Going from a single spore to a finished fungi-derived leather product takes a couple of weeks. But raising a cow to maturity for bovine leather can take several years.
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Articles on Sustainable design
Displaying 1 - 20 of 48 articles
Sustainability must be the centrepiece of the UK's investment in school buildings.
Creating a simple, sustainable home isn't as easy as it sounds. But with some planning and hard work, it can be an exciting and fulfilling journey.
Earth-covered houses are not only highly fire-resistant, but sustainable features such as off-grid power and water supplies could also be life-saving in a bushfire.
The homes of the future will be zero-carbon and energy efficient. We asked experts to give us the tour.
Buyers pay more for a home they know has a good energy rating. That's worth an extra 2.4-9.4% in the only part of Australia where energy ratings must be disclosed at the time of sale.
Bamboo has been used since ancient times for building, but only in recent decades has pioneering work in Bali inspired its wider use for substantial and enduring structures.
Humankind already has the knowledge to make sustainable and socially just ways of living on this planet possible. But new types of design and economics are needed for anything to change.
Barangaroo is an example of a development with admirable green credentials, but it is also an exclusive precinct that has played a role in displacing the disadvantaged from this part of Sydney.
Standing 240m tall, the Statue of Unity celebrates India's development. But jarringly, it towers over a divisive and environmentally damaging dam project.
The British inventor of the clockwork radio and over 200 other devices has died.
Buildings are central to creating more sustainable cities, and green ratings are often used to assess how well a building measures up against this goal. But the current system has serious flaws.
When talking about heritage, we need to be clear about our definitions and our objectives for each building. Then we can work on achieving the optimum balance of heritage and sustainability.
New South Wales is the only state that has made meaningful progress on legislation and enforcement of standards capable of creating a sustainable built environment.
After extreme weather events like Hurricane Harvey, city planners need to think about the smartest way to rebuild. Here are some no-regrets infrastructure investment ideas.
Why, after decades of international agreements, are we still damaging the environment? New research, looking at dozens of unsuccessful policies, has uncovered the basic elements of failure.
Conventional leather is fraught with ethical and environmental issues. But leather grown from fermented kombucha tea offers consumers a glimpse of a DIY, sustainable future.
Emerging research challenges the idea that sustainable housing is unaffordable. It shows sustainability and good design can be affordable when analyses include social, health and wellbeing benefits.
Reinforced concrete is everywhere. But unlike plain concrete, which can last for centuries, reinforced concrete can deteriorate in decades as the reinforcing bars succumb to rust.
It's time to rethink the stack-em-high and sell-em-cheap approach to business.
Top contributors
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Senior Lecturer, School of Property, Construction and Project Management, RMIT University
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School of Architecture, Professor of Architecture, University of Portsmouth
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Chris Rissel is a Friend of The Conversation.
Senior Research Fellow, College of Medicine and Public Health, Flinders University
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Professor of Water Resources Management, The University of Melbourne
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Senior Lecturer, Department of Agriculture and Food Systems, The University of Melbourne
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Laureate Professor, The Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity
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Senior Lecturer Sustainable Design, Lancaster University
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Elaine Stratford is a Friend of The Conversation.
Professor of Geography, School of Technology Environments and Design, University of Tasmania
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Professor of Sustainability, Institute for Sustainable Futures, University of Technology Sydney
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Professor of Sustainability, Curtin University
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Senior Lecturer - Energy, Queensland University of Technology
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Associate Professor in Fashion, Queensland University of Technology, Queensland University of Technology
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Chair of Urban & Regional Planning and Director of Canberra Urban & Regional Futures, University of Canberra
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Barrister, Law Lecturer, Swinburne University of Technology
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Manager, Masters of Management, Swinburne University of Technology
