Continued success: AEEA Award-winning sustainable house now exhibited at MAAS Friday, 17 June 2016

International award-winning Illawarra Flame House exemplifies sustainability innovation and engineering collaboration, and now taking pride of place at the Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences (MAAS), Sydney.

Winner of the AEEA Sydney 2014 President’s Award, the Illawarra Flame House, is a cutting-edge demonstration of how to retrofit an Australian ‘fibro’ house to become a net-zero energy, affordable, attractive and comfortable home. It boasts an innovative-award winning- HVAC control system that ensures the house is always comfortable and enjoyable to live in. 

The joint project of ‘Team UOW’, a collaboration between students and staff at the University of Wollongong (UOW) and TAFE NSW Illawarra Institute, impressed AEEA Award judge, 2014 Engineers Australia Sydney President Alexandra Meldrum FIEAust CPEng FIChemE FAICD with its futuristic and innovative ingenuity.

“When selecting the President’s Award, I had an eye to the future,” Ms Meldrum said. “I chose the winners because they personify the vision of Engineers Australia to be the global home for engineering professionals renowned as leaders in shaping a sustainable world.”

With a model of the house now on display at the MAAS Engineering Excellence Exhibition, the project is part of an Australian showcase of world-leading engineering successes. The Illawarra Flame House itself is now located at the UOW Innovation Campus alongside the Sustainable Buildings Research Centre where it serves as a unique research test-bed for new technologies and systems, and for demonstrating these to the community. Since returning to Australia, the Illawarra Flame House has been seen by over 3500 visitors each year.

Illawarra Flame House won the Solar Decathlon China 2013 competition, the world’s largest student-led competition, with the highest overall score in the history of Solar Decathlon competitions, winning 957.6 out of a possible 1000 points. Following the success, Team UOW decided to make a bid to compete in the upcoming Solar Decathlon Middle East in Dubai 2016-2018. This exciting competition will give the team new challenges to create an innovative and world class design.

Team UOW and the Illawarra Flame House has won many other awards including the 2014 International Green Gown Awards, the API NSW Excellence in Property Industry Award, Engineering Education Engagement Award from the Australasian Association for Engineering Education, AIRAH Student of the Year Award and the Mayor’s Special Award at the Wollongong City Council Australia Day Awards.

See where the Excellence Awards could take you in 2016!

2016 Australian Engineering Excellence Awards (AEEA) are open now. The AEEA Awards provide an opportunity to showcase your work to industry, clients, government, media, sponsors and the community. Winning an AEEA Award can assist in building a globally recognised team to create a professional culture around capability, competency and currency.

To find out more about submitting a project into the AEEA Newcastle Awards, please visit AEEA 2016 website. Entries close on 8 July 2016.

Photo: The Illawarra Flame House courtesy of Team UOW.