Posted 2 December 2016 - 4:18pm
Author: Hayley Byford
The CRC for Low Carbon Living in association with project partners CSIRO, Sydney Water, SA Water, Renewal SA, AECOM, Victorian Building Authority, University of New South Wales, Flinders University and the University of South Australia, presented results from the research project ‘RP2002 Integrated ETWW Demand Forecasting and Scenario Planning for Precincts’.
The project is designed to improve demand forecasting for energy, transport, water and waste utilities and services through the development of new integrated tools, benchmarked against Australian urban developments. UniSA’s Emeritus Professor Michael Taylor, Chaired the Symposium thanking all guests from industry and government who could make it amongst the busy holiday season fast approaching. He recognised the importance of the project and gave stakeholders an insight into the project’s directions.
Professor Peter Newton, the Program Leader for Low Carbon Precincts in the CRC, provided an overview of the program and the central role of the ETWW project in it. In summarising the project and its outcomes, Emeritus Prof Taylor said that the project has developed a tool for integrated demand forecasting of energy, travel, water and waste generation demands at the precinct level, and so supports scenario planning for alternative precinct development plans. Carbon emissions performance of the precinct is a key focus.
This unique tool allows for interactions between the different demand domains and can accommodate the impacts of household behaviour change in demand forecasting. It provides a scientific and efficient basis for the assessment of the overall carbon impacts of urban developments or redevelopments.
Dr Nicholas Holyoak, Research Fellow at Flinders University presented the ETWW model operational flowchart and explained how each of the researchers involved in the project have reviewed live data from utility providers and precincts in South Australia including the Lochiel Park precinct. This data has been complied to provide forecasting scenarios.
“The model can also take into consideration resident behaviour so you can then input this information into the scenario and get a better output from the model,” Dr Holyoak said.
Researchers involved in the model development presented each of their forecasting processes and how these have helped to deliver a unique tool useful to planning agencies, infrastructure providers, infrastructure operators, private developers, researchers and beyond.
An Industry panel of representatives from the project’s partners including; Mr Scott Manning an Analyst from Sydney Water, Dr Michelle Irvine from SA Water, Mr Leigh Dalwood of AECOM and Dr Adam Berry from CSIRO, and all agreed that the diversity and interconnectiveness in the model is very useful.
“The tool developed can add depth to our existing energy and carbon emission analysis by helping to understand the complex interaction between property sizes, population dynamics and climate,” said Mr Manning.
“As a transport planner I am interested in seeing cities look towards carbon neutral outcomes,” added Mr Leigh Dalwood, Associate Director Transport Planning at AECOM.
He also said that AECOM is seeing more requests for carbon neutral options or outcomes, and he pointed to their involvement in the redevelopment of the old Royal Adelaide Hospital site which must support the Carbon Neutral Adelaide goal.
“A tool like this is very useful to get information about potential trade-offs for transport and energy,” he said.
A final report for the project is due to be released by the end of 2016 through the CRC for Low Carbon Living.