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Senior Industry Fellow, RMIT University

Alan Pears is one of Australia's leading energy efficiency experts. He has worked in the sustainable energy and environment fields since the late 1970s, and been an expert adviser to federal, state and local governments across Australia, as well as community groups and the private sector.

He is a regular commentator on everything from power-saving fridges to big-picture energy policy on radio, TV, newspapers and online, including appearances on ABC TV shows The New Inventors, Difference of Opinion and 4 Corners.

Recent work has included being a judge of the annual Energy Efficiency Council Awards; co-authoring extensive industry energy information resources for the federal government's Energy Efficiency Exchange website and other organisations; and being a consultant and adviser to the not-for-profit Australian Alliance for Energy Productivity. He has worked on a number of projects for the RACE for 2030 Cooperative Research Centre.

He is a member of the Board for the Voluntary Carbon Markets Association; and a member of the Advisory Board for the Climate Alliance.

Until 2012 he was the Associate Director, RMIT Centre for Design. He was a part-time senior lecturer in environment and planning until mid-2015, and is now a Senior Industry Fellow at RMIT as well as a Fellow at the University of Melbourne's Climate and Energy College.

While working for the Victorian government in the 1980s, he helped develop and implement programs such as the Home Energy Advisory Service, public information and education, appliance energy labelling and mandatory building insulation regulations. He has maintained an active involvement in these areas.

From 1991 to 2015, Alan was co-director of Sustainable Solutions, an environmental consultancy, and has been involved in building energy and environmental rating and regulation, green building projects, educational software, green appliance development, industrial and business energy and environmental management, and policy analysis. He continues to consult, mainly to community groups, governments and industry associations.

Experience

  • –present
    Associate Director of RMIT Centre for Design, RMIT
  • –present
    Senior Lecturer, Environment & Planning, RMIT
  • –present
    Director, Sustainable Solutions
  • –present
    Board Member, EcoBuy
  • –present
    Member, Victorian Government Plumbing Industry Advisory Council
  • –present
    Adjunct Professor, RMIT

Education

  •  
    Monash University, BE Hons
  •  
    Monash University, Dip Ed

Honours

Member of the Order of Australia for contribution to climate and environmental policy, 2009; Centenary Medal for “outstanding service to public policy on climate change and the environment”, 2003; RMIT Media Star of the Year, 2011 & 2007; awards from the Energy Efficiency Council, Australian Alliance for Energy Productivity, Sustainable Energy Industry Association, Renew and Environment Victoria for his contributions