Living Laboratories – Further Information

Benefits

• Best-of-the-best program
• Real-world performance in a controlled environment
  • Different building types, applications
  • End-user feedback
• Addresses market failure of some standards
• Accelerate technology adoption by promoting knowledge transfer.

A modifiable trial space for iterative discovery

A Living Laboratory

• Flexible evolving installation
• User experience focus
• With/without comparison
• Market leadership

vs

• A Demonstration Project
• Energy payback
• Fixed one-off installation
• Technical functionality focus
• It works or it doesn’t

Testing benefits

• Known baselines, better instrumentation, more occupant feedback
• Speed and low ongoing testing costs (minimise the need for finding new trial sites).

Host site benefits

• Leverage the innovation of others (crowd sourcing from product suppliers, designers, researchers)
• Tangible showcase of commitment to stakeholders (property sector, government, occupants)
• Capability and financial support.

A Model for Outstanding Building Performance

The Green Proving Ground has been successfully adopted in the US as a model for outstanding building performance.

GSA buildings are 35 per cent* more efficient than typical U.S. commercial buildings.

Green Proving Grounds (GPG) accelerates market acceptance by objectively assessing innovative building technologies in real-world environments, and deploying those that deliver. To date, GSA has installed 9 GPG technologies across more than 200 buildings. In aggregate, these technologies are delivering $7.4 Million in annual O&M savings.

How Does the US GPG Work?

• Identify promising technologies at the edge of commercialisation
• Pilot technology installations within GSA’s real estate portfolio
• Partner with Department of Energy national laboratories to objectively evaluate real-world performance
• Identify technologies with broad deployment potential for GSA, coordinate results with broader federal and CRE community

Proposed Australia GPG Model

Selection criteria

1. Innovation
2. Performance
3. Deployment potential
4. Cost Savings
5. Project Value
6. Technical Risk

Funding

i-Hub will provide resources to:

• Oversee the process of sourcing suitable energy saving technologies
• Design test plans
• Monitor performance and user experience
• Analyse and disseminate results.

Product supplier

• Provides the products and in some cases may need to assist with installation.
• An annual i-Hub membership fee is payable once your product has been selected for testing.