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Category Archives: Green Buildings

Why Sustainable Architecture & Construction are Good for Business

Global businesses are increasingly focusing on sustainability. Contributing 39% of global carbon emissions, there is particular pressure on the construction industry as well as those in architecture and design. Along with preserving our natural resources, the success of companies within these sectors will progressively rely on their continuing to search for more eco-friendly solutions in 2020 and throughout the decade ahead. New technology and production processes are improving the green credentials of materials used for a variety of design projects, and alternative approaches to sustainability such as offsite production, retrofitting and refurbishing are becoming more widely used in these sectors. Sustainable design and …

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Medical Waste to Produce Durable, Sustainable Concrete

The thousands of tonnes of plastic waste created each year in Australia through dialysis treatment could breathe new life into the construction industry, according to researchers at Deakin University. A team at Deakin’s School of Engineering is behind the new project, which aims to transform the single-use plastic used in the dialysis project into long-lasting sustainable concrete that could perform better than standard concrete. The project is a collaboration between Dr Riyadh Al-Ameri, a senior lecturer in structural engineering, Katherine Barraclough from the Royal Melbourne Hospital and John Agar from Barwon Health’s University Hospital Geelong. It came about when Dr Barraclough and Professor John …

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Urban Runoff and Water Sustainability in Urban Design

The issue of conserving our environment is a complex one. While reducing our material usage, reusing what already exists and recycling other products are all valuable steps towards reducing the impacts of climate change, they cannot be the only strategies adopted in an integrated approach. Sustainability is not just a matter of products. A holistic approach must also encompass how the built environment responds to its context and to its inherent natural processes. This is more important than ever, as extreme weather events become more frequent, placing extra stress on – and accelerating the degradation of – both our natural …

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Philanthropy’s Role in Creating Sustainable Cities

Philanthropy has an important role to play in creating “time and space” for cities to become sustainable, according to the program director for the sustainable development grantmaking program at the Rockefeller Brothers Fund. Michael Northrop is set to give the Lord Mayor’s Charitable Foundation’s annual Inspiring Philanthropy oration discussing the role of philanthropy in creating sustainable cities. Northrop, who also serves on New York City’s Sustainability Advisory Board, told Pro Bono News philanthropy had created soft capital that allowed cities to innovate. “The most important actors in a city are going to be your mayors and your city councils and …

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Green Space – How Much Is Enough, And What’s The Best Way to Deliver It?

Half of the world’s people now live in urban areas. This creates competition for resources and increases pressure on already limited green space. Many urban areas are still experiencing active degradation or removal of green space. To reverse this trend and ensure the multiple benefits of green space are realised, we urgently need to move toward on-ground action. However, there is no clear guidance on how to translate the evidence base on green space into action. There is limited information to guide green-space practitioners on how much is “green enough”, or on how to manage and maintain green space. There …

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German Battery Giant Teams with Australian Solar Tile Maker to Take on Tesla – Again

German battery storage giant and major Tesla rival, Sonnen, has opened up competition on yet another front in Australia, with the announcement this week of a partnership with a local roofing company that is set to launch its own version of an integrated solar tile. Sonnen said on Thursday that it had signed an agreement with Australian company Bristile Roofing to be the national supplier of solar powered energy storage systems for homes using its new solar tile, which is due to hit the market in September. Under the deal, Bristile will offer the Sonnen AC Coupled modular battery storage system …

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Green Buildings/Environments … Where to From Here?

The National Sustainability in Business Conference will be held in Brisbane from the 23-24 March 2017. Mr Mark Thomson, Director at Eco Effective Solutions joins us next month to discuss ‘Green Buildings/Environments … Where to From Here?’ Businesses have no shortage of capital and operational cost expenditure demands during their typical financial year periods. Justifying dollars for sustainability initiatives and green buildings or fitouts, always attracts competition from other essential business considerations. There exist a series of actions that business must understand and implement in Sustainability. Addressing current business governance expectations is a good start, however in a world of shorter employments …

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