The CSIRO's Energy Centre at Newcastle has many innovative energy saving and renewable energy generation systems.  The Centre explores new methods of using a mix of natural ventilation and low-energy air conditioning to provide comfortable ...

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 in October 2018 and retained for legacy.  Energy analyst and photovoltaics (PV) lecturer Muriel Watt provides an up-to-date overview of PV technology and markets in Australia. Watt shows that new technologies and lower costs ...

This note was reviewed by co-author as approved to retain for legacy in October 2018. There is now widespread recognition among government and industry that environmental impacts are best avoided rather than treated. In relation to waste ...

Residential construction accounts for about 70 per cent of the total volume of sawn timber consumed in Australia, with the majority of the wood used for framing applications. Wood products have typically a lower greenhouse footprint than alternative ...

Read time: 25 minutes There has been a tendency to focus on energy efficiency measures when reducing building-related greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions – that is reducing heating, cooling, lighting and ventilation energy needs. However, the GHG ...

This note was reviewed and approved for currency in November 2018. Life cycle energy analysis (LCEA) is a method of assessing both the operational and embodied energy of buildings over their lifetime. It is an easily-conducted form of life cycle ...

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 in August 2018.  This paper describes how green roofs influence the energy performance of a hypothetical commercial office building in each of the Australian Building Code Board’s eight climate zones ...

Environmental design is in the broadest sense, the human response to the understanding that we are a part of our environment. This is the design realisation that ecology matters.  This area of human endeavour has undergone a rapid transformation in ...