The Knowledge Hub

The Knowledge Hub page is a central location where all reports submitted by the i-Hub sub-projects can be found.

The reports are also available to download on individual sub-project pages.

Living Laboratories – Green Proving Grounds

The project will explore the effectiveness of the existing automatic HVAC controls (Hivve IQ) in relation to PV generated/battery stored energy usage and the peak demand in the classrooms before and after the installation of a Heat Recovery Ventilator (HRV) system as well as against equivalent adjacent transportable classrooms on each site.

Integrated Design Studios

The IDS-01 Next DC Integrated Design Studio investigates design innovation to reduce net energy consumption through the use of renewables and other energy technologies.

The IDS-02 ACT Schools Integrated Design Studio investigates design innovation to reduce net energy consumption through the use of renewables and other energy technologies.

This studio is the second to examine schools. Learnings from the first schools studio will be built upon and extended.

Ambulance Victoria aims to reach zero-net carbon by 2050. Solutions will be innovative and adaptable to each of Victoria’s climatic zones and the future electrification of fleet. They will also be socially responsible. The integrated design studios will be explore avenues in design to help achieve this.

Aquatic centres are notoriously heavy users of energy. Their extended operating hours, large heating loads and subsequent large energy costs represent a significant drain on council finances. As public buildings with a recreation agenda there is also considerable pressure to provide open architecture with areas of glass façade, etc. This makes them ideal candidates for the Integrated Design Studios. Renewables along with other emerging technologies such as low charge ammonia heat pumps will be explored in a push to reduce energy use.

This project is one of a series of Integrated Design Studios (IDS’s) to be carried out under i-Hub. This studio will use transport buildings (namely stations), as a part of the LXRP (Level Crossing Removal Project Victoria) as a case study.

This project is one of a series of Integrated Design Studios (IDS’s) to be carried out under i-Hub. This studio will use Aged Care as a case study.

This project is one of a series of Integrated Design Studios (IDS’s) to be carried out under i-Hub. This studio will use the Lightning Ridge LALC Multi-Purpose Building as a case study.

This project is one of a series of Integrated Design Studios (IDS’s) to be carried out under i-Hub. This studio will use the Lendlease Residential Aged Care Facility on the University of Wollongong’s Health and Wellbeing Precinct as a case study.

This IDS program, incorporating two design projects (IDS-13 and IDS-14), will bring together architects, mechanical and electrical engineers, construction managers and quantity surveyors to explore new ways of designing that will integrate technical performance and “constructability” with the many other design aspects of mixed-use buildings incorporating aspects of aged care.

Data Clearing House

The Open Data Clearing House project will develop and deliver a proof of concept that demonstrates how technology infrastructure can underpin an open data clearing house for all Australian buildings.

The DCH will provide the base data lake for this analysis with algorithms developed running off the data collated by the DCH. The results will inform on the feasibility of using gas engines in commercial buildings as a demand response resource, from a financial and environmental perspective.

The project will demonstrate the implementation of IoT solutions with the DCH IoT platform, as a means of scaling the management (control and maintenance) of solar, batteries and HVAC in Property NSW’s building portfolio.

The technical and operational challenges caused by the higher ingestion of DER in the electricity grid can be addressed using demand response. In this regard, efficient scheduling of flexible loads can play a pivotal role. In this context, a fully operational open ADR based DR model, emphasising the HVAC systems in two commercial buildings at Swinburne University, is proposed. A multi-agent-based open transactive demand response (TDR) model is proposed to improve the efficiency of HVAC and on-site renewables. The core component of the model is the multifactor optimisation of energy usage based upon activity type, weather conditions, and the occupancy rate.

This project aims to integrate the Exergenics exOptima central HVAC plant optimisation solution with the Data Clearing House and use it to demonstrate energy savings and renewable energy demand profile matching, in at least one CSIRO building.

This will help validate the efficacy of the Data Clearing House as a tool for Exergenics to rapidly onboard buildings. It will also provide a rigorous case-study of the exOptima software that can be used to develop the market for Exergenics services.

This project tests the hypothesis that, in less than 6 months, data from 11 buildings at Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital, along with electricity and gas utility data can be ingested to the Data Clearing House (DCH) platform and other databases so that a Renewable Energy and Enabling Technology and Services Evaluation Framework (REETSEF) report as specified in iHub LLHC1 can be produced for Metro North Health (MNH).