1 December 2010 – Monday’s annual general meeting of the Green Building Council of Australia reported that the green building movement was alive and thriving if GBCA numbers were anything to go by. The AGM was soon followed on Wednesday... 
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26 November 2010 – Business leaders meeting today in the first sitting of the  Business Roundtable on Climate Change said there was a need for a carbon price to support long-term investment. Deputy Prime Minister Wayne Swan and Minister for Climate... 
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29 November 2010 –The NSW government late last week passed legislation that will provide easier access to finance for building upgrades, with loans secured alongside council charges and ahead of mortgages along. The move which mirrors legislation... 
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By Tina Perinotto 23 November 2010 -The race to outperform on  sustainability is back on with today’s announcement that the NABERS Energy rating for office buildings would be “stretched” to six or even seven stars. NABERS manager... 
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By Paul Mees 16 November 2010 – Melburnians once needed to visit Europe to be embarrassed at the gap between our public transport and the best in the world. Now we have the Internet. The authority that runs Zurich’s public transport system... 
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By Boris Kelly 15 November 2010 – New York City commissioner of transport Janette Sadik-Khan told a Sydney forum  last week that commercial rents rose 70 per cent in parts of the city after the introduction of bicycle paths and street works designed... 
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Federal Budget Update: 9 November 2010 - Good news fell like manna from heaven in today’s budget update from the Federal Government as funding was announced for greening buildings, low carbon communities and carbon farmers. Environment and Energy... 
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By Michael Mobbs 5 November 2010 - Look with me now, if you will, at snapshots of two places where some people are seeking to use resources sustainably, one in Australia, the other in forests around the world, which are being logged for cities everywhere. Here... 
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The Fifth Estate posts new articles daily Top read stories for the month to 15 November 2010 are: Read More > >  
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By Tina Perinotto 29 October 2010 – White certificates, or energy savings obligations for energy suppliers, proposed by the Prime Minister’s Task Group Read More > >  
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Warning: 30 October 2010 – It is now too late to avoid global warming of less than 2 per cent and too late to avoid “serious and pervasive ” climate change impacts that would “significantly disrupt the national economy”... 
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-Musings from the second and third estates on the state of NSW and the  fourth estate, and from the Fifth Estate on the above* Read More > >  
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28 October 2010 – At yesterday’s annual sustainability forum held by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors in Sydney, the audience heard that some residential real estate agents had noticed a price premium on house sales that had solar... 
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By Boris Kelly 27 October 2010 – A packed house at Sydney Town Hall on Monday 25 October heard Alan Jones, chief development officer, Energy and Climate Change for the City of Sydney, declare his aim to transform Sydney into a carbon free city... 
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By Tina Perinotto and Andrew Starc 27 October 2010 – The Greens today said they would support the NSW Farmers Association’s call for a moratorium on all new coal, mineral and gas projects until a strategic plan is developed to protect food... 
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By Tina Perinotto Exclusive: 23 October 2010 – After an intense lobbying campaign Victorian property owners have won important concessions on how NABERS Energy rates their office buildings, bringing them in line with a national benchmark just ahead... 
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By Andrew Starc 21 October 2010 - People and communities will take precedence in the long awaited transport oriented design guidelines released this month by the Queensland government. Read More > >  
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By Michael Mobbs 13 October 2010 - It’s interesting, the changing weather.  Not just the facts of it – the unusual events that are remarkable for their heat, their rain, their departure from the averages. But how we respond to it. I’ve had... 
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FAVOURITES -  20 May 2010 – Early this year leading Sydney planner and vocal advocate for planning reform in NSW Julie Bindon joined The Fifth Estate on a mini scouting expedition to Melbourne to see if the Victorians could shed any light on better... 
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8 October 2010 – Following are highlights of reactions to the Report b the Prime Minister’s Task Group on Energy Efficiency The Greens: The Gillard government should move ahead immediately with energy efficiency policies which cut household... 
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By Michael Mobbs 28 September 2010 – A student studying property has asked me, “Do you think “Green” Design and Development in residential properties is supported and progressive in Australia?” There is some support by governments. But... 
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Tony Arnel” “China is presently building 2 billion square metres of new buildings each year. According to the United National Environment Program, UNEP, more than 80 per cent of the construction in China is categorised as high-energy buildings” By... 
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By Tina Perinotto 23 September 2010 – Melbourne City Council may just have found the holy grail of how to fund retrofits in older buildings. In a breakthrough move Victoria has passed Australia’s first legislation to enable a municipal council... 
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14 September 2010 - In a speech delivered to the Committee for Economic Development of Australia on 31 August in Sydney, director of energy efficiency consultancy Big Switch Projects, Gavin Gilchrist, argued that the energy industry, not taxpayers,... 
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By Tina Perinotto World Green Building Council International Congress, Singapore – 14 September 2010 - Chair of the World Green Building Council Tony Arnel used his opening speech at the WGBC International Congress in Singapore on Monday to call... 
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By Michael Mobbs 17 September 2010 - Let’s see if we can join up some dots. The first dot is: Dust It’s heaven, but I don’t know it then.  Not ‘til much later. I’m in the back seat, window down, the cold wind of evening cooling me down. The... 
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2 September 2010 – Human city-makers know less than ants when it comes to cooling and warming our cities. When it knows (we don’t know how) the coming summer will be hot the meat ant gathers white and pale pebbles and carries them to cover the... 
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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... 
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By Michael Mobbs 28 August 2010 – Another day. More dreams of what might be, more steps on the footpath of the here and now, the broken-off branches from last night’s windy-as-hell storm all over the place, the noise of it in my ears still... 
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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... 
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