Bonnie Tai . Articles Multi-residential developments look to sustainable HVAC According to the Australian Department of Environment and Energy, Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC) makes up a significant proportion of a building’s total power consumption, with a typical system accounting for approximately 40 percent. Education design moves to the outside space To meet the growing enrolment demands across our major cities, both state and federal governments have injected funds into refurbishing existing institutions and building new schools, which is great news for architects and designers looking to push the boundaries of education design. Lend Lease named Design Champion of 2015 in Melbourne Design Awards Winners for the 2015 Melbourne Design Awards have been revealed, with Lend Lease pipping a host of architecture, interiors, landscaping and urban designers to take top honours. Retractable roofs: bringing the great outdoors, indoors No longer reserved for just large-scaled sports stadiums, retractable roofing systems are fast becoming a hot commodity for restaurants and hospitality venues to maximise on space and create dynamic social atmospheres for customers. Improved solar cell design inspired by Japanese art of Kirigami University of Michigan researchers have come up with a new way to track the sun as it moves across the sky, which could potentially boost energy generation in solar panels by 40 per cent. Sydney study proves how indoor office plants improve performance and productivity An independent study conducted by the University of Technology Sydney (UTS) has uncovered evidence that including indoor plant life in office design can reduce building energy costs, improve air quality as well as raise performance and productivity among workers.
