Quick Links
- Download our Energy Efficiency Assessment Check-list
- Roof Insulation Compression Calculator
- Explanation of terms used in the Energy Efficiency Industry
- Thinking beyond 6 Stars avoids $27,000 in building alteration costs
- Can you Convert a House Star Rating to Dollars?
- How Ceiling Fans Work, Thermally Speaking
- Our Electric Car
Articles, calculators & tools we have written about building energy efficiency
- Residential Whole of Home
- Does My Building Need To Be Assessed for Energy Efficiency?
- Building Application is just around the corner and the council has given you a list of forms to obtain to make sure your project complies with the National Construction Code (NCC). Energy efficiency compliance is on that list, but “does my building really need an energy efficiency assessment”? In this article we cover the common building scenarios that will and won't require an energy efficiency assessment.
- How to get a 10 Star house in Brisbane
- “If the NatHERS Star Rating scale goes to 10 Stars, how can someone design a 10 Star house?”. The minimum requirement for houses in Australia is 6 Stars, but homeowners are aiming to achieve higher performing houses. In this article, we decided to explore what a 10 Star house would look like in Brisbane.
- Earth Overshoot Day 2020
- Learn about Earth Overshoot Day, the date when humanity uses up the Earth's resources for the year. Find out how it's calculated and why it keeps getting earlier each year, pushing us into ecological deficit.
- NCC2019 Changes Video Presentation
- NCC2019 is almost here, and since this year's changes are pretty complex, we're doing our regular changes summary as a video presentation. Watch it here!
- How To Quantify Comfort with PMV
- The Maximum Glazing House – A Case Study
- Energy efficiency may appear to be a straight forward process. However there are times when one comes across a project that presents a healthy challenge. This case study describes the journey of a client on one such project.
- Choosing “cheap” consultants: Saving Money or Increasing your Construction Costs?!
- “Other than price, were there other factors that guided your decision?”, we often hear “No, the other company gave a competitive price for the same thing”..... So, if we told you that we can estimate a clear dollar figure (at our fee proposal stage), of how much we can potentially help you save on construction costs, how would you feel?
- Sustainable Buildings as a Journey
- What makes a “truly” sustainable building? What causes buildings to be less sustainable? Whilst the goal of Sustainable Buildings is sometimes difficult to define, there are numerous things that move us closer to this goal.
- Turning Star Ratings into Dollars
- A higher Star Rating can absolutely lead to more money saved. Here's some more examples of this.
- Condensation & Humidity: How to Control it in your Building
- The most damaging form of condensation is found between building surfaces, inside walls & roof spaces. How can you prevent or manage condensation? Can an air-tight building prevent condensation?
- Missing roof insulation?!
- A Building Surveyor picked-up that the Energy Efficiency Report completed 12 months earlier listed reflective-foil roof insulation... but an awful discovery found that there was none on building! With construction nearly finished, what could they do?
- Class 2 Units: Building Average Calculation
- The calculation of the Building Average for multi-residential Class 2 Units must be done correctly. It can be a bit tricky, so here's how it's done.
- What’s so great about our JV3 assessments?
- Our JV3 assessments allow trading between different building elements which results in significantly lower construction costs than what a DTS-compliant building would've required. Here's just some of the savings & benefits that we've achieved for our clients.
- QR Codes on Universal Certificates
- Did you know the QR Codes on Universal Certificates are there for a reason? Find out what they're for and how to use them in this article!
- What is a Universal Certificate?
- Wondering what on earth is a Universal Certificate? Here's your answer!
- 12 Tips to Keep Cool & Save Energy this Summer
- Don't let the Summer sun burn through your bank account!
- Is your NatHERS Assessment a Potential Disaster?
- Without all four parts of NatHERS running smoothly, your energy assessment could become a “rolling disaster” and may lead to unfortunate consequences.
- 10 Energy Saving Tips to Help Heat your Home
- Some buildings are just harder to keep warm, especially if your home is older with poor insulation. Using some of these tips should not only help you save on heating, but also keep you warm & comfortable throughout the long chilly evenings.
- Including NatHERS Universal Certificate in Residential Assessments
- The NatHERS Universal Certificate standardises reports across the construction industry. What does this mean for planned residential buildings?
- ISO9001 Quality Management System – Successful Audit
- Annual audit of our Quality Management System was completed with no issues.
- How Much does an Energy Rating Cost?
- Paying a little more for a quality, accurate and professional assessment can save you a lot money both in the cost of construction & long term running costs.
- Our Electricity Consumption creates Zero Emissions
- How a solar power system can have a positive effect on your power usage & take a look at our own 12 month Electricity Consumption Report.
- Elemental Trading Part 3: External Floors
- How can trading building elements give you a more energy efficient design and what effect does solar absorptance have on external floors?
- Elemental Trading, Part 2: External Walls
- How can trading building elements give you a more energy efficient design and what effect does solar absorptance have on external walls?
- Elemental Trading, Part 1: Roofs
- How can trading building elements give you a more energy efficient design and what effect does solar absorptance have on roofs?
- Refrigerated Walk-In Coldroom Comparisons Report
- Refrigerated Walk-In-Coldroom's (WICs) are applied in a wide range of methods as part of the delivery stream from food source to consumer. However, WICs are not regulated for minimum energy efficiency performance, making them difficult to assess. WICs can be more energy efficient, but what's the best way to go about it?
- Dr Clyde Anderson is now a Director of ABSA
- At the recent AGM of ABSA (Australian Building Sustainability Association), held on 27 November 2015 in Sydney, Dr Clyde Anderson was elected to be a Director.
- What Can Delay My Energy Assessment?
- Energy Efficiency assessments can be a time consuming and complicated process. What sort of things can delay your result, and what can you do to get your report sooner?
- The Cost of an Inexperienced Assessor
- Before choosing an Energy Efficiency assessor, you should know what potential 'hidden costs' you might face by selecting an inexperienced consultant.
- Our Self-balancing Electric Unicycle
- Having an Electric Car is great, but one of our employees thought he could make something even more efficient. A self-balancing, electric Unicycle!
- Want to save $27,000 in building alteration costs?
- Trying to obtain a 6 Star Rating for your house can be tricky and expensive. Here's a case study of how we think beyond just Stars to save the client money as well as find a complying solution for a difficult design.
- How can you reduce the cost of insulating a Building Envelope?
- Building Envelopes can be expensive. Read on to find some tips to reduce your Building Envelope's cost.
- Industry Alert: Glazing for Energy Efficiency
- The Australian Window Association (AWA) has issued an Industry Alert about the Incorrect Use of Glass Only Values for Glazing Energy Performance Ratings. Here's our summary of what this means and its impact on the industry.
- JV3 vs DTS: Construction Cost Savings!
- Commercial Energy efficiency assessments can be performed in several different ways - each with their own strengths & weaknesses. But did you know one way almost always ends up cheaper while also producing a more energy-efficient design?
- Presentation: Energy Efficiency Case Studies, Class 2-9
- On Saturday 11th of May 2013, Dr Clyde Anderson gave a technical presentation to the Australian Institute of Building Surveyors (AIBS) at their annual conference. Here's a summary of his talk.
- How to Understand Your Energy Efficiency Report
- Our reports are streamlined to give you all the information you need without any bloated fluff. Here's a quick rundown of what the sections mean.
- Roof Insulation Compression Calculator
- The effective R-value of fibre insulation decreases when it's compressed. Use this calculator to work out your roof insulation's compressed R-value.
- How Ceiling Fans Work, Thermally Speaking
- In hotter climates, ceiling fans can provide a big increase in a building's energy efficiency rating. We explain how the NCC & the NatHERS Software calculate this benefit.
- Can you Convert a House Star Rating to Dollars?
- Can you convert a House Star Rating report into Money? Is it possible? With a little work, in most cases yes! Read on to find out how.
- Verification Method JV3 Explained
- JV3 Assessments for Commercial buildings are a complicated beast. How do you check your Energy Efficiency Report's correct? What conditions should apply to the assessment?
- Explanation of terms used in the Energy Efficiency Industry
- SHGC, LowE, ABCB, ABSA, DTS, BERS, NatHERS, Partially Conditioned Areas... All these terms can get confusing. Here's what they all mean.
- Our Electric Car
- Here at Anderson Energy Efficiency, we practise what we preach. Always pushing the boundaries of efficiency & sustainability, Clyde purchased one of the very first privately-owned electric cars in QLD.
- NCC2012 Energy Efficiency Summary
- What's new in 2012? Our yearly update to the ever-changing Energy Efficiency requirements.
- How to control heat transfer
- There's many guides on designing energy-efficient buildings, both houses and commercial. Here's some tips you may not have heard before, straight from us – certified Energy Efficiency Assessors.
- BCA2011 Energy Efficiency Summary
- Another year, another set of changes. Includes a handy graph showing the effects of compression on insulation.
- Optimal Window Eaves Shading
- How much shade should a window have? It depends on many factors.
- BCA2010 Energy Efficiency Summary
- After the major changes last year, some new clarifications were added. Here's what's changed.
- Testing of Proposed BCA2010 Volume 2 House Energy Efficiency Deemed-to-Satisfy Measures with BERS Pro Energy Ratings
- We were commissioned by the ABCB to investigate the new DTS requirements in BCA2010. Here's the report, showing how the DTS requirements stack up to a full Star Rating.
- Window Design for Building Energy Efficiency
- Big windows, small windows, orientation... Window size is one of the most important parts of Energy Efficiency.
- March 2009 Energy Efficiency Update
- This is the largest change to Energy Efficiency in the building code for years, especially for Queensland. Keep on top of everything.
Some useful links
ABCB - Australian Building Codes Board
ABSA - Australian Building Sustainability Association
ANZES - Australian and New Zealand Solar Energy Society
Climate Change - Department of the Environment and Energy
DesignBuilder - Thermal Modelling Software
Energy Inspection - BERS Pro
Energy Labelling
QLD Development Code current parts
QLD Local Government Directory
YourHome Technical Manual