The theme for the 59th Annual Conference of Hospital Engineering is Environmental Management - Think Nationally ACT Locally! The 2008 Conference will address the latest environmental issues facing health engineers within the industry.

The program will include:

• Keynote speakers on the strategic direction of health facilities and asset management relating to sustainability
• Expert technical presentations on current and future sustainability trends, technology and developments

The Conference Program is now available, click here

Conference Keynote Speakers

• Mr Jon Stanhope MLA - Chief Minister of the ACT
• Mr Patrick Chu - Deputy Director of the Centre for Health Assets Australasia (CHAA), a University of New South Wales
• Mr John Sullivan - Manager of the Green Office - Australian National University
• Mr John Kennedy - Australian Building Codes Board
  
• Ms Kate Parsons - NSW Dept of Environment & Climate Change
• Mr Ben Bryant - Dept of Defence Force
• Mr Alex Hole - ARUP

Jon Stanhope MLA, is the Chief Minister of the ACT. He is also the ACT’s Treasurer, Minister for Business and Economic Development, Minister for Environment, Water and Climate Change, Minister for Indigenous Affairs, and Minister for the Arts.

Mr Stanhope was first elected to the ACT Legislative Assembly in 1998 as a Member for Ginninderra and was elected Opposition Leader by the Labor Caucus in that year. He led the Labor Party to victory in the 20 October 2001 election, with a 16 per cent swing. He was elected Chief Minister of the ACT at a sitting of the Legislative Assembly on 12 November 2001. In October 2004 Mr Stanhope led the Labor Party to victory for a second time, increasing its representation in the 17-member Assembly to nine and ushering in the first majority government in the history of the Assembly.

Prior to entering the ACT Legislative Assembly, Mr Stanhope worked as Senior Adviser and Chief of Staff for the Federal Attorney General, Michael Lavarch, and spent a period as an adviser on native title to then Federal Opposition Leader, Kim Beazley. Before this, Mr Stanhope was the Secretary of the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs, a position in which he initiated and managed the inquiry that led to Half Way to Equal, a detailed analysis of issues relating to equality for women. Before that, Mr Stanhope had served in a public service career, working as a legal officer for 15 years in various Commonwealth departments. He spent two years as Deputy Administrator and Official Secretary of Norfolk Island.
Jon Stanhope was born in Gundagai in 1951. One of nine children of schoolteacher parents, much of his junior education was spent at one-teacher schools in country NSW.
He attended Mullumbimby Public School and Bega High School before coming to Canberra to undertake studies at the Australian National University, graduating as a Bachelor of Laws.
He married Robyn, a palliative care nurse and counsellor, and they raised their four children in Belconnen. They are now proud grandparents of four.
Mr Stanhope has a long-standing interest in human rights issues and has served as President of the ACT Council for Civil Liberties and as ACT Convenor of the National Coalition for Gun Control. He was also the original co-convenor of Racial Respect in the ACT and served as President of the ACT Hospice and Palliative Care Society.

Mr Stanhope’s interests include jogging, reading, gardening, football and cricket, fishing, and solitude.


Mr Patrick Chu - University of NSW

CHAA – An overview and update on progress on working towards a standard set of design principles across Australia.

Patrick Chu is the Deputy Director of the Centre for Health Assets Australasia (CHAA), a University of New South Wales (UNSW) Research Centre based in the Faculty of the Built Environment. The Centre is funded by the State and Territory Health Departments of Australia and New Zealand to research health asset facility design, procurement and management in order to improve the quality of physical environments that support better delivery of healthcare. 

Patrick is an Architect and Project Manager with over 20 years of experience in architectural practice and more recently academia.  He has extensive experience in a wide range of health, aged care and other institutional projects.

His current role with CHAA includes management of the development, review and approval process of the Australasian Health Facility Guidelines. The Guidelines are used in all states and territories of Australia and New Zealand in a variety of forms and are becoming widely referenced as far a field as PNG


Mr John Sullivan - Australian National University

John Sullivan has been a leading environmental manager of energy, water and waste at The ANU since 2000. He is a founding member, and now the manager of the multi-award-winning ANUgreen team. His work has included:
•    Planning, designing, installing and operating co-mingled recycling systems across the ANU campus,
•    Developing programs that have reduced the use of energy and water across campus,
•    Implementing the full range of environmental change processes, from green design and minor works, to major refurbishments and associated shifts in campus culture,
•    Instilling humour and innovation into green programs ranging from posters, poetry, personal communications and public presentations.
 
John currently manages the ANUgreen office, which is the largest of its kind in the Southern Hemisphere. The program involves students and staff at all levels across all of The ANU, and continues to extend environmental excellence into new realms.


Mr John Kennedy - Building Codes of Australia

John Kennedy works for Building Codes of Australia. John has worked in the building construction industry for over 47 years.  He qualified as a Mechanical Engineering and has worked as a designer, Design Manager, Construction Manager, Project Manager and Chief Mechanical Engineer for the Commonwealth Government taking him around Australia, New Guinea, the Philippines and Syria.

He has spent the last 14 years working with the Australian Building Codes Board and the last 7 years of which, as Manager of the Energy Efficiency project.

Ms Kate Parsons - NSW Dept of Environment & Climate Change

Kate Parsons works for the NSW Department of Environment and Climate Change (DECC) as a Sustainability Specialist in the Water and Energy Programs Branch. DECC has responsibility for coordinating support to government agencies, including the NSW Department of Health, to implement the NSW Government Sustainability Policy. Kate is the DECC contact for the Health Action Strategy aimed at delivering savings in hospital and healthcare facilities.  DECC also works with large water and energy using organisations, including public and private healthcare facilities to prepare Water and Energy Savings Action Plans.

 Prior to her current role, Kate has worked in local government on programs including renewable energy installations for social housing, state of the environment reporting, carbon management, sustainability education and policy in Australia and the UK.

Mr Ben Bryant - Dept of Defence Force

Benjamin Bryant works for the  Department of Defence Force. Benjamin grew up in several towns throughout rural NSW and completed a Bachelor of Natural Resources (Hons) at the University of New England. Benjamin is passionate about solving environmental issues and has directed this passion in coordinating irrigation and climate agricultural research programs for Land & Water Australia.

Benjamin is currently responsible for helping the Department of Defence ACT/SNSW region save energy, maximise water efficiency and reduce waste to landfill.  He recently helped Defence headquarters save 15% of building energy consumption, equalling $200,000 in energy bills and 1,244 tonnes CO2-e greenhouse gases.


Mr Alex Hole - ARUP

Alex Hole is an Associate at ARUP with over 10 years experience as a consultant engineer in the design of Mechanical Services systems covering a range of healthcare, laboratory and commercial projects.  Alex encourages a multidisciplinary approach to building services design and is an advocate of the seamless integration of sustainable design within building services systems.