30 years of Sydney Sustainable House
Michael Mobbs, this month celebrated 30 years since the launch of his Sustainable House in Sydney with a dinner that included former NSW Premier Bob Carr, who presided at the initial launch.
The house was ahead of its time, with Mobbs disconnecting the property from town water and sewerage and relying on solar panels, despite its inner city location.
The project captured media attention for its uniqueness and its use of ordinary materials purchased from the hardware store.
It inspired similar works, which Mobbs says are now mainstream. Around 230 homes joined Mobbs in marking the advances in sustainability by opening their homes for visitors and tours on Sustainable House Day on Sunday.
Mobbs features in The Green List with his coolseats business focused on reducing food waste.
Pattern book for WA
The Western Australian government is following Victoria and NSW’s lead and developing its own pattern book to “support faster housing delivery”.
The state government said it would fund the initiative as part of its 2026-27 state budget, which allocated a $4.7 billion to boost housing supply and affordability.
The pattern book will be supported by a $2 million investment, for a library of high quality, ready to use home designs for medium density infill projects.
All designs in the book will need to meet standards for energy efficiency, universal access and climate resilient construction, and will be led by the WA Government Architect.
New homes slated for Queensland
Queenslanders will be getting more than 51,000 new homes thanks to a new $2.4 billion agreement between the state and federal government, including 20,000 which will be reserved exclusively for first home buyers.
$2 billion will come from the federal government and includes $399 million in grants and $1.6 billion in concessional loans for essential infrastructure. The state government will match the funding with a further $399 million.
What we’re reading
Steel on its way to decarbonisation
Since signing a new energy supply deal in April, InfraBuild’s Laverton steel mill in Melbourne’s west is now generating enough electricity from wind farms to cover more than 50 per cent of the power it needs. This includes the power to melt scrap metal into molten steel.
The remaining power is still being drawn from the grid, meaning it still relies on a mix of renewable energy, storage and fossil fuels. Its CEO, Francisco Irazusta, said there is a significant reduction in the carbon per tonne of steel produced, saying their goal was to reach 100 per cent renewable by 2030. More on The Sydney Morning Herald.
In response the article, Climate Change Authority chair Matt Kean wrote on social media: “Those who claimed renewables can’t power Australia’s heavy industry must now confront reality. An Australian steel mill is sourcing majority renewable power – for the first time ever. The energy transition isn’t coming. It’s here.”
Jobs
Mott MacDonald has appointed Scott Morath as its water, environment and society market leader for Australia. Prior to his new gig, Morath held multiple senior positions at Jacobs, including most recently as senior director of operations for project and program delivery solutions for Australia and New Zealand.
Before that, he was an operations centre manager for water and environment in South Australia for Sinclair Knight Merz, which was acquired by Jacobs in 2013.