Sustainability

In July, industry stakeholders visited the Daikin factory in Sydney to better understand the challenges and opportunities around producing low‑embodied‑carbon products.

A 280m canopy floats across the entirety of the South Beach development in Singapore, filtering sunlight and solar glare, and channelling wind breezes into public spaces.

A much–anticipated community facility in Melbourne’s north–west has done away with gas-fired boilers. Rather, new technologies have been adopted, making the Brimbank Aquatic and Wellness Centre Australia’s first all-electric aquatic centre powered by renewable energy. Ecolibrium explores this ground–breaking project. 

Retreating Arctic ice and a bushfire-ravaged North America are just two indicators of our changing climate.

According to CSIRO, storage of renewable energy is essential to ensure access to secure, reliable and affordable energy as Australia transitions to net zero by 2050. Part of that mix could be thermal energy storage (TES), a concept well established in the HVAC&R industry but often undervalued. Sean McGowan reports.

Professor Tony Arnel has been honoured with a Life Fellowship from the Energy Efficiency Council.

In the GBCA’s Green Star Design and As-Built ratings, projects can now be allocated an extra point by doing a whole-building test – a good thing, according to Sean Maxwell.

An innovative building constructed a decade ago is aging gracefully – and usefully.

The Victorian Pride Centre is one of the first facilities of its type in the world. Located in the Melbourne bayside suburb of St Kilda, the building is a symbol of the freedom of expression and diversity of LGBTIQ communities.

A recent event in Melbourne explored how the themes of sustainability and indoor air quality are intrinsically linked.

An impending lease expiry, predicted growth in headcount and a desire to improve the workplace experience of its staff led SEEK to look beyond its existing office space and set out on a path towards its own, custom-designed environment. Sean McGowan reports on that seven-year quest, which led to a high-performing, comfortable and naturally lit space.

According to the annual report from the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), climate change continued to advance at a tremendous and impactful clip in 2022. 

Given a blank page, an engaged client, a set of unique site constraints and permission to invent new ways of bringing a building to operational life, Cundall’s building services and sustainability engineers have created an award-winning design for a net zero commercial tower in Hong Kong.

High-temporal-resolution precipitation data of the past along with other data of weather elements are required for applications in the design and simulation of built environments. However, the available data of precipitation is either low-resolution, e.g., daily, or not long enough to produce reliable and climate-responsive results for built environment applications.

An innovative research project initiated by the City of Melbourne has increased energy efficiency in office buildings while also decreasing COVID-19 transmission. Louise Belfield reports.

How do we unlock geothermal energy potential in high-performance buildings? Plumbing Industry Climate Action Centre CEO Shayne La Combre has some thoughts.

The Dell Children’s Medical Center of Central Texas is the world’s first hospital to earn LEED Platinum.

Since 1988 the Sydney Football Stadium has been the Harbour City’s premier rectangular field venue, regularly hosting internationals played by the Kangaroos, the Wallabies, Socceroos and Matildas as well as NRL, Super Rugby and A-League games. Find out how the design team had particular sustainability aspirations at heart.

By embracing the Passivhaus standard, a new apartment building in Palma, Spain, classifies as an nZEB (nearly zero energy building).