Fellowship in honour of Graham Treloar

In Memoriam - Associate Professor Graham Treloar

By Dr Robert Crawford and Tanya Ha

On Monday June 2nd 2008, Graham J. Treloar passed away in Geelong, Victoria after a spirited battle with cancer. Dr Treloar was an Associate Professor at the University of Melbourne, Faculty of Architecture, Building and Planning, and a world-leading researcher on the environmental impact of buildings. The Faculty has announced the establishment of the Graham Treloar Fellowship to acknowledge Dr Treloar's contribution and his support for Early Career Researchers.

The Fellowship will provide financial support to an early career researcher from the Faculty to develop their research career in their chosen specialty. It is hoped the University's younger researchers will aspire to earn the Fellowship, encouraging them to strive for excellence as they contribute to the knowledge and innovation in the Built Environment field, as Dr Treloar did before them. To help endow it in perpetuity, the University invites the Green Building community to provide support. For more information, visit www.abp.unimelb.edu.au/treloar-fellowship.html

About Graham Treloar

12-01-1969 to 2-06-2008

Graham Treloar began his career in architecture, but soon moved into researching the environmental impact of buildings. He worked for the CSIRO Division of Building, Construction and Engineering, before returning to Deakin University to continue studying and pursue an academic career. He quickly became an international leader in the field of embodied energy analysis, sustainable construction, life cycle assessment and, later, embodied water consumption. His research is recognised internationally as a crucial contribution to these fields. His use of input-output analysis using economic data enabled him to track the movement of carbon across the entire economy.

Though sadly cut short, Graham achieved in a ten-year academic career a body of work that most researchers would hope to achieve in a lifetime. From 2000 until 2006, he was Deputy Director of the Built Environment Research Group (BERG) at Deakin University. He also won five Australian Research Council grants, and played a leading role in the development and establishment of the Mobile Architecture and Built Environment Laboratory (MABEL), a mobile measurement tool that tests real operating buildings to analyse a range of issues, such as energy efficiency, lighting, comfort and acoustics.

Graham authored or co-authored 31 journal papers and 30 international refereed conference papers. His work was - and continues to be - extensively cited by other academic authors, with over 130 citations to his work identified. He was also the Regional Editor for Oceania for the journal Management of Environmental Quality and was awarded a 2008 Emerald Literati Award for Excellence for the contribution he made as a reviewer for this journal.

Graham was well respected within industy. He was selected by the Australian Institute of Building as the inaugural Young Achiever of the Year for 2002. He provided expert advice to and worked closely with several State and Federal government departments, research and professional organisations, and companies, including Williams Boag Architects, Sinclair Knight Merz, Bovis Lend Lease, Environment Australia, the Queensland Department of Public Works, The Australian Greenhouse Office and CSIRO Division of Building, Construction and Engineering.

Graham started at the University of Melbourne in January 2007 as an Associate Professor in Property and Construction, and was also the Faculty of Architecture, Building and Planning's Grant Shepherd. Shortly after commencing, he was diagnosed with cancer, but his hard work and enthusiasm continued throughout his treatment. He even conducted business meetings and radio interviews from his hospital room.

In the words of Professor Tom Kvan, the Faculty's Dean, "Though Graham's time working in our Faculty was brief, his most lasting and important contribution was mentoring our Early Career Researchers." Having had his first child the same year as completing his PhD, he well understood the pressures facing Early Career Researchers, both professionally and personally. He gave valuable, practical advice with sensitivity and always enthusiastically championed the development of the careers of his young colleagues. The Graham Treloar Fellowship is founded in the spirit of this contribution.

It's often said that you can't manage what you don't measure. Given the importance of comprehensive analysis of embodied energy and water in building sustainability, Graham's work will touch the lives of people who never knew him. The tools and methods he developed will underpin our evolving greenhouse abatement and water conservation strategies as we face the challenges of climate change and water security. In the words of Hannah Senesh, "There are stars whose radiance is visible on earth though they have long been extinct. There are people whose brilliance continues to light the world though they are no longer among the living. These lights are particularly bright when the night is dark. They light the way for mankind."

Dr Robert Crawford is Future Generation Fellow at the University of Melbourne Faculty of Architecture, Building and Planning, and a close friend and colleague of Dr Treloar.

Tanya Ha is Dr Treloar's sister-in-law. She is best known as an environmental campaigner, the author of the popular book Greeniology and the 'eco coach' from the SBS TV series Eco House Challenge.