Over 170 people attended a joint seminar between APIA and PIPA at the Brisbane Hilton on 4 February 2010. The topic was Polyethylene (PE) pipelines in coal seam gas applications. PE has been used in Queensland for coal seam gas gathering lines for a decade but with the CSG industry about to expand enormously there was plenty of interest from around Australia and overseas.

Copies of the Technical presentations given by several PIPA members on a range of topics of specific interest to the CSG industry, are available in PDF format for download.

GBCA announces changes to the PVC credit in Green Star

The Green Building Council of Australia (GBCA) announced on 15 January 2010 the outcome of their review of the PVC material credit in the Green Star Rating tool. The changes being introduced by the GBCA are the culmination of a long and rigorous review of PVC in the built environment. This review has been comprehensive taking over 18 months to complete involving an expert reference panel assembled by the GBCA, inspections of Australian facilities and an extensive international literature review.

The outcome will see the GBCA move away from the negative credit approach currently in place and instead adopt a positive reward where suitably certified PVC products (including pipe and conduit) can attract points under the Green Star rating system. These products will be independently third party certified as meeting the “best practice requirements” as defined by the GBCA.

The following is an extract from the press release quoting GBCA CEO Romilly Madew outlining the reasons and justification for the proposed new approach;

“Rewarding best practice PVC products within the Green Star rating system will stimulate demand for best practice, responsibly-produced PVC products in Australia,” said Ms Madew. A series of Expert Reference Panel meetings, site visits, discussions with key stakeholders, and examination of international studies had shown that the lifecycle of PVC, from raw materials and production through use to end-of-life, recycling and disposal has changed considerably in the past five years, Ms Madew explained.

The GBCA press release can be read in full by visiting their website http://www.gbca.org.au/.

The GBCA are to be commended for taking this action as it not only recognises advances in the PVC industry generally and the Australian pipe sector in particular but also provides a framework that will continue to encourage and reward best practice product design in the future.