Built environment

The Australian Sustainable Built Environment Council (ASBEC) has released a policy roadmap to reduce upfront embodied carbon in the built environment.

Amy Lewis from the Safer Air Project introduces a toolkit for making events safe, accessible, and inclusive for those at risk from poor IAQ.

We’ve all heard the saying “hot air rises”. Daniel Bonatti, M.AIRAH, explains why this phenomenon occurs, how our understanding has evolved over time, and what it means for practical applications in building design.

An important changeover of filter standards is underway in Australia, but industry has so far been slow to move.

Cutting-edge HVAC and BMS design played a huge role in the Canberra Raiders’ redevelopment of their spiritual home at Northbourne Oval. Here’s how the state-of-the-art project unfolded.

After mould-related illness turned Brandon Chappo’s life upside down, he co-founded Change the Air Foundation to do provide a voice for the millions of others affected.

This paper discusses the growing importance of external CFD in evaluating and optimising rooftop mechanical layouts for high-density data centres.

This technical paper provides a systematic review and comparison of existing and next-generation air cleaning technologies.

Clive Broadbent, L.AIRAH, discusses how climate change and increases in surface water temperatures could potentially encourage the growth of bacteria that prefer warm water (mesophiles), including Legionella.

Mark Lommers, M.AIRAH, looks at the repeal of Western Australia’s controversial Sewerage (Lighting, Ventilation and Construction) Regulations 1971, which for more than 50 years required the doubling up of toilet exhaust fans.

Nick Johns-Wickberg discovers how a heat monitoring tool developed by the University of Sydney is playing an important role in local sport.

Building management systems are vital for HVAC performance and efficiency, but if they’re poorly designed or maintained, they can cause serious problems. Chris Stamatis, M.AIRAH, and Trevor Smith, Affil.AIRAH, showed Nick Johns-Wickberg and Mark Vender how these complex systems work in practice.

Standards Australia and the International Code Council have partnered to develop a new protocol that will enhance climate data transparency and operability internationally across the built environment.

A report launched at Parliament House in November has highlighted the human impact of poor indoor air quality, framing it as an access and inclusion issue.

The Coalition has followed in the footsteps of the South Australian government, which earlier this year announced that it would not update the National Construction Code (NCC) for a decade.

What does “build tight and ventilate right” mean when applied to multi-residential buildings? Sean Maxwell, AM.AIRAH, investigates.

A research centre at Queensland University of Technology has set out an ambitious range of projects to build our knowledge of indoor air quality

AIRAH’s IAQ 2024 conference underscored the once-in-a-century opportunity to improve indoor air quality – and what we need to do to seize it.

Recognising the growing role of data and analytics in our buildings, AIRAH has published the Big Data Guideline, a free resource to support building owners, facility managers, consultants and service providers embarking on their big data journey. 

The adoption of ISO 16890 in Australia will support better filter selection and specification, according to Daniel McCaffrey, M.AIRAH, and Peter Mathieson, F.AIRAH, from AIRAH’s IAQ Special Technical Group.