20 February 2012 – Nominations for the ECO-Buy awards for excellence in green purchasing close on 16 March.

20 February 2012 – SumOfUs – the global organisation which fights for people over profits – is urging consumers to sign a petition demanding Apple makes its products without exploiting its workers.

20 February 2012 – A series of public workshops in Sydney from 23 February to 3 April will give residents a chance to plan the future of the city’s villages to 2030.

16 February 2012 ­– The use of life cycle assessment in the building products industry has suffered a setback with the winding back of the Building Products Innovation Council from the end of this month. While the BPIC board says there will be no impact on the Building Products Life Cycle Inventory launched last year […]

16 February 2012 – EP and T has been awarded ISO9001:2008 accreditation. The international quality management accreditation includes the delivery of energy conservation and environmental solutions including design, manufacture, sale, installation, commissioning and servicing of the EDGE Intelligent System. “The EDGE System comprises smart meters, data acquisition modules, software, monitoring, analysis, reporting services and energy […]

15 February 2012 – From The Conversation: “Artists are shape-shifters and in this there is a perennial, ferocious hope; the hope which transforms, which whispers of possibility, of vision, of change and radical healing. Existing art about climate change has this characteristic, acknowledging the truth and severity of the issue but also affirming within it something of grace, seeing the starlight within the night.”“ – Jay Griffiths, 2009

15 February 2012 –Researchers at Harvard University have launched a new global social network for users of interactive teaching methods.

15 February 2012 – The Victorian government has thrown open a number of positions in the building and plumbing industry, the planning fields, the Growth Areas Authority and the Heritage Council of Victoria. Planning minister Matthew Guy today (Wednesday) called for expressions of Interest in: The Building Appeals Board – for a chairperson, deputy chairperson […]

20 February 2012 – The NABERS training series to become accredited assessors or better understand how the NABERS rating tools works are open for registration.

15 February 2012 – Nominations close on 16 March for Queensland’s 2012 Premier’s ClimateSmart sustainability awards.

15 February 2012 – The upward spiralling design of China’s highest building, the Shanghai Centre will reduce wind loads and capture rainwater for airconditioning and central heating.

15 February 2012 – Embedding sustainability into curricula, courses and teaching material is the focus of a three-day greening education event from 10 to 12 October n Karlsruhe, Germany, run by Etech, an EU initiative which promotes environmental technologies.

16 February 2012 – Brisbane’s Mater Hospital is an example of the benefits of using water based paints with no volatile organic compounds – wards stayed open, odours didn’t linger, and it was safe for asthma sufferers, the pregnant and children. A spokeswoman for the hospital told The Fifth Estate, “The problem we found with […]

14 February 2012 – The design and construction industry was given a preview of proposed upgrades to the BASIX sustainability regulations last week. The changes look good on the whole, and are long overdue, bringing something like a 6 star equivalent to bear on new houses. The current thermal performance minimum standard is approximately equal […]

7 February 2012 – Collections: Here are our leads  to all the articles we’ve done on Environmental Upgrade Agreements. These lending techniques whereby the loan repayment is tied to the council rates over the property make them secure and are designed for work that lowers energy costs, which contributes to the cost of the loan… […]

By Tina Perinotto

13 February 2012 – The sustainable property industry finally has an official report on how NABERS needs to be reviewed to meet industry needs and the sustainability rating tool’s objectives.

8 February 2012 – Geothermal systems are the latest technology to be embraced by wealthy residential clients who wish to be green leaders, according to architect Luigi Rosselli, with one of the firm’s Sydney clients recently installing a geothermal system that will see energy costs almost halved.

9 February 2012 – Sustainability Victoria will call tenders for the sale of its FirstRate5 residential thermal rating tool, but only private industry need apply, it seems. Newly appointed chief executive officer of SV Stan Krpan on Wednesday said: “We believe owning and maintaining software is not in line with our future direction and FirstRate5 […]

9 February 2012 – Investment group Questus Limited will make use of its $20 million funding under the National Rental Affordability Scheme to push housing sustainability standards in remote areas of Western Australia, Questus director and former WA planning minister, Alannah MacTiernan told The Fifth Estate this week. Questus was allocated 920 NRAS subsidy packages […]

9 February 2012 – Daniel Grollo and Siobhan Toohill have been appointed joint deputy chairs of the Green Building Council of Australia, joining Tony Arnel who has been reappointed as chair. Each of the terms are for12 months. Mr Arnel has recently announced that he is stepping down from his position as Victorian Building and […]

9 February 2012 – a community out of an eight star apartment building in Melbourne rather than having a home as “your own little box” was how the architects envisioned designing the 24-apartment building, the Commons, which will be completed later this year. Designed by Brunswick’s Breathe Architecture, one of the key philosophies behind the […]

By Lyn Drummond 10 February 2012  – Convincing customers to buy an apartment in the Commons, an eight star apartment building in Melbourne was an education in sustainability for real estate agent Onder Ozmetin. Now, the agent admitted to The Fifth Estate, he is a convert to the concept. The residential project marketing executive at […]

By Tina Perinotto 10 February 2012 – In most display homes the signs say “No photographs”. But at the Landcom eco-living range of display homes built by Clarendon Homes at The Ponds in Sydney’s north-west, photographs are encouraged and rival builders are invited in to learn all they can. In this highly competitive industry that’s […]

8 February 2012 – Treehugger has highlighted resilient building and living in what it terms as a subtle shift in focus from sustainability to resilience in two published articles.

By Lyn Drummond

8 February 2012 – Landholders spiralling interest in carbon forests has resulted in CO2

By John Brodie
8 February 2012 –In the world of climate change and inefficient buildings everyone is clamoring for more efficient airconditioning systems and improved lighting to reduce energy loads and carbon.

9 February 2012 – The Federal Government today (Thursday) opened its package of energy efficiency programs designed to improve energy efficiency in households communities and businesses. The programs opened include: The Community Energy Efficiency Program – $200 million to assist local government, not-for-profit and community organisations to undertake energy efficiency upgrades to community infrastructure. The […]

8 February 2012 – From The Atlantic: I’m holding a bowl of dirt up to my nose in hopes of getting high on the fumes of my backyard compost pile. The microbe that I’m after today is M. vaccae, a living creature that acts like a mind-altering drug once it enters the human body.