This week the Victorian Government unveiled a “big housing build” plan set to “transform the social housing system”, finally heeding calls from the housing sector to address the sharp rise in cost of living pressures and energy affordability.
A long-overdue investment to raise the energy efficiency of homes in Victoria has denoted the state a “clear leader” in climate solutions, but a climate change think tank has called on the government to aim even higher – for net-zero all-electric homes.
The construction industry must deliver buildings that don’t harm people physically, emotionally or economically, and that have a small environmental footprint, if it wants to win back consumer confidence, says NSW Building Commissioner David Chandler, who will be speaking at The Fifth Estate’s Building Circularity event in two weeks. The industry must start cutting embodied […]
Australian start-up PlaceOS has partnered with Cisco to build smart spaces and offices globally and will be delivering its first project in this venture later this month with the new global HQ for ASHRAE based in Atlanta, Georgia.
Passive House experts Maxa Design has cleaned up several recent awards with a Passive House home made out of rammed earth in Donvale, Victoria. Known as the Earth House, the home has won a bunch of accolades at the Design Matters Awards – “Building Design of the Year 2020”, “Best residential new home design $1 […]
A look at three housing estates that are mandating sustainability covenants. And surprise surprise, the buyers are lapping them up. We look at Mullum Creek Estate in Donvale, Melbourne, The Cape in Gippsland east of Melbourne and Salt Torquay, on Victoria’s western coast where after the first builder showed a higher energy efficiency rating could be done easily and cheaply, is now 80 per cent sold.
A Singaporean business offering airconditioning as-a-service has its sights set on Australia, which could bring cheaper, ultra-efficient cooling to Australian buildings. Kaer’s revolutionary airconditioning model borrows from other industries that have “servitised” their offerings, such as Uber (mobility) and Spotify (music), which provide access to products rather than ownership. Rather than a building owner procuring […]
Action to make Australia’s housing resilient in the face of climate change has never been more urgent – and the post-pandemic recovery should be the time to do it.
Not all personal protective equipment was created equal and different industries need more protection from Covid risk than others. Here’s your guide to getting the right level of protection to keep your workplace safe. Compared to the rest of the world, Australia has fared pretty well when it comes to COVID-19. Victoria experienced the worst […]
We Zoomed into New Zealand yesterday to chat to Sjoerd Post the chief executive of Jasmax, one of the top two architectural firms in the country, who will be taking the virtual lectern and be beamed into our Building Circularity symposium on 24 November on embodied carbon and waste in buildings.
Contrary to popular opinion, a Passive House certified home doesn’t need to be a windowless box.
Energy assessors can get $44 off every NatHERS Technical & Non-Technical webinar until March 2021, thanks to Design Matters National’s half-price special offer. Webinars cover Tools & Materials, Sustainability, Software and more, and are delivered by subject-matter experts (not sponsors) including Matthew Graham, Dong Chen and Jo Brennan. Here’s some energy assessors’ feedback about Design […]
It’s the biggest overhaul of Green Star since it started in 2003 – there’s a new scoring system, framework and a clearer pathway. And the big – and long awaited – news is the push to eliminate natural gas from construction and the requirement for buildings to be fossil fuel free and 100 per cent […]
Commonwealth Rent Assistance (CRA) is not reaching many of those who need it, with about 18 per cent of low-income private rental households in housing stress, yet not receiving the income supplement, a new AHURI report reveals. The Demand-side assistance in Australia’s rental housing market: exploring reform options report modelled a number of possible cost-effective […]
Shane Quinn’s Quintessential Equity took a building in Adelaide from 3 stars NABERS energy to 4.5 stars, minimum, and one in Brisbane from 0 NABERS energy to 5 stars. Strong engagement with the tenants was key to both projects.
The gateway to the Great Barrier Reef, Port Douglas, could soon be to home to an all-electric carbon neutral bunker for coral species under threat from climate change.
How to reduce the 11 per cent of emissions released while constructing a building and producing its materials will be front and centre at The Fifth Estate’s upcoming Building Circulatory event on 24 November. It’s a huge challenge that will involve architects, engineers, scientists, developers and, believe it or not, quantity surveyors.
What does it take to do things differently in the building and construction world? The industry, we’ve learnt, is well known for its risk aversion.
Floth’s Fortitude Valley headquarters in Brisbane just keep in getting better, with the building achieving a Platinum award through the WELL v2 Building Standard.
As many as 50 churches owned by the Uniting Church in metropolitan Sydney alone lie dormant and unused. Meanwhile there is a shortage of crisis and affordable accommodation.
Monash University has set itself the challenging target of getting its campuses to net zero by 2030 and unlike some other organisations that set similar goals, it has a plan to get there.
The World Green Building Council has called for net zero emission by 2050 in the Asia Pacific region along with a primer on getting there. The Asia Pacific Embodied Carbon Primer highlights what embodied carbon is, where it occurs throughout a building and infrastructure asset’s lifecycle, and how tackling it can catalyse APAC to rebuild […]
Sustainable built environment body ASBEC has put its foot down on the lack of compliance with the building code. The organisation is calling for urgent changes to the way building compliance is enforced as outlined in the 2018 Building Confidence report by Professor Peter Shergold and Bronwyn Weir on issues in the construction industry. The […]
As consumers become more sustainably conscious, the typical kitchen design has been turned on its head by revered Italian kitchen brand Snaidero. The company recently unveiled its first Australian project to feature precision-engineered porcelain fronted joinery at Seafarers, the new Yarra River waterfront residences in Melbourne developed by Riverlee. Designed and crafted in Italy, the […]
A former minerals explorer turned developer is proud that each home he and his team builds is more sustainable than the last. With a new luxury home called Vanquish in the Brisbane suburb of Auchenflower, this has culminated in a Passive House certified home that was offered to market for between $3 million and $4 […]
More customers are concerned about the environmental aspect of their homes than ever before. What a great time to make this a standard offering. The key to getting more people into net zero homes could be an opt-out rather than an opt-in strategy, where customer have to downgrade from sustainability features rather than upgrade into […]
Carbon reduction in buildings is critical in responding to the climate emergency, and a new academic paper reflects on the success of the NABERS energy performance rating scheme and investigates whether or not it will find similar success overseas, especially in the UK, as it has in Australia. The paper, titled A new energy efficiency […]
The challenge to deliver net zero all-electric buildings is a formidable one. And no-one knows that better than an ESD consultant. Victorian based AECOM principal sustainability consultant Sian Willmott is well familiar with the task. Her remit in all-electric projects stretches from education to healthcare and the commercial sector. When it comes to office buildings, […]
More than $5 billion was poured into social housing after the GFC and most economists supported the tactic for its propensity to boost jobs and stimulate the economy. This time round funding for social housing was a glaring omission from the federal government’s Covid-recovery 2020 budget. The sector wasn’t ignored completely: an extra $1 billion […]
Your questions answered about embodied carbon and scope three emissions. Alex Herridge is something of an expert on embodied carbon. He works for one of the water utilities in the UK – Welsh Water. Herridge’s job is to reduce the company’s carbon footprint. He’s employed by The Capital Delivery Alliance, a group of six companies […]
