This note was reviewed and approved for currency in November 2018. To perform well, buildings require not only good design and construction but also good operation – and designers cannot dismiss operation as solely the responsibility of occupants.

This note was reviewed and approved for currency in October 2018, with qualification that some references and resources are now superseded. This note introduces the concept of design for adaptability as an essential strategy for creating sustainable ...

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 ...

This note reviews the quantities and types of building materials use internationally and in Australia, with projected trends for Australia to 2055. It introduces methods available to evaluate environmental impacts and then goes onto analyse current ...

This paper summarises a study that looked at the factors that influence both energy and water efficiency for commercial office buildings. Using NABERS ratings for both of these, comparisons were made of various grades of buildings, with the ...

This note was reviewed in September 2018 and retained for legacy. Social sustainability is about ensuring the sustenance of the diverse social relations that exist in healthy communities. Creating the physical, cultural and social places that ...

This note was reviewed and approved by the Author in September 2018. Filter House design was developed as an entry to the Broome Sustainable Housing Competition, organised by the Western Australian Department of Housing and Works.  The competition ...

This note was reviewed and retained for legacy in August 2018. This note discusses approaches to sustainable design in remote, rural and regional areas. Based on the author's experiences in the Top End, it recommends approaches to managing a project ...

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 glossary has been reviewed and updated by the Environment Advisory Group for the 2021 edition, with the assistance and input of numerous members and external contributors. The definitions relate to built environment sustainability and are ...