Cities are suggested as being the key level for shifts towards more sustainable modes of production and consumption. The building sector with its significant carbon footprint plays an important role in urban climate change adaptation strategies.

It is increasingly recognised that the risks associated with climate change must be addressed through both mitigation and adaptation. Buildings are vulnerable to climate change risk and are also the source of a significant proportion of greenhouse gas emissions which contribute to climate change.

Abstract: One of the largest threats to future development is climate change. Apparently, the building sector has been the largest source of greenhouse gas production. One prospective solution to this is “green building” that aims to provide environmentally sustainable building in terms of design, construction and maintenance.

A report commissioned by the NSW Architects Registration Board examines "the areas where architects add value to the economy beyond typical construction sector analysis" and defines "where value lies in the work of architects beyond the bricks-and-mortar value of the construction industry." 

This work explores how and where architecture is, can and might help to transform our cities, towns and regions. It explores the social, technological and economic shifts that the sector is exposed to; the policy context in which the sector is positioned; and it offers some thoughts on where fields of growth for the sector may lie.

This paper begins by examining how economic models have developed over time to define the boundaries of cost and value in building. How value is variously described in other fields is compared, and the technique of value management as a good design tool is analysed.

This report shows how society benefits when buildings can withstand natural disasters.

Queensland is set to implement a new building plan that will bring massive changes to many elements of the construction industry.

Australia's property sector is being urged to use readily available existing technologies to improve the long-term prospects for their properties, in a broader industry push towards net zero carbon buildings.

New research shows that 90 megatonnes of greenhouse gas emissions are emitted annually in constructing new buildings and infrastructure and maintaining the existing ones. Reducing this liability of “embodied” emissions will be much harder than building zero-carbon buildings. Here is why.