1 Emeritus Professor, School of Engineering & Priority Research Centre for Energy, The University of Newcastle, Callaghan, NSW, 2308, Australia, adrian.page@newcastle.edu.au
2 Group Technical Research and Engineering Manager, Brickworks Building Products, Australia,
cathy.inglis@brickworks.com.au
ABSTRACT
There is an increasing emphasis on sustainability in all of its forms worldwide. This is particularly the case in the building industry driven by a rapidly changing regulatory environment aimed at encouraging sustainability practices. In Australia, the recent introduction of a carbon pricing scheme has also resulted in an increased focus on energy intensive materials and practices due to the higher costs of fossil fuel based power generation and other carbon intensive manufacturing processes. It has also resulted in an increased interest on energy efficiency in all of its forms, and in particular, the design, construction and operation of buildings. A national building energy standard incorporating an assessment and rating framework is also being prepared. This environment has created a number of threats and opportunities for the masonry industry – masonry is an energy intensive material and its market share is under threat for this and other reasons, but in a life cycle context it has significant advantages in relation to longevity, consistent performance, and the potential for use in buildings with lower operational energy. As a result, the masonry industry has been pro-active in developing a range of research and communication strategies to meet this challenge and take advantage of potential opportunities. An overview is given of the current Australian scene together with the strategies being adopted by the masonry industry to ensure that masonry remains a widely used construction material.
KEYWORDS: sustainability, masonry, energy performance
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