20 April 2011 – Tristram Carfrae, leader global building design for the international engineering and design company, Arup, recently returned to London after 20 years in Australia. He leaves behind an impressive body of work both in this country and elsewhere, much of it representing breakthroughs in technology and design and always with a firm […]

Leon Gettler 24 March 2100  – A centre-piece of the ALP campaign in last year’s election was its promise of $1 billion in tax breaks for businesses on investments in energy-saving measures for commercial building, one of a number of climate change announcements designed to fill the gap left by shelving the emissions trading scheme […]

25 March 2010 – The Green Building Council of Australia’s Green Star rating system for buildings is undergoing a fundamental shift. It is a philosophical shift that involves working more closely with industry, particularly for rating building materials. The GBCA says this is a positive move that will encourage best practice by manufacturers and suppliers. […]

24 March – – Ribena is developing a new strain of climate change resistant blackcurrants as part of a world wide response by the world’s biggest companies to adapt to climate change and seize opportunities, The Economist Intelligence Unit and UK Trade and Investment have found in a new survey. The survey, Adapting to an […]

24 March 2011 – We live in tumultuous times. Daily we are bombarded with news and images of disaster – floods, earthquakes, tsunamis, social unrest and impending nuclear catastrophe, all against a backdrop of a warming planet. Meanwhile in Australia we still can’t even get our minds around putting a price on carbon. It can […]

23 March 2011  – In Perth they rallied to support climate action.  In Canberra 10,500 petitions were presented to Climate Change Minister Greg Combet supporting the same. And GetUp, the grass roots organisation has a rolling campaign of action to counter anti climate change politicians and shock jocks.

23 March 2011 –Udated 24 March 2011 – Commercial real estate agencies Colliers International and CB Richard Ellis, Jones Lang LaSalle and architectural firm Woodhead will be among the many property industry companies to once again support Earth Hour on Saturday, 26 March. Nationally, the companies will join an expected three million businesses and households […]

23 March 2011 – Williamstown High School in Melbourne Victoria has become the first high school in the State to receive a 5 star, Green Star – Education PILOT certified rating from the Green Building Council of Australian for excellence in environmentally sustainable design. According to GBCA chief executive Romilly Madew, international research has confirmed […]

23 March – From The New York Times: When Macarena Chiriboga came to Bali in 2009, she had just finished a master’s degree in architecture in the US doing her thesis on the use of bamboo as a building material. The trip was meant to be a vacation. But drawn by the unusual architecture of […]

23 March 2011 – JouleBug, a free iPhone application that encourages users to learn energy-saving habits in practical, social ways was launched last week. JouleBug players earn points, pins and badges for saving energy and can compete with friends on Facebook.  JouleBug can also be linked to the user’s power company account, allowing them to […]

24 March –The Difference, a magazine to help Australia’s richest make a difference to its poorest, has been launched in Melbourne by Simon McKeon, 2011 Australian of the Year. The magazine is a report card of poverty indicators – disadvantage, poverty and exclusion in Australia – underpinned by the research of Access Economics. “Sadly the […]

24 March 2011 – Melbourne based architect Graeme Gunn who has been credited with changing the landscape of suburban housing in Australia, reinvigorating architectural university studies in Victoria, and mentoring decades of leading architects, has won the nation’s top annual architecture award – the 2011 Gold Medal for Architecture. Awarding the honour at the second […]

23 March 2011 – Arup celebrated its sponsorship of the exciting Greenhouse by Joost at Circular Quay  on Thursday last week with a wonderful evening of food and jam jar drinks before the installation moves at the end of  March to Milan, Berlin, Budapest and London. see great photos by Gourmantic of Greenhouse To experience […]

31 March 2011 – More than 50 units of the Australian pioneered fuel cell technology BlueGen have been installed globally with 75 more units under order including 30 in Australia, according to the manufacturer of the unit, Ceramic Fuel Cells Ltd. However, more extensive take up of the unit which CFC says is far more […]

23 March 2011– The Warren Centre for Advanced Engineering has produced a Handbook for Reform to guide a new NSW Government after Saturday’s election towards the successful infrastructure needed for continuing economic growth. “Last year’s infrastructure report card from Engineers Australia told a very sad tale of t is state’s poor delivery record on major […]

17 March – The Forest Stewardship Council is becoming wedged in the middle of a battle between environmentalists and Australia’s largest paper manufacturer. The Wilderness Society launched its campaign in February against Australian Paper, calling for consumers not to purchase Reflex Office Paper, the company’s flagship product, on the basis that its wood fibre is […]

By Simon Wild The US Green Building Council is being sued for false advertising about its  rating tool LEEDS.  Let’s not allow fear of litigation to stand in the way of innovation in Australia, argues Simon Wild. 18 March 2011 – Opinion: The Green Building Council of Australia, along with its rating tool, Green Star, […]

19 March 2011 – Recruitment consultant and publisher of the Avdiev Remuneration Report Rita Avdiev said last week that sustainability was a “hot topic” for the property markets. “About three quarters of respondents replied that their company placed a mid to high level of importance on sustainability, with 30 per cent indicating a rank at […]

17 March 2011 – A new planning vision is needed for Newcastle as it evolves as an important regional capital according to the Hunter branch and NSW division of the Planning Institute of Australia . The Institute has identified six key priorities: Deliver a university city campus which is integrated with the city centre Adoption […]

By Michael Mobbs 17 March 2011 – Have you ever walked across a paddock and had to pick your way around patches of Bathurst Burr to avoid being prickled by them? Anyway, for those who wish to get to the other side of this Bathurst Burr, here are a little patch of Burrs to avoid […]

17 March 2011 –The first green-plumbing trade school in Victoria has been opened in Melbourne by the Minister for Climate Change and Energy Efficiency, Greg Combet and the federal member for Deakin, Mike Symon. The federally-funded Swinburne TAFE school in Croydon, Melbourne consists of a trades building and plumbing tower to deliver green training for […]

16 March 2011 – As the bleak news from Japan continues and a nuclear catastrophe threatens, Prudential Financial today said its foundation, The Prudential Foundation, will contribute 500 million yen, $6.1 million, to support relief efforts. “Our thoughts and prayers go out to the people of Japan as they struggle to cope with the aftermath […]

16 March 2011 – A carbon tax could cut business costs according to Energetics founder and executive director, Jonathan Jutsen. While Mr Jutsen agrees that a carbon tax will increase business costs, the overall impact on  operations will be modest, with many passing the extra onto consumers, he said. Energy price increases from a carbon […]

By Craig Roussac 10 March 2011 – Electricity use in Sydney office buildings can more than double in extreme heat, but responsive management can keep a lid on greenhouse emission, research by conducted by the Green Buildings Alive project has found Growing peak period demand is one of the major causes of rising electricity prices […]

By Tina Perinotto 11 November 2010 – Kate Langan comes with impeccable credentials. She has headed ANZ’s property operations since 2009, is an architect by training, and in her previous role was a regional director for Jones Lang LaSalle, with a strong track record in corporate real estate. In fact it was a contact from […]

By Lynne Blundell 8 March 2011 – This was the year of the revamp for Green Cities. And the annual conference, jointly organised by the Green Building Council of Australia and the Property Council of Australia, was much better for the makeover. With a new and improved format and a liberal sprinkling of controversy, the […]