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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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Australia’s First Biofuels Pilot Plant Opened in Gladstone

Australia’s first biofuels pilot plant was officially opened by the Premier of Queensland and Minister for the Arts, Annastacia Palaszczuk MP, in Gladstone. The $18 million Northern Oil Advanced Biofuels Pilot Plant (NOABPP) was opened just 14 months after the project was announced by the Premier. The NOABPP is a joint venture between Southern Oil and J.J. Richards & Sons, on the site of their Northern Oil Refinery and brings together five best-of-class technologies from around the world to produce biocrude and renewable fuels from waste. Southern Oil Managing Director Tim Rose said that, together with a $5.3 million biocrude …

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The Future of Architects

How we will move between and around our Cities? I believe Architects in the future need to be more interested in what makes cities work rather than style individual buildings. That is certainly born out by the work of Weston Williamson which recently celebrated its 30th anniversary. On looking to the future it is sensible to reflect on the past. As Steve Jobs said “You can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. “ I am an avid reader on the subject of ancient history, the Persians, the Ancient Greeks, the Egyptians. But I am particularly intrigued …

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A brief history of autonomous vehicles

A brief history of autonomous vehicles: A personal perspective on the history of autonomous vehicles in Australia (2016 to 2060) and their impact on the built environment ABSTRACT: Dame Sylvia Crowe the great forward thinking landscape architect of the 20th Century once said “It would seem that the highway facilities must always lag far behind the means of locomotion, and we should watch carefully that the next advance in transport does not find us still thinking in terms of roads for outdated vehicles.” (1960) With the advent of autonomous vehicles the effect on the road and street environment will be profound. …

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Sustainable Strata Schemes

The issue of sustainability is currently very topical, given the level of commentary around climate change, increasing greenhouse gas emission levels and global warming. The current generation wants to ensure the population’s needs are met without compromising the needs of future generations, and there is general agreement that people need to reduce their carbon footprint. One of the key areas to take action is by having more sustainable living quarters. Not only will this benefit future generations, but it will probably reduce the cost of living with lower energy and water bills. According to City of Sydney Council, over 73 …

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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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Why Buy Locally Owned?

There are many well-documented benefits to our communities and to each of us to choosing local, independently owned businesses. We realize it is not always possible to buy what you need locally and so merely ask you to Think Local FIRST! This is a concise article from Sustainable Connections in the USA…  read it here https://sustainableconnections.org/thinklocal/why

2015 Sustainable House Day opens homes to the public this weekend

The Advertiser, 11 September 2015. For people with sustainability on their minds who are looking to build a home, put 2015 Sustainable House Day this weekend on your to-do list. Sustainable House Day on Sunday will see homeowners around Australia swing open their doors and welcome the public into their sustainability-focused properties. Sustainable House Day provides a unique opportunity to look around these houses, meet and talk to the owners and designers and get some insight into the principles of sustainable design and solar architecture. Each of the houses was designed around sustainable design principles using passive solar design, solar …

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Association 5 year commitment to Developing Northern Australia Conference

The Association in business has made an initial commitment to host the Developing Northern Australia Conference for the next five years.

Our members believe that developing the Northern Regions will be one of the most significant undertakings in Australia since Federation.

Following the outstanding success of this year’s event in Townsville, which will see 6o presentations added to the podcast resource, planning has commenced on the destination and venue in 2016…

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How will the carbon pricing mechanism impact your business? :: SustainabilityMatters

The Australian government has announced plans to introduce a carbon price mechanism from 1 July 2012. There will be a three-year fixed price period. The carbon price will start at $23 per tonne in 2012-13 and will be $24.15 in 2013-14 and $25.40 in 2014-15. From 1 July 2015 onwards, the carbon price will be set by the market. Under the plan, Australia will cut 159 million tonnes a year of carbon pollution from its atmosphere by 2020 – the equivalent of taking over 45 million cars off the road. In the article below, Elisa de Wit, Anthony Hobley, Noni …

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