The current shift from fossil energy resources to “green” energy — renewable energy plus storage in smart grids, many with electric vehicles providing grid services — is now a global phenomenon.

Sustainability assessment tools aim to promote high sustainability outcomes in residential buildings, ensuring less consumption of water, energy and less emission of greenhouse gases. However, existing literature often presents variations between the estimated outcomes from the assessment tools and actual outcomes after building occupation. Research suggests that actual energy consumption could be significantly influenced by...

The Building Sustainability Index (BASIX) assessment tool estimates the operational energy consumption and GHG emissions from new residential developments based on information available at the building design stage. However, post-occupancy energy consumption can be different from the estimated figures at the design stage.

Provision of adequate and affordable housing is a major challenge in both emerging and industrialised countries. With increasing urgency for addressing climate change and other environmental issues these habitats will need to be environmentally sustainable too. Conventional construction, especially in dense urban centres and in rural or remote areas, is putting great pressures on cost...

This paper addresses the ‘co-benefits approach’ as a means of integrating climate concerns into local planning and development control in general.