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.
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Articles on Construction industry
Displaying 1 - 20 of 26 articles
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.
Building or renovating your home? For some types of timber you may be waiting into 2023. So what’s behind the hold-up? And when might it get better?
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?
One-tenth of global emissions result from the production and supply of building materials – and the construction process itself.
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.
Grocon as a construction business might be on its last legs, but Grocon as a property development and landlord business should be fine.
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.
Insecure jobs, insufficient training and the marginalisation of unions have contributed to a tragic record of construction fatalities.
Algorithms can now work out the best ways to lay out rooms, construct buildings and even change them over time to meet user needs.
As well as an infrastructure spending boost, governments are fast-tracking approvals. But these processes exist for a reason. If we get projects wrong, we live with the consequences for decades.
Orders to fix serious defects, even up to ten years after completion, and to delay the occupation certificate developers need to sell apartments until they’re fixed, gives regulators real teeth.
Grants to home buyers could cost the federal government billions without creating any extra jobs in construction. Investing in social housing is a better approach.
Local councils work hand in hand with industries like construction. If the downturn is allowed to cripple councils, that will also hit essential businesses hard.
The proposed law does little to give people confidence in the apartments they buy. And it utterly neglects the role of architects and on-site inspections in delivering sound buildings.
Top contributors
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Adjunct professor of architecture, University of Adelaide
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Professor of Construction Management, University of Technology Sydney
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Associate professor, The University of Western Australia
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Research Fellow in Sustainability Buildings, Curtin University
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Program Director, Economic Policy, Grattan Institute
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Professor; School of Economics, Finance and Property, and Director, Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute, Curtin Research Centre, Curtin University
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Lecturer in Architecture, Practice and Design, Swinburne University of Technology
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Senior Associate, Grattan Institute
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Professor of Sustainability Science, Edinburgh Napier University
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Professor and Head of the School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, UNSW Sydney
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Head of Art and Design, University of Hertfordshire
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Professor of Property and Housing Economics, University of South Australia
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Postdoctoral Research Associate, University of Sydney
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Associate Professor of Engineering, Western Sydney University
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Senior Lecturer and Co-Director of Studies for Construction Law, The University of Melbourne
