Built environment

Poor indoor air quality is increasingly recognised as a hidden health risk, driving respiratory problems, exacerbating chronic disease, and accelerating the transmission of airborne infections

We examine the important role instrumentation and control technicians – or “instros” for short – play in optimising HVAC&R systems.

AIRAH Advocacy and Policy Manager Mark Vender speaks with ASHRAE Fellow and Distinguished Lecturer Robert Bean, whose occupant-first philosophies have sparked an entirely different way of thinking about HVAC design.

Daniel Bonatti, M.AIRAH, explains how double-skin façades can improve building performance through enhanced heat, light and acoustic management.

Samantha Bothma M.ACould clever design improve the thermal performance of holiday cabins and reduce the energy needed to cool and heat them? Willow Aliento investigates.

Ecolibrium speaks with Distinguished Professor Lidia Morawska about an ambitious QUT project to provide world-leading indoor air quality monitoring and control in a university building.

With a dedicated humidity workshop taking place during IAQ26 in Cairns, AIRAH’s IAQ Special Technical Group (STG) reflects on the importance of humidity control.

With Standards Australia recently adopting a mould remediation standard, we look at how this hidden killer can harm both building occupants and HVAC&R technicians.

Ecolibrium speaks with Jess Ward, whose experience with mould-related illness led to an extraordinary career change.

Australians own and use an excessive amount of floor space compared to other countries. Laura Timberlake explores how going small can have big benefits for thermal performance, heating and cooling costs, and the embodied carbon of residential buildings.

We look back at the major discussions from AIRAH’s 2025 Indoor Air Quality Conference (IAQ25), which was held in Melbourne from May 26–27.

Sonia Holzheimer, M.AIRAH, reflects on the good, the bad, and the ugly misunderstood aspects of AS 1668.2.

A program in South Australia’s APY Lands is retrofitting housing to study how homes can withstand one of the world’s harshest climates.

Ecolibrium speaks to Yangzhe Hou, part of a research team that recently developed a bioplastic metafilm with fascinating cooling properties.

With a global shortage of copper looming, could aluminium cable be a safe and cost-effective substitute for low voltage underground power supply? Lasath Lecamwasam and Martin Lynch investigate.

When Dr Mali Rezaei moved into a one-bedroom rental in Melbourne’s southeast in 2021, she had no idea how severely her life would be affected by mould.