What Australian Cities Can Learn About Sustainability from Asia

What makes a city sustainable? Is it a focus on traditional, “green” sustainability, economic strength or how liveable the city is for people? Global sustainability heavyweight Arcadis believes it is a mix of all three. Arcadis’ latest Sustainable Cities Index, which ranks 100 of the world’s leading cities on three pillars of sustainability: people, planet and profit, found that there are some significant variances across the Asia Pacific region. Australian cities all scored middle of the road on the index, with Melbourne not making the top 50. While not a cause for alarm, these rankings reinforce that Australian cities must …

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Australian Sustainable Design: the Challenges, What We’re Getting Right, and Where to From Here

The drive behind building more environmentally friendly residential homes is coming from individuals, not government bodies, and cookie-cutter developments are holding us back, according to a think tank assembled to address the issue of implementing sustainable design. The chair of the discussion, organised by LG Electronics, was architect and TV host Peter Maddison, who argued that changing our behaviour was key to these kinds of properties having their maximum benefit. “In my view, sustainability is a lot bigger than just green stuff,” Maddison said. “We can put the best solar panels in the world in our house, and that’s a …

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Success in Sustainability Combines These 3 Ingredients

Commit. Collaborate. Communicate. That seems to be the mantra these days when it comes to tackling the complexity of sustainability challenges. Whether the topic is carbon removal, renewable energy procurement, transforming supply chains or creating a circular economy, inevitably the road to success is paved with these three ingredients … The New Plastics Economy Global Commitment, organised by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation and U.N. Environment, sets forth a set of broad targets, including eliminating problematic and unnecessary plastic packaging, increasing reusable packaging and making all plastic packaging reusable, recyclable or compostable. It’s a bold and audacious set of commitments, and the …

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Applications to Present in 2019 Close Friday!

The 2019 National Sustainability Conference will be held at Hotel Grand Chancellor Brisbane over 1 – 2 April and applications to present at the conference are currently open The educational program will include sustainability research, participation from diverse industry sectors and topics of integration, technology, automation, climate risk, procurement, renewable energy and sustainable construction. The conference will be looking at current topics and also looking forward to emerging sustainability considerations. Applications to present in 2019 are open until Friday 9 November 2018.  Invitation to Submit Your Presentation Individuals and organisations are invited to submit an abstract to deliver a 30-minute oral …

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Present at the 2019 National Sustainability Conference

The 2019 National Sustainability Conference will be held at Hotel Grand Chancellor Brisbane over 1 – 2 April and applications to present at the conference are currently open The educational program will include sustainability research, participation from diverse industry sectors and topics of integration, technology, automation, climate risk, procurement, renewable energy and sustainable construction. The conference will be looking at current topics and also looking forward to emerging sustainability considerations. Applications to present in 2019 are open until Friday 9 November 2018.  Invitation to Submit Your Presentation Individuals and organisations are invited to submit an abstract to deliver a 30-minute oral …

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Is it time to move beyond the limits of ‘built environment’ thinking?

The constructed world around us provides the stage for our daily life. The term “built environment” is in the past tense, describing a scenario after the fact. What does it actually mean beyond the obvious connotation of buildings and parks? Yet when we pay respect at a formal occasion to the traditional peoples of Australia it is generally referred to as Acknowledgement of Country. Here we acknowledge the environment (country) first and then the custodians of it. Today we are at pains to integrate environmental concerns into our building efforts. We are discussing how to meet climate targets, reduce heat island …

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How to Use Queensland’s New Container Recycling Scheme

There are doubts within the waste industry that Queensland’s new recycling scheme can be ready for launch at the start of next month. From November 1, Queenslanders can claim a 10-cent refund for most plastic drink containers, beer bottles and aluminium cans at one of 232 collection points from Coen to Coolangatta. The state’s first-ever container exchange refund scheme is run by a not-for-profit company called COEX (Container Exchange) and branded as Containers for Change. Recycling companies see future recycling business from “cleaner” recycled glass, plastics and cardboard that comes in through the collection depots. But some large waste lobby groups, represented by …

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Opera House Goes Carbon Neutral Five Years Ahead of Schedule

The Sydney Opera House was notoriously behind schedule on most things during the 14 years it took to build but will be five years ahead of schedule when it meets its target to reduce emissions and become carbon neutral. This move puts it up there with New York’s Empire State building and Paris’s Eiffel Tower as global architectural icons which are actively working to become world symbols of energy efficiency, its Environmental Sustainability Manager Emma Bombonato said. … Officials at the Sydney Opera House have been working to increase its energy efficiency and decrease its waste for the past decade. In 2014 it replaced incandescent bulbs …

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Antarctica’s ‘moss forests’ are drying and dying

The lush moss beds that grow near East Antarctica’s coast are among the only plants that can withstand life on the frozen continent. But our new research shows that these slow-growing plants are changing at a far faster rate than anticipated. We began monitoring plant ecosystems 18 years ago, near Australia’s Casey Station in the Windmill Islands, East Antarctica. As we report in Nature Climate Change today, within just 13 years we observed significant changes in the composition and health of these moss beds, due to the drying effects of weather changes prompted by damage to the ozone layer. Living on the …

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Australia set to run on 100% renewable energy within 15 years

Australia is set to reach its target of 100% renewable energy by the early 2030’s, provided current uptake of renewable energy options in the residential and commercial sectors remains strong. The Australian renewables energy industry will install more than 10 gigawatts of new solar and wind power before the end of 2019 and if that rate is maintained, Australia would reach 50% of its renewables target in 2025. The reduction target, set under the famed Paris Agreement into global climate change, forms part of a commitment made by Australia in 2015 to cut carbon emissions nationwide by up to 28% of 2005 …

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