Lifetime Affordable Housing in Australia: Integrating environmental performance and affordability. Existing dwellings and the locations of suburban housing with respect to employment centres result in significant greenhouse gas emissions. Water and other environmental issues are also important in housing performance, and there is currently a perceived trade-off between these factors and the affordability of housing. For the first time in Australia, this study will focus on overcoming this appare ....Lifetime Affordable Housing in Australia: Integrating environmental performance and affordability. Existing dwellings and the locations of suburban housing with respect to employment centres result in significant greenhouse gas emissions. Water and other environmental issues are also important in housing performance, and there is currently a perceived trade-off between these factors and the affordability of housing. For the first time in Australia, this study will focus on overcoming this apparent policy dilemma. The research will inform future housing policy in strengthening Australia's economic and social fabric, while contributing towards Australia's National Research Priority 1 'Environmentally Sustainable Australia'. Outcomes will provide significant national economic, social, water use and greenhouse gas benefits for Australia.Read moreRead less
Carbon neutral communities: making the transition. This project has well defined National benefits, both economic and social, for the collaborative partners, the business community, policy makers, community groups and the broader Australian community. It contributes toward NRP 1, through developing practical measures for reducing GHG emissions in Australian urban areas, and strategies for overcoming barriers to greater uptake of energy efficiency and alternative technologies; and helping Austra ....Carbon neutral communities: making the transition. This project has well defined National benefits, both economic and social, for the collaborative partners, the business community, policy makers, community groups and the broader Australian community. It contributes toward NRP 1, through developing practical measures for reducing GHG emissions in Australian urban areas, and strategies for overcoming barriers to greater uptake of energy efficiency and alternative technologies; and helping Australia to meet its greenhouse reduction targets. The project economic benefits to through energy savings; stimulating innovation in urban design, building design and transport use; promoting new business opportunities; and encouraging more sustainable lifestyle decisions. Read moreRead less
Prefabricated reusable building modules: reducing building life cycle environmental impacts. The outcomes of this project will enhance Australia's ability to provide globally competitive next generation building construction solutions. It will also help to not only ensure that Australian industry is at the forefront of best-practice environmental innovation but also support industry to develop and expand export markets, providing significant economic benefits. The outcomes of this project will b ....Prefabricated reusable building modules: reducing building life cycle environmental impacts. The outcomes of this project will enhance Australia's ability to provide globally competitive next generation building construction solutions. It will also help to not only ensure that Australian industry is at the forefront of best-practice environmental innovation but also support industry to develop and expand export markets, providing significant economic benefits. The outcomes of this project will be valuable to the construction industry to make implementation of ecologically sustainable design more rigorous. Strategies for improving the environmental performance of construction, particularly through prefabrication of durable building components will be able to be better facilitated by the research undertaken in this project.Read moreRead less
Making better decisions about built assets: learning by doing. This research will assist the built environment professions and their clients to make better decisions about new developments through a novel 'learning by doing' approach. Used successfully in other fields such as natural resource management, this idea will capitalise on the large number of asset investments undertaken to benchmark original stakeholder intentions and aspirations against the reality of current performance. Decisions w ....Making better decisions about built assets: learning by doing. This research will assist the built environment professions and their clients to make better decisions about new developments through a novel 'learning by doing' approach. Used successfully in other fields such as natural resource management, this idea will capitalise on the large number of asset investments undertaken to benchmark original stakeholder intentions and aspirations against the reality of current performance. Decisions will be re-evaluated in the context of contemporary economic, social and environmental criteria to enable existing multi-criteria models to deliver more sustainable outcomes that are also feasible and in the national interest, and consequently minimise the industry's current exposure to future climate change.Read moreRead less
Transforming building environmental design: streamlining environmental decision-making for building designers. The project will significantly reduce national energy demand and greenhouse gas emissions associated with the construction and operation of new and existing buildings. This will help to reduce the potential impacts of climate change on Australians and provides a highly cost-effective solution for mitigating and adapting to climate change.
Modelling greenhouse gas emissions associated with commercial building construction. A reliable model of greenhouse gas emissions for commercial building construction is required. Construction product manufacturing emissions are well known, but those associated with the construction process (representing up to 25% of the energy embodied in construction products) have not been fully elucidated. Commercial building construction requires more energy per square metre than residential building constr ....Modelling greenhouse gas emissions associated with commercial building construction. A reliable model of greenhouse gas emissions for commercial building construction is required. Construction product manufacturing emissions are well known, but those associated with the construction process (representing up to 25% of the energy embodied in construction products) have not been fully elucidated. Commercial building construction requires more energy per square metre than residential building construction, due mainly to lifting of heavy items. The results will be used to develop cost effective strategies for optimising greenhouse gas emissions associated with the total emissions from commercial building construction and operation. This will improve the environmental performance of the Australian construction industry.Read moreRead less
Strategic Assessment of Building Adaptive Reuse Opportunities. This research will review a large database of existing buildings, many of which have exceeded their useful life. An innovative model will be developed to enable Australia's building and property industries to identify the most viable opportunities for building adaptive reuse. The model will integrate financial, environmental and social sustainability, enabling community stakeholders to make informed decisions with widespread benefits ....Strategic Assessment of Building Adaptive Reuse Opportunities. This research will review a large database of existing buildings, many of which have exceeded their useful life. An innovative model will be developed to enable Australia's building and property industries to identify the most viable opportunities for building adaptive reuse. The model will integrate financial, environmental and social sustainability, enabling community stakeholders to make informed decisions with widespread benefits. The research is aligned with the national priority area: An Environmentally Sustainable Australia: Transforming Existing Industries. The expertise developed in this project will be regionally and internationally applicable, providing momentum for the growing adaptive design and conservation market.Read moreRead less
Catastrophe: a historical and philosophical assessment of urban disaster, ethics and the built environment. This project provides a comprehensive framework for the re-evaluation of civil society in relation to the built environment. It proposes that ‘safeguarding Australia’ and understanding its place in the world can begin by looking at urban planning and architecture, the perceptions that define them, and the catastrophic risks that attend them.
Emerging futures: transit-oriented development as a strategy for dealing with urban sprawl and congestion in South East Queensland. This project will examine the phenomenon of urban sprawl in SEQ to understand how sprawl is impacting on architectural and urban environments. Transit-oriented devlopment (TOD)is seen as a global strategy for inhibiting urban sprawl, but the benefits of TOD are not yet measured in Australia. With increased density around railway infrastructure the threat to public s ....Emerging futures: transit-oriented development as a strategy for dealing with urban sprawl and congestion in South East Queensland. This project will examine the phenomenon of urban sprawl in SEQ to understand how sprawl is impacting on architectural and urban environments. Transit-oriented devlopment (TOD)is seen as a global strategy for inhibiting urban sprawl, but the benefits of TOD are not yet measured in Australia. With increased density around railway infrastructure the threat to public safety is raised. This study will examine the wider issues of TOD with respect to four inter-disciplinary areas: architecture and urban design, urban planning, security, counter-terrorism and threat management, transport strategy and insitutional management.Read moreRead less
Finding new economic drivers for Sea Change (coastal) and similar rapidly growing communities. This project is of major benefit to developing more environmentally sensitive but diverse economies for coastal communities. Coastal communities are commuter or tourism dominated, each of these issues generate both current and future liabilities for the communities and the nation.