Cape No. 7 and memoirs.....

Thanks to Alex L. Malthus' recommendation of Cape No. 7 (http://sustainology.blogspot.com/2008/11/blog-post_16.html), I watched that movie.

It stirred up some of my memories..... esp. with that catchphrase "Stay! Or I'll go with you!"

I also had some discussions in the guhk forum.

So, I decided to put this memories into memoirs.

I'll start with the persons' names first. Over time, I will fill in the details.

1. Ms Cheung - Girl on Bus Route 102

2. Mrs. B. L. (nee W.) - The summer class girl I still have contact with.

3. Ms. TAP Receptionist - Material girl.

4. Ms. Mdy - A real possibility but we were "ordinary people!"

5. Ms. F-a T. - The little sister in the whole company.

6. Ms. Apple - The girl that approached me.

7. Ms. D.K. - Have any girl asked you, "Fire, marry me!" She did!

8. Mrs. M.T. N. (nee K.) - A story not started.

9. Mrs. W.W.Y. W. (nee C.) - We've gone so far, but .... the one that I might say "Stay or I'll go with you!"

10. Ms. P. H. - She didn't ask me, "Marry me!" But the way she acted was saying so.

11. Ms. J.C. - An elder sister like girl that shutted the door.

12. Mrs. E.N. (nee C.) - I still have feelings for her. The other girl that I should ask myself "Stay or I'll go with you!"

13. Mrs. J. (nee T.) - A misunderstanding?....

14. Ms. L. - Yet another girl that implicitly invited me to approach her. But ....

15. Mrs. K. C. (nee L.) - Who else but my wife now!

P.S. Tomoko M. - The Japanese pen friend I have never met face to face.

Some new ideas

Instead of staying quiet for a while, I just think of an idea.

This is about posting the links that I read for the day.

So I can keep track of what info and blogs I've gone through.

Today, I skip through the following info:

Magnetic train:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnetic_levitation_train
http://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E7%A3%81%E6%87%B8%E6%B5%AE%E5%88%97%E8%BB%8A

Lunar space elevator:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lunar_space_elevator

Other house energy rating software - Sustainability Victoria

ZTC Ltd. Tether-Sling Prototype - Page 10 - Orbiter-Forum

What is a well ventilated fridge space?

What is indoor or sheltered clothes drying line?

Energy Labelling - Selecting an efficient appliance Clothes dryer

Energy Labelling - Selecting an efficient appliance dish washer

Here are the url's I've read through yesterday or before, as from my firefox's browsing history:

Raining goals as Cahill and Co make statement - Football - Sport - smh.com.au

We were a circus: Rio praises new England order - Football - Sport - smh.com.au

Australian Building Codes Board: BCA 2008 Volume Two - List of Amendments

[轉貼][科技探討]MK82的衝擊——解析MK82核彈的原理 - 高達專區 - 動畫/漫畫 - 香港討論區 discuss.com.hk - 一個香港只得一個香港討論區

Which Linux makes the best business Windows replacement desktop? | Computerworld Blogs

Shorelink Library Network

Nabers Performance Rating Calculator

Windows Energy Ratings Scheme - WERS

MSI Announces Wind 2, Says Customers Hate Linux | Gadget Lab from Wired.com

Why smart people uses Linux « TransLXP - By Infrasound

Canonical Confirms MSI's Linux Return Rate Statement

Why so stupid?: how the human race has never really learned to think - Google Search

Edward de Bono - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

1/144 HG GN-X III A-Laws Type

Sale Items www.hlj.com

Main Page - DramaWiki

Linux Mint 5 "Elyssa" - XFCE Community Edition - Linux Mint

Solar power satellite - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

gundam 00 technology - Search results - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Artificial intelligence - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

pagetable.com » Blog Archive » Bill Gates’ Personal Easter Eggs in 8 Bit BASIC

Asustek launches new Eee PC laptop - Articles - Laptops - Digital Life

VF-25F Messiah Valkyrie Aruto Type (Plastic model) Bandai Macross Frontier 1/72

Space tourism - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Spaceflight - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Real Cost of Space Exploration - a knol by Edward Isarevich

Moon - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Earth Statistics

What is the diameter of the Sun?

Bureau - New South Wales Observations

Australian Water Availability - Solar Exposure

The Gardens of Babylon: Preliminary ideas about my PhD project

HVAC Systems

Hydrogen, H2, Physical properties, safety, MSDS, enthalpy, material compatibility, gas liquid equilibrium, density, viscosity, flammability, transport properties

Hydrogen - Specific Heat Capacity

SE_Ideal_App_for_FEL.pdf (application/pdf Object)

Space Elevator GEO Station on Flickr - Photo Sharing!

Music of the Spheres: Popular Space Elevator View

Space maths & physics forum - Orbiter Forums

AttitudeMFD - OrbiterWiki

What is Earth's mean radius? - a definition from Whatis.com

Toshiba takes wraps off netbook | Register Hardware

Berbatov nets twice in United romp - Football - Sport - smh.com.au

The ROI of PC power management |Sustainable IT | Ted Samson | InfoWorld

Chinese Proverbs quotes

Water Efficiency Labelling and Standards (WELS) Scheme home page

Where Windows is #2 to Linux | Computerworld Blogs

Full Circle Magazine | Issue 17

ABSA

2008 Greening Rooftops for Sustainable Communities Conference, Awards & Trade Show - Courses & Events - Green Building Council Australia (GBCA)

Leading Green Thinkers Sydney - Courses & Events - Green Building Council Australia (GBCA)

Five Ways To Cut Energy Bills - Forbes.com

Wow, I have been through quite some webpages.

I believe this will be an asset which allows me to trace back information on another day!

Happy Birthday to me!

Another busy month!

Another not so productive month within the blogosphere!

Just to say "Happy Birthday to me!"

Hey, Lo Paul (chinese way of saying "wife"), I haven't received anything yet!

Unproductive August blogger

Wow, I didn't write blog in August?!

I was busy, I am busy, and I am going to be busy with real energy efficiency and "green(wash)" work.

What I've done in August:

• Several BCA Section J DTS (Deemed-to-satisfy) assessment reports.
• Completion inspection for the first Section J Report I've done. The building is at The Entrance (90 km from where I work)
  
• A few JV3 Performance Assessments for some proposed buildings. One of them is a big retail chain with specific alternative solution using PMV/PPD and HSI (Heat Stress Index).
  
• A number of NatHERS/BASIX assessments orf residential apartments and houses.
• I've moved house.
• I had a friend's family visiting me from HK. (Dr. Square Fong) We are both from the same B.Eng. course. We speak the same "green" language. And it might be alien language to our wives and other people (LOL)!
• Manage issues with the building of my family's new house. Yet more are still to come!

There are signs that the Australian economy is slowing down. When it appeared I might have a little break in my busy work schedule, suddenly some EE and ESD projects rushed in. The clients just liked to have the job done "Yesterday". (Yes, this is the trend. All jobs are already overdue?!!)

Some reasons (excuses) for the silence in the blogosphere!

Now, need to get on with the JV3 energy simulation which will due tomorrow! I will be late! OH, dun!

Update to "Unofficial ABGR Assessment"

I have an entry about Unofficial ABGR Assessment back in February.

I actually finished the report around June/July.

So, here are the updates from the assessment:

The base building ABGR (now it is NABERS Energy) could achieve 5 stars. The tenancy ratings ranged from 0 star to 2 stars. So there was some disparity here.

To fairly compare this building with other buildings, the whole building rating should be used.

The whole building rating was assessed to be 3 stars. This means "Best Practice" according to the ABGR official definition. This should be considered fair or even good for a building around 20 years of age.

However, in the Australian building market place, knowledgeable tenants will demand 4 or 4.5 stars.

To bring the building to 4 or 4.5 stars, the energy consumption has to be cut down by about 40%!!

For an existing building, this is not easy to achieve this. Some major renovations will be required to cut 40% energy use.

Well, when I talked to the property manager, "cost effectiveness" came before "sustainability"!

You know what that means?

June's Update

This month (June) seems not like a good month for me (and my family).

So that's why I have been silent for a while.

I had been quite busy at work.

Just when I had a little bit of breathing space, I fell sick. I (and my wife) contracted flu from my young boy as he got flu from the child care centre. We had two days of sick leave from that.

Just when I return to work (and still a little bit sick), work is pouring ......

Why I can type this now? It's because I am working on BASIX. Takes me five minutes for a recalculation. So I use this time to update my blog.

Well, BASIX again!

Look at here for BASIX: http://www.basix.nsw.gov.au/information/index.jsp

ESD AND ENERGY EFFICIENCY IN AUSTRALIA (4) - BCA SECTION J - ENERGY EFFICIENCY

I think I may move on to BCA Section J.

Some time ago, I read an article in "Ecolibrium" (AIRAH professional journal) about "paradigm shift" in the Australian business sectors towards "Sustainabilty".

It was viewed as a "nice to have" features. But nowadys, the view is that sustainability is essential to the continuing development. And after all, sustainability really bear benefits for the building owners and building users.

And from my personal experience, large developers are really embracing sustainability whole heartly. Smaller ones are not so consistent but the trend is clear that sustainability has its place and is becoming more and more important!

Back to BCA (Building Code of Australia).

BCA is similar to “Building Ordinance” in HK. For some quick info on HK’s Building Ordinance, see this: http://www.bd.gov.hk/english/services/index_support3.html

However, BCA, starting from 2004, is updated annually.

In 2000, all State and Territory governments had agreed to introduce mandatory energy efficiency standards into the BCA in order to reduce GHG emissions attributable to the operation of buildings.

The first stage was to introduce energy efficiency measures into the BCA Volume Two on 1 January 2003. (BCA Volume Two relates to requirements and regulations for freestanding / detached houses and garages.)

The second stage was to introduce energy measures for multi-residential buildings into BCA Volume One on 1 May 2005.

The final (third) stage for introducing energy efficiency measures is to include energy efficiency measures for all other building classifications in BCA Volume One. (BCA Volume One includes requirements and regulations on all other buildings including commercial, retail, industrial, institutional, recreational, schools, hospitals, aged homes, etc.)

I’ve said it before – the inception of the plan dates back to 2000. The actual “full” implementation date is 2006!

For places that haven’t started, how long will they take to have some proper legislation in place?

You can have some good in-depth understanding on the rationale of Energy Efficiency in BCA by reading these "Handbooks". Mind you one of them is over 150 pages and the other is over 300 pages!

http://www.abcb.gov.au/documents/energy/Handbook_vol1.pdf

http://www.abcb.gov.au/documents/energy/Handbook_vol2.pdf

So how can a building comply with BCA Section J?

Basically, there are two approaches:
1.Deemed-to-satisfy (DTS) method (prescriptive method)
2.Verification method (JV3) (JV2 is superseded from 1 May 2008)

With the DTS method, it is like ticking a checklist to comply with ALL the requirements.

With the JV’s, the annual energy consumptions of the building under different scenarios are calculated. If they are under a certain benchmark, then they are compliant.

And I list some major categories in the DTS method.

There are eight categories to be checked for Energy Efficiency compliance:

Part J1 – Building Fabric
‧Roof and Ceiling Construction
‧Roof Lights
‧Walls
‧Floors
(In most cases, insulation, esp. roof insulation, is required to keep the temperature in a building less prone to outside temperature fluctuations.)

Part J2 – External Glazing
‧Two methods (spreadsheets) for checking compliance
‧Shading is also important
(Generally, large glass area without shading will fail.)

Part J3 – Building Sealing
‧Chimneys and flues
‧Roof lights
‧Windows and doors
‧Exhaust fans
‧Construction of roofs, walls and floors
(Basically, there should be some things to prevent unwanted air coming in or out of a building)

Part J4 – Air Movement
‧Only applicable for multi-residential buildings
(This part requires that the openable window area equals or exceed a certain % of floor area.)

Part J5 – Air-conditioning and Ventilation Systems
‧Air-conditioning and ventilation systems
‧Time switch
‧Heating and chilling systems
‧Miscellaneous exhaust systems
(Energy efficient air conditioning and ventilation systems with proper controls (like the inexpensive time switches) are required to pass the requirements.)

Part J6 – Artificial lighting and power
‧Interior artificial lighting
‧Interior artificial lighting and power control
‧Interior decorative and display lighting
‧Artificial lighting around the perimeter of a building
‧Boiling water and chilled water storage units
(Simply speaking, you need good energy efficient lightings and control switches to comply. Normal light bulb in most cases will fail.)

Part J7 – Hot water supply
(Need a proper design to comply, i.e. don’t just get a “no-body” to do it.)

Part J8 – Access for Maintenance
(Just allow access to repair and fix equipment and components.)

It may sound simple from the above descriptions. But there are many small details to check.

And I have some insiders' comments to the BCA Section J. .......

A little drama of windows

Last week, I was working on NatHERS and BASIX for a residential building in Sydney City.

Well, a little drama with the architect happened.

Here are some emails between us.

I've seen a number of architects. Their most important concern is aesthetics, or in other words, the appearance of "their" building.

"Sustainability"? They don't care!

===============================

From: Dont Sustain
Sent: Thursday, 20 March 2008
To: FireStallion; Loss Energy
Cc: Sudden Jump; Minimum Spend; Go Froth
Subject: RE: BASIX certification on Site X

FS Comments in red

Regards Dont Sustain Associate Director | nom. Architect xxxx 0402 xxx xxx

---

From: FireStallion

Sent: Thursday, 20 March 2008

To: Dont Sustain; Loss Energy
Cc: 'Sudden Jump'; 'Minimum Spend'; 'Go Forth'
Subject: RE: BASIX certification on Site X

Dont and Loss

I’ve worked on some different options to get the north east corner apt of level 12-17 under the cooling allowance 64.7

• Option A – Louvres to all glazings – 76.8 Failed
• Option B – As option A but with window height of B2, B3 changed to 1.6m – 66.1 Failed
• Option C – Double glazing to all glazings with external blinds to Terrace, B2 & B3 – 76.1 Failed
• Option D – Different double glazing with B2 & B3 external blinds, type 1523 (6mm super grey/6mm air/4mm Energy advantage Low-E, U=2.552, SHGC=0.157) – 27.6 passed What double glazing is proposed for the northern windows….ie the main curtain wall? I would prefer not to commit to external blinds. As this is only morning sun to the east to B2 and B3 I am surprised it makes such a difference.
• Option E – As option D but using double glazing type 657 (5mm SuperGrey/13mm air/4mm clear, U=4.112, SHGC 0.203) – 44.8 passed Is this just the glass to the B2 and B3 or to the full north?
• Option F – As option E but with no external blind to B2 & B3 – 47.4 passed

And as a sensitivity comparison, residence 2 is also compared with different options, cooling allowance 64.8:

• Option A – as SC layout with B1, B2 & B3 external blinds – 59.9 passed
• Option B – as option A but with no external blinds – 80.1 failed
• Option C – as option A but with blinds to all glazing – 45.8 passed If we pass without external blinds then that’s great news. Means at least the client does not need to commit as yet on this western terrace

From the above results, I have the following remarks:

• The SHGC (Solar Heat Gain Coefficient) of the proposed glass is critical to keep the cooling load down other than shading devices. SHGC should be kept under 0.3 or lower. Double or single glazing, which affects the U-value, is not as critical. However, glazing with low SHGC tends to be dark and may not have good visual effects. Reflectivity and transmission data is not available at the moment to check if they comply with DCP or not. When you meet with Pilkington, check the SHGC’s (under 0.3) and the reflectivities (under 20%) to shortlist eligible glass types. Yes…dark glass is a problem. Will discuss at meeting
• External blinds, or other forms of shading, have a very significant impact on the cooling. In many cases, the shading can make or break the BASIX allowances. [For comparison, direct solar radiation through reference glass can be up to 550 W/m2* where diffuse (shaded) solar radiation can get down to 40 W/m2*. That’s a 1275% difference. Even very good and sophisticated glazing can’t beat a simple overhang. * From p.43 of Carrier System Design Manual Part 1]

FS – I think you should come to the Pilkington meeting please. Will send the invite

If you have any questions, please contact me.

Regards

FireStallion

Accredited ABGR Assessor, GBCA (Green Star) Accredited Professional

Email: firestallion100@gmail.com

-----Original Message-----
From: Dont Sustain

Sent: Monday, 10 March 2008

To: FireStallion; Loss Energy
Cc: Sudden Jump; Minimum Spend; Go Forth
Subject: RE: BASIX certification on Site X

FireStallion

Comments below.

For the moment, the typical 4 apt floors are modelled as per your proposed glazing allocation. It appears apt 1 has some issues to get pass BASIX as its cooling load is “very” significant. This is because the height of the windows are assumed to be as high as possible and for the Living and Family Rooms glazing, no shading is available.

Windows are typically at 2800 head. Yes there is a lot of glass….but this is the premium view so we will not be reducing extent of glass. The main glazing to the north is double glazed so this reducing cooling load significantly. The remaining glass to the east then is proposed as single glazed. We seek your advice on whether we need to extend extent of double glazing…but would prefer high performance single glass as first port of call.

One point to be bear in mind is that: although the remaining three apts pass the BASIX cooling and heating requirements, it is recommended that each apt should improve its thermal performance to around 5 stars to get better results towards achieving a 5 star Green Star Residential rating. Also note that the weighted average cooling requirement of all apts is 46.4. There is a (remote) possibility that all apts pass their required heating and cooling requirements but the weighted average requirements cannot be met.

Here are some suggestions to improve the apts’ thermal performances:

· Reduce glazing areas, esp. apt 1 will require some rationalising of the glazing areas to get pass BASIX. An empirical value for glazing to floor area ratio is 35% or below (with good shading available), esp. if 5 stars NatHERS is to be achieved. Apt 1 has a glazing to floor area ratio of 52%. Can’t reduce glazing…The amazing view is what is selling these apartments. Northern glass is double glazing. Do we need to extend extent of double glazing.

· Provide shading, set backs and /or light shelves to windows. This is mandatory to claim cross ventilation bonus in BASIX. (Note that the louvred screens are very effective in reducing the solar heat gain for the western façade glazing.) I am confused….how is shading mandatory for cross ventilation bonus…and with high glazing…why are light shelves required….when the higher glazing means more light ingress.

The main western window as per original markup is double glazed with no external shading. Same scenario as the DA.

Likewise the single glass to the terrace stacking is set back within the terrace zone and overhang. Same scenario again as the DA.

We can introduce some external glazed roller blinds or equal to the western windows that are set back from the terrace line if needed…but we are loath to add additional louvred screens. For memory we went through the same debate for the DA.

· Use alternative glazing types. Currently, the selected glazing types have very good thermal performances – single glazing with U = 3.855 and SHGC = 0.466 and double glazing with U=2.255 and SHGC = 0.407.

· We seek your advice here. At DA stage you provided us with a list of glass options with general performance.

I propose a meeting on Thursday afternoon at our office to discuss. Can you confirm your availability.

Sudden- would you be free – say Thurs 4pm on your way home???

Can you send us the proposed elevations for fine tuning the NatHERS calculations?

Loss will send through

Regards Dont Sustain Associate Director | nom. Architect xxxx

====================================================

My "philosophy" will be somehow different to the above.

If you have a magnificent view, why don't you be part of it?

It's the connection with the environment that I am speaking of.

Modern life separate us from our environment. If you have a good view, then go to the balcony and be part of it. Fell the breeze, smell the scent, hear the sound! Don't just look at the view!

Well, there is a fundamental difference in philosophy anyway.

With the client on the architects side, it looks like the unsustainable option of providing view with "better" glazing will prevail, rather than a simple sustainable alternative.

What cost is "Sustainability"?

ESD AND ENERGY EFFICIENCY IN AUSTRALIA (3) - ABGR

This is from ABGR's website:
http://www.abgr.com.au/About_ABGR/

QUOTE:

About ABGR

The Australian Building Greenhouse Rating (ABGR) Scheme is a 'world first initiative' to help building owners and tenants across Australia benchmark their greenhouse performance.
Benefits of ABGR:

* Provides market recognition and a competitive advantage for low greenhouse emitters and energy efficient buildings;
* Encourages best practice in the design, operation and maintenance of commercial buildings to minimise greenhouse emissions

Administered nationally by the NSW Department of Environment and Climate Change (DECC) and locally by leading state greenhouse agencies, the ABGR scheme rates buildings from one to five stars with five stars representing exceptional greenhouse performance. Current market best practice in Australia is three stars.

Key features of ABGR:

* It’s voluntary – a rating can be initiated by a building owner, manager or tenant;
* It rates a building according to its actual performance, using 12 months’ energy data;
* It can be used for the base building (central services), whole building or individual tenancies;
* It allows developers to “badge” the greenhouse performance of their new office development from the outset on the proviso that DECC will rate its actual operational performance and advise the tenants;
* It’s available now for all Australian office buildings.

Now, I would briefly talk about some practical situations of ABGR.

As I mentioned earlier, though officially ABGR is "voluntary", there are other forces that make ABGR "semi-regulation" or "psuedo regulation":

* The NSW state government have a policy that existing offices need an ABGR rating. If it is not 3 star ABGR or above, then it should be retrofit to 4 star or above. (see link below)
* When a state government authroity or office build or rent a new office building or space, the space should achieve 4.5 stars minimum. (See http://www.premiers.nsw.gov.au/pubs_dload_part4/prem_circs_memos/prem_memos/2004/m2004-04.htm )
* Development Control Plans (DCP's) of many local councils also require that new office buildings to have an "Energy Performance Report" (EPR) or simply have an ABGR committment of at least 4 stars. (Check the DCP link above for Green Star)
* It is also a requirement of Green Star buildings to have a minimum of 4 star ABGR to be eligible for the application of Green Star. (ENE-1 & ENE-2)

So you can see there are many things that require the use of ABGR. It is actually not "voluntary".

Oops! Sxxx happens! But ok now!

After I installed the Advanced desktop last night, I brought the eeepc back to the office.


I intend to update the different packages from xepcś repo.

I did it.

It took more than an hour. It worthed more than 130MB.

But then when I got hold of it again and restart it, it prompts me for password.

I typed in the pwd once, twice, three times, ....... NOooooooooo .......

I didn´t know what happened.

I downloaded the xepc CD iso and went home.

I loaded the Eeexubuntu live session to see if I could retrieve any data in /home/user.

No, not successful. The SSD didn't come up.

I just pressed F9 straight afterwards. In less tha one minute, default system restores.

I then burned the xepc iso to a CD, loaded it to the ext. DVD.

Linux kernel not found!

I burnt another CD, but this time the burning s/w verified the CD bad.

Third time lucky(!!!), I put it to the DVD and tried.

OMG, thank you, thank you, thank you.

So, I am typing on the restored eeepc with xepc updated SSD restore partition.

So this xepc includes all I've done before except the Quick input method for TC.

I just cut and paste the command line in my previous blog entry!

Hula! No worries! All this happened within less than an hour.

Now, my wife asked me tonight if I had reinstalled windoze on the desktop ......

Possibly, a dayś time will be gone for nothing for windoze! Oh no!

ESD AND ENERGY EFFICIENCY IN AUSTRALIA (2) - GREEN STAR

Firstly, Green Star!

To clarify who are "Green Star Accredited Professionals" or "GBCA Accredited Professionals", here is the relevant description from the Green Star - Office Design Manual:

Green Star Accredited Professionals are experienced building industry practitioners who have demonstrated their understanding of the Green Star rating system and the benefits of integrated design.

To become a Green Star Accredited Professional, candidates must attend a GBCA Green Star Accredited Professional course and pass the associated exam.

Green Star is a voluntary scheme for developers to "market" their buildings.

So far, there are only 29 buildings have a formal Green Star certification. (As from GBCA;s website)

The Green Star scale is from one to six.

What is a one star building? And what is a six star building?

Here is a table for the meaning of the “Stars”:

Stars	Score (from eight categories after application of weighting factors)	Outcome / Represents
One star	10-19	Minimum practice
Two stars	20-29	Average practice
Three stars	30-44	Good practice
Four stars	45-59	Best practice; eligible for application of Four Star Green Star Rating certificate
Five stars	60-74	Australian excellence; eligible for application of Five Star Green Star Rating certificate
Six stars	75-100	World Leader; eligible for application of Six Star Green Star Rating certificate

The Green Star assesses eight aspects (categories) of a building. They are:

1. Management
2. IEQ (Indoor Environment Quality)
3. Energy
4. Transport
5. Water
6. Materials
7. Land Use & Ecology
8. Emissions

Plus a special 5 credits points of innovation that cannot be assessed under the 8 categories.

The first category in the rating tool is "Management":

There are 7 items under "Management":

Man-1

Green Star Accredited Professional

To encourage and recognise the adoption of environmentally sustainable principles from the earliest project stages throughout design and construction.

Man-2

Commissioning - Clauses

To encourage and recognise improved building services performance and energy efficiency due to adequate commissioning and hand-over to the building owner.

Man-3

Commissioning - Building Tuning

To encourage and recognise improved energy efficiency and comfort within the building in all seasons due to adequate commissioning.

Man-4

Commissioning - Commissioning Agent

To encourage and recognise the appointment of an independent commissioning agent from design through to handover.

Man-5

Building Users' Guide

To encourage and recognise the provision of guidance material to enable building users to achieve the environmental performance envisaged by the design team, and to manage future changes that promote efficiency and environmental quality.

Man-6

Environmental Management

To encourage and recognise the adoption of a formal environmental management system in line with established guidelines during construction.

Man-7

Waste Management

To encourage and recognise management systems that facilitate the reduction of construction waste going to landfill.

The second, arguably the most important category is the "Indoor Environmental Quality / IEQ":

This category has the most number of items. It is very important to achieve energy efficiency, material safety, etc. but at the same time not sacrificing the indoor environmental quality:

IEQ-1

Ventilation Rates

To encourage and recognise the provision of increased outside air rates, in order to promote a healthy indoor environment.

IEQ-2

Air Change Effectiveness

To encourage and recognise systems that provide for the effective delivery of clean air through reduced mixing with indoor pollutants in order to promote a healthy indoor environment.

IEQ-3

Carbon Dioxide Monitoring and Control

To encourage and recognise the provision of response monitoring of carbon dioxide (CO2) levels to ensure delivery of minimum outside air requirements.

IEQ-4

Daylight

To encourage and recognise designs that provide good levels of daylight for building users.

IEQ-5

Daylight Glare Control

To encourage and recognise buildings that are designed to reduce the discomfort of glare from natural light.

IEQ-6

High Frequency Ballasts

To encourage and recognise the increase in workplace amenity by avoiding low frequency flicker that may be associated with fluorescent lighting.

IEQ-7

Electric Lighting Levels

To encourage and recognise base building provided office lighting that is not over-designed.

IEQ-8

External Views

To encourage and recognise reduced eyestrain for building occupants by allowing long distance views and the provision of visual connection to the outdoors.

IEQ-9

Thermal Comfort

To encourage and recognise the use of thermal comfort assessments to guide design options.

IEQ-10

Individual Comfort Control

To recognise the benefits of individual control to provide good thermal comfort.

IEQ -11

Asbestos

To encourage and recognise actions taken to reduce health risks to occupants from the presence of hazardous materials.

IEQ-12

Internal Noise Levels

To encourage and recognise buildings that are designed to maintain internal noise levels at an appropriate level.

IEQ-13

Volatile Organic Compounds

To encourage and recognise projects that reduce the detrimental impact on occupant health from finishes emitting internal air pollutants.

IEQ-14

Formaldehyde Minimisation

To encourage and recognise projects that reduce the use of formaldehyde composite wood products in order to promote a healthy indoor environment.

IEQ-15

Mould Prevention

To encourage and recognise the design of systems which reduce the risk of mould growth and its associated detrimental impact on occupant health.

IEQ-16

Tenant Exhaust Riser

To encourage and recognise the provision of buildings designed with a general exhaust riser that can be used by tenants to remove indoor pollutants from printing and photocopy areas.

So the third category (IMO, second most important category) is Energy:

Ene-1

Energy

To reduce base building operational energy and greenhouse gas emissions.

Ene-2

Energy Improvement

To encourage and recognise projects that contain design features that help to minimise operational energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions of the base building over and above the Conditional Requirement in Ene-1.

Ene-3

Electrical Sub-metering

To encourage and recognise the provision of energy sub-metering to facilitate energy monitoring of base building services.

Ene-4

Tenancy Sub-metering

To encourage and recognise the provision of energy sub-metering to facilitate energy monitoring by tenants or end users.

Ene-5

Office Lighting Power Density

To encourage and recognise lighting design practices which lessen lighting energy consumption while maintaining appropriate lighting levels.

Ene-6

Office Lighting Zoning

To encourage and recognise lighting design practices that offer greater flexibility for light switching, making it easier to light only occupied areas.

Ene-7

Peak Energy Demand Reduction

To encourage and recognise projects that implement systems to reduce peak demand on energy supply infrastructure.

The fourth category is Transport:

Tra-1

Provision of Car Parking

To encourage and recognise building design that promotes the utilisation of alternative modes of transport by limiting available car park spaces.

Tra-2

Small Parking Spaces

To encourage and recognise building design that supports the use of smaller, more fuel efficient vehicles for work commuting.

Tra-3

Cyclist Facilities

To encourage and recognise building design that promotes the use of bicycles by occupant and visitors by ensuring adequate cyclist facilities are provided.

Tra-4

Commuting Public Transport

To encourage and recognise developments with proximity and good access to public transport networks which have frequent services.

The fifth cateogry is Water:

Wat-1

Occupant Amenity Potable Water Efficiency

To encourage and recognise systems which have the potential to reduce the potable water consumption of building occupants.

Wat-2

Water Meters

To encourage and recognise the design of systems that monitor and manage water consumption.

Wat-3

Landscape Irrigation Water Efficiency

To encourage and recognise the design of systems that aim to reduce the consumption of potable water for landscape irrigation.

Wat-4

Cooling Tower Water Consumption

To encourage and recognise building design that reduces the potential demand on potable water supplies and infrastructure due to water-based building cooling systems.

Wat-5

Fire System Water Consumption

To encourage and recognise building design that reduces potable water consumption of the building's fire protection and essential water storage systems.

The sixth category is Materials:

Mat-1

Recycling Waste Storage

To encourage and recognise the inclusion of storage space that facilitates the recycling of resources used within offices to reduce waste going to landfill.

Mat-2

Re-use of Façade

To encourage and recognise the re-use of existing façades to reduce new material consumption.

Mat-3

Re-use of Structure

To encourage and recognise the re use of existing structures to reduce new material consumption.

Mat-4

Shell and Core or Integrated Fitout

To encourage and recognise the reduction of material wastage during tenancy fitouts.

Mat-5

Recycled Content of Concrete

To encourage and recognise the reduction of embodied energy and resource depletion due to the use of concrete.

Mat-6

Recycled Content of Steel

To encourage and recognise the reduction in embodied energy and resource depletion due to the use of recycled steel.

Mat-7

PVC Minimisation

To encourage and recognise the reduction of Poly Vinyl Chloride (PVC) products in Australian buildings.

Mat-8

Sustainable Timber

To encourage and recognise the specification of re-used timber products or timber that has certified environmentally responsible forest management practices.

The seventh category is "Land Use & Ecology":

Eco-1

Ecological Value of Site

To encourage wherever possible development on land that already has a limited ecological value and discourage the development of ecologically valuable sites.

Eco-2

Re-use of Land

To encourage and recognise the re-use of land that has previously been developed.

Eco-3

Reclaimed Contaminated Land

To encourage and recognise positive actions to use contaminated land that otherwise would not have been developed.

Eco-4

Change of Ecological Value

To encourage and recognise the minimisation of ecological impact from a development and maximise the enhancement of a site for both new and existing buildings.

Eco-5

Topsoil and Fill Removal from Site

To encourage and recognise practices that reduce the amount of topsoil and fill removed from development sites.

The eight category is "Emissions":

Emi-1

Refrigerant ODP

To encourage and recognise the reduction of potential long-term damage to the Earth's stratospheric ozone layer through the accidental release of ozone depleting substances to the atmosphere.

Emi-2

Refrigerant GWP

To encourage and recognise the selection of refrigerants that reduce the potential for increased global warming arising from the emission of refrigerants to the Earth's atmosphere in the event of accidental release of intensive greenhouse gases to the atmosphere.

Emi-3

Refrigerant Leak Detection

To encourage and recognise systems which reduce the release of refrigerants to the atmosphere arising from leakages in a building's cooling plant.

Emi-4

Refrigerant Recovery

To encourage and recognise systems that reduce and prevent unnecessary loss of refrigerants in the event of a leak.

Emi-5

Watercourse Pollution

To encourage and recognise project design that reduces the potential of pollution in water running off from buildings and hard surfaces to natural watercourses.

Emi-6

Reduced Flow to Sewer

To encourage and recognise building design that reduces water flows to the municipal sewerage systems for treatment.

Emi-7

Light Pollution

To encourage and recognise lighting design that reduces pollution from the unnecessary dispersion of light into the night sky and onto neighbouring property.

Emi-8

Cooling Towers

To encourage and recognise building systems design which eliminates the risk of Legionnaire’s Disease from cooling towers.

Emi-9

Insulant ODP

To encourage and recognise designs which reduce the potential for long-term damage to the Earth's stratospheric ozone layer from ozone depleting substances used in the manufacture or composition of thermal insulation.

The last cateogory "Innovation" is not officially a category. But it give credits to innovative ideas that cannot be assessed under other categories or some ideas that exceed the stated requirements.

Inn-1

Innovative Strategies and Technologies

To encourage and recognise the spread of innovative initiatives for commercial building applications that improve a development's environmental impact.

Inn-2

Exceeding Green Star Benchmarks

To encourage and recognise design initiatives which demonstrate additional environmental benefit by exceeding the current benchmarks in Green Star - Office Design.

Inn-3

Environmental Design Initiatives

To encourage and recognise design initiatives which have a significant measurable environmental benefit and which are not awarded points by Green Star – Office Design.

Green Star is voluntary.

Some big developers, however, are using it as a marketing tool.

But if you spend that much to make a building "green", you are actually getting a very good building (supposedly).

Somehow, some councils adopt the Green Star approach to their "Development Control Plans". (DCP's)

DCP's are local requirements imposed by the specific councils (local government) in the area.

I have seen and used one DCP that uses "Score Cards" to make a building green. See the link:
http://202.148.138.211/downloaddocument.aspx?DocumentID=1157

The score cards are originated from the Green Star Rating Tool.

So, in some way, Green Star is becoming increasingly important. As What I said before for ABGR, Green Star is like a semi-regulation in some areas.

What I did to my eeepc

Well, it's about a week after I've got my eeepc.

I have installed the following to it:

• Install realmedia codec for SMplayer as per the instruction on http://blog.yam.com/tad0616/article/1230627
• I need to check on synchronisation of video and audio streams. I follow instructions here: http://forum.eeeuser.com/viewtopic.php?id=11921&p=1
  
• I install Quick input method for Chinese as from instructions here: http://www2.uwants.com/viewthread.php?tid=5332227
  

1.先下載兩個檔案Quick.bin及Quick.png到 user 資料夾裡面 2.開啟File Manager在My Home入面找到 Quick.bin 和 Quick.png 兩個檔案下按Ctrl+Alt+T開啟主控台視窗 3.在/home/user>下輸入兩句指令注意大小寫及空格) sudo cp Quick.bin /usr/share/scim/tables 按enter sudo cp Quick.png /usr/share/scim/icons 按enter 己完成可關閉主控台視窗 4.然後看看SCIM setup入面Generic Table->Table Management檢查是否已多了一行 Quick輸入法 5.最後需要重新啟動電腦一次後就可以正常使用速成輸入法了

• I also looked at lazyeeepc but I decided not to go the easy way but the hard way. I like to learn the intricacies in Linux.

What I intent to do with the eeepc:

• Install synaptic package manager
• Update Firefox from default 2.0.0.9 to the latest (2.0.0.12 currently)
• Apply security patch
• Install wine and port some windows apps related to work
  

And can someone advise me if the anti-virus is actually of any use in a Linux system like Xandros in eeepc?
=============================================================
An update to the eeepc installation (as on 4 March):

* I install the "Advance Desktop" as per the instructions in http://forum.eeeuser.com/viewtopic.php?id=1083, so synaptic is already there with the Advanced Desktop.
* I add the xepc to the repo by adding
deb http://updates.xepc.org/debian stable main
to the file: /etc/apt/sources.list
So I should be able to apply the firefox update and security patches soon.

ESD AND ENERGY EFFICIENCY IN AUSTRALIA (1) - INTRODUCTION (1 of 5)

ESD AND ENERGY EFFICIENCY IN AUSTRALIA

Well, firstly you may consider there are three levels of "energy rating" schemes.

1. Aspirational - Green Star (I am a GBCA Accredited Professional or more usually known as Green Star Professional)

2. Operational - ABGR (Australian Building Greenhouse Rating, in full) (I am also an "Accredited ABGR Assessor").

3. Mandatory - BCA (Building Code of Australia) Section J Energy Efficiency.

(1) & (2) are voluntary. (3) is mandatory which comes to force in May 2006 (for NSW including Sydney, it was November 2006)

Although ABGR seems like voluntary, it is like semi-mandatory particularly for large developers. More details coming.

Wow, I got myself an Asus Eeepc!

I just got an Asus Eeepc today.

Haven't turn it on and run it yet.

So, looks like I will have more chance to horn up my Linux skills.

Btw, mine is a black one.

Unofficial ABGR Assessment

Today I've been to a business park to carry out the preliminary assessment on energy use of one of the buildings.

I've talk to the Operations Manager of the premises. It's somehow "interesting" to talk to people with "hands on" experience to the services, etc. in buildings.

I can see his enthusiasm to help me out to do the energy assessment, maybe a little too "hot headed".

But in doing ABGR, the actual assessment is not the most difficult part.

The most difficult part is to gather the information necessary to get a proper rating as required by the ABGR protocol.


And for this one, it would be to gather the energy bills from ALL tenants and their cooperation to provide their occupancy hours when 20% of people is there in the morning and when only 20% of people is remaining in the office.

I've been through this with another project. Amazingly, it took weeks or even months to gather the info. And by the time the last info comes in, the first info could have been expired.

We'll see how good or bad this building is later.

Helping out on computer

Last evening, I help a family to fix their computer.

They just got a new computer about a month ago.

They have M$ Windows Vista installed on that.

But that was "too" slow.

They asked some one to install XP over the Vista.

Then, I was asked if I can fix various issues with the computer. This included: "can't connect to internet"; "no sound"; "can't play mp3"; "can't open word file"; "cannot burn disks"; "screen too big"; .....

So the guy that installed XP didn't finish his job properly.

What was done was only installing XP.

Now, here's what I have done:

• Install drivers (sound, display, network, etc.) There was some drama with the ethernet chip driver as the driver CD didn't have the driver (!!!!) I needed to use lateral thinking to get this done!
• Install firewall, antispyware, anti-virus (all freeware)
  
• Install disk burning software (Freeware again)
• Install Firefox, PDFCreator, XPDF reader (Yes, freeware)
• Install harddisk backup software (Free!)
  
• Install windows optimiser (Free!)
• Install OpenOffice (Free again!)
  
• Prepare recover DVD; backup hardisk on DVD
• Burn and show how an audio CD should be made from mp3 files to the tweenage (not a typo) girl in the family (She complain the CD she made couldn't play on her CD player.)
  

All these took me two visits, each around 3 hours.

Why am I writing this?

I wonder what a "usual" computer user is!

My first computer experience was in a classmate's home playing AP II (cloned Apple 2) back in high school days. We used normal cassette tape player to "load" program to the AP II. This was in the early '80s.

Then I had my first PC (8088) back in 1986. In those days I ran PCDOS/MSDOS of course. I vaguely remember I started with PCDOS 2.x then ended up running MSDOS 3.3. I still vaguely remember using dot commands in WordStar.

Then it was windows 3.1. WordPerfect 5.1 for windows was my favourite. Though that time, MS word was already there. (BTW, I had used the DOS version of MS Word)

A simple flowchart is:

DOS -> Windows 3.1 -> Windows 3.11 -> Windows 95 (4.0) -> Windows 98 -> Windows XP

Next is Linux, the Ubuntu favour, possibly with some dip on DSL (Damn Small Linux), Fedora or OpenSUSE! (I feel quite comfortable with command line interface.)

Now, for someone with their first computer experience from Windows 95, 98, etc., what do they think about Linux?

Now they left two (old) computers for me to rebuild them. Windows 95 and 98 will be out of the question. XP will be too hungry for the two computers to handle.

Here I go again! Need to learn how to install DSL on two OLD computers with floppy drive, malfunction CD drive and harddisk!

Wish me luck!

And for the helpful Linux users, enlighten me please on how to "resurrect" old computers!

I may comeback with more details on the computers' spec.