While the issues within one of Australia’s most powerful unions need urgently addressing, fixing the conditions that keep women out of the industry looms as a much larger problem.
The pursuit of ‘vanity height’ in skyscrapers is driven by aesthetic appeal and the status of being ‘the tallest’. Redefining how we measure building heights can help cut the environmental cost.
The UK government aims to enforce beauty through the planning system’s design codes. But intangible qualities like beauty are best achieved by challenging architects – not constraining them.
Without innovation in all five building phases, the industry won’t have the capacity to meet market demands or to deliver the social and affordable housing the government is promising.
The recovery rate from construction and demolition waste has been rising steadily in Australia. However, the use of recycled materials is still not the norm across the construction industry.
The complexity of construction projects has driven an increase in building waste, which is difficult to recycle and reuse. But there are ways to minimise the problem.
Suzanne Wilkinson, Te Kunenga ki Pūrehuroa – Massey University; Monty Sutrisna, Te Kunenga ki Pūrehuroa – Massey University; Regan Potangaroa, Te Kunenga ki Pūrehuroa – Massey University y Rod Cameron, Te Kunenga ki Pūrehuroa – Massey University
The construction sector has long suffered from lack of co-ordination, poor planning and vulnerability to shocks. If the country’s building and infrastructure needs are to be met, that has to change.
As more companies feature wood and other bio-based products in their offices, what are opportunities and limitations of making corporate net-zero carbon pledges about building materials?
New research has found that low-rise urban environments are more space and carbon efficient than high-rise buildings which have a drastically higher carbon impact.
The Miami apartment collapse is a grim reminder of why engineering matters, and why comprehensive education in ethics should be embedded in the training of engineers.
Three big firms win almost all the $1 billion-plus contracts. And they often team up in joint ventures, further reducing the competition that would keep the price tags of road and rail projects down.
From larger-than-life Lego blocks to bird-nest inspired structures, researchers are finding innovative ways to reuse and recycle the plastic we throw away.
A building designed to be easily taken apart so the components can be reused is a model for much less wasteful construction. It reduces resource use and environmental impacts, and can be cheaper too.
Current housing stimulus measures aim to boost buyer demand and are too small to sustain a recovery. A second round of stimulus is likely to be needed, and it should go into social housing supply.