In our obsession with newness, we can easily forget that the narrative of sustainability is not merely about technical longevity, but also about cultural sustainability, an expression of our city’s identity and thus a continuation of our collective memory of place.

NSW Building Commissioner David Chandler is making promises for change in 2020 that he intends to keep.

Developers and architects can plan a Living Building Challenge project, but it takes a builder to meet what is widely regarded as the world’s toughest green building test.

Landcom appears to be stepping up to its ambitious environmental targets with its new “sustainable community” at Glenfield, 36 kilometres south-west of the Sydney CBD.

Around 6000 people have signed-up to a database in Melbourne to rent apartments for five years, with an option to buy – complete with all the trimmings you need to build a great community. 

Melbourne-based developer Lucent is branching out and taking its sustainable brand of apartments to the growing owner-occupier family and downsizer market in Brighton, 12 kilometres south east of the CBD

Mirvac is poised to deliver a $350 million exemplar of how to achieve net zero, high performance, energy efficient and affordable housing in Altona North in Melbourne.

There’s a great deal of anguish still to play out with people forced out of their homes but a new bill just presented to the NSW government looks like a good first step

On the global stage, there’s a renaissance in sustainability under way. Embodied carbon, waste and materiality are quickly becoming top of mind.

Social value can be up to 15 per cent of non-price assessments in construction tenders, but are the metrics genuine? If not, it’s a huge missed opportunity for this sector with so many multiplier effects in the economy.

Architect and broadcaster Peter Maddison calls out the “nonsense” of 6 Star Energy Rated homes with solar panels if the design is all wrong. Likewise the poor performance of most buildings.

The property market love affair with stone benchtops for bathrooms and kitchens is proving deadly for hundreds of Australian workers.

Thirty years after its inception, Passivhaus design, which results in high-performing buildings that use hardly any energy, looks set to hit the mainstream.

Builders and specifiers may need to check the labels on aluminium composite panels (ACPs) being supplied for building projects because of a proposed out-of-cycle amendment to the 2019 National Construction Code (NCC).