- UNSW partners with Mirvac to create apartment using waste materials
- SafeWork NSW targets solar panel installation safety
- Sustainability isn't just an add-on, it's part of the design says Sam Klopper
The call for sustainability is everpresent, with solar panels on every other house and electric cars gaining momentum on our roads.
The Property Tribune recently reported due to increased levels of panels being installed, New South Wales will be upping its vigilance, SafeWork making more unexpected visits to installers of rooftop solar panels.
Additions after the fact are common but Director of Klopper and Davis Architects (Kada), Sam Klopper, told The Property Tribune it would be better to let architects be involved from the beginning, ensuring considerations such as which way the house should be facing are made early in the design process.
Other ideas like the old saying, “reduce, reuse, recycle” are also notable, The Property Tribune recently reported UNSW created road construction materials using waste plastics.
Mirvac has caught onto the trend too, yesterday unveiling new apartments at Sydney Olympic Park that utilised more of UNSW’s research into converting waste.
The apartments included everything from flooring to wall tiles, even furniture made from recycled materials.
What has been dubbed as “green ceramics” were used, the UNSW Sustainable Materials Research and TEchnology project kicking off back in 2019.
CEO and Managing Director for Mirvac, Susan Lloyd-Hurwitz said in a statement, “Every year, an estimated 11 billion tonnes of waste are sent to landfill globally. 92 billion tonnes of materials are extracted, with buildings responsible for around 50 per cent of global materials used,”.
The partnership with UNSW is expected to help the company’s strategy of sending zero waste to landfill by 2030.
New South Wales Energy and Environment Minister, Matt Kean, has also welcomed the development, saying in a statement “The innovative Pavilions partnership could be the Blueprint for how we do sustainable development in the future,”.
