Read time: 20 minutes Decades of advocacy to achieve progress toward sustainable outcomes have highlighted an urgent need to reframe our relationships with the natural world and with one another. Humans exist within a reciprocal dynamic with one ...

‘Lighting’ is good lighting when it provides adequate illuminance to enable a task to be performed efficiently, is perceived as comfortable, and people have a high level of satisfaction.  Good lighting design is not simply about achieving a required ...

This note was reviewed and approved for currency by the author in December 2018.  Thermal mass can be effectively employed in buildings to increase occupants' thermal comfort conditions. This paper seeks to clarify the ways in which this can be ...

This note was reviewed and approved for currency in August 2018.  This note provides a background introduction to the lost art of designing for natural ventilation, and discusses some of the more useful rules of thumb. It considers the principal ...

This note was reviewed and approved for currency in August 2018. Passive design is a fundamental feature of good building design. Going further than just good orientation and fabric design, designers are looking to integrate natural ventilation and ...

This note outlines how architects can use the design of buildings to help create sustainable transport systems and a more vibrant public domain. Traditionally, architecture has been mainly concerned with the internal efficiency of buildings. However ...

This note was reviewed and approved for currency by the Author in September 2018. Without the virtually free services of nature like clean air and water, humans would not last long. Natural systems can be incorporated in existing urban structures or ...

This note was reviewed and retained for legacy in August 2018. In hot arid climates, cooling is the dominant need in order to attain comfort. In this paper, architect Emilis Prelgauskas highlights the natural forces (wind, solar gain, moisture) that ...

After 30 years of research into the health effects of indoor environment on occupants, there is now extensive research and assessment of the effects of indoor environment quality (IEQ) on occupant performance and productivity. This article will ...

This note, originally published in November 1998, was reviewed by Nigel Bell in September 2004. This summary page includes recent updates to the topic since publication. Lead is a health hazard. A useful material for thousands of years is now ...