Dan Hill, Arup and Sitra Dan Hill 25 July 2011 – Dan Hill has joined Sitra, Finland’s innovation fund four years in Australia with Arup. Mr Hill had been part of the Helsinki Design Lab and in comments on his blog, City of Sound said, “Suffice to say the reasons that Newsweek chose it as […]

By Ann Austin, head of sustainability, Australia, project management & construction, Lend Lease

13 September 2011 – Letter: I read with interest the argument occurring in the architectural ranks about whether sustainability requires separate reward. As a past employee of Tone Wheeler, perhaps I have been long educated on the merits of integrating sustainable thinking into all architectural decisions. I whole heartedly support his advocacy for sustainability AND beauty.

By Michael Mobbs

14 September 2011 – It was the “cheep” that did it.

14 September 2011 – Australian banks have rated highly in the latest Carbon Disclosure Global 500 Report with Westpac Banking Corporation ranked one of the top 10 companies in both the Carbon Disclosure Leadership Index and the Carbon Performance Leadership Index.

12 September 2011 – Stockland has been named the world’s most sustainable property company in the highly regarded Dow Jones Sustainability Index for 2011-2012, four years after joining.

9 September 2011 – MIT researchers have used social networking data to create a new spatial mapping toolbox for cities available free to urban designers and planners. “Network centrality measures are useful predictors for a number of interesting urban phenomena,” Andres Sevtsuk, the principal investigator of the City Form Research Group at MIT told ScienceDaily.

By Tina Perinotto 8 September 2011 – In the “power couple” session with Malcolm and Lucy Turnbull at the Property Council lunch last Friday (2 September) it was Lucy Turnbull who outshone her husband on serious policy issues, delivering strong comments on urban planning and cities.

7 September 2011 – Australia is being accused of trying to remove key commitments in a health policy document on controlling obesity, according to a Sydney Morning Herald article. The article says the government has joined the US and Canada in lobbying to remove from the UN’s declaration on non-communicable diseases a paragraph that agrees […]

7 September 2011 – Cate Blanchett and husband Andrew Upton were the star attractions on Friday last week when arts groups resident at Sydney’s The Wharf launched a new rainwater harvesting and reticulation system that will provide 100 per cent of non-potable water to the precinct.

7 September 2011 – Sustainability will be the new performance standard once the Australian Green Infrastructure Council Sustainability Rating Scheme is finalised later this year.

By Richard Nicol

7 September 2011 – An opportunity for adequate and accurate information about residential building efficiency lies with the continually postponed Residential Building Mandatory Disclosure Proposed Measure which was first put forward in 2009 by COAG (Coalition of Australian Governments) and was supposed to be up and running one month ago.

By James E. Hansen

7 September 2011 – Tar Sands Action organised a civil disobedience sit-in at The White House to oppose construction of the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline that began on August 20, culminating in a big rally on 3 September.

By David Gait

7 September 2011 – We are in the office of the CEO of an Indian bank, struggling to make ourselves heard. Just to the right of the sofa we are sitting on is a large statue of Lord Vishnu, enclosed in a glass case. Every ten seconds he comes alive, glows bright red and broadcasts a loud mantra across the room Om Namo Narayana.

6 September 2011 – Five temporary installations that transform under – used public spaces into vibrant places will be showcased in Sydney in late October during the Sydney Architecture Festival.

By Andrew Grant 6 September 2011 – The Carbon Farming Initiative which was recently passed through Federal Parliament brings a regulated carbon offsets market to Australia.

6 September 2011 – The national energy saving program CitySwitch which helps local businesses cut their energy bills has another NSW member, the City of Ryde.

6 September 2011 – The 10 American cities in the Large Cities Climate Leadership Group – the C40 – have switched to hybrid or electric taxis and buses, are encouraging cycling and retrofitting home and offices.

6 September 2011 – The Sydney Morning Herald recently published a story on energy-hungry, high-rise apartments and the challenges they face. (It just happens to mention The Fifth Estate!)

6 September 2011 – The Australian Institute of Refrigeration, Airconditioning and Heating has donated a suite of refrigeration simulation training equipment to the Grafton, NSW campus of TAFE.

6 September 2011 – From Treehugger : Two weeks of sustained protest concluded outside the White House yesterday. Over that time, over 1,250 people were arrested in order to send a single, simple message to the Obama administration Do not approve the Keystone XL pipeline. The pipeline, currently pending approval, would carry the exceptionally dirty […]

5 September 2011 – The Green Building Council of Australia and the Australian Institute of Architects have agreed to cross-accredit courses in the sustainability field. The organisations today announced they had signed a memorandum of understanding in a move designed to boost the level of sustainability in the built environment. AIA chief executive officer David […]

1 September 2011 – The final round of Green Building Fund grants, Round 7, was announced today (Wednesday) and all the big property names were there.

They included ISPT, DEXUS, GE Real Estate Investments, Westfield, Abacus Funds Management, Stockland, Eureka Funds Management, GPT, Cromwell, Commonwealth Managed Investments, AMP Capital Investments.

2 September 2011 – Between the Bellinis, speeches from the dignitaries and the best sushi ever likely to be served outside of Toyko at the opening of 1 Bligh Street in Sydney this week, came the suggestion from a guest that the building’s lead architect, Christoph Ingenhoven, could well be the next  Jørn  Utzon It […]

1 September 2011 – When it comes to creating a sustainable building or refurbishing an old one so that it picks up NABERS stars, there is no one size fits all solution. What makes it even harder is that some building owners are still taking short cuts. According to mechanical services contractor, AE Smith, many […]

By Tina Perinotto

1 September 2011 – It has taken 12 years from go to whoa, 3000 workers at various stages of construction, a meshing of ambitious design and new technology, a potentially lethal confrontation with an advancing global financial crisis, but at last the six star Green Star 1 Bligh Street Sydney, officially opened on Tuesday night in style.

By Michael Mobbs

31 August 2011 – They’re in our lives every day. Whether it’s the helicoptered observer, his staticky radio voice saying they’re “at a stand still”, or “blocked”, or “a free run’, or “avoid at all costs”. Whether it’s the weather person warning they’re “slippery” or “going to be dangerous”, there they are.

31 August 2011 – Lord Mayor Clover Moore on Wednesday delivered a progress report on Sustainable Sydney 2030 at the Sydney Town Hall. Following is the text of that speech. Today, I want to tell you about our progress implementing Sustainable Sydney 2030. And importantly, we also want to hear from you about how we […]

By Tony Arnel, chairman, Green Building Council of Australia 31 August 2011 – The world lost a remarkable green leader recently, with the passing of Ray Anderson in the United States.