Sustainability imperatives are starting to drive business decisions and government policies. As solutions are sought to developing environmental assessments, it is important to know how much energy, water or chemical has gone into manufacturing a ...

This note was reviewed in October 2018 and retained for legacy. This paper and its companion paper summarise reports published by the consulting firm GHD in 2003 and 2009 and in particular summarises final results of a two year trial of 6 ...

The note describes a new procedure for Land Resource Assessment (LRA).  It uses Multi-Criteria Evaluation methods (MCE) in a Geographic Systems (GIS) environment. As an example, the LRA method is applied in determining land suitability for ...

This note was reviewed and approved for currency in November 2018. While architects and planners don’t seek to disadvantage communities, the incremental impacts of the way towns and cities are designed is having exactly that effect when it comes to ...

The Australian Greenhouse Offices in Canberra aimed to set new environmental standards, by halving the energy use and greenhouse gas emissions of a standard building, achieving a better than 5-Star rating when assessed against the Australian ...

This is one of three companion papers taken from a study that assesses the comparative costs of urban redevelopment with the costs of greenfield development. This paper shows that substantial costs could be saved in infrastructure and transport if ...

This note was reviewed and approved for currency in August 2018. Tougher economic times have led to an increasing scrutiny of sustainability initiatives. Despite this, the environmental imperatives for action are not diminishing, which means that ...

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 ...

Regular data collection of a building's energy and water use provides building owners/operators with a real understanding and insight into the actual operation of their buildings. Building owners can then use this knowledge to achieve a range of ...

Read time: 25 minutes The residential building sector is a significant contributor to carbon footprint and climate change. This is primarily due to operational energy consumption derived from fossil fuels, and the impact of embodied carbon in ...