Plumbing Connection Winter 2016

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1 4 PLUMBING CONNECTION WINTER 2016
INDUSTRY NEWS
ENVIRONMENTALLY CONSCIOUS
Iplex Pipelines was established
in Australia in 1938 and over the
past seven decades has grown to
become a recognised leader in the
supply of pipeline products to the
water and gas industries. Today the
company is a wholly owned division
of Fletcher Building Ltd and is among
the first companies to publish an
Environmental Product Declaration
(EPD) in Australia. Rodger Connolly,
Iplex National Technical Services
Manager explains that the business
case for product manufacturers to
produce an EPD is quite clear.
“There is a growing market
demand for validated environmental
credentials of building products,
with infrastructure projects, like
airports and bridges, worth billions
of dollars under the Infrastructure
Sustainability Council of Australia
(ISCA) rating scheme, 1000
commercial buildings already been
rated under the Green Building
Council of Australia’s (GBCA) Green
Star certification scheme and 300
currently under construction.
“EPDs help our customers –
builders and developers – seeking
to construct environmentally
responsible buildings and
infrastructure by providing them with
information and the evidence they
require to claim credit points under
the GBCA and ISCA rating systems for
their projects.”
Examples of investments Iplex
has made include power efficient
machinery, rainwater harvesting,
strategic factory locations and route
planning.
“We also insist on sourcing
polymer and additives from certified
Best Environmental Practice
suppliers.”
For other companies considering
a similar approach, Rodger has the
following advice: Keep adequate
records of records like water
and power consumption, waste
generation, imports, location of your
markets and how you distribute to
them.
“The process of doing an EPD has
highlighted the benefits of doing
investments in energy efficiency and
recovery, low power lighting etc.;
those decisions have become clear
cut in our business.”
AIRAH’s comprehensive technical
bulletin on kitchen exhaust fire
safety is available online
Understanding and addressing
the special fire risks inherent in
commercial kitchen ventilation
systems has never been more
important.
AIRAH has released Fire safety
– Kitchen hood exhaust systems,
a free online technical bulletin that
offers an in-depth look at the special
fire risks associated with commercial
kitchen ventilation systems.
The bulletin aims to highlight the
main fire safety issues, promote
a common language, and improve
understanding of the risks and
resulting responsibilities of all
participants in the supply chain,
from design and installation
through to operation and continuing
maintenance.
“Kitchen exhaust systems
continue to feature prominently in
commercial building fire events,”
says AIRAH CEO Tony Gleeson. “We
have been advised there was $30
million worth of damage in just five
incidents of businesses burning down
in 2014. There are simple ways to
avoid kitchen fires, and they should
be implemented.
“And now, amid recent updates
to relevant Australian Standards,
as well as recent changes to
the maintenance requirements
and focus of the NCC, it is more
important than ever to help
address misunderstandings and
misconceptions.”
UPDATE ON NON-CONFORMING
PRODUCT
A paper on strategies to address
risks related to non-conforming
building products was released at the
end of March.
Recognising concerns about risks
posed by non-conforming building
products, the Building Ministers’
Forum (BMF) meeting of 31 July
2015 agreed to a number of actions
that included establishing a Senior
Officers’ Group (SOG) to investigate
strategies to minimise the risks
to consumers, businesses and
the community associated with
the failure of building products
to conform to relevant laws and
regulations, including at the point of
import.
The SOG is comprised of senior
officers from the Commonwealth,
states and territories. It has
undertaken investigations and
identified a range of strategies that
were presented to the BMF at its
meeting on 19 February 2016.
The SOG report notes that the
issue of non-conforming building
products, whether domestically
manufactured or imported, is an
important and complex challenge of
national significance, impacting on
the construction, manufacturing,
trade (imports) and retail sectors.
It can have life safety, health,
economic, legal and social
consequences.
The Department of Housing
and Public Works, Queensland
is coordinating feedback on
the strategies to address non-
conforming building products.
More information can be found here: