Standards are a critical risk-management tool for engineers. But ensuring they don’t unnecessarily slow adoption of emerging technologies – such as green hydrogen – is a balancing act.
Standardisation is a great enabler of innovative, iterative design. It provides engineers with a platform on which to build and advance technologies or practices. But when blue-sky innovation hits, such as in fledgling industries like green hydrogen, new standards are needed.
Understanding the fundamentals of how design standards are created and maintained is critical for engineers looking to mitigate risk. Baz Kaknics, a civil engineer who manages codes and approvals at Hilti Australia and Asia Pacific, said there are three pillars for standards in engineering: health and safety, consistency, and durability.
“When we call on standards, we want to ensure two things: conformity and compliance. And they are very closely related,” he told create.
Every structure consists of thousands, if not millions, of products when they are assembled together; conformity means those products are fit for purpose and being used in a compliant way.
“Safety is closely related to risk, meaning it not only focuses on things such as collapse prevention, but is crucial to preventing significant economic loss,” Kaknics said.
However, he cautions that standardisation is effective only with a balance between the parties of different backgrounds being brought together, in the form of committees. Here, Kaknics said there are four parties integral to developing a reliable standard.
“[Firstly] manufacturers usually have a commercial interest to develop better products and to innovate. If we aren’t involved in the standard development process, standards will lag behind. It’s important to invite reliable and highly reputable suppliers and manufacturers, as well as industry bodies, to the party.”
If regulators don’t work with industry, Kaknics cautioned, innovations may not be included in the standard, which results in regulation lagging behind industry.
Secondly, strong regulators such as building authorities are extremely important, because checks and balances are required in the process. “A supplier can have a dangerous financial motive without having someone ensure they have confidence in what a manufacturer says, and that there is solid scientific evidence and research behind it.”
The third party required to create a good standard is a figure such as a lead consultant or technical expert. “In my experience, they can safeguard the process from the consumer and asset owner perspective,” Kaknics said.
Finally, there is research and academia, which are at the forefront of technology and innovation, and help to align the parties on a standards committee.
Persistent debate
“The debate over whether standards enable or stifle innovation has persisted for decades,” Kareen Riley-Takos, Chief Operating Officer at Standards Australia, said. “On the one hand, standards provide a foundation for consistency, safety and interoperability, making it easier for industries to scale and adopt new technologies.
“On the other, rigorous requirements – such as comprehensive durability testing to ensure long-term structural performance – and time-consuming processes involved in standardisation can slow down the introduction of emerging innovations, potentially limiting early-stage experimentation.”
Riley-Takos said Standards Australia works with stakeholders to identify market needs and in areas where speed to market is paramount. Some standards, such as AS 1668, The Use of Ventilation and Air Conditioning in Buildings, provide a dual framework, offering both performance-based and prescriptive requirements.
AS 1668 enables alternative ventilation and air-quality solutions as long as they achieve the required outcomes for indoor air quality and safety. It also sets clear design specifications for duct sizing, airflow rates and pollutant control, as a path to compliance using standardised methods.
“This approach allows for flexibility and innovation in how compliance is achieved, allowing industry professionals to explore new materials, designs and construction methods – so long as they can demonstrate how their solutions meet the required performance outcomes,” Riley-Takos said.
Heating up
Nowhere is this tension understood better than in Australia’s booming hydrogen industry.
The sector is home to the largest pipeline of hydrogen projects of any country in the world and boasts an estimated overall value of more than $225 billion. More green hydrogen projects are under development here than in any other country. As the industry continues its consistent growth, the push-and-pull dynamic of innovation and regulation remains a live issue.
Riley-Takos said Standards Australia is consulting with domestic stakeholders and collaborating with international colleagues in the development of standards to support hydrogen technologies.
“Trust, reliability and data-driven decision-making form the core of our work. By combining expert analysis with rigorous standards development, we support both high-quality standards and support excellence in engineering.”
Danny Terlip, chief technology officer at H2H Energy in Queensland, told create that, as H2H Energy is a company that designs and builds hydrogen refuelling stations, well-written standards are critical for project success with local governments and regulators.
“They make room for technological innovation, while at the same time ensuring the quality of public-facing projects meet expectations for safety and effectiveness,” he said. “This is especially important in nascent industries such as hydrogen production and refuelling, where stakeholders may not have the deep experience to get confidence.”
In rapidly developing industries such as green hydrogen, the balance between innovation and regulation may favour technology developers, though Australia has many international examples to reference.
“Physics and chemistry are the same across political borders,” Riley-Takos said. “Australia has been able to leverage many of the standards developed by Europe and the United States.”
In the emerging industry of hydrogen production and refuelling, “harmonisation with international standards is critical for H2H selling products into multiple countries,” she said.
Pace of change
The hydrogen industry in Australia is growing, and regulators and standards-bearers are working to keep pace with technology advancements. Receiving the guidance of technology, safety and reliability experts leads to the best result, Terlip said, but in rapidly developing industries such as green hydrogen, finding the right balance often favours technology developers. On this front, Australia has many international examples to reference.
“A key aspect that standards committees sometimes overlook when adopting overseas standards is how the standard has been derived,” he said. “Aspects such as safety boundary distances are developed via modelling, followed by real-world testing from accredited and respected entities such as the US Department of Energy.”
At times, regulations are leveraged from adjacent sectors or simply estimated by working groups applying safety standards.
“This can lead to impractical restrictions on projects,” Telip said. “The hydrogen industry has certainly experienced this scenario, as antiquated data or inappropriate corollaries are used, such as those for natural gas.”
Collaborating across organisations
Nicola Smith, Engineers Australia’s liaison to Standards Australia, said Engineers Australia is one of the largest nominating organisations, representing more than 330 committees across various sectors within Standards Australia.
“As a nominating organisation, Engineers Australia appoints technical experts, known as nominees or representatives, to serve on Standards Australia technical committees,” she said.
Representatives are then selected to participate in technical committees, with their nominations undergoing a suitability review by a professional body of experts within Engineers Australia known as the Standards Australia Working Group. This group comprises professional experts from each of the organisation’s technical colleges, covering telecommunications and electronics, electrical, mechanical, civil, environmental, biomedical, structural, chemical and aerospace.
“Additionally, our college committee members have the opportunity to review any project proposals submitted to Standards Australia prior to their endorsement and support for review by a technical committee. Proposals concerning the review of existing standards related to hydrogen or the establishment of new standards are then circulated for evaluation by Engineers Australia’s working group.”
In 2025, Engineers Australia is actively working to increase the diversity, particularly for women, of representation on Standards Australia technical committees and input to standards development.
This article was originally published in the May 2025 issue of create with the headline “A higher standard”.
