Very recently, New South Wales had the first two certified Passive houses (also known as Passivehaus) constructed in Sydney's North Shore and the Blue Mountains. But what exactly is a Passive House and what impact could there be in the building and construction market?

A large proportion of Australian architects have followed suit with their English counterparts developing Declare Australia in an attempt to promote a self-sustaining and constantly regenerating environment for future generations. But, what impacts will this have for property developers and builders going forward?

Getting a BESS statement can be a drawn out and frustrating experience with councils. To get a BESS statement requires a variety of factors such as management, water, energy, stormwater, Indoor Environment Quality (IEQ), transport, waste, urban ecology and innovation. With IEQ being weighted at 16.5% towards BESS certification, here are four ways where you can improve the Indoor Environment Quality of your next commercial or residential project, while being one step closer toward BESS certification:

The implementation of the new Nationwide Home Energy Rating Scheme (NatHERS) Technical Note legislation will result in closer building assessments with property developers, builders, assessors and designers. The question is will the new legislation support or hamper the building process?

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?

Suntuitive brings the future to life with smart, self-tinted window glazing. When installed to residential or commercial buildings this technology provides improved climate control and greatly enhanced energy efficiency for both single and double glazed window systems. Other benefits of this thermocromic dynamic glass technology are noise reduction and glare moderation resulting in more expansive views.

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.

Improving required sustainability targets is essential with the ever evolving field of ESD. As new innovations emerge and more cost effective and ecological beneficial methods become more common place, adding these to exiting rating systems is essential. As seen with the proposed improvements to BASIX set for 2017.

Ever growing in popularity, green roofs and green infrastructure are becoming more and more common in architectural practice, used for both their aesthetic value, reclaiming a traditionally underutilised space, as well as for their innate thermal performance qualities improving the thermal comfort of a building whilst also promoting biodiversity.

One of the most influential factors to consider when studying ecologically sustainable development, is the advantageous affect that passive cooling and heating can have on the efficiency of a home. This involves the careful selection of materials appropriate to the climate in which the building is situated, the thorough consideration of the orientation of the building to allow adequate ventilation and appropriate solar heat gain and various other factors. By considering all of these aspects the efficiency of the building can increase dramatically, whilst also drastically decreasing the cost of heating and cooling the building.