Concrete floor slabs are a standard way to embed thermal mass in passive design, but is it always the right approach? Dick Clarke explains the benefits and design considerations for using concrete, and some alternatives.

When investigating a skylight for your home, the first question to consider is whether you need sunlight or just light. With the advent of solar-powered LED technologies you can now bring ‘daylight’ into your home or apartment without compromising the building envelope – but if you want the real thing, there are several energy-rated skylights on the market. Dick Clarke explains.

This issue covers two key renovation challenges: managing air ventilation in a pre-war double-brick house and navigating heritage restrictions for solar panel installations.

At its best it’s a low energy alternative with plenty of potential for effective passive solar design, with houses sprung from the very ground they rest on. Dick Clarke outlines the modern application of one of the oldest building materials around.

The pros and cons of glass types, which to use and when.

this interview focuses on different themes including what a sustainable future in buildings is all about, a look at the issues behind the choices we make, contested ideas about material impacts and the fast-approaching horizon of new materials.

Thinking of sustainable solutions for your business? You can create your own green office goals. The good news is – there are lots of ways we can contribute to sustainability.

Designing homes for flood-prone areas often means elevating floors, but floating houses offer a smarter, simpler, and adaptable alternative.

In this issue, we explore two key home-building considerations: underfloor insulation in timber homes and the role of low-e glass in double-glazed windows for extreme climates.

We need to think differently when designing or adapting a home to better cope with the multiple adverse impacts of climate change. Dick Clarke and Chris Reardon look at smarter ways to prepare for heatwaves.

What if all our efforts to design and build sustainable eco homes over the last 20 years has been wasted? What if they don’t achieve the big reductions in energy and water that

The Sustainable Buildings Research Centre (SBRC) at the University of Wollongong is a 2,600m2 multi-disciplinary facility that brings together a wide range of researchers to holistically address the challenges of making our buildings

LJ Hooker has made a change that will revolutionise the way real estate is bought and sold in Australia. Finally, there is a mechanism for agents to recognise, understand, and value a home’s

Everything old is new again. We are so often returning to new interpretations of traditional low-tech ideas in our search for a path forwards. Hempcrete is just such a material, and now sits

There is a growing problem which has caught most of the design and construction industry with its warm but damp pants down: condensation. Everything is connected to everything else, as the guru once

The design and construction industry was given a preview of proposed upgrades to the BASIX sustainability regulations this week. The changes look good on the whole, and are long overdue, bringing something like

A serious problem has finally caught the media’s attention: that so-called sustainable buildings ain’t always what they’re supposed to be. The ABC’s 7.30 program aired a story of a house that rated 5

A SOLAR POWERED BOAT POWERED OFFICE – is this a World First? I have been a solar power enthusiast since 1990, when I bought my first 160 watts of Solarex panels to power

Envirotecture's Andy Marlow is presenting once again at the Australian Passivhaus Conference.