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Posted inJobs News
Advertisement: Department of Industry and Science – Senior Energy Efficiency Officer
Department of Industry and Science Senior Energy Efficiency Officer Energy Division Job Title: Senior Energy Efficiency Officer Division: Energy Branch: Energy Productivity Section: Commercial Buildings Team Job Type: Ongoing, Full-time Salary: $74,196 – $83,488 Classification: APS Level 6 Location: Canberra – ACT Reference No: 056/1516WC Closing date: Friday, 28 August 2015 Job Description The Commercial […]
Posted inArticles, Jobs News
Advertisement: Manager, Waste Strategy
$128,454 pa plus superannuation Performance Based Contract – 3 years Option to apply for 19 day month working arrangement This is an exciting, unique and career changing opportunity to make your mark at one of Australia’s premier local government areas. With a strong foundation of environmental master plans, projects and programs, the City of Sydney […]
Posted inEngineering/Technology
How moths, mushrooms and termites can help the public support investment in nature
“If we are guided by nature, we can reduce man’s effect on the environment with a nature enhancing life cycle approach.”
Posted inPlanning & Design
The difficult task of measuring social value in the built environment
While social value is central to what many in the building industry are trying to achieve, measuring such value can be difficult to the point of being overlooked. Now, both here and overseas, efforts are being made to make social value more tangible and bring focus back to this crucial goal
Posted inInfrastructure & transport
The problem with frequent fliers
When thinking about the wealth gap and air travel, we tend to think of jet-setting millionaires in private planes or, more recently, Branson and Bezos popping zero-gravity champagne in the billionaire space race. However, flight inequality is a growing problem for the planet on a much more common ground: frequent fliers. A study from Global […]
Posted inCommercial
Melbourne City calls on landlords to open vacant shopfronts for creatives and entrepreneurs
COMMERCIAL: The City of Melbourne has launched a plan to make empty storefronts available to artists, creators and entrepreneurs in an attempt to help struggling businesses and commercial hubs bounce back from COVID-19. Commercial property owners, leasing agents and businesses with vacant or underused spaces are being called on to make them available for free […]
Posted inArticles
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Posted inInfrastructure & transport
New community campaign to push for the electrification of transport in Australia
Australia’s newest grassroots campaign, Charge Ahead, will urge policymakers to accelerate the nationwide electrification of cars, buses, trucks and trains in order to reduce transport emissions.
Posted inNews from the Front Desk
On the “very successful, very professional model” Zali Steggall used to defeat Tony Abbott – and why it’s growing
Watch out for the independents movement, The “Voices of”. it’s set to challenge all the main parties, including the Greens at the next federal election. Here’s the first glimpse into what they’re made of.
Posted inEngineering/Technology
Newcastle’s SwitchDin carves out its place in energy management market
In seven years, SwitchDin has grown to around 40 staff, most of which are based in Newcastle.
Posted inSpinifex
You want to do what with my EV? Turning cars into batteries on wheels
ELECTRIC VEHICLES: Vehicle-to-grid technology can turn electric cars into energy sources when the owners are not using them. EV industry researcher, Kat Lucas-Healey asks if the system is as good in reality as it sounds on paper
Posted inPlanning
What the Pyrmont legacy really means
Tactically cynical, the proposed revitalisation of Blackwattle Bay strongly indicates what this government’s legacy will be Over their life, governments might be conceived as concerned either with tactics or legacy. Tactics define the activities governments deploy to press agendas and mandates; to get things done or prevent them from occurring. Tactics entail the expenditure of […]
Posted inThe Green List
Autex Acoustics: Quiet, sustainable – whether at work, school, cafes or car parks
Struggling to hear yourself think over the sound of your loud colleague across the room? You aren’t alone.
Posted inPlanning
City of Sydney unveils pitch to increase employment land opportunities for city’s south
PLANNING: Planning changes proposed by the City of Sydney for two precincts aim to radically increase commercial activity as the city’s population grows and demand for jobs increases. The proposed changes along Botany Road in Redfern and the north Alexandria light industrial area will increase building height and floor space limits for developers, as well […]
Posted inColumns
New “rules of the road” recycling and what the minister (and others) say
Among the fancy new words around business nowadays are “agile” and “nimble”. I’m old so I think what those words mean in practical terms is listening to your customers and better meeting their needs. It’s new spin on old-fashioned and effective practice. It’s through that lens that we see a good recycling sector announcement last week. Namely, with Commonwealth government funding […]
Posted inMaterials
Could Durra be the world’s most sustainable building panels?
The Durra Panel has been used in some of Australia’s largest commercial undertakings and the company behind the ultra-sustainable product says the residential construction industry is rapidly catching on too. On its website, Ortech Industries labels itself “manufacturer of the world’s most sustainable building material.” It’s a lofty claim but also not easy to dispute. […]
Posted inJobs News
Ken McBryde looking to maximise impact with global design firm Gensler
JOBS CHATTER: One of Australia’s most sustainably-minded architects, Ken McBryde has joined major American firm Gensler, with an eye to maximising his positive effect on the planet. McBryde will act as a design director, guiding Gensler’s local operations down an ambitiously sustainable path – when he’s not pursuing his other passion for racing old motorcycles […]
Posted inConstruction & Development
Another big global trend on the way: capped embodied carbon
n an action that could have wide global implications a team of experts in the UK has proposed that the upfront and embodied carbon of building materials be compulsorily calculated and capped as a requirement of Building Regulations.
Posted inPlanning
Here comes PlanTech to help transform our cities – but how?
Big data, machine learning, artificial intelligence, and platform technologies are now common terms in our vernacular. But what do they all mean for the complex task of planning sustainable cities?
Posted inInfrastructure & transport
The Good Car Company’s bulk buy model is going national
A Tasmanian social enterprise has sold more electric vehicles in the state than Tesla through its bulk buy model and is now helping motorists in other jurisdictions access affordable second hand EVs
Posted inClimate Change
ICOMOS webinar: How will climate change impact on First Nations People?
EVENT PROMOTION: The Webinar “Oceania Wisdom for a Climate Chance”, has been organised by the Caring For Country Committee, a Working Group of Australia ICOMOS with members from Australia ICOMOS, ICOMOS New Zealand, ICOMOS Pasifika and Non-ICOMOS members from Oceania. It brings together a group of distinguished First Nations Australians, Ni Vanuatu, and Australian South Sea Islanders, who […]
Posted inBuilding
“So much liability if you get things wrong”: here’s a guide to help with the new NSW building standards
Peak bodies of the Australian building industry have released a guide for design practitioners to better navigate recent legislative and regulatory changes aimed at improving building quality and safety in NSW. The reforms were introduced in response to public concern over building standards in the wake of high profile cladding fire incidents, and more recently […]
Posted inJobs News
Ark Resources: ESD Professionals
Ark Resources is looking for people to join their expanding team of ESD professionals in both senior and junior roles.
Posted inNews from the Front Desk
On fishy developments and high rise hatred
Proposed new zoning to allow 45-storey residential towers overlooking the new Fish Market precinct, have invoked about as much disgust as a bag of prawn heads in a hot boot.
Posted inCase Studies
Digital technologies and avoiding complacency: Warnings Australia should heed from the Miami building collapse
The devastating collapse of the Champlain Towers South condos in Miami has triggered alarm bells for Australia’s construction and property sectors. Here’s what we can learn.
Posted inGovernment/Regulations
Europe’s new climate plan: fit for purpose?
As Chancellor Angela Merkel examined the devastation of flood-ravaged Germany this week, where at least 184 people are dead and dozens still missing, she might have pondered whether Europe’s newly announced climate policies are “too little too late”.
Posted inBuilding
Forget the extra bedroom – utecture will tell you how much it costs, to you and the climate
w digital construction design tool utecture allows people to see the carbon footprint of each extra en suite or butler’s pantry as they design their dream home in real time
Posted inRating tools
Perth’s carbon neutral certified apartment building
A build-to-rent development in Perth has been certified carbon neutral under the government’s Climate Active Carbon Neutral Standard for Buildings, with claims it could be the first nationally. Featuring 264 apartments under the banner, Element 27, the project is managed and leased by developer Sentinel Fund Manager Australia, the Australian arm of US property investment […]
Posted inEngineering/Technology
Monash students to create net zero home for international competition
A group of dedicated students from Monash University are about to embark on a two-year sustainable building challenge in which they will design and construct a net-zero energy home in Melbourne. It is part of the annual US Department of Energy Solar Decathlon, that draws the participation of universities from all over the world and […]
Posted inBuilding
Aussie company takes part in developing new WELL building standard
The International WELL Building Institute (IWBI) will further push for building occupant wellbeing with a new rating tool aimed at the continuous monitoring and adaptation of health metrics including indoor air quality, lighting levels, and noise. The WELL Performance Rating will reward building operators for monitoring the health and well-being of their tenants and actively […]
Posted inBusiness & Politics
Queensland government joins zero carbon certification scheme
The Queensland government has become a founding partner in the Zero Carbon Certification Scheme, run by the Smart Energy Council and Hydrogen Australia. The scheme is an industry-led Guarantee of Origin style initiative to assess the embedded carbon in participating hydrogen, ammonia and metals produced in Australia, with the intention of promoting their uptake in […]
Posted inMaterials
How to make net-zero work in the concrete industry
“A sustainable, zero-carbon global economy will, literally and figuratively, rest on concrete.” – Anthony Hobley, head of the World Economic Forum’s Mission Possible Partnership