By Lynne Blundell The lowdown on lighting is far more complex than meets the eye. Greater efficiency might come with dangerous levels of mercury, or metals that need to be disposed of.Read our  TFE SPECIAL INVESTIGATION. 20 July 2010  - Lighting is hot right now. Every week, it seems, there is ...Read More > >

25 August 2010 - The NSW Government’s Solar Bonus Scheme will undergo a performance review after it reached its first milestone capacity of 50 megawatts. NSW Minister for Energy Paul Lynch said that the important terms of the Scheme, such as its length and the tariff rate, were locked into legislation. “If ...Read More > >

25 August 2010 - It's not often that a building exceeds its targetd NABERS Energy rating, but the five-star building at 66 Waterloo Road, at Macquarie Park in Sydney has done just that after a workout by PC Thomas'  Team Catalyst consultancy. Develped by Stockland and designed Team Catalyst, the 10,000 ...Read More > >

    By Lynne Blundell 20 July 2010 - A small Australian manufacturing team is bucking the trend with its linear fluorescent light fitting, using what many consider outdated technology to achieve what it says is a 70 per cent reduction in lighting energy use and more effective lighting. Some large property owners, ...Read More > >

By Tina Perinotto 19 August 2010 - Lend Lease's Chris Carolan is a happy man right now. He's heading up a new company venture that has the potential to transform the average Australian's view of renewable energy, by making it safer, cheaper and easier to have a mini-solar energy plant on ...Read More > >

Brief - 11 August 2010 - A twin tower development in Singapore designed by designed by Denton Corker Marshall and Architects 61 has been awarded the Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design Core & Shell Platinum certification by the US Green Building Council (click here to view the case study). Developed ...Read More > >

11 August 2010 – A lift that generates kinetic energy is one of the features that helped the Asia Square twin tower development in Singapore win a Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design Core & Shell Platinum certification by the US Green Building Council. Developed by MPGA and designed by Denton ...Read More > >

13 July, 2010 - The number of rating tools, policies, reports, incentives and legal rulings on sustainable residential  development has proliferated in recent years. In this comprehensive work, legal firm Herbert Geer has created clear and focused guide through the maze. At least for the eastern seaboard. In 2020, Australian greenhouse ...Read More > >

Brief - 10 August 2010 - Thermal imaging company Digital Mapping Australia, who specialise in thermal orthophoto technology (see our story here), will be hosting a presentation on the multi sensor approach to digital imagery in Sydney on 14 September. The presentation will give details on the use of LIDAR, thermal ...Read More > >

By David Burns 20 July 2010 - A commercial building or manufacturing facility energy management system is a crucial software tool required to digest when, where and why resources are consumed, and is the first action in making facilities sustainable. Very few facility managers possess real-time information to effectively manage their electricity, ...Read More > >

by Lynne Blundell FAVOURITES - 21 April 2010 - Carbon neutrality, the sustainable holy grail for buildings, is likely to remain just as elusive as that legendary object unless those who design and operate them up the ante. This was the message in a session on carbon emissions at the Australian ...Read More > >

28 July 2010 - The Victorian government is among 14 customers across six countries to order gas-to-electricity BlueGen fuel cells from Ceramic Fuel Cells, according to a company report released today. The demand for the cells comes after a CSIRO report confirmed that significant carbon savings can be made through BlueGen, ...Read More > >

28 July 2010 - The Victorian government is among 14 customers across six countries to order gas-to-electricity BlueGen fuel cells according to a quarterly cashflow report released by their creator Ceramic Fuel Cells. The demand for the cells comes after a CSIRO report confirmed that significant carbon savings can be made ...Read More > >

By Rebecca Pearce 22 July 2010 - Tackling the fundamental problem of carbon emissions from older style buildings is one of the key issues for the property industry. However, one Australian fund manager has proved that existing buildings can be upgraded to target a 5 star NABERS energy rating at a ...Read More > >

By Andrew Starc 21 July 2010 - Victoria's shopping centres and other commercial buildings may soon be the first in the country to sport large solar arrays, after the Victorian government today announced plans for the nation's first feed-in tariff for large-scale solar energy and an increase in electricity ...Read More > >

Brief – 25 July, 2010 – Members of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum have agreed to embark on a project to create up to 20 low-carbon model cities using energy-efficient technologies including smart grids and renewable power generation. Announced at APEC’s forum meeting in Japan 19 June, the 21-member body will ...Read More > >

9 June, 2010 - CSR’s new headquarters in Sydney’s north-west has achieved a 5 Star Green Star – Office Interiors v1, with features projected to cut carbon emissions by 50 per cent in the first year. The offices are in the Triniti III building in Stockland Triniti campus, and the rating ...Read More > >

7 June 2010 - The Federal Government today announced that Newcastle would lead Australia’s Smart Grid ambitions with the country’s first commercial-scale demonstration project, led by winning bidder for the work, a consortium led by EnergyAustralia. The consortium also includes IBM Australia, AGL, GE Energy, TransGrid, Newcastle City Council and the ...Read More > >

Letter: 26 May 2010 - From Caroline Noller - Thanks for the articles on rating tools and the “Where to from here?” I must say that it’s “back to the future” on the topic of harmonising the plethora of rating tools. Back in the last millennium (around 1995/6) the Green Building ...Read More > >

By Andrew Starc  25 May 2010 - Australia’s first public on-street electric car charging station has opened in Sydeny’s inner-west, as part of a planned national rollout. Installed by Visionstream and managed by ChargePoint, the station is located in Derby Place, Glebe. The station can recharge a converted plug-in Toyota Prius in ...Read More > >

by Lynne Blundell 21 May 2010 - The sustainable property sector is littered with tools – tools to measure, to assess, to rate – to give insight into an increasingly complex area. Every other week, it seems, there is a new tool or piece of software. But is there a need ...Read More > >

CASE STUDY: 18 May 2010 – The Australian representation at the Shanghai World Expo 2010 has showcased its sustainability credentials by designing a pavilion boasting a number of sustainable features. Running under the theme “Better City, Better Life,” more than 70 million visitors are expected to visit this year’s expo from ...Read More > >

13 May 2010: Investa’s Ark building officially opened today, adding a landmark sustainable building to North Sydney’s skyline. North Sydney mayor, Genia McCaffery, unveiled two pieces of significant public art at the building’s official opening - a painting on the foyer ceiling by Aboriginal artist Freddie Timms and a sculpture sited ...Read More > >

By Michael Mobbs 5 May 2010 - All of Australia’s dirty coal-fired power could be replaced with clean power by 2014. And although coal-fired power stations provide about 60 percent, or some 29 gigawatts, of Australia’s mains power (1), (2) this could all be provided by solar thermal power. About 14 ...Read More > >

By Lynne Blundell 6 May 2010- Let’s face it energy efficiency is not sexy. Like electricity it’s a bit hard to get a handle on and it’s a pretty dull conversation starter. It’s even worse for politicians facing the great moral challenge of our times. Wizz bang technology on the other ...Read More > >

by  Simon Wild, managing director Asia Pacific, Cundall - 6 May 2010 - Over the past six months our company has been running Cool Walls [interactive workshop] across Australia,  to help business owners, designers and developers think beyond the business as usual; to connect into and create an integration ...Read More > >

By Andrew Starc 15 April 2010 - One look of Sydney’s skyline lit up at night tells you everything about the simple things we can do to save energy. This “Low Hanging Fruit” was the topic of discussion at a seminar held at the ARBS [Air Conditioning, Refrigeration and Building Services] Trade ...Read More > >

By Lynne Blundell 14 April 2010 - There could be light at the end of the tunnel for cogeneration projects seeking co-operation from energy agencies. In a victory for precinct-style power generation, a proposed shared cogeneration project between The University of Queensland and the Royal Brisbane Hospital has received support from ...Read More > >

By Tina Perinotto 8 April 2010 - A company that runs one of the most highly regarded solar power system testing stations in the world at Alice Springs is casting its wings offshore. The Centre for Appropriate Technology recently signed a commission for the Bushlight India Project which is delivering sustainable and ...Read More > >

By Lynne Blundell The smart grid is a “much riskier business model, beyond poles and wires, as it’s now about a customer response. Letting customer response drive initiatives is riskier. We have to break the existing business model and build a new one. And it’s a riskier model because there is ...Read More > >