By Tina Perinotto 1 December 2011  – The Property Council of Australia has raised the bar on quality office buildings. Sustainably. Its latest review of the quality office matrix, released today (Thursday) has made it official that a prime rated building... 
Read More > >

1 December 2011 – A Climate Commission report released on Wednesday predicts that without rapid action climate change will undermine society’s prosperity, health, stability and way of life and to minimise this risk the economy should move to clean... 
Read More > >

30 November  2011 – Ernst & Young won state and national prizes at Victoria’s City Switch Green Office signatories awards on 29 November –  ahead of next week’s national awards. Read More > >  
Read More →

By Tina Perinotto 30 November 2011 ­­– The PCA/IPD Green Property Investment Index released today shows again that green buildings are better for the bottom line. The latest figures focus on capital values. Read More > >  
Read More →

By Lyn Drummond 30  November 2011 – The developers of a planned ecovillage at Cape Paterson, 150 kilometres south east of Melbourne, claim that financial modelling shows residents could save $300,000 and shave eight years off a typical mortgage through... 
Read More > >

30 November 2011 – from The Economist –  Michael Pawlyn is a British architect with an affinity for the natural world. So he is passionate about biomimicry – a discipline that looks at nature’s best ideas to inspire solutions to human problems.... 
Read More > >

By Tina Perinotto 28 December 2011 – Darren Steinberg will replace Victor Hoog Antink as chief executive officer and director of DEXUS Funds Management Ltd, after Mr Hoog Antink announced Read More > >  
Read More →

28 November 2011 – US presidential contender Newt Gingrich was paid $1.8 million for a few hours’ “consulting” to special interests. There are  inflated fees to lawmakers who turn lobbyists.  And congressmen and women legislate... 
Read More > >

28 November 2011 – China’s plan for seven pilot carbon market schemes across the country has been welcomed by the Minister for Climate Change and Energy Efficiency, Greg Combet. The pilots are expected to start in 2013, across Beijing, Tianjin, Chongqing... 
Read More > >

By Lyn Drummond 28 November 2011 – Almost three years since being destroyed in the Victorian bush fires, the new timber Narbethong Community Hall was opened on Saturday, 26 November, by the Governor of Victoria, Alex Chernov. Read More >... 
Read More > >

By Lyn Drummond 28 November 2011 – Buying nutritious produce grown on your supermarket’s roof could be the order soon if Australia adopts similar concepts to New York based companies Bright Farms and Gotham Greens. Read More > >  
Read More →

By Tina Perinotto 9 November 2011 – The upgrade of Local Government Super’s building at 76 Berry Street, North Sydney, will take a 25-year-old building off the grid, no tenants disrupted, and it will outperform the new six star NABERS Energy rating. And... 
Read More > >

By Tina Perinotto 24 November 2011 – At last Monday’s conference in Sydney, organised jointly by the Australian Property Institute and the Property Funds Association, it was clear that the industry Read More > >  
Read More →

By Jacqueline McArthur 23 November 2011 – When the news broke that the world’s highest profile multi-millionaire environmentalist was a US$30,000 annual utility bill shy of a carbon neutral lifestyle, even ardent fans of former US Vice-President... 
Read More > >

On breaking down the barriers, luxury sustainability and dense and muddy arguments 24 November 2011 – Each of the key leaders featured in Lynne Blundell’s special report on Colonial First State reveals an expanding sense of responsible and responsive... 
Read More > >

22 November 2011 – AXA Investment Managers has added to its carbon footprint metric with a series of other metrics such as corporate governance, social and water, as it prepares for what it says will be major growth in responsible investment, especially... 
Read More > >

21 November 2011 – An urban sustainable design project aimed at transforming  how indigenous people live has begun in Warburton, in Western Australia,  led by technical services consultancy AECOM, the University of Western Australia and the... 
Read More > >

21 November 2011 – CB Richard Ellis’s technical services team and Neil Wood, senior facilities manager with Brisbane City Council took out top prizes at the Facility Management Association of Australia Awards for Excellence. CBRE won the Initiative... 
Read More > >

24 November 2011: Total Environment Centre has won the National Canon Environmental Grant for its “Cool Streets” project in Chippendale Sydney, created in association with Michael Mobbs, a columnist with The Fifth Estate. Read More >... 
Read More > >

21 November 2011 – THE NSW government may be about to merge Landcom and the Sydney Metropolitan Development Authority. The move may create a body similar to the  successful Victorian development authority, now known as Places Victoria, formerly VicUrban. ... 
Read More > >

By Lyn Drummond 20 November 2011 – Architect Nicholas Perren whose company has designed a sustainable modular home believes there is a big opportunity for the housing industry to reinvent itself. “Looking at the development of homes over the... 
Read More > >

29 November 2011 – Not enough high school students with a talent for maths and science are being encouraged to pursue an engineering career according to a survey by Australia Wide Personnel, following a survey by Seek this week (Monday) which showed... 
Read More > >

Occupy the future 17 November 2011 – At last week’s event to celebrate Westfield coming into the Green Star tent with its five star Pitt Street Sydney project, Robert Jordan, the company’s managing director Australia and New Zealand, made... 
Read More > >

By Tina Perinotto 17 November 2011 – Does it sound strange that we are still reviewing NABERS? The energy (and other environmental metric) rating system that started out so long ago is currently being re-reviewed, this time by the Australian Institute... 
Read More > >

By Tina Perinotto 17 November 2011  – Peter Clarke is struggling to see what the problem is. As  chairman of the new look, newly renamed Places Victoria – formerly VicUrban and for a while, the Urban Renewal Authority – Clarke is charged with... 
Read More > >

16 November 2011 –Former Victorian Deputy Premier and sustainability champion John Thwaites has been appointed as chair of the Australian Building Codes Board. Federal Innovation Minister Senator Kim Carr said: “Mr Thwaites’ work on building sustainability... 
Read More > >

16 November 2011 – “If we can do it, anyone can do it,” said Knight Frank facilities manager for 135 on King, Den Jolly after accepting one of the two key awards announced at Tuesday night’s City Switch NSW awards at Sydney... 
Read More > >

16 November 2011 – The built environment has scored poorly in an inner Melbourne study of neighbourhood access for disabled people. The Universal Mobility Index, initiated by Visionary Design Development, included the strip shopping area of Kensington... 
Read More > >

By Lyn Drummond 15 November 2011 – A website where potential developers can easily calculate their infrastructure commitments, bypassing the often complex paper work of local government has won Shoalhaven City Council the top prize at the Planning... 
Read More > >

NABERS is under review. Again. This time the Australian Institute of Refrigeration Air Conditioning and Heating, has been appointed to undertake the work by the NABERS stakeholders’ advisory committee. Chief executive officer Phil Wilkinson said... 
Read More > >