From The Guardian - 2 September 2010 - The world's most high-profile climate change sceptic is to declare that global warming is "undoubtedly one of the chief concerns facing the world today" and "a challenge humanity must confront", in an apparent U-turn that will give a huge boost to the ...Read More > >

By Wendy Truong and Edie Mather 3 September 2010 - The success of the Federal Government's Solar Bonus Scheme has seen over 30,000 households generating their own solar energy. Following is an outline of scheme and how it can benefit individual homes. The Australian Government is finally back on the solar bandwagon ...Read More > >

    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 > >

From Bloomberg - 19 August 2010 - Stuart Biggs reports: New Zealand’s sheep farmers are flocking to a government carbon trading program that pays more to plant trees than sell wool and mutton. The system, begun in 2008 and the only one of its kind outside Europe, awards farmers credits that ...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Australian manufacturing team is bucking the trend with its linear fluorescent light fitting, using what many consider outdated technology to achieve what it says is a 70 per cent reduction in lighting energy use and more effective lighting.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 > >

By Tina Perinotto 20 August 2010 - Here’s a hypothetical: The new Federal Government is sworn in on Monday morning. The very first thing it does is convene a "citizen's assembly" from key parts of the sustainable property industry to ask them what are the five most important things that it ...Read More > >

BRIEF - 16 August 2010 - Ceramic Fuel Cells Limited has won a legal action in the Federal Court over poor investment advice in an action prosecuted by IMF Australia Ltd, which funded the case. Ceramic Fuel Cells, which has developed high efficiency and low emission electricity generation units for domestic ...Read More > >

By Tina Perinotto 15 July 2010 - According to GPT sustainability manager Bruce Precious there are perhaps only six people in Australia he would trust with serious upgrades to his company’s prized assets. Steve Hennessy is one of them. As head of operations for Steensen Varming, Hennessy is an insider’s choice: an ...Read More > >

By Boris Kelly 13 August 2010 - With only days left in the federal election campaign and with both major parties poncing around the point on climate change, 2000 people packed the Sydney Town Hall for the launch of a plan to achieve zero emissions in Australia by 2020 by re-powering ...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 > >

Left to right:  Senator Penny Wong,  Arch Bevis,  Mirvac’s chief executive officer investment Andrew Butler By Tina Perinotto 10 July 2010 - Minister for Climate Change and Energy Efficiency Senator Penny Wong last week chose a Green Building Fund recipient in Brisbane, Mirvac's  building at 340 Adelaide Street, to formally announce that ...Read More > >

By Tina Perinotto 5 August 2010 - Lend Lease today launched a new solar company to roll out photovoltaic installations across the residential and commercial sectors of the property industry, tapping into federal and state governments policies to fast track the rapidly emerging sector. The move is another strong signal that one ...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 Andrew Starc FAVOURITES - 4 May 2010 - Moonee Valley City Council, located in the area north-west of the Melbourne CBD, is in the early stages of using an aerial thermal imagery technology to help slash the heat and energy levels of buildings, parks and roads. The technology, known as thermal ...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 > >

By Mark Lister 27 July 2010 - Our new Prime Minister has wasted no time in creating a new political push for a “lasting and deep community consensus” on climate change action by proposing new measures to engage and consult with the public. On the surface, this is a welcome development.  Our ...Read More > >

By Nicola Woodward ANALYSIS - 26 July 2010 - It isn’t every Monday you wake up to the fact that a Sunday press release by the incumbent Government in the run up to a general election contains a promising policy. Yesterday the Labor party announced its Tax Breaks for Green Buildings initiative ...Read More > >

25 July 2010 - Updated 26 July 2010 - Last week it was lean pickings for the green property in election promises so far. By Sunday the worm had turned in the sector’s favour with big welcome news from the Labor Party of a 50 per cent tax deduction bonus ...Read More > >

26 July 2010 - China has decided it will put a price on carbon, starting next year, it has decided to use a market mechanism because an administrative one is too expensive; and its top 1000 energy consumers have signed contracts to reduce energy consumption according to China Daily. The country ...Read More > >

Tina Perinotto 23 July 2010 - Opposition Leader Tony Abbott this week said he would scrap the Green Building Fund and cut back on other green initiatives if he was elected. Green groups were predictably unimpressed but in the property industry there are hopes that incentives for greening existing buildings will ...Read More > >

by Tina Perinotto 22 July 2010 - For the owner of the building the Local Government Super it was the photo opp of a lifetime: Federal ministers Kim Carr and Maxine McKew, both corralled for the mid morning launch just days into a federal election. The venue: the chilly rain-swept roof at ...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 Thomas Friedman 21 July 2010 - From The New York Times - The hour is late, but there is still a sliver of time to pass a serious energy bill out of this Congress. To do so, though, would require President Obama to rustle up votes with a passion that ...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 > >

21 July 2010 - City of Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore will today report on how the ambitious 2030 plan for Sydney has progressed at a seminar for stakeholders at Sydney Town Hall. As part of the grand scheme, the council also yesterday called for tenders to develop a master plan ...Read More > >

Brief - 20 July 2010 - Harvey Norman has reached an agreement with Ceramic Fuel Cells to stock their BlueGen gas-to-elecricity generators (see our story on fuel cells here). The generators will initially be sold through Harvey Norman’s commercial division to government bodies and commercial clients, with a view to later ...Read More > >

By Lynne Blundell FAVOURITES: 11 March 2010 -India is determined to reduce carbon emissions and to supply renewable power to its enormous population. But with the massive hydro power generation dam projects under way in the sensitive Himalayan foothills, the cost is high. Lynne Blundell recently travelled to the region ...Read More > >

From Business Spectator - by Giles Parkinson - 8 July 2010 - The federal government appears to be throwing open its doors to lobbyists and special interest groups in a last minute attempt to cobble together a credible climate change policy to take to a snap election, and to prevent ...Read More > >

By Lynne Blundell 28 June 2010 - The healthcare sector is the monster of sustainability, using vast quantities of water and energy, day and night. And it will stay that way until there is a major commitment from government to provide incentives to the sector, including funding and resources to address ...Read More > >