Thread by @WillowA2

So I'm just going to pick apart one bit of the catwalk #NotZero model that cost us all around $6 million. Buildings, because that's what I know a fair bit about.

A thread. Let's start with housing, which ScoVogue&Co predicts will get lots more rooftop solar. But it's unlikely...

Because one in five Australians rent - and guess what, there's zero incentive for landlords to put solar on a rental. Why would they? Unless they could sell the power to the tenants of course, but that's proving problematic. But also, because our homes are 'glorified tents'...

that perform so badly we have more deaths from cold-related illness in Australia than they do in Northern Europe, and when the solar's not generating [even IF landlord installed it] grid energy is required [and decarbonising the grid will be SLOW under ScoStrut model]...

so renters will likely STILL have homes that consume a huge amount of energy just to stay comfortable enough to not get sick [or get heat-stroke]. so rental home emissions - one in five homes - unlikely to go down. and then there's apartments....

Apartments in towers are one of the most emissions-intensive forms of housing compared to townhouses or low-rise flats. because pumping water, running lifts, keeping air breathable in common areas, all needs energy. high floor/roof ratio makes PV drop in the ocean...

and more and more apartments are being built - but there's NOTHING in the plan about improving the quality of their performance. nada. And what we know is many apartments perform really badly - basically like solar ovens. so. until grid is decarbonised, emissions will be high...

The Vogon Model is full of nifty markety talk like "no mandates" [etc] but what we have seen is mandates on NABERS ratings for commercial office properties have had a HUGE impact on reducing energy use. Yes tweeps, "mine is bigger than yours" in NABERS ratings is a thing....

In fact, University of Oxford researchers found that between 2009 and 2019 carbon intensity [emissions per sqm] in the Australian office sector reduced by a whopping 32% - thanks to a MANDATE called the 2010 Commercial Buildings Disclosure Act thefifthestate.com.au/innovation/rat…

but the residential sector remains stubbornly resistant to mandating ratings, or even to insisting rental homes [whatever type of building they are] have a thermal performance that won't kill people and won't kill the planet due to energy use required to stay well...

And there is NOTHING in the climate disaster catwalk script produced by McKinsey and the Morrison government that even suggests that will change. Nor is there any concrete plan for a gas phase-down in public buildings... and this is also just stupid of them...

gas is used extensively in hospitals, for example, to provide heating and [perhaps more importantly] hot water. No-one wants to be without hot water in a healthcare setting. retrofitting hospitals to electrification [+PV] will need to be a staged process that will involve JOBS...

so many jobs. engineering jobs, trades jobs, manufacturing jobs.... so MANY jobs... just in transitioning public buildings. and such massive operational cost savings in swapping to all-electric with PV all over them. But it's not even hinted at in the plan. And that's because...

This is not actually a plan for achieving net zero by 2050. This is basically a $6 million election campaign ad designed to ensure ScoVogue and his merry band of fellow rorters can get back into power and keep enjoying all the photo opps and cosplay.

one hopeful thing...

there are currently right now so many very dedicated and talented STEM people and ESG experts and grassroots activists and regenerative land managers and environmental economists [not all economists are evil, truly!] doing the hard yards for what COULD be a proper plan one day.