By Tina Perinotto 3 February 2012 – Could John Brogden be the man to save Sydney? The Urban Taskforce thinks so. The developers’ lobby group leapt on this week’s appointment of the former Liberal Leader as chairman of Landcom to say this... 
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Influence: Rinehart, Fairfax, IPA, United States of Tara 3 February 2012 – You never know what someone is up to behind closed doors. There you are reading a salacious article on how one of the world’s richest people is fighting her children in... 
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3 February 2012 – Following is a list – and map – of 43 properties that will be considered for fast tracking by the NSW Planning Minister Brad Hazzard.  But not their owners. The Fifth Estate asked the planning minister’s office for the... 
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By Tina Perinotto 2 February 2012 – This year will mark the Green Building Council of Australia’s 10th anniversary and chief executive Romilly Madew has no plans to waste Read More > >  
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By Michael Mobbs 1 February 2012 –This is a map which will change Australia’s future in the next 10 years. (1) The map shows the area of land covered by the coal, petrol, oil and minerals mining leases given or being given over the Queensland... 
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By Lynne Blundell 1 February 2012 – Smart meters, hailed by government and electricity distributors as the answer to reducing power use, have fallen victim to an inefficient distribution system, regulatory complexity and inflexible pricing. So far... 
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31 January 2012 – Airconditioning industry suppliers are still cheating in their performance claims according to the Australian Duct Manufacturer’s Alliance  which blames the government for failing to end the practice. ADMA’s chairman, Paul Sterling... 
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By Tina Perinotto 27 January 2012 – Stockland has claimed the energy costs of its new homes can shave more than $2000 a year off the energy bill for an average four bedroom suburban home in Sydney’s outer western suburb of Penrith. A new three... 
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Message needs to stick 27 January 2012 –Paul Keating not long ago lashed out at “sandal-wearing, muesli-chewing, bike-riding pedestrians”. It was another Keatingesque king-hit. He somehow managed to lump the whole green/climate change/design-sensitive... 
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A Fifth Estate Special Report   25 January 2012 – In November last year Green Capital pulled out all stops to find out why the  green and climate change agenda has failed to deliver the media and marketing wins that are now critically... 
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24 January 2012 – More than half of the 12 superannuation funds surveyed in a report by actuarial firm Mercer have included climate change risks into investment decisions. The funds surveyed including AustralianSuper and VicSuper had combined assets... 
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27 January 2012 – The case against wind farms on health grounds took a dramatic step backwards this week after Freedom of Information documents obtained by Friends of the Earth slammed claims that wind turbines are bad for local residents’ health. The... 
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23 January 2012 – New York’s city zoning comes in for an entertaining analysis in this article by Julie V Iovine from The Wall Street JournaI that shows that NSW is not the only state to suffer from frustrating zoning laws.  Read More >... 
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20 January 2012 – Australia’s energy, transport and telecommunications infrastructure could well do with a new national body to co-ordinate greater resilience to climate change, a new government report has found. The report, The Role of Regulation... 
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By Tina Perinotto 23 January 2012 – Long standing and well regarded head of the NSW Department of Environment & Heritage Lisa Corbyn left her job suddenly on Friday, amid reports she was pushed out by Environment Minister Robyn Parker and a department... 
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By Lyn Drummond 18 January 2012 – ACT has radically overhauled its strata legislation, especially in relation to sustainability retrofits. Now the NSW Government is undertaking its own review. NSW Minister for Fair Trading, Anthony Roberts told The... 
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By Michael Mobbs 20 January 2012 When Somalia’s political system collapsed the country had no government. The government collapsed after a 2006 US-backed Ethiopian invasion. There was no one to issue fishing licences, to control national or international... 
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18 January 2012 ­– Private developers in Japan may qualify for 50 per cent subsidies to build shared use buildings under a program to foster more sustainable cities. And buyers of energy efficient homes may soon qualify for tax breaks. The move is... 
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18 January 2012 – Case study: Blackbutt timber linings and details were used in the refurbishment of the University of Western Sydney’s climate change and energy research centre because of its longevity Read More > >  
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by Paul Kingsnorth 16 January 2012 – From Orion: Scenes from a younger life 1. I am 12 years old. I am alone, I am scared, I am cold, and I am crying my eyes out. I can’t see more than six feet in either direction. I am on some godforsaken moor high... 
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By Lyn Drummond 16 January 2012 – When the deputy head of Griffith University’s school of engineering Steven O’Keefe is asked if there are any engineering jobs in the sustainable energy area he is amazed that students and parents do not grasp... 
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By Ban Ki-moon 12 January 2012 – From The New York Times: As a child growing up during the Korean War, I studied by candlelight. Electric conveniences such as refrigerators and fans were largely unknown. Yet within my lifetime, that reality changed... 
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By Tina Perinotto 13 December 2011 – Built environment, stand up and take a modest bow. According to the federal government’s 2011 State of the Environment Report, there is threatening news on most of our ecological fronts, but despite 87  per... 
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by Lynne Blundell FAVOURITES: 22 November 2011 –At the Colonial First State Global Asset Management Responsible Investment Forum earlier this year chief executive officer Mark Lazberger expressed frustration over the investment industry’s short... 
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By Jacqueline McArthur 7 December 2011  – Carrot or stick are the two options architects, body corporates and government policy makers have at their disposal when protecting their green credentials. But in these straightened times it seems the stick... 
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By Alan Pears 15 December 2011 – What is “conservative” when it comes to energy policy? As energy expert Ian Dunlop pointed out at a recent Climate Alliance conference, humans are investing billions of dollars in exploration for more fossil fuels,... 
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By Lyn Drummond 5 January 2012 – Plans are at last progressing to turn the rapidly developing residential and industrial heart of the Sydney suburbs of Macquarie Park and North Ryde into a more vibrant community centre – but it will still take time. For... 
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26 May 2011 – FAVOURITES: Peter Newman and Jeff Kenworthy of Curtin University’s Sustainability Policy Institute in Perth, Western Australia, say a new phenomenon is under way –  “peak car use”.* Peak car use suggests that we are witnessing... 
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By Scott Willey 13 December 2011 – The Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology’s Centre For Design is working with the UK entrepreneurial charity Bioregional to extend BioRegional’s portfolio of leading demonstration projects. Read More > >  
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By Tina Perinotto 19 December 2011 – National Australia Bank and Low Carbon Australia on Monday announced they had signed the first privately funded environmental upgrade agreement through the Melbourne 1200 buildings program. In a second announcement... 
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