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The attention on PFAS chemicals, including a massive class action being prepared against Defence, is spurring research to clean up the problem, including from Arcadis, AECOM and a range of universities. One solution could be hemp.
A proven “wonder material” – thin sheets of graphene could be used as inexpensive filters in water treatment and lead to methane-fuelled public transport, among other things.
After six years at the forefront of research into lowering the carbon impact of the built environment, the CRC for Low Carbon Living (CRCLCL) is coming to an end in less than a year.
New homes that go all-electric with solar would save between $9000-$18,000 over 10 years compared with a home that has gas appliances and no solar, according to new research from the Australian Technology Association (ATA).
Smart building skins that can respond to environmental changes without electrical input could be the future of buildings, and German researchers have turned to pine cones to inspire next-generation materials.
US researchers have created a smart glass that provides shading and energy generation when the sun is shining, and a clear window when there’s no sun.
How adding plants to walls and roofs can improve indoor environment quality. New research by RMIT and the University of Melbourne has a few of the answers, and an app to help.
Concrete infused with plastic can create stronger, more flexible structures, reducing the material’s global carbon footprint and redirecting plastics from landfill, according to a study by MIT students.
From Columbia University School of Engineering and Applied Science: Researchers led by Yuan Yang, assistant professor of materials science and engineering at Columbia Engineering, along with colleagues at the Department of Chemistry at Columbia University and at Stanford University, have developed a new, scalable, and low-cost “dip and dry” method for fabricating a highly efficient selective […]
Green solar panels that blend in with nature; red solar panels on a terracotta roof; white solar hidden on a wall. Researchers have discovered a way to turn typically black and blue solar panels a shade of green, and potentially any colour imaginable.
The cigarette butts littering the street could soon have a new life within those very streets, thanks to research out of RMIT University.
From Flinders University: In a win-win for a cleaner planet, scientists have devised a way to use waste cooking oil and sulphur to extract the neurotoxin mercury from the environment. For the first time, researchers have demonstrated that the dynamic new canola oil polymer can trap the most dangerous and common types of mercury pollution […]
Swiss researchers may have found a radical way to make concrete greener, lighter and easier to recycle – by manufacturing it from wood.
From the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign: Green infrastructure is an attractive concept, but there is concern surrounding its effectiveness. Researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign are using a mathematical technique traditionally used in earthquake engineering to determine how well green infrastructure works and to communicate with urban planners, policymakers and developers. Green […]
From MIT: Cities plagued with terrible traffic problems may be overlooking a simple, low-cost solution: High-occupancy vehicle (HOV) policies that encourage carpooling can reduce traffic drastically, according to a new study co-authored by MIT economists. The results show that in Jakarta, Indonesia, travel delays became 46 percent worse during the morning rush hour and 87 […]
From Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory A team of researchers working at the Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) used X-rays to study samples of Roman concrete — from an ancient pier and breakwater sites — at microscopic scales to learn more about the makeup of their mineral cements. The […]
A breakthrough material developed by ANU scientists could not only protect astronauts from dangerous infrared radiation and ultraviolet light, it could be used to keep heat in or out of buildings.
From Rice University A federally funded research effort to revolutionize water treatment has yielded an off-grid technology that uses energy from sunlight alone to turn salt water into fresh drinking water. The desalination system, which uses a combination of membrane distillation technology and light-harvesting nanophotonics, is the first major innovation from the Center for Nanotechnology […]
Air pollution could be affecting how you sleep, according to new research. With past research proving air pollution negatively impacts heart and lung health, researchers from the University of Washington hypothesised that the central nervous system and brain areas that control breathing patterns and sleep could also be affected. The research included 1863 participants with […]
US researchers have developed a metamaterial they say could be used to help cool buildings without the use of energy or water. The glass-polymer hybrid film, developed by engineers at the University of Colorado Boulder, cools objects it is applied to by reflecting incoming solar energy while also allowing the surface to emit its own […]
BRIEF – A new research project aims to improve the economics of local energy generation for Australian consumers.
