Resilient Buildings and Distributed Energy: A Grassroots Community Response to the Climate Emergency

Niklas, S; Alexander, D; Dwyer, S

Resilient Buildings and Distributed Energy: A Grassroots Community Response to the Climate Emergency

Niklas, S

Alexander, D Dwyer, S

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Publisher:: MDPI AG
Publication Type:: Journal Article
Citation:: Sustainability, 2022, 14, (6), pp. 3186
Issue Date:: 2022-03-08

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Field	Value	Language
dc.contributor.author	Niklas, S https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3757-6527
dc.contributor.author	Alexander, D
dc.contributor.author	Dwyer, S https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4652-9351
dc.date.accessioned	2022-03-27T03:50:32Z
dc.date.available	2022-03-27T03:50:32Z
dc.date.issued	2022-03-08
dc.identifier.citation	Sustainability, 2022, 14, (6), pp. 3186
dc.identifier.issn	2071-1050
dc.identifier.issn	2071-1050
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10453/155602
dc.description.abstract	<jats:p>The severity and incidence of extreme weather events are increasing with climate change. In particular, wildfires are becoming more frequent, more intense, and longer lasting than before. Fuelled by long periods of dryness and high temperatures, the Australian wildfires of 2019/2020 were record breaking in terms of destruction and chaos. Rural communities were severely affected by power cuts disabling access to essential services. Following the wildfires, a concept for energy resilient public buildings (“Emergency Distributed Energy System”) emerged as a grassroots community idea from the wildfire-affected area of Gippsland, southeast Australia. A combination of desktop and empirical research explored international examples of energy resilience and climate mitigation, the local services and technologies that are needed in Gippsland, and the legal and regulatory challenges and enablers in Australia. The findings were informed by case studies of responses to natural disasters that included California and Greece (wildfires), New Zealand (earthquake), and India (cyclone). The results determined that community resilience can be increased by offering a more reliable electricity supply that would support greater social, political, and economic structures. The deployment of resilient energy systems should be driven by political will, economic incentives and working with communities to support a concerted shift towards low-emissions and distributed energy technologies.</jats:p>
dc.language	en
dc.publisher	MDPI AG
dc.relation	Department of Jobs, Precincts and Regions
dc.relation.ispartof	Sustainability
dc.relation.isbasedon	10.3390/su14063186
dc.rights	info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
dc.subject	12 Built Environment and Design
dc.title	Resilient Buildings and Distributed Energy: A Grassroots Community Response to the Climate Emergency
dc.type	Journal Article
utslib.citation.volume	14
utslib.for	12 Built Environment and Design
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/DVC (Research)
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/DVC (Research)/Institute For Sustainable Futures
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Strength - ISF - Institute for Sustainable Futures
utslib.copyright.status	open_access	*
pubs.consider-herdc	false
dc.date.updated	2022-03-27T03:50:29Z
pubs.issue	6
pubs.publication-status	Published online
pubs.volume	14
utslib.citation.issue	6

Abstract:

The severity and incidence of extreme weather events are increasing with climate change. In particular, wildfires are becoming more frequent, more intense, and longer lasting than before. Fuelled by long periods of dryness and high temperatures, the Australian wildfires of 2019/2020 were record breaking in terms of destruction and chaos. Rural communities were severely affected by power cuts disabling access to essential services. Following the wildfires, a concept for energy resilient public buildings (“Emergency Distributed Energy System”) emerged as a grassroots community idea from the wildfire-affected area of Gippsland, southeast Australia. A combination of desktop and empirical research explored international examples of energy resilience and climate mitigation, the local services and technologies that are needed in Gippsland, and the legal and regulatory challenges and enablers in Australia. The findings were informed by case studies of responses to natural disasters that included California and Greece (wildfires), New Zealand (earthquake), and India (cyclone). The results determined that community resilience can be increased by offering a more reliable electricity supply that would support greater social, political, and economic structures. The deployment of resilient energy systems should be driven by political will, economic incentives and working with communities to support a concerted shift towards low-emissions and distributed energy technologies.

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http://hdl.handle.net/10453/155602