Tiki RSS feed for the wiki pages https://www.tropicaldesignwiki.com/tiki-wiki_rss.php Sun, 05 Apr 2026 07:19:22 +0100 Tiki CMS/Groupware via FeedCreator 1.7.2.1 https://www.tropicaldesignwiki.com/img/tiki/tikilogo.png Tropical Design Wiki - A Centre for Excellence in Tropical Design https://www.tropicaldesignwiki.com/tiki-index.php en-us Thematic Communication https://www.tropicaldesignwiki.com/tiki-index.php?page=Thematic+Communication .diffchar { color:red; } - During this time Professor Ham also presented to the National Association for Interpretation Conference in Townsville about the work that is currently being undertaken as a part of the Solarcity’s project in Townsville. This international conference was held in Townsville, due in no small part to Dr Ham’s ecommendation that Interpreters from across the world should come and witness Townsville’s experiences in educating an entire community about sustainability. Professor Ham has been running these workshops in Townsville since 2008, and so far has presented to over 400 members of the community about the role Thematic Communication can play in inspiring change in your audience.
+ During this time Professor Ham also presented to the National Association for Interpretation Conference in Townsville about the work that is currently being undertaken as a part of the Solarcity’s project in Townsville. This international conference was held in Townsville, due in no small part to Dr Ham’s recommendation that Interpreters from across the world should come and witness Townsville’s experiences in educating an entire community about sustainability. Professor Ham has been running these workshops in Townsville since 2008, and so far has presented to over 400 members of the community about the role Thematic Communication can play in inspiring change in your audience.
]]> Sun, 20 Nov 2011 01:06:33 +0100 Welcome https://www.tropicaldesignwiki.com/tiki-index.php?page=Welcome .diffchar { color:red; } +
  • Earth Hour 2011 (external link)]]> Mon, 22 Aug 2011 00:08:50 +0100 Earth Hour 2011 https://www.tropicaldesignwiki.com/tiki-index.php?page=Earth+Hour+2011 .diffchar { color:red; } + At 8.30pm on Saturday 26 March 2011, lights will switch off around the globe for Earth Hour and people will commit to actions that go beyond the hour.
    +
    + Flick off the lights when you leave every day this week and come Saturday, you'll be in peak form for Earth Hour.
    +
    + Each year, Townsville City Council participates in the World Wildlife Fund’s Earth Hour, joining tens of millions of concerned citizens and corporations in calling for action to save our planet for future generations.
    +
    + Townsville City Council is proud to make a statement about the fight against climate change, and we encourage all our employees and members of the community to participate each year by turning off their lights.
    +
    + In 2008, more than 50 million people in 400 cities around the world took part in Earth Hour. The lights went out at Sydney’s Opera House, Rome’s Coliseum, the Empire State Building and the Golden Gate Bridge. Even the Google homepage went dark for the day.
    +
    + In 2009, over 4,000 cities in 88 countries around the world went dark fpr Earth Hour, and in 2010, a record 128 countries took part for climate change!
    +
    + Find out more about the Earth Hour by visiting www.earthhour.org (external link).
    +
    +
    Come and Join us.

    +
    ]]>     Sun, 21 Aug 2011 23:46:26 +0100     The Natural Edge Project https://www.tropicaldesignwiki.com/tiki-index.php?page=The+Natural+Edge+Project .diffchar { color:red; } + The Natural Edge Project (external link) (TNEP) is a collaborative partnership for education, research and policy development on innovation for sustainable development, based at QUT, Griffith University, Curtin University and Adelaide University.
    + TNEP's mission is to contribute to and succinctly communicate leading research, case studies, tools and strategies for achieving sustainable development across government, business and civil society.
    +
    + TNEP research principals Cheryl Desha (external link) and Charlie Hargroves (external link) have partnered with the Solar City projects and Townsville City Council's Citysolar program to undertake extensive research into Community Based Social Marketing along with investigations into economic and policy measures.
    +
    +

    ]]>     Thu, 18 Aug 2011 02:31:16 +0100     Solar City https://www.tropicaldesignwiki.com/tiki-index.php?page=Solar+City .diffchar { color:red; } -

    NNUAL_REPORT_2010_Townsville_Queensland_Solar_City">ANNUAL REPORT 2010 - Townsville Queensland Solar Cityh3>+

    bout_the_Solar_City_Project_Townsville">About the Solar City Project - Townsville


    The Townsville: Queensland Solar City is one of seven cities across Australia trialing community-wide solar power and energy efficiency to demonstrate the greenhouse gas emissions and energy savings possible if a whole community works together to do the bright thing.<br />+ The project, based at Magnetic Island and central Townsville is installing around 500 solar systems on selected homes and businesses to harness energy from the sun.
    +
    + To help the community become energy efficient, 1500 smart meters are being installed that display a customer’s current electricity use and costs. On top of this, 1700 energy audits are being conducted, offering consumers helpful advice on how to reduce their energy use. New approaches to electricity pricing are also being trialed.
    +
    + The Queensland Government is contributing $5 million towards the project, which is led by Queensland Government-owned Corporation, Ergon Energy. Townsville: Queensland Solar City is one of seven cities in the Australian Government’s $94 million Solar Cities program.
    +
    +

    Community Involvement

    + In March 2010, around half way through the five-year program, more than 1100 residents on Magnetic Island had joined the initiative. Currently the island is generating 1230 kilowatt hours of energy from the sun each day, which is enough energy to power about 100 homes during daylight hours.
    +
    + A large community education and engagement program is a central part of the project, to ensure continued protection of our Queensland lifestyle and environment, through making more sustainable choices.
    +
    + Communities, like Magnetic Island, are helping build a virtual solar power station for Queensland. Bright ideas, like the Townsville Solar City initiative, have helped to double Queensland’s use of solar energy to 500 megawatts in less than two years - more than three years ahead of schedule.
    +
    + You can contribute to this target too by doing the bright thing and installing a solar hot water system or solar power system on your home.
    +
    +

    ANNUAL REPORT 2010 - Townsville Queensland Solar City

    ]]>     Thu, 18 Aug 2011 01:31:01 +0100     'Green' Building https://www.tropicaldesignwiki.com/tiki-index.php?page=%27Green%27+Building .diffchar { color:red; } +

    a Casestudy of the greent/Evolve commercial building project 2006 - 2010

    -
    pan class="img"><a href="http://cafalo.com/developing_green/developing-green.pdf" title="Developing ‘Green’ in Townsville’s CBD">1.jpg" border="0" />

    + Below are snapshots of the overview report:



    Download The Report </div>

    style="text-align: center;"> class="wiki external" href="http://cafalo.com/developing_green/developing-green.pdf" rel="external">right click save as="0" class="externallink" src="img/icons/external_link.gif" alt=" (external link)" /> - 2.5Mb




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    iv style="text-align: center;"><span class="img">4    .jpg" border="0" />sp    an> > <span class="img">eveloping_green/developing_green6.jpg" border="0" />




    (Reference: http://cafalo.com/developing-green.htm (external link) )
    ]]> Tue, 16 Aug 2011 04:35:36 +0100 District Cooling https://www.tropicaldesignwiki.com/tiki-index.php?page=District+Cooling .diffchar { color:red; } +

    Campus District Cooling (CDC) System - Averting an Energy Crisis

    +

    Background

    + In 2008, JCU's Douglas Campus was facing an energy dilemma. It had reached a point where its energy demand was close to that of the supply. Thus, it could no longer expand its operations without major infrastructure upgrades to the electricity supply or a major rethink of its energy efficiency.
    +
    + It was identified that air-conditioning was a major consumer of electricity, using close to 60% of the total energy for the campus. Each building had its own air-conditioning plants, and many of these were inefficient, outdated and in need of replacement.
    +
    + Instead of upgrading the electricity infrastructure to meet the growing demand, the University decided to pursue energy efficiency as the solution to the growing campus. This was a more sustainable approach and looked at a long term solution for the University.
    +
    + JCU's Cairns Campus had already installed a CDC system and it had been successful in reducing energy use while providing efficient, reliable air-conditioning to the campus.
    +
    +

    +
    +

    What is the CDC system?

    + Basically, the CDC system provides chilled water (6oC) to most of JCU's buildings through a network of underground pipes. This chilled water is then provides highly efficient air conditioning to the buildings it supplies.
    +
    + The water is cooled at night using large chillers and then stored in a huge steel tank measuring 17 metres high and 30 metres in diameter.
    +
    + JCU's Douglas Campus has the largest CDC tank in the Southern Hemisphere, holding 12.5 million litres of water.
    +
    + For a more detailed explanation of the system click here (external link).
    +
    +

    Why do we chill the water at night?

    + Water is chilled at night for several reasons:
    +
    +

    Off peak charges

    + The cost of electricity is lower during off-peak (11pm - 6am); therefore considerable savings can be achieved by running chillers at night instead of the traditional air-conditioning units that work through the day.
    +
    +

    Peak demand

    + Electricity is charged on both energy consumed and the peak demand. Peak demand is the peak energy use for each month and can increase charges significantly. Traditionally for JCU, peak demand occurs during daytime periods, when lighting, air-conditioning and other power uses are all occurring at the same time. By taking out the air-conditioning portion of this, the daytime peak demand is reduced significantly (up to 40%).
    +
    +

    Cooler temperatures

    + Cooler night time temperatures mean the chillers don't need to work as hard to chill the water than during the day, resulting in efficiency gains.
    +
    +

    Working together to achieve energy savings

    + JCU is working closely with Ergon Energy to realise energy savings and demand reduction at the JCU Douglas site.
    +
    + JCU and Ergon have signed an MOU stating that JCU will reduce its maximum demand by 4.5MW over the next 5 years and will receive $200,000 each year if it does so.
    +
    + This means everyone is a winner as it negates the need for Ergon to upgrade the electricity supply infrastructure to JCU and save JCU money by reducing its energy use.
    +
    + Ergon has produced a Network Demand Management Case Study highlighting the benefits of the CDC for JCU and Ergon.
    +
    + (Reference: http://www.jcu.edu.au/tropeco/sustainatjcu/energy/JCUPRD1_070531.html (external link) )
    ]]>     Tue, 16 Aug 2011 04:14:45 +0100     Home Energy Assessments https://www.tropicaldesignwiki.com/tiki-index.php?page=Home+Energy+Assessments .diffchar { color:red; } - (Reference: )">http://www.energysavers.gov/your_home/energy_audits/index.cfm/mytopic=11170) (external link)
    + (Reference: http://www.energysavers.gov/your_home/energy_audits/index.cfm/mytopic=11170 (external link) )
    ]]>     Tue, 16 Aug 2011 04:09:09 +0100     Sustainable House https://www.tropicaldesignwiki.com/tiki-index.php?page=Sustainable+House .diffchar { color:red; } +

    House Name: Rowes Bay Sustainability Education Centre

    + Demonstration type: Major retrofit with extensive landscaping and minor building works
    +
    + Summary: Townsville City Council has retrofitted the Council depot Caretaker's cottage at Rowes Bay, a pre-1980's concrete block home, to demonstrate the retrofitting of energy efficiency measures and renewable energy together with the benefits of maintaining biodiversity through urban nature.
    + The Rowes Bay Sustainability Education Centre is a focal point of Townsville City Council’s whole of catchment education program providing an interpretive education experience for the wider Townsville community and particularly school groups.
    + Features of the home include white solar reflective roof paint, a whole of house extraction fan, solar heat pump hot water heating, water efficient taps and shower fittings, 2.5kW grid connect solar panel system, energy efficient lighting, shaded outdoor living areas and water sensitive landscaping and plantings.
    +
    +

    +
    + Owners: Townsville City Council
    +
    + Climate zone: Townsville is located in the Dry Tropics – there are two seasons: a hot and humid (November to April) wet season, and a warm to hot dry season with low humidity for the other half of the year.
    +
    + Construction type: Pre-1980’s concrete slab on ground home with concrete block walls both externally and internally. The metal roof has a low pitch with minimal roof space and has been painted with a white heat reflective paint. The building has moderate (500mm) to wide (900mm) eave overhangs, the carport, pergolas and trees shade the building. Breeze blocks between rooms, and multiple banks of louvre windows in each room in combination with large sliding windows facilitate good airflow throughout.
    +
    + SUSTAINABLE ELEMENTS OF THIS HOME
    +
    + Special Garden Features
    +
    + Demonstration low water use landscaping featuring a variety of lawn species, a diversity of mulches, low water use native and introduced plant species and water efficient irrigation system.
    + Water sensitive urban design including permeable paving and rock-lined drains.
    + An edible garden featuring raised beds, composting, worm farming, organic and permaculture gardening principles.
    +
    +

    +
    + Solar Power Generation
    +
    + A 1kW grid connected solar panel array on the roof of the building.
    + 1.5kW grid connected solar panel array integrated into the pergola roof.
    +
    +

    +
    + Tropical Design Features
    +
    + Roof painted with white heat-reflective roof paint.
    + Retention of louvre windows and breeze blocks for airflow.
    + Replacement of old whole of house extraction fan with new.
    + Hot Water Heating
    +
    + Replacement of the existing electric hot-water system with a solar heat-pump.
    + Energy Efficient Features
    +
    + Energy efficient lighting (ie long and circular fluorescent lighting) retrofitted throughout.
    + Demand reduction air-conditioner (part of an Ergon Trial) the compressor of which can be turned off remotely by Ergon at peak power loads.
    + Demonstration Solar Street Light.
    + Water Efficient Fittings
    +
    + Installation of water-efficient shower head, bathroom and kitchen taps.
    + Use of recycled materials
    +
    + Replas and Modwood both recycled plastic decking products used in landscaping.
    + Health & Wellbeing
    +
    + Low VOC paints used internally.
    + CrimSafe? screening of windows and doors for security, mosquito screening and shading of glass.
    ]]>     Tue, 16 Aug 2011 03:47:20 +0100     IBM Smarter City Challenge https://www.tropicaldesignwiki.com/tiki-index.php?page=IBM+Smarter+City+Challenge .diffchar { color:red; } -
    +


    IBM Visits Paluma




    IBM participates in Green Building Design workshop

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