esr.org.nz

Date and Time:     Thursday 18 March 2010, 7-30pm

Venue:                  Room 3.407 School of Engineering,
University of Auckland,

Speaker: Dr John Peet

Dr John Peet is a Life member of ESR and a retired Senior Lecturer, Department of Chemical and Process Engineering, University of Canterbury.  His background experience was in the petroleum industry.  John’s main focus in recent years has been sustainable development.  He is the author of a book on Energy and the Ecological Economics of Sustainability, and has presented many papers on systems, sustainability and the ethical requirements of stakeholder involvement.

Abstract :
Why do so many government policies – especially those related to energy or resource use or technology – almost always turn out to be a lot less successful than they should be?
John suggests it is because – as a generalisation – we actually don’t speak the same language!  Nor do we necessarily follow the same ethics. For these reasons, we badly need a means whereby the two professional groups seriously engage in some form of discussion, to build mutual understanding and a policy framework for genuine sustainability.  He will present some suggestions along those lines as a basis for discussion..

Web          www.esr.org.nz

Contact    John La Roche Ph 09 528 9759 johnlarioche@xtra.co.nz

ESR Auckland Branch

Date and Time Thursday 19 November 2009 starting 7-30pm

Where Room 3.407 School of Engineering, University of Auckland, 20 Symonds Street, Auckland ,

Speaker Dr Elizabeth Fassman
Dr Elizabeth Fassman is a Senior Lecturer in Civil and Environmental Engineering at The University of Auckland.  She came to New Zealand five years ago by way of Duke University and the University of Virginia, where she obtained undergraduate, ME and PhD degrees in civil and environmental engineering followed by two years in engineering consulting. Elizabeth’s research focuses on field-scale evaluation of stormwater management devices, with particular emphasis on emerging “low impact” and green infrastructure technologies for receiving water protection.

Abstract
Green roofs are unique amongst environmental protection technologies for their ability to address multiple impacts of urban development. A rapidly growing body of evidence indicates that green roofs reduce stormwater runoff, insulate buildings to reduce heating and cooling demands, extend the life of rooftops, promote urban biodiversity, and can provide amenity space for building occupants. A brief overview of how green roofs are engineered to satisfied different design objectives is presented. Outcomes from a three-year research project to generate design guidelines for green roofs for stormwater management using locally-sourced materials are presented.

Web  www.esr.org.nz

Contact Avishek Kumar  akum036@aucklanduni.ac.nz

[An ESR Position Paper]
Jack Woodward1, May 10, 2008

Introduction
There has been a global upsurge of interest in nuclear energy and there have been occasional recommendations for its use in NZ. Opposition to such a recommendation based on the key issues of cost, plant safety, emissions, resource availability, the treatment and disposal of nuclear wastes, decommissioning, and nuclear proliferation make its adoption unlikely. I have nonetheless reviewed here the various forms of nuclear reactor available for civil energy generation in the short and medium term, the trend in technologies, and their likely relevance to our local situation as some misleading claims have been made. I conclude that there is no reactor that could realistically be deployed here within the given time frame.
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Speaker: Dr John Peet

Joint ESR/IPENZ Event
Date: 4 August 2009, 7.00 pm
Venue: University of Canterbury, School of Engineering Lecture Room 1 (in the Mushroom).

It is becoming increasing clear that humans – and especially in the so-called “developed” nations – must drastically reduce their use of nonrenewable resources and emissions of pollutants, if genuine sustainability is to be achieved.  We need to go beyond policies that only result in things getting worse at a slower rate!  In this talk, John focuses on the severity of the challenge that faces us all, and puts out a challenge to the Engineering profession to become involved in not only the technical but also the ethical issues.

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Dr John Huckerby
Chief Executive Aotearoa Water and Tidal Energy Association

When: Wednesday 5 August

Time: 5.30 refreshments for 6.00 start

Where: Wellington City Council Committee Room 1, WCC Admin Building, Civic Square

ESR invites you to an informative, stimulating and provocative presentation on emerging technologies that could be harnessed to supply our energy, address our energy security, create jobs in a new industry and develop an export industry.
Statutory consents, environmental consequences, economic viability, political support and physical durability are live issues.
Dr Huckerby will talk about the size and distribution of our marine energy resources and developments in marine energy technologies. The status of marine energy projects in New Zealand will be described along with international initiatives.

ESR Auckland Branch August Meeting

Date and Time: 7.30pm, Thursday 20 August 2009.

Where: Room 3.407, School of Engineering, University of Auckland,
20 Symonds St, Auckland.

Speakers John Stansfield and Dorte Wray.
John Stansfield describes himself as having had a life sentence in the community and voluntary sector with no time off for good behaviour!  He is the executive director of Clean Stream Waiheke Ltd, an innovative community owned recycling and waste elimination company, a director of the Waste Resources Trust a community education and advocacy group and the founder of Orapiu grove farm organics partnership.  A passionate gardener and keen fisherman John is also a champion of community directed initiatives. In 2006 John was recognized as a fellow in social entrepreneurship as one of fifteen great NZ change-makers.  John lives on Waiheke Island where he is active in community affairs.
Dorte Wray is the Social Enterprise Intern with Clean Stream Waiheke Ltd, working on a variety of recycling and waste reduction projects.  She is Waiheke born and bred and loves having the opportunity to learn about, and take part in, community-run initiatives and innovations in her own island community.
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Date and Time:     Thursday 17 September 2009,  7-30pm

Venue:                    Room 3.407 School of Engineering,
University of Auckland,

Speakers: SHac09 Team, Dr Kepa Morgan, Jing Siong, John Cheah, Jenny Chu, Paul Jarvie, Jason Kururangi, Yuyi Shi, Deborah Teh

John is a PhD student with the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Top Doctoral Scholar, and Team Leader for SHaC’09.

Kepa is a senior lecturer in the Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering, and Managing Director of  Mahi Maioro Professionals. Kepa is a Chartered Professional Engineer and has been recognised for his consulting expertise working at the interface between Maori and Engineering, specifically in the area of M?ori land development. His work in this area included the creation of a Papakainga development guide in 1993, for which he won the inaugural Housing Industry Association Award fro Special Contribution to Housing and has more recently involved researching Uku; Fibre Reinforced Earth Composite which has resulted in three buildings and educational resources in Te Reo Rangatira available via the web.
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ESR Auckland Branch
Date and Time:   7-30 pm Thursday 15 October 2009
Where:       Room 3.407 School of Engineering, University of Auckland, 20 Symonds St, Auckland

Speaker:     Peter Kammler is a retired automotive engineer and businessman. He has lived in New Zealand since 1986 and is a founding member of Power for Our Future, an organisation which in the early nineties fought to keep our hydro power systems in public ownership. He is also a founding member of the Sustainable Energy Forum. For six years he was a member of the Board of Directors at Greenpeace, New Zealand. He has made numerous contributions to radio and newspapers on technical aspects of transport, the electricity system, and on environmental matters. Peter now lives on a lifestyle property near Matakana, and spends three months every year in Germany.
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