Recent newspaper articles overseas and at home have been pointing to the need for a change in our lifestyles and behaviour if we are to confront and overcome a number of key challenges confronting us this century, writes Peter Newton.

Australian cities rate highly internationally on liveability and well-being indices. State and metropolitan governments are keen to promote the liveability of their cities as a means of attracting mobile capital, skilled labour and tourists. An examination of the liveability-environmental sustainability nexus, however, suggests that Australia’s capital cities have gained their high liveability ratings while having...

This report demonstrates the pathways that current 5-star rated ‘project’ homes (with average emissions of 9.5 tonnes CO2-e per year) can take to achieve zero-carbon status, with savings in CO2-e emissions averaging eleven tonnes per dwelling per year. The report also identifies key transitions in hot water heating, space heating and cooling, built-in appliances and...