Although the National Construction Code 2019 became mandatory in most parts of Australia from May 2020, there is still a pressing need to help professionals in the building management and construction industry understand and comply with the provisions.

To assist with this, AIRAH has produced six case studies exploring how different aspects of NCC 2019 are applied, with a special focus on the new stringent requirements for the energy efficiency of commercial buildings contained in Section J.

The case studies include:

• Key differences between NCC 2016 and NCC 2019 across different building classes
• Tasks that practitioners may find challenging or unclear and examples of how to apply the code in these cases
• Detailed drawings, calculations and, where applicable, simulations.

The case studies have been disseminated through Ecolibrium, the official journal of AIRAH, and a series of Streamline webinars – available free to access via the links below.

Pumps – Designing a new condenser water system for a building	Ecolibrium August-September 2020	Streamline August 2020
Fans – Assessing an existing air handling unit (AHU) and outside air fan serving an office area	Ecolibrium Spring 2020	Streamline October 2020
Ductwork – New construction and the design implications of the envelope line and ceiling space	Ecolibrium Spring 2020	Streamline November 2020
Façades – Building façade performance and impact on HVAC design and building energy	Ecolibrium Summer 2020	Streamline December 2020
Economy cycle and outside air control – Application of the new DtS provisions for a class 5 office building in climate zones 2 and 6 of a fictional office building	Ecolibrium February-March 2021	Streamline February 2021
Verification method pathways – The decision-making journey of an office building	Ecolibrium February-March 2021	Streamline March 2021

AIRAH believes this selection of topics will raise awareness of key changes to the energy efficiency requirements of Section J of the 2019 NCC; increase understanding of how to apply Section J in practice and its benefits; and increase confidence among our practitioner group to achieve compliance.

This project was supported by the Australian Government Department of Industry, Science, Energy and Resources through the Climate Solutions Package.

You may also be interested in learning more about our one-day NCC Volume 1 Section J course.