This chapter provides a review and critique of approaches to improving energy efficiency and broader sustainability in the Australian built environment. The focus is on the minimum building performance requirements set through the National Construction Code—Building Code of Australia, but the chapter also includes other mandatory and voluntary approaches which have been introduced over the...

Speaker: Ryan Colker, J.D., from the National Institute of Building Sciences Communities are establishing energy performance and/or greenhouse gas emission goals. This requires a new approach to building codes and other policies. One approach is increasing focus on project outcomes for new construction and renovations. Outcomes rely on actual results rather than design and construction-based...

This research found that Australia’s emissions are rising and projected to continue increasing without credible and comprehensive climate and energy policy. The authors also argue that Australia’s emissions reduction target is woefully inadequate to protect Australians from intensifying climate change.

In the global push to lowering our carbon emissions by transitioning to renewable energy production and improving energy efficiency epitomised in the Paris Agreement in 2015, the importance of housing tenure to the adoption of low carbon living, particularly for those on lower incomes, is often not fully appreciated. Lower-income households are more likely to...

This document presents the trends and development from 2018 for policymakers and others to understand the significance of renewable energy development. It outlines what is happening to drive the energy transition and details why it is not happening fast enough or as fast as possible.