Heat pumps use a fraction of the energy of traditional electric or gas heaters, which means they slash both energy costs and emissions.
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It’s impossible to escape exposure to microplastics and a new study confirms they’re in household dust around the world. But the health risks appear surprisingly low, and vacuuming makes a difference.
The proportion of housing that’s unoccupied has actually fallen since the last census, but the key issue is most of these dwellings are not in the areas where the need for housing is greatest.
Electric vehicles were around long before their fossil fuel rivals. They are also set to outlast them because of advantages their advocates noted as early as a century ago.
Australian politicians have a history of opting for high-cost, high-emissions desalination projects. The Queensland government is still wary of using the largely untapped resource of recycled water.
The first upgrade to minimum energy-efficiency standards in a decade will cut emissions and energy costs for the 5.5 million houses to be built by 2050. Retrofitting homes is an equally urgent task.
Can we now work from anywhere with an internet connection? We interviewed workers who left the city but held onto their jobs to see how they fared. One year on, some had no regrets. Others moved back.
A survey of more than 2,000 people as Melbourne reopened after COVID lockdowns shows the pandemic and digital technology have made the city less a place of work, more a place to visit now and then.
Investing in housing means providing a home. National tenancy reforms are reshaping the role of landlords to reflect this responsibility.
The long delays in housing displaced flood victims point to the need to develop a permanent reserve of temporary housing to be available wherever and whenever disaster strikes.
Our urban heritage should be allowed to evolve and adapt to the values and needs of today. It’s the best way to avoid neglect and decay, while enabling this heritage to help make cities sustainable.
While well-meaning, it’s unclear whether the benefits of training community members to respond to disasters outweigh the risks.
A new Australian documentary gives voice to the women in urgent need of policy action on housing insecurity and homelessness.
Tenants are rarely allowed to make permanent changes to a house. And many landlords know little about the conditions tenants endure, but most who do retrofit homes do it to improve renters’ comfort.
Beautiful shopping streets attract people — and that’s good for business. Images of ten reimagined local shopping streets show how they can become the beautiful hearts of their local communities.
Housing standards in Australia have slipped behind the rest of the world. But momentum is growing to revive past ambitions to build the best homes we can.
For many female runners, the feeling of liberation that running can bring is marred by the ever-present threat of street harassment and violence. It’s a major obstacle to running participation.
When the pandemic hit, green space was there for us at a time when others weren’t or couldn’t be. Urban greening might be the solution to the ‘lonelygenic environment’ that our cities have created.
Planning has begun for the 2032 Brisbane Olympics and already it’s clear the city has learned from the mistakes of other hosts, but its plans to be truly sustainable have one glaring weak point.
The race to build the tallest timber building makes the news, but mid-rise construction is where using timber can make the biggest sustainability impact.
Top contributors
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Associate Professor, School of Property, Construction and Project Management, RMIT University
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Professor of Housing Research and Policy, and Associate Director, City Futures Research Centre, UNSW Sydney
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Neil G Sipe is a Friend of The Conversation.
Honorary Professor of Planning, The University of Queensland
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Professor of Future Urban Mobility, Swinburne University of Technology
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Alan Morris is a Friend of The Conversation.
Professor, Institute for Public Policy and Governance, University of Technology Sydney
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Louise Grimmer is a Friend of The Conversation.
Senior Lecturer in Retail Marketing, University of Tasmania
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Associate Deputy Vice Chancellor, Research & Innovation, College of Design & Social Context, RMIT University
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Professor of Housing Research, University of Adelaide
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Senior Lecturer in Urban Planning, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau
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Chief Environmental Scientist, EPA Victoria; Honorary Professor, School of Natural Sciences, Macquarie University
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Research Associate, Centre for Urban Transitions, Swinburne University of Technology
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Adjunct Research Fellow, The University of Western Australia
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Senior Industry Fellow, RMIT University
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Senior Lecturer, School of Property, Construction and Project Management, RMIT University
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Lecturer in Planning and Human Geography, La Trobe University
