Architectural Design Making a Positive Impact on Sustainability in your Liveable City

If you are faced with the question; “Are you part of a liveable city”, would you know how to answer? Many would consider any city that they live in as a liveable city, but what does that really mean? The answer revolves around a few simple words that some of us are well versed with, while others are not. – sustainability, conservation, environmentally friendly, eco-friendly and carbon friendly (to name a few). Creating a more liveable city comes down to several factors, beginning with residential and commercial designs that offer sustainable features. Modern technology is now proving that there are …

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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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Greening the Concrete Jungle: How to Make Environmentally Friendly Cement

Cement is the world’s most widely used material apart from water, largely because it is the key ingredient in concrete, the world’s favourite building material. But with cement’s success comes a huge amount of greenhouse emissions. For every tonne of cement produced in Australia, 0.82 tonnes of CO₂ is released. That might not sound like much, especially when compared with the 1.8 tonnes emitted in making a tonne of steel. But with a global production of more than 4 billion tonnes a year, cement accounts for about 8% of the world’s CO₂ emissions. The electricity and heat demands of cement production are responsible for …

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Low Carbon West

Councils are taking responsibility to reduce carbon emissions – leading the way by reducing their own emissions and assisting community action. But to transform a whole region to a low carbon economy, councils need to do more. They can collaborate on large-scale projects across municipalities, create opportunities for businesses from sustainable, low-carbon growth, and coordinate programs to increase their reach to communities, strengthen their messages and improve liveability. The Western Alliance for Greenhouse Action (WAGA) is a partnership of eight councils in the west of Melbourne, representing a cross-section from urban (Brimbank, Hobsons Bay, Maribyrnong and Moonee Valley), to growth …

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How New Systems Can Make The World A Greener Place

Global energy consumption has grown steadily over the past century. This trend, driven by population and economic growth, is set to continue in spite of rising efficiency of both production and consumption. The IEA estimates that over the period to 2035 the investment required each year to supply the world’s energy needs will rise steadily to $2,000 billion. In response to new opportunities such as renewable energy and smart technologies – and new policy goals – to reduce emissions and extend energy access, Distributed Energy Systems (DES) encompasses a diverse array of generation, storage, energy monitoring and control solutions. DES …

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With carbon trading conservation pays for itself

In a place like Tasmania we cannot escape nature because it’s all abound. Nature is a great provider. It gives us clean air, clean water and productive soils. It pollinates our crops, and gives us places to recreate and places for inspiration. People value nature for cultural connection to place, for the value it brings the community, for the value it brings our economy and for itself. The Tasmanian Land Conservancy has been working to make explicit some of those connections. In terms of the economic value, in 2010 TLC embarked on the New Leaf Project, acquiring 28,000ha of native …

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National Sustainability in Business Conference 2016

Renewables – Markets – Innovation – Opportunities – Capital Following feedback from Association members and partners the “National Sustainability in Business Conference” will be re-convened on the Gold Coast in October 2016. The Conference will have the following focus; Renewable Energy Systems and Sources such as Biofuel, Biomass, Hydrogen & Fuel Cells, Hydropower, Solar Energy, Geothermal Energy, Wave Energy, Tidal energy,  Energy Storage and Wind Power. Think Local Firstl – development of the local economy and community, urban agriculture, Buy Local. Innovative business opportunities, Incubators, Start Ups, Venture Capital / Entrepreneurs. The Energy Markets – Regulators, Wholesale and Supply Chain, …

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Air New Zealand turns to sustainability as global carbon price looms

The Sydney Morning Herald Air New Zealand has launched a major drive to “future-proof” its business partly due to its belief a global carbon price will emerge in the coming years. The aviation sector is responsible for an estimated 2 to 4 per cent of global carbon emissions, making it a target of environmentalists concerned about climate change. At some point when carbon is priced – and it is coming – then we will be more ready for it than our competitors and it will improve our relative competitiveness as a result. At a time when some banks are refusing …

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Save $10,000 by downloading a sustainable home plan

Domain, 11 September 2015. Sustainable home designs are now available for free online as the government encourages prospective home builders to go green. The initiative, Design for Place, offers three individual floor plans for a single-storey home, which vary according to the site size and target a seven-star energy rating. Parliamentary secretary for industry and science Karen Andrews said the material was a great resource for anyone planning a new home. Architect-designed home plans are available to the public at no cost. “The plans use sustainable design principles that will help people save energy and money, no matter where they live in Australia,” she said. A Department of Industry and …

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Naomi Klein says building new nuclear power plants ‘doesn’t make sense’

News.com.au, 1 September 2015. BUILDING new nuclear power plants to create a carbon-free world “doesn’t make sense” and just serves as a distraction from the risks, Canadian author Naomi Klein says. The activist and author of This Changes Everything, was asked what she thought about the possibility of building a nuclear power plant in South Australia, which a Royal Commission in the state is currently considering. Backers of nuclear power often spruik it as an alternative to renewables because it does not produce greenhouse gases, unlike coal-fired power stations. But Klein said building new nuclear plants did not make any …

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