Business and Economy > The Fifth Estate >

On how to build perfect alignment with net zero – electrify your existing building and retrofit it

On how to build perfect alignment with net zero – electrify your existing building and retrofit it

When the owners of big landmark buildings such as 101 Collins and 111 Bourke streets in Melbourne decide to electrify and retrofit their assets, you know there’s a big motivating factor driving an ambitious agenda. Call it value. How’s your NABERS rating? What about Green Star? The image here is something we snapped in downtown Parramatta ...
Clay and concrete, Six things on the capital market, MasterChef gaslighting again

Clay and concrete, Six things on the capital market, MasterChef gaslighting again

Another solution for low carbon concrete – this time it’s common clay The engineers at RMIT University have found a solution that may be able to  tackle  the problem of cement – a key ingredient of concrete that is responsible for 8 per cent of global CO2 emissions – by replacing it with common clay. Traditionally, only high grade kaolin clay has ...

The federal government’s battery scheme will override the existing NSW scheme, but is this fair?

Starting 1 July, the NSW government’s Peak Demand Reduction scheme, which aims to reduce peak electricity demands, will end support for battery installations. Instead, it will be replaced with the federal government’s Cheaper Home Batteries Program – an election promise of $2.3 billion that covers around a 30 per cent discount on the upfront cost of ...
Engineered bamboo — the time has come

Engineered bamboo — the time has come

Bamboo has long been viewed in Australia as a backyard plant or garden screen. But globally, bamboo is being engineered into multistorey buildings, structural panels, and composite materials, and is increasingly recognised for its potential in climate resilient infrastructure. It’s not just a sustainable curiosity; it’s a serious structural material ...
Elumen launches new ‘Self-Test’ technology for emergency exit lights that’s better for the planet

Elumen launches new ‘Self-Test’ technology for emergency exit lights that’s better for the planet

SPONSORED: Elumen’s Self-Test range is a significant leap forward for Australia’s built environment, addressing both compliance headaches and environmental targets. Designed with National Construction Code requirements at the forefront, Self-Test luminaires eliminate dedicated emergency lighting circuits and manual logbooks. Instead, they rely on an ...
Aircon emissions threaten our net zero ambitions

Aircon emissions threaten our net zero ambitions

Most people see the journey to net zero and scopes 1 and 2 as being mainly about energy choices. But as more buildings fully electrify, there’s another major contributor that’s coming to the foreground – refrigerants. Refrigerants are found in almost all forms of vapour compression technologies, including airconditioning, heat pumps, cool rooms, ...

A Dubbo housing project that breaks the mould by using community and climate to de-risk design

Developers and the design team for a housing project at Dubbo, about five hours north west of Sydney, undertook community consultation before even putting pen to paper. It shaved years off the expected timeframe for approval. Here’s how it happened. Design for climate resilience and social value can deliver density, speed to market and reduced risks ...
On what they said at “Show Me the Green Money”

On what they said at “Show Me the Green Money”

The thing about climate catastrophes – floods, fire, famine and the like – is that you can’t argue with them. You can’t politick them out of existence via a language cleanse, you can’t even properly pay for them.If you have assets hit by them, there they will be on the balance sheet, in scary red text – or even a big blank zero. Sign up for our ...
Australian and APAC businesses have their heads in the sand on climate risk, new report shows

Australian and APAC businesses have their heads in the sand on climate risk, new report shows

According to a new report from FM and The Economist, the Asia Pacific region is quickly becoming a hot spot for climate disasters, and Australian businesses are not facing up to the risk, but neither are their counterparts in the Asia Pacific region.This is despite natural disasters such as flooding in China and droughts in India causing US$65 billion ...
Farmers in court over Santo’s gas, PCA needs an office guide update,Yerrabingin and Redfern Park, TOMRA in buyback packaging

Farmers in court over Santo’s gas, PCA needs an office guide update,Yerrabingin and Redfern Park, TOMRA in buyback packaging

Farmers take the federal government to court over risks from the Narrabri gas pipelineA group of farmers and community members are taking the federal government to court, arguing that Australia’s environment minister has wrongly assessed the impact of Santos’ Narrabri Lateral Pipeline on water and the environment.The government ruled that the pipeline, ...
News in brief: June

News in brief: June

Overview: Farmers take the federal government to court over risks from the Narrabri gas pipeline, PCA’s Guide to Office Building Quality needs an update, Yerrabingin appointed to renew Redfern neighbourhood park, TOMRA launches packaging buyback machine Farmers take the federal government to court over risks from the Narrabri gas pipeline4 June: ...
As Australia unleashes a carbon bomb on the planet, here’s some big issues to consider for World Environment Day

As Australia unleashes a carbon bomb on the planet, here’s some big issues to consider for World Environment Day

This World Environment Day, we are grappling with evolving systems that can destroy or transform our relationship with the natural world. Today, as we stand in the midst of climate change, biodiversity collapse, sanctioned fossil fuel extraction and democratic disillusionment, many of us could sink into despair. Spinifex is an opinion column. If you ...

On how to build perfect alignment with net zero – electrify your existing building and retrofit it

On how to build perfect alignment with net zero – electrify your existing building and retrofit it
When the owners of big landmark buildings such as 101 Collins and 111 Bourke streets in Melbourne decide to electrify and retrofit their assets, you know there’s a big motivating factor driving an ambitious agenda. Call it value. How’s your NABERS rating? What about Green Star? The image here is something we snapped in downtown Parramatta ...

Clay and concrete, Six things on the capital market, MasterChef gaslighting again

Clay and concrete, Six things on the capital market, MasterChef gaslighting again
Another solution for low carbon concrete – this time it’s common clay The engineers at RMIT University have found a solution that may be able to  tackle  the problem of cement – a key ingredient of concrete that is responsible for 8 per cent of global CO2 emissions – by replacing it with common clay. Traditionally, only high grade kaolin clay has ...

The federal government’s battery scheme will override the existing NSW scheme, but is this fair?

Starting 1 July, the NSW government’s Peak Demand Reduction scheme, which aims to reduce peak electricity demands, will end support for battery installations. Instead, it will be replaced with the federal government’s Cheaper Home Batteries Program – an election promise of $2.3 billion that covers around a 30 per cent discount on the upfront cost of ...

Engineered bamboo — the time has come

Engineered bamboo — the time has come
Bamboo has long been viewed in Australia as a backyard plant or garden screen. But globally, bamboo is being engineered into multistorey buildings, structural panels, and composite materials, and is increasingly recognised for its potential in climate resilient infrastructure. It’s not just a sustainable curiosity; it’s a serious structural material ...

Elumen launches new ‘Self-Test’ technology for emergency exit lights that’s better for the planet

Elumen launches new ‘Self-Test’ technology for emergency exit lights that’s better for the planet
SPONSORED: Elumen’s Self-Test range is a significant leap forward for Australia’s built environment, addressing both compliance headaches and environmental targets. Designed with National Construction Code requirements at the forefront, Self-Test luminaires eliminate dedicated emergency lighting circuits and manual logbooks. Instead, they rely on an ...

Aircon emissions threaten our net zero ambitions

Aircon emissions threaten our net zero ambitions
Most people see the journey to net zero and scopes 1 and 2 as being mainly about energy choices. But as more buildings fully electrify, there’s another major contributor that’s coming to the foreground – refrigerants. Refrigerants are found in almost all forms of vapour compression technologies, including airconditioning, heat pumps, cool rooms, ...

A Dubbo housing project that breaks the mould by using community and climate to de-risk design

Developers and the design team for a housing project at Dubbo, about five hours north west of Sydney, undertook community consultation before even putting pen to paper. It shaved years off the expected timeframe for approval. Here’s how it happened. Design for climate resilience and social value can deliver density, speed to market and reduced risks ...

On what they said at “Show Me the Green Money”

On what they said at “Show Me the Green Money”
The thing about climate catastrophes – floods, fire, famine and the like – is that you can’t argue with them. You can’t politick them out of existence via a language cleanse, you can’t even properly pay for them.If you have assets hit by them, there they will be on the balance sheet, in scary red text – or even a big blank zero. Sign up for our ...

Australian and APAC businesses have their heads in the sand on climate risk, new report shows

Australian and APAC businesses have their heads in the sand on climate risk, new report shows
According to a new report from FM and The Economist, the Asia Pacific region is quickly becoming a hot spot for climate disasters, and Australian businesses are not facing up to the risk, but neither are their counterparts in the Asia Pacific region.This is despite natural disasters such as flooding in China and droughts in India causing US$65 billion ...

Farmers in court over Santo’s gas, PCA needs an office guide update,Yerrabingin and Redfern Park, TOMRA in buyback packaging

Farmers in court over Santo’s gas, PCA needs an office guide update,Yerrabingin and Redfern Park, TOMRA in buyback packaging
Farmers take the federal government to court over risks from the Narrabri gas pipelineA group of farmers and community members are taking the federal government to court, arguing that Australia’s environment minister has wrongly assessed the impact of Santos’ Narrabri Lateral Pipeline on water and the environment.The government ruled that the pipeline, ...

News in brief: June

News in brief: June
Overview: Farmers take the federal government to court over risks from the Narrabri gas pipeline, PCA’s Guide to Office Building Quality needs an update, Yerrabingin appointed to renew Redfern neighbourhood park, TOMRA launches packaging buyback machine Farmers take the federal government to court over risks from the Narrabri gas pipeline4 June: ...

As Australia unleashes a carbon bomb on the planet, here’s some big issues to consider for World Environment Day

As Australia unleashes a carbon bomb on the planet, here’s some big issues to consider for World Environment Day
This World Environment Day, we are grappling with evolving systems that can destroy or transform our relationship with the natural world. Today, as we stand in the midst of climate change, biodiversity collapse, sanctioned fossil fuel extraction and democratic disillusionment, many of us could sink into despair. Spinifex is an opinion column. If you ...