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 > >

The Five Stages of Grief By Michael Baker This series of articles by retail analyst Michael Baker explores a retail format that is far more sustainable than its energy guzzling cousins at the mall. In her famous 1969 book, entitled “On Death and Dying”, Elizabeth Kübler-Ross identified the five stages of grief through ...Read More > >

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 as I side-step the bigger ones. In my ...Read More > >

A carbon market targeted to the end user might succeed where an emissions trading scheme failed. In property, Landcom's "powerful" Precinx tool might come in very handy for such a scheme. By Peter Newman and Vanessa Rauland,  of Curtin University Sustainability Policy Institute, Western Australia say 12 August 2010 - An Emissions ...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 > >

By Michael Baker 4 August 2010 - There’s an old joke that speaks to the reliability of information received through our own senses compared with that received from what we think are trusted secondary sources. A man named Andy comes home and finds his wife and best friend Pete in bed together. ...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 Michael Mobbs 9 July 2010 Last Sunday I overheard this comment while coming out of the movie, Inception: “ . . . a constant stream of over-wrought nonsense . . .” * And my thoughts turned to gardening. Here are10  things we can do today in the road gardens in front of ...Read More > >

By Adam Murchie FAVOURITES - 9 July 2010 - Initiatives such as water recycling, photo voltaic cells, tri-generation plants, grey and blackwater recycling and lighting improvements typically take much of the focus as ways to improve the environmental performance of property.  But while all of these outcomes certainly play a significant ...Read More > >

By Michael Mobbs 27 July 2010 - Early mornings now in the valley where I live are crisp, a cool gift that smacks me in the face when I walk out my front door. And such a little song in my heart the other morning as I went in search for ...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 David Wilson LETTER: 30 July 2010 - Since “Big Australia” was announced by former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd in October 2009 the new Prime Minister Gillard’s call for  sustainable population policy” announced in July 2010 is timely. The key to sustainable population is not population policy it is creating livable ...Read More > >

By John Sheehan 27 July 2010 – The Australian Property Institute has called for a major review of property rights ahead of a carbon price and trading of carbon credits. According to NSW API carbon spokesman John Sheehan, the carbon pollution reduction scheme, which the Labor Government has put on hold, contained ...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 > >

By Gary Wertheimer FAVOURITES - May 5 2010 - The Building Code of Australia 2010 has been in effect from 1 May. Section J, dealing with energy efficiency, has been updated but few people understand what is involved. The way buildings are designed, documented, cost estimated and constructed will need to ...Read More > >

21 July 2010 - With the approach of greenhouse gas and energy reporting deadlines, senior environmental consultant at NDEVER Matt Drum has compiled a document detailing the requirements for corporations liable under the National Greenhouse and Energy Report (NGER) Act. Complying with the National Greenhouse and Energy Reporting Act for 2009-10 ...Read More > >

Reports - 20 July 2010 - With the initial phasing in of mandatory disclosure laws commencing in October, Global real estate services firm Jones Lang LaSalle has issued a report detailing all the major implications of the new laws to help commercial property owners and lessees with the transition: Mandatory Disclosure ...Read More > >

By Michael Mobbs 14 July 2010 - More than 13 governments are causing city-wide pollution and financial losses on land that takes up a third of Australian cities – our roads. These governments hold roads in trust for citizens. But they are breaching their trustee’s duties. Their roads have changed the climate of cities ...Read More > >

By Simon Carter – 9 July 2010 - Australia’s commercial property sector can now proudly point to a group of property company sustainability programs that are coming of age. These programs are the mechanisms by which companies can make the environmental performance improvements they need and want, but take time ...Read More > >

By Romilly Madew, chief executive, Green Building Council of Australia 8 July 2010 - Late last month we witnessed two important milestones for Australia.  The first was the appointment of Australia’s first female Prime Minister, Julia Gillard. The second was Parliament passing the building energy efficiency legislation through the Senate. How the new ...Read More > >

By John Goddard 29 June 2010 - As the Green Wave swept through the property industry, new practices and standards saw increased energy and water efficiency in buildings, leading to lower environmental impacts and healthier workplaces. However, as an industry we tend to overlook one area, which by definition produces a ...Read More > >

By Michael Mobbs 1 July 2010 - Chippendale, a small Sydney inner suburb, is using Earth’s energy and water unsustainably and increasing its pollution of Sydney harbour and local air. The trends for increasing pollution and resource use show that this little suburb, home to some 4500 people, is declining and getting ...Read More > >

By Michael Mobbs 18 June 2010 - Is the Frasers Property Group to become Sydney's BP? Frasers is excavating six hectares of a huge project at Broadway on the fringe of the CBD — more than 1600 units; more than 2000 car parking spaces; a shopping centre, several buildings over 30 storeys ...Read More > >

By Ché Wall 15 June 2010 - the Australian Prime Minister’s Task Group on Energy Efficiency wades through the 187 submissions it has received, it would do well to consider discussions in Paris last month about how best to measure and achieve energy efficiency improvements in buildings. All the peak global ...Read More > >

By Rodney Timm 14 June 2010 - The new mandatory disclosure regime for office buildings is about to shake up the industry and ratchet up the focus on energy use in existing buildings. However, new green developments will also face huge challenges, especially when they are subject to commitments to pre-lease ...Read More > >

11 June 2010 - The Green Building Council yesterday released a guide to government policy frameworks to green buildings, as part of a study that shows that all levels of government had embraced a green building agenda. GBCA chief executive Romilly Madew said  most jurisdictions had developed "well-defined policies that guide ...Read More > >

By Michael Mobbs This Burr has some soft tips, prickly spikes, an oddity here and there, and some speechless wonder. Enjoy. Count the spikes:  500 million farmers can’t be wrong La Via Campesina,  an international peasant’s movement is visiting Australia, and Robert Pekin the founder of Brisbane’s Food Connect Foundation has organised some farmers ...Read More > >

By Adrian McGregor, McGregor Coxall FAVOURITES - 7 October 2009 - "The so-called global economy was not a permanent institution, but a set of transient circumstances peculiar to a time, the Indian Summer of the fossil fuel era". – James Kunstler, The Long Emergency: surviving the converging catastrophes of the twenty-first century ...Read More > >

- By Stafford Hopewell, partner, Gadens Lawyers, Brisbane - FAVOURITES - 31 January 2010 - Climate change is starting to emerge as a significant issue in planning and environment decision-making. Courts and tribunals are increasingly being required to take into account climate change issues and there is an emerging set of ...Read More > >

By Ann Burns, head of utilities, Accenture Australia FAVOURITES  - 1 June 2010 - Smart meters are going in and smart grids are receiving government funding. But will consumers change their habits in the battle for energy efficiency? The latest evidence indicates that Australians need some convincing. The new energy era will ...Read More > >