I2SL Australia Opens Up a Continent of Opportunities for Efficiency

In early 2024, I2SL welcomed its fourth international chapter—Australia! After hosting several interest meetings in both Sydney and Melbourne during summer and fall 2023, a group of lab architects, engineers, project managers, and project developers from across Australia signed a charter and was approved as a chapter by the I2SL Board of Directors in February 2024. For their first event as an official chapter, I2SL Australia hosted our global President Gordon Sharp to speak about the latest Labs2Zero initiatives, as well as speakers from Jacobs who highlighted some of their current projects in the country.

While a majority of labs and chapter members are located in Sydney, Melbourne, and Brisbane in eastern Australia, I2SL Australia has also received interest from labs and individuals in South Australia and Western Australia. The group hopes to address some of the challenges labs in Australia are facing, such as high utility costs and the cost of operating assets; a need for more skilled building managers and service technicians; exclusion of labs from local sustainability schemes and energy ratings; and greening the country’s energy grid. Furthermore, labs in Australia face some unique building performance challenges and harsh environmental conditions, including significant external temperatures during summer and increasing incidence of pollution from bush fires and burn-offs.

As the chapter continues to attract lab owners, operators, and other sustainability professionals across Australia, they plan to collaborate more with other industry organizations such as the Australian Institute of Refrigeration Air Conditioning and Heating, the Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers, Green Star, and the Tertiary Education Facilities Management Association to share information on I2SL initiatives like the Laboratory Benchmarking Tool and Labs2Zero. The chapter’s next event is in August in Adelaide, where I2SL member Dan Diehl from Aircuity will speak. If you are in Australia and would like to get involved with the Australia Chapter, email australia@i2sl.org.