intelligence technology tools that enable virtual site visits have the potential to help reduce carbon emissions, eg, cutting just two physical site visits each day that would normally require one hour of travel time can have a significant impact. Nearmap estimates that companies can potentially reduce up to 5280 kg of carbon emissions and save up to AU$34,100 a year.

The company’s research found that while 93% of CEP leaders believe technologies such as aerial imagery and geospatial analytics can help reduce carbon emissions and achieve sustainability goals, the reported usage of technology across the sector is currently only 75%. Barriers to adoption include limited awareness and understanding of available technologies (60%); lack of technology tools and solutions (57%); and financial constraints (56%).

The technologies deemed most useful by leaders from the CEP sector in helping reduce carbon emissions or achieving sustainability goals were:

Environmental impact assessment and monitoring tools (57%).
Geospatial analytics and insights powered by AI (49%).
Advanced measurement and measurement tools (47%).
High-resolution aerial imagery of areas across Australia (45%).

“It is encouraging to see that 93% of CEP business leaders believe technology can help reduce emissions — particularly as there has long been a misconception that deep technical or geospatial knowledge is needed to implement solutions that can help companies meet decarbonisation goals,” said Daniel Paull, Executive Vice President and General Manager, Nearmap Australia and New Zealand.

“The power of making simple changes like switching to virtual site visits should not be underestimated — understanding this will help overcome the barriers to adoption identified by the research and lift usage of technologies that can help contribute to a greener future for all.”

Nearmap’s white paper ‘Decarbonising Australia’s Built World with Technology’ can be accessed here.

Image credit: iStock.com/ipopba

Robust power grid needed for once-in-a-decade demand

Tue, 21 Nov 2023 00:00:00 +1100

The Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) has completed its 2023–24 Summer Readiness Overview, outlining expected weather conditions, energy system preparations and contingencies to maintain electricity reliability in Australia’s main power systems this summer.

AEMO works on an ongoing basis with generation and transmission businesses, federal and state governments, and key agencies to manage risks to the National Electricity Market (NEM) that serves the eastern and south-eastern regions of Australia, and the Western Australian South West Interconnected System (SWIS).

“Our extensive planning with industry, governments and network businesses aims to have enough generation and transmission available year-round to meet consumers’ electricity needs,” said AEMO Executive General Manager Operations Michael Gatt.

“This year’s summer forecast is for hot and dry El Niño conditions, increasing the risk of bushfires and extreme heat, which could see electricity demand reach a 1-in-10-year high across the eastern states and in Western Australia.”

In August, AEMO identified periods when electricity reliability thresholds were at risk in the NEM and SWIS this summer.

“The entire industry has been focusing and continues to focus on managing possible risks for the summer ahead, particularly during high demand periods,” Gatt said.

To mitigate such risks, AEMO is in the process of procuring additional reserves through the Interim Reliability Reserve and Reliability and Emergency Reserve Trader (RERT) mechanisms in the NEM. In Western Australia, it is tendering for reserves through the Supplementary Reserve Capacity mechanism.

Compared to last summer in the NEM, an average 1500 MW of scheduled generation and an extra 2000 MW of generation capacity from new wind and solar projects will be available this summer. In the WEM, nearly 50 MW of extra scheduled generation is expected to be available.

However, an expert from RMIT has cautioned that more measures need to be put into place.

“According to the Australian Energy Market Operator we are in a much better position than last year due to additional wind and solar capacity added to the system,” said Associate Professor Lasantha Meegahapola from the university’s Electrical and Biomedical Engineering department.

“However, the amount of energy produced by these renewable power sources is significantly lower compared to traditional generators, since they can only produce power when there’s wind and sun.

“Relying too much on these generation sources is too risky without a large storage capacity built into the network.”

While having additional wind and solar power should reduce the risk of blackouts in the coming hot summer, blackout risk cannot be ruled out, Meegahapola said.

“The operator needs careful planning to optimally utilise the additional wind and solar generators while coordinating with the energy storage systems.

“As we move towards a low-carbon power grid, the network requires more storage capacity to firm the output of the wind and solar energy generators.

Meegahapola, who conducts research into renewable power generation, power system stability and microgrids, said community or neighbourhood batteries and microgrids should also form part of the mix.

“These solutions would help us construct a more robust power grid that can cope with extreme weather conditions.”

In addition to its collaboration with industry, governments and network businesses to identify and plan for relevant summer risk scenarios, AEMO said it had undertaken extensive briefings and emergency exercises to test contingency plans and communication processes ahead of summer.

Image credit: iStock.com/Wirestock

How decarbonisation is affecting coal power workers

Wed, 08 Nov 2023 00:00:00 +1100

Over the past decade, approximately one-third of Australia’s coal-fired power stations closed, with more expected in coming years.

Drawing on individual wage micro-data of workers in the coal-fired power sector, the non-partisan economic research institute e61 investigated how these workers, and by extension their families, are being impacted by power station closures. It found that former coal-fired power station workers experience a greater drop in wages than other industries following redundancy, earning 69% less compared to 43% less for those in other sectors.

E61 analyst and paper co-author Elyse Dwyer said that while it was common to see wages decrease when a worker is made redundant, the dip seen among ex-coal energy workers is substantially larger than that observed in other industries.

“After four years, coal-fired power plant workers earned around 50% less than their pre-redundancy earnings, compared to 29% for all other workers, with lower-skilled workers seeing the greatest relative decrease.

“There’s a variety of factors that may cause this, such as many coal-industry workers being located in regional areas without abundant alternatives for high-wage jobs, but other crucial factors are the age of the workers being made redundant and the potential non-transferability of skills,” Dwyer said.

According to Dan Andrews, e61’s Head of Research and Policy Engagement, managing this earnings impact will be an important factor in the success of Australia’s efforts to move away from fossil fuels. “Public support for progress on our climate and net zero goals will require careful management to mitigate some of the impacts faced by these communities,” Andrews said.

CEO of the e61 Institute Michael Brennan added that the paper’s findings are an important first step in designing policy to support workers and communities affected by the energy transition.

“Understanding the distinct experience of these workers — and getting at the underlying drivers of their larger earnings decline — will help inform policymakers to design and target the right interventions. There could be a need for specifically designed support.

“This work highlights the value of large-scale microdata in informing our understanding and potential responses to this once-in-a-generation economic transition,” Brennan said.

E61’s paper, ‘At the Coalface: What Happens to Workers Displaced by Decarbonisation’, can be downloaded here.

Image credit: iStock.com/Tenedos

Exposing the vulnerabilities of smart homes

Mon, 30 Oct 2023 00:00:00 +1100

Smart homes are becoming increasingly interconnected, comprising an array of consumer-oriented Internet of Things (IoT) devices ranging from smartphones and smart TVs to virtual assistants and CCTV cameras. These devices have cameras, microphones and other ways of sensing what is happening in our most private spaces — our homes.

Led by IMDEA Networks and Northeastern University in collaboration with NYU Tandon School of Engineering, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid (UC3M), IMDEA Software, the University of Calgary and the International Computer Science Institute, the research team looked into the intricacies of local network interactions between 93 IoT devices and mobile apps. Their study, titled ‘In the Room Where It Happens: Characterizing Local Communication and Threats in Smart Homes’, was presented at the ACM Internet Measurement Conference (ACM IMC’23) in Montreal, Canada.

“When we think of what happens between the walls of our homes, we think of it as a trusted, private place. In reality, we find that smart devices in our homes are piercing that veil of trust and privacy — in ways that allow nearly any company to learn what devices are in your home, to know when you are home, and learn where your home is,” said David Choffnes, Associate Professor of Computer Science and Executive Director of the Cybersecurity and Privacy Institute at Northeastern University.

“These behaviours are generally not disclosed to consumers, and there is a need for better protections in the home.”

The study’s findings illuminated new threats associated with the inadvertent exposure of sensitive data by IoT devices within local networks using standard protocols such as UPnP or mDNS. These threats include the exposure of unique device names, universally unique identifiers (UUIDs) and even household geolocation data, all of which can be harvested by companies involved in surveillance capitalism without user awareness.

According to Vijay Prakash, a PhD student from NYU Tandon who co-authored the paper, the team found evidence of IoT devices inadvertently exposing at least one piece of PII (personally identifiable information), such as a unique hardware address (MAC), UUID or unique device name, in thousands of real-world smart homes. Any single PII is useful for identifying a household, but combining three of them together makes a house very unique and easily identifiable, Prakash said.

“For comparison, if a person is fingerprinted using the simplest browser fingerprinting technique, they are as unique as one in 1500 people. If a smart home with all three types of identifiers is fingerprinted, it is as unique as one in 1.12 million smart homes,” Prakash said.

These local network protocols can be employed as side channels to access data that is supposedly protected by several mobile app permissions, such as household locations.

“A side channel is a sneaky way of indirectly accessing sensitive data. For example, Android app developers are supposed to request and obtain users’ consent to access data like geolocation. However, we have shown that certain spyware apps and advertising companies do abuse local network protocols to silently access such sensitive information without any user awareness. All they have to do is kindly ask for it [from] other IoT devices deployed in the local network using standard protocols like UPnP,” said Narseo Vallina-Rodriguez, Associate Research Professor of IMDEA Networks and co-founder of AppCensus.

“Our study shows that the local network protocols used by IoT devices are not sufficiently protected and expose sensitive information about the home and the use we make of the devices. This information is being collected in an opaque way and makes it easier to create profiles of our habits or socioeconomic level,” added Juan Tapiador, Professor at UC3M.

The impact of the research extends far beyond academia. The team’s findings underscore the imperative for manufacturers, software developers, IoT and mobile platform operators, and policymakers to take action to enhance the privacy and security guarantees of smart home devices and households. The research team responsibly disclosed these issues to vulnerable IoT device vendors and to Google’s Android Security Team, already triggering security improvements in some of these products.

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Transforming home security through AI

Tue, 24 Oct 2023 00:00:00 +1100

For the first time in over a decade, home break-ins are on the rise, according to data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).¹ In 2022, 2% of Australian homes — equating to 194,100 households — experienced a break-in.

While community programs and laws will always have a role in keeping homes safe, new technology can provide an important extra layer of security. Artificial intelligence (AI), in particular, can make home security smarter, according to telecommunications company Uniden. Unlike old systems, AI security can learn what’s normal for a home. For example, AI notifications can focus specifically on a pet, human or car in the driveway. This tailored approach can drastically reduce false alarms, making it more likely that only relevant alerts reach homeowners.

Uniden has identified some key features of AI-equipped devices and how they can help enhance home security:

Intelligent surveillance and sensitivity settings

AI-powered cameras can detect motion and understand its context, with users able to adjust sensitivity settings, focus on specific areas or rely on thermo sense technology to identify different types of movement. These settings can significantly reduce the number of false alarms.

3K resolution for refined detail

An AI-powered camera with an ultra-3K lens resolution offers the ability to zoom in and capture high-quality footage in intricate detail, enabling a clear view of what’s happening on a property.

AI-enhanced dual lens for a comprehensive view

Thanks to dual lens hardware, modern security cameras can seamlessly merge two videos into one expansive image, offering a 170-degree-wide field of view. This technology captures a more extensive view than traditional security cameras permit. Additionally, the enhanced visuals can trigger AI-powered notifications for specific detections like pets, humans and more.

Spotlight and intelligent colour night vision

Cameras equipped with a powerful 440 lumens spotlight activate when the camera detects a person or vehicle, illuminating the area and adding colour to night vision footage up to 30 metres away. This AI-powered feature acts as a deterrent to intruders while ensuring that any alerts received are worth checking immediately.

Two-way communication with privacy masking

Two-way communication helps a user monitor their property in 3K quality from anywhere in the world, allowing them to interact with visitors or oversee deliveries when away from home. Additionally, the privacy marking setting offers the option to black out areas a homeowner doesn’t want recorded. This allows surveillance to be focused where it’s most needed, such as the front and back doors, where most people enter and exit the building.

For more information, visit www.uniden.com.au.

_{1. https://www.abs.gov.au/media-centre/media-releases/break-ins-increase-after-record-low}

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How AI is optimising HVAC

Tue, 10 Oct 2023 00:00:00 +1100

Currently, HVAC — heating, ventilation and air conditioning — represents, on average, about 40% of a building’s total energy use, according to analysis by the International Energy Agency. Methods that conserve electricity while still providing a comfortable indoor environment for workers could make a significant difference in the fight against climate change.

Now, researchers from Osaka University have devised an AI-driven algorithm for controlling HVAC systems that demonstrates significant energy savings. This method does not require complex physics modelling, or even detailed previous knowledge about the building itself, the scientists said.

During cold weather, it is sometimes challenging for conventional sensor-based systems to determine when the heating should be shut off. This is due to thermal interference from lighting, equipment or even the heat produced by the workers themselves. It can lead to the HVAC being activated when it should not be, wasting energy.

To overcome these obstacles, the researchers employed a control algorithm that worked to predict the thermodynamic response of the building based on data collected. According to the researchers, this approach can be more effective than attempting to explicitly calculate the impact of a multitude of complex factors that might affect the temperature, such as insulation and heat generation. Here, the HVAC control system was designed to ‘learn’ the symbolic relationships between the variables, including power consumption, based on a large dataset.

“Our autonomous system showed significant energy savings, of 30% or more for office buildings, by leveraging the predictive power of machine learning to optimise the times the HVAC should operate,” said lead author Dafang Zhao. “Importantly, the rooms were comfortably warm despite it being winter.”

The algorithm worked to minimise the total energy consumed, the difference between the actual and desired room temperature, and the change in the rate of power output at peak demand. “Our system can be easily customised to prioritise energy conservation or temperature accuracy, depending on the needs of the situation,” added senior author Ittetsu Taniguchi.

The researchers noted that their approach may see rapid adoption during times of rising energy costs, making their findings good for both the environment and the bottom line.

The team’s article, ‘Data-driven Online Energy Management Framework for HVAC Systems: an Experimental Study’, was published in the journal Applied Energy.

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Smart solar made simpler

Tue, 10 Oct 2023 00:00:00 +1100

However, BIPVs come with extra complexity in predicting performance and sourcing appropriate technology, which has made them a far less popular choice for new installations in Australia compared with conventional roof-mounted panels. But new technology devised by Australian scientists might be set to change this.

A team at RMIT has created a software tool — dubbed the BIPV Enabler — to help architects and engineers incorporate, source and cost BIPV in a building’s conceptual design phase. The software, funded by RMIT and the Australian Renewable Energy Agency, is the first of its kind to be designed using Australian data.

The tool integrates product, regulation, technical, economic and construction data to create 3D models and detailed life cycle simulations tailored to each building’s planned location. It comes as the construction of Australia’s first office tower to be fully clad in solar panels was announced last year.

“This is the perfect solution for building designers and developers looking to select the right solar option to suit their design,” said project lead Associate Professor Rebecca Yang, from RMIT’s Solar Energy Application Group.

“We’re making integrated solar a more attractive option to developers, slicing the time it would normally take to research and implement incognito solar devices.

“This isn’t just for new buildings either. Those looking to retrofit integrated solar into existing buildings will benefit too,” added Yang, who is also the Director of the Australian PV Institute and driving the BIPV Alliance.

RMIT Associate Professor Rebecca Yang with student Aminath Samaha, who is using the BIPV Enabler during class.

Nic Bao, a lecturer in architecture at RMIT, said having a tool to effortlessly incorporate factors such as climate, building code and materials would make solar-savvy design easier.

“There are so many technical factors to consider when integrating BIPV into a design that it hadn’t been a popular choice, which was a missed opportunity,” he said.

“Making BIPV design more accessible promotes sustainable development of energy-efficient buildings, while providing opportunities for low-carbon architecture.”

Another challenge faced by designers and developers using integrated solar is choosing and sourcing materials. BIPV Enabler can assist with this through a photovoltaic product database where Australian suppliers can be easily identified.

Among the tool’s features are maps, a 3D shape library, solar visualisations, hourly weather data, and pricing information for materials and feed-in tariffs.

Yang said BIPV Enabler also works with computer-aided design programs and could be scaled and customised to incorporate other open-source datasets to suit changing needs.

“We hope to see more buildings capable of generating solar electricity, while maintaining good design standards — a win for the planet and aesthetics,” Yang said.

For more information about BIPV Enabler, contact the Solar Energy Application Group.

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Pinpointing a powerline fault — in minutes

Tue, 03 Oct 2023 00:00:00 +1100

Given that some of Victoria’s worst bushfires have been started by powerlines, power distribution companies have installed devices that will limit the energy flowing to a fault to cut the fire risk. While this increases community safety, it also means communities might experience lengthy power outages while network operators attempt to track down the fault.

“In trials in China and Switzerland we demonstrated that our technology can find the fault location to within hundreds of metres in a few minutes, instead of hours or days,” said Monash University engineering researcher Dr Reza Razzaghi.

“In Australia, that would allow power to be restored to the community quickly, which can be vitally important for air conditioning during extreme heat, for people who rely on life-supporting electric medical devices, and for the many other home and business users.”

Since Australian grids have different characteristics from those in the trial countries, a proof-of-concept project was undertaken recently, supported by the Centre for New Energy Technologies (C4NET) and two major distribution network service providers in Victoria.

Razzaghi’s theoretical work on the technology is also being supported by an Australian Research Council (ARC) Discovery Early Career Researcher Award (DECRA). The theoretical advances made through the project will form a crucial step in developing commercial products to pinpoint powerline faults at scale in real electricity networks, specifically for an Australian context.

Inside the technology

Following the Black Saturday fires, Victoria’s distribution network service providers widely adopted devices called rapid earth fault current limiters (REFCLs) across power networks in high-fire-risk areas. These devices are installed at substations and function like a safety switch. When a fault is detected on one of the three wires that make up a high-voltage power distribution line, the device rapidly reduces the amount of energy flowing to the fault.

Since their rollout, REFCLs have been effective in reducing fire risks associated with powerline faults. However, in networks with REFCLs, faults leave little or no visible evidence, which leads to repair crews undertaking potentially long and arduous searches in order to find the problem.

A fault in a powerline, caused say by a falling tree, generates a series of characteristic electrical signals that travel on the line. Razzaghi and his team realised that they could analyse these signals to locate the fault.

They used a technique known as time reversal, which has been employed in other applications such as medical imaging and telecommunications.

“Our system automatically records and analyses the fault signals propagating through the powerline,” Razzaghi said. “Then it uses a model of the power network in an embedded computer to play back the signal transmission in reverse. This involves many real-time calculations, but in seconds to minutes it can locate the fault, to within hundreds of metres.”

While competing technologies are in development, the advantage of the time reversal technology is that it requires far fewer devices to be installed in a power network. This was demonstrated during the team’s extensive trial in Switzerland, where tests involved a mixed overhead and underground 22 kV distribution network. Installed in a zone substation, the fault location technology successfully found the location of faults in the branched network.

Image credit: iStock.com/Faith Moran