RETROFITTING EXISTING BUILDINGS

Retrofitting focuses on improving existing buildings so they perform better in how they use energy, water and systems.

Want to learn more about optimising the thermal comfort of your project? Read below to learn the basics regarding the Thermal Mass capabilities in certain  building materials! 

Prior to commencing most types of developments in NSW, you will have to lodge a Development Application (DA) with your local council. 

Suntuitive's dynamic thermochromic self-tinting glazing has many benefits such as elevated mood, increased levels of concentration and higher productivity. However, a common question is: does it perform as well in cold climates as it does in warm?

It is important that designers modify their designs in relation to the climate in which they are built in. In order for the occupants of a home to remain thermally comfortable, the design must work with the climate, not against it, decreasing the need to use heating and cooling systems.

Renewable energy and heating sources are rapidly evolving and becoming more popular every year. Now as these technologies are becoming more and more widespread with smaller communities wanting to incorporate renewable energy in smaller scale development.

The abundance of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is one of the the largest problems in modern society, therefore, creating ways to capture and store Carbon Dioxide is of high importance. An international team of researchers is working on a new technology to transform carbon dioxide into stone. Scientists are already changing CO2 into carbon and plastic but now they’ve found the next solution. This potentially could mean that you can store CO2 below the ground by "transforming" it into stone.

Advent of wind power as alternative energy source

The Vortex wind generator represents a radical change within the alternative energy market and conventional wind turbine design. This generator has no spinning blades (or any major moving parts at all), and appears to be a large cylindrical structure which oscillates in the wind producing energy. Instead of spinning like conventional wind turbines, its uses the principle of vorticity, which is the spinning and repeating motion of air and other fluids.

With the industry reaching new material heights, creating products which are physically beneficial to the environment, rating tools are now taking the next step towards aiming for totally sustainable and healthy development. Rating tools are now attempting to assess another crucial aspect of the ESD world, that being the social sustainability of buildings. Different from the pragmatic physical aspects of creating an environmentally sustainable development, rating tools such as Greenstar assess the social and psychological impact of buildings and how through considered design the health and wellbeing of the occupant can be taken into consideration.