EPC Media Group

10/06/2024

Researchers develop low-cost materials for direct air capture of CO2

Researchers at Monash University in Melbourne have developed a group of low-cost solid materials that show great promise for use in systems to capture excess carbon dioxide (CO2) directly from the atmosphere.
Known as “meso-macroporous melamine formaldehyde (MF)”, the new materials can be made relatively easily from the common and low-cost chemicals melamine and formaldehyde and have extra-large pores to facilitate direct air capture (DAC) of CO2.
Until now, large-scale deployment of DAC as a negative carbon emission technology has been slow due to the low performance and high cost of solid materials capable of capturing significant amounts of CO2 at low levels present in ambient air and at normal temperatures.

10/06/2024

SMART CITY TECHNOLOGIES TO BECOME A $100 BILLION INDUSTRY THIS YEAR

The surging use of artificial intelligence and IoT technologies continues fuelling the growth of smart city technologies as more and more cities look for innovative solutions for urban challenges. Over the past five years, the market size of smart city technologies has jumped by an impressive 140%. But this year, the entire industry is set to hit a new milestone.
According to data presented by Stocklytics, smart city technologies are expected to become a $100 billion industry in 2024.
Over the past years, the usage of these technologies has grown tremendously, and a recent survey by Statista Market Insights shows just how much. In 2018, the global revenue from smart city technologies amounted to $37.5 billion. Since then, this figure has jumped by 140% and hit almost $90 billion last year. Statista expects the entire market to hit a new milestone this year, with revenues jumping over $100 billion for the first time.

10/06/2024

Do you know an engineering project advancing society? Here's your chance to spotlight the deserving team behind it! Nominate them for the prestigious Engineers Australia and stand a chance to see their work recognised as Australia's project of the year. Hurry, nominations close on Tuesday July 2. Submit your nomination now:

Excellence awards program Nominations open Home About us Excellence awards program Leaders in engineering pave the way for transformation not just in their field, but in the world at large. The progress engineers make pushes the boundaries of what’s believed possible, shaping how we think, live, w...

06/02/2024

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05/02/2024

The only stand-alone medical research institute in Australia dedicated to dust-related diseases has welcomed unified action by state and federal governments in deciding to ban engineered stone, which causes silicosis.
Asbestos and Dust Diseases Research Institute (ADDRI) Chair Peter Tighe said that the ban announced in December would save lives and is a tribute to the strong community and union-led campaign against the product.
Read the full story at:

The only stand-alone medical research institute in Australia dedicated to dust-related diseases has welcomed unified action by state and federal governments in deciding to ban engineered stone, which causes silicosis. Asbestos and Dust Diseases Research Institute (ADDRI) Chair Peter Tighe said that....

05/02/2024

The House of Representatives Standing Committee on Regional Development, Infrastructure and Transport recently tabled the report for its inquiry into the implications of severe weather events on the national regional, rural, and remote road network.
Chair of the Committee, Mr Luke Gosling OAM, MP, said ‘the severe weather events over the past few years have taken a tremendous toll on our road network and our nation. The unprecedented scale and intensity of floods, torrential downpours, and bushfires have caused catastrophic damage to our road infrastructure, exposing its vulnerability against severe weather events and a changing climate.’
‘Our communities and supply chain networks are heavily reliant upon a safe and functional road network to ensure connectivity and access to health and other essential services, food, fuel, and other resources. We have reached the crossroads of changing climate risks, socio-economic growth, and long-term resilience.’
Read the full story at:

The House of Representatives Standing Committee on Regional Development, Infrastructure and Transport recently tabled the report for its inquiry into the implications of severe weather events on the national regional, rural, and remote road network. Chair of the Committee, Mr Luke Gosling OAM, MP, s...

26/08/2023

Tickets released! Celebrate engineering excellence across Australia. Attend the Excellence Awards local winners announcements. Held in 9 locations from 4–8 September 2023, secure your seat today: www.engaus.org/excellenceawards

18/05/2023

BETTER, BRIGHTER, GREENER NEW BUILDINGS IN MELBOURNE

The City of Melbourne will take bold action to raise the planning standards for environmentally sustainable design – with stronger energy efficiency standards, green rooftops, vertical gardens and solar panels set to transform Melbourne’s skyline.
The Sustainable Building Design Amendment will introduce stronger planning controls for developments – helping to green city buildings, improve environmental standards, and combat the effects of climate change.
“We’re taking bold action to address climate change – and this is another significant step forward to cut emissions and improve sustainability across our beautiful city,” Melbourne Lord Mayor Sally Capp said.
“Developers can find clarity and confidence in these amendments to know they are contributing to long-term sustainability, while the buildings’ tenants will receive the benefits of cheaper operational costs,” the Lord Mayor said.
Drawing inspiration from world leaders like Singapore, Vienna and Copenhagen, the new amendment will focus on improving energy and water efficiency, increasing the uptake of renewable energy, encouraging more greenery on roofs and walls, boosting the number of new trees, reducing waste generation and increasing electric vehicle infrastructure and bicycle parking.
Read the full story at:

The City of Melbourne will take bold action to raise the planning standards for environmentally sustainable design – with stronger energy efficiency standards, green rooftops, vertical gardens and solar panels set to transform Melbourne’s skyline. The Sustainable Building Design Amendment will i...

18/05/2023

Being National Road Safety Week, we felt this was the ideal time to share this review of Melbourne-based specialist driving educator Courtenay Rufus from CRUDE Ultimate Driving Education… it pretty much says everything you need to know about the critical role that advanced driver education plays in improving road safety. We believe that it should be a ‘standard inclusion’ in everyone’s driver education curriculum!
Oh… and MASSIVE CONGRATS to Courtenay and the team at CRUDE for a job well done 👍🏻👍🏻
Visit: https://www.crudedriving.com.au/

08/05/2023

ENGINEERS AUSTRALIA EXCELLENCE AWARDS: NOMINATIONS NOW OPEN
As of this year, the Engineers Australia Excellence Awards will be conducted as a single awards program.
To keep pace with the profession and celebrate the most cutting-edge engineering driving Australia forward, Engineers Australia’s project awards have moved from bi-annual to annual. There will be annual celebrations of local and state finalists in each division, with winners progressing to the national awards.
The redesign is a product of an exhaustive review. Engineers Australia National President and Board Chair Nick Fleming says engineering is evolving, and the awards program must as well.
“The changes we’ve made to streamline the awards will ensure the categories are consistent, equitable and inclusive,” he said.
Nominations for the Project Awards and People Awards are now open.
Read the full story at: https://www.epcgroup.com/engineers-australia-project-of-the-year/

As of this year, the Engineers Australia Excellence Awards will be conducted as a single awards program. To keep pace with the profession and celebrate the most cutting-edge engineering driving Australia forward, Engineers Australia’s project awards have moved from bi-annual to annual. There will ...

13/02/2023

CHARLES DARWIN UNIVERSITY HELPING TO BUILD INDEPENDENT SKILLS ACROSS FIRST NATION JAWOYN COMMUNITIES

Charles Darwin University (CDU) is helping to build the independent skills capacity of First Nations Jawoyn communities on country spread across 50,000 square kilometres of Northern Australia.
Technical skills in welding have important applications across this vast, remote tract of Jawoyn country, which extends north-west from Katherine to Pine Creek, south to Mataranka, and north-east to Bulman, including southern parts of Kakadu National Park and Arnhem Land. There, new knowledge and skills that First Nations men have drawn from welding training at CDU’s Katherine Rural Campus is being put to work by the land’s traditional owners in nine Jawoyn communities or clan groups.
These are the Barunga (Bamyili), Beswick (Wugularr), Jodetluk (Gorge Camp), Kalano, Kybrook, Manyallaluk (Eva Valley), Rockhole, Werenbun and Banatjarl (King Valley) communities, with a total population of 800 making up the traditional Jawoyn Nation.
Delivering the Welding Short Course, CDU Agriculture and Rural Operations Lecturer, Jonny McGannon said the expertise imparted to the First Nations men, who are all Jawoyn Association Aboriginal Corporation employees, has wide-ranging benefits.
“The nationally-accredited welding training has helped to build the confidence, skills and workplace credentials of the Aboriginal men,” Mr McGannon said.
Jawoyn Association Aboriginal Corporation Group Human Resources Manager Amy Murphy said the training has benefits for those participating and communities. These benefits range from learning on country and traditional land management to residential construction and professional development.
CDU course participant Samson Andrews plans to teach his new welding skills to First Nations students as part of the Learning on Country program, in partnership with Aboriginal ranger groups and 15 schools in remote communities, including two Jawoyn schools.
“It is this combination of curriculum and culture that will support remote Aboriginal students to walk strong in two worlds.” Miss Murphy said.
“For instance, Samson will teach Jawoyn students how to construct metal cages for feral animal management through the Learning on Country program.”
First Nations employees at Jawoyn Contracting will also apply their welding expertise to residential construction and maintenance in three communities, and rangers will use their new skills to construct and maintain fencing, gates, ramps, walkways and signs, she said.

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10/02/2023

CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY LEADERS BACK TRADIE HEALTH

Some of Australia’s biggest companies across construction, mining and agriculture have announced a funding partnership with medical research charity The Common Good to create the TRADIE HEALTH INSTITUTE.
Companies such as BESIX Watpac were invited to become founding partners of this world-first initiative due to their commitment to health and safety programs on their work sites.
“We wanted to work only with great companies who clearly valued the health of their tradies” said Michael Hornby CEO of The Common Good.
“Companies who take health and safety seriously, understand the problems and have the capacity to help other trade businesses and contractors”.
The recruitment of industry leaders will provide the base funding of the Tradie Health Institute – with the Institute’s first priority to tackle silicosis, a lung disease that may be impacting more than 600,000 current and retired tradies.
BESIX Watpac’s Mark Baker said they accepted the offer to be the first founding partner based on their health and safety priorities.
“We set up our BESIX Watpac Community Fund last year, which includes supporting community health. We now have an opportunity to not only emphasise our commitment to the health of our staff and contractors, but to make a meaningful difference to the lives of those tradies across Australia who have been diagnosed with a trade-related lung disease.”
“Sadly, there are many out there who have not taken the right precautions or simply weren’t aware of the risks. I now call on other CEO’s to stand with BESIX Watpac and support The Tradie Health Institute in this battle against silicosis and other occupational lung conditions,” Mark Baker added.
The TRADIE HEALTH INSTITUTE is a collaboration with one of Australia’s largest lung hospitals and health services and is the only institute dedicated to powering medical discoveries to help tradies. Companies across construction, mining and agriculture are being invited to partner.

Stay up to date with all the latest news with CEA magazine. Read, download and subscribe for FREE at: https://www.epcgroup.com/magazines/cea-magazine/

04/02/2023

ACT MOVES TOWARDS EMISSIONS-BASED REGISTRATION SYSTEM AND CONCESSIONS

As part of its commitment to reduce light vehicle emissions, the ACT Government will gradually transition from the current weight-based vehicle registration system to an emissions-based system.
For new and used ZEVs vehicles finishing the two-year free registration from 25 May 2023, they will transition to the lowest fee category, with the remainder of the light vehicle fleet transitioning from the current weight‐based system to an emissions‐based system on 1 July 2024.
The existing weight-based registration scheme imposes higher registration fees for heavier vehicles, which can penalise some heavier but significantly lower-emitting vehicles.
Transport currently makes up more than 60% of ACT emissions, with private vehicle use accounting for about 70% of transport emissions.
ACT Chief Minister and Minister for Climate Action, Andrew Barr, commented: “Transport is now the single largest contributor to the ACT’s greenhouse gas emissions.”
“As we transition away from free registration for electric vehicles, we need to make sure our registration system is reflecting the environmental benefits of electric vehicles through lower annual registration fees.”
“These new initiatives are designed to ensure we have an appropriate vehicle registration system for the future. They will see lower fees for lower-emission vehicles, including for lower-emitting petrol and diesel vehicles,” he added.
Under the emissions-based registration scheme, Canberrans will be able to access lower fees for lower emissions across any motor type. From the commencement of the scheme, 96 per cent of all private passenger vehicles will pay the same or less registration. This initiative also includes twelve months of registration discounts for new and used plug‐in hybrid (PHEVs) and hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs) commencing from 1 July 2023.
The Government will also extend the stamp duty waiver for passenger vehicles to also include second‐hand PHEVs and HEVs (with tailpipe emissions less than 130 grams of carbon dioxide per kilometre) for transfers of such vehicles from 1 July 2023.

Stay up to date with all the latest news with HEA magazine. Read, download and subscribe for FREE at: https://www.epcgroup.com/magazines/hea-magazine/

25/01/2023

With presentations from industry experts and a focus on safety systems, sustainability, and the latest in equipment and technology, the TMAA 2023 National Conference is A MUST for all traffic management and infrastructure industry professionals.
Visit: https://www.tmaaconference.com.au/ for the full conference program, registrations and accommodation bookings.

TMAA 2023 Conference will be on 23 & 24 March on the Gold Coast. The focus for the Conference - Sustainability - Systems - Safety - will explore the industries safety systems and their sustainability, taking traffic management into the future.

08/12/2022

ACRS SUSTAINABLE STEEL CERTIFICATION SCHEME RECOGNISED BY GBCA UNDER ITS RESPONSIBLE PRODUCTS FRAMEWORK

ACRS, the leading independent, third-party steel certification authority of construction steels to Australian and New Zealand Standards, and CARES, the leading international constructional steel certification authority, have announced that their Sustainable Constructional Steels Certification Scheme (SCS) has been recognised by the Green Building Council of Australia (GBCA) under its Responsible Products Framework.
The Framework is used by the GBCA to recognise initiatives that a product or manufacturer can comply with for the purposes of contributing to a Green Star certification.
As part of the Framework, the SCS Scheme has been recognised as Best Practice across all four of the Framework’s credits. These cover building Structure; Envelope; Systems and Finishes.
With the SCS Scheme, steel producers and processors will be able to achieve Best Practice credits towards Green Star Building compliance. They will also be able to achieve compliance by using other Schemes in combination with the SCS Scheme to achieve either ‘Good practice’ or ‘Best practice’ product criteria.

Read the full story at: https://www.epcgroup.com/acrs-certification-recognised-by-gbca/

ACRS (the Australasian Certification Authority for Reinforcing and Structural Steels), the leading independent, third-party steel certification authority of construction steels to Australian and New Zealand Standards, and CARES, the leading international constructional steel certification authority,...

01/12/2022

TEMPORARY WOODEN MARKET HALL GETS A NEW LIFE AS A SPORTS HALL IN SWEDEN’S LARGEST REUSE PROJECT

Östermalmshallen Padel is Sweden’s largest reuse project in the construction industry. A wooden building which had served as a temporary market hall in Östermalm in Stockholm was moved 500 kilometres southwest and converted into a padel hall by real estate company Wallenstam.
When the grand Östermalmshallen market hall in Stockholm needed to be renovated in 2016, it was necessary to find a solution that allowed the operations in Östermalmshallen to continue without interruption. The solution: to build a temporary building that could be reused. The temporary market hall was built entirely from wood.
When the renovation of Östermalmshallen was completed and the temporary structure had served its purpose, Wallenstam purchased the building to find a new use for it.
“This reuse project is one of a kind in Sweden. We disassembled a fully functioning market hall in Stockholm, moved it to a new location 500 kilometres away in Mölnlycke just outside Gothenburg, and reassembled the building to fulfil its new purpose as a padel hall. It really is unique,” says Johan Wuollet, Project Manager for Wallenstam.
It took just over a year to complete the project, including disassembling, storing and reassembling it in Mölnlycke, where it has now been inaugurated. The concept is based on prefabricated wooden elements. The roof structure consists of Kerto LVL beams laid out in a grid-like pattern, which makes for a stronger structure and smaller material consumption.
In the long term, Johan Wuollet believes that it will become an industry requirement that buildings can be disassembled or flexibly adapted for different purposes, because the construction industry is currently responsible for a large share of climate impacts.
“This has been a sustainability project for Wallenstam and a learning journey to gain more experience on how to reuse a large building. Like every other industry, the construction industry must focus on sustainability and circularity. Wood material is in line with this goal, and whether we use wood alone or in combination with other materials, I believe reuse will play an increasingly important role in future construction projects,” says Johan.
The 2,000-square-metre hall has won awards for its design.
Read Construction Engineering Australia (CEA) magazine online or download for FREE at: https://www.epcgroup.com/magazines/cea-magazine/

23/11/2022

For a limited time, you can access career-changing resources including over 100 hours of the latest and most popular video presentations and webinar content from Engineers Australia with a free 1-month trial of EA OnDemand.
SIGN UP TODAY at: https://m.engineersaustralia.org.au/resourcetrial?utm_medium=DisplayAd&utm_source=HEA&utm_campaign=ResourceTrial_2022

23/11/2022

TECHNOLOGIES FOR RESPONSIVE DATA COLLECTION NEEDED TO IMPROVE REGIONAL WATER MANAGEMENT

A recent report from the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering (ATSE) has found that emerging data collection technologies can help manage water challenges in real time and mitigate the worst effects of drought, flood, and shifting water patterns.
Australia’s inland water is being impacted by climate change. The 2022 State of the Environment report found that pressures of climate, development and management, and the resulting state and trends of surface waters, groundwater, water quality, ecological processes and species populations have deteriorated. As such, it’s critical that water resource managers adopt an agile, evidence-based approach by considering cultural and environmental impacts that respond to future hydroclimatic conditions.
A report by the Australian Academy of Technological Science and Engineering entitled: Technologies for Water Management has found that emerging technologies for data collection must harness contextual, real-time data to ensure farmers, local councils, Traditional Custodians and other water resource managers can make more evidence-based water management decisions.
Read the full story at: https://www.epcgroup.com/regional-water-management/