Posts Tagged ‘Built environment’
February 2026
CONTENTS – schools, airports, high-rise towers: architects urged to get ‘bamboo-ready’ – first global hybrid renewables project – farmers are producing record crops despite droughts and floods – an data centres slake their insatiable thirst for water? – inside the battle to power AI – US exit of key UN climate treaty criticized as self-sabotage – flawed economic models mean climate crisis could crash global
economy, experts warn – global economy must move past GDP to avoid planetary disaster, warns UN chief – Global Monitoring Laboratory data
Video coming soon: Balancing the energy trilemma
EECA Chief Executive Dr Marcos Pelenur will spoke to us on Wednesday 15th October, explaining how energy efficiency and renewables are key to balancing the energy efficiency ‘trilemma’. Dr Pelenur will shared his views on this and the current focus and priorities for the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority.
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Video coming soon: Navigating Low-Carbon Building Design – Journeys of France and New Zealand
On Wednesday 20th August we heard Anais Guennoc and Julio Ortiz discuss the Environmental Regulation RE2020 which has been introduced in France, making it one of the first countries to adopt legislation with regulatory thresholds on whole-of-life embodied carbon for buildings. What lessons can be learned for the building and construction industry in New Zealand?
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Video coming soon: A current perspective on local government
Crystal Beavis spoke about her experience as a first-term Councillor for Waikato District Council. Local Government plays a key role in infrastructure, engineering and related matters such as: roads, drinking water, wastewater, stormwater, building consenting, district planning and noise control. Funding pressures have been exacerbated by decreases in funding from central government, unfunded mandates, and legislated water reform.
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January 2025
CONTENTS – Global CO2 emissions in 2024
– Climate crisis effects on Earth’s water cycle – US homeowners in disaster-prone states face soaring insurance costs – Climate change and geopolitics – EU’s electricity mix in 2024 – Toxic PFAS pollution in UK and Europe – Flatulence tax: Denmark agrees deal for livestock emissions levy – Sites without sound: Oslo leads in quiet, low emission electric construction – Report says blue hydrogen gives false hope for green steel – How to make oxygen on the moon – Recommended reading – ESR Prizewinner, Zion Young
November 2024
CONTENTS – Earth’s ‘vital signs’ show humanity’s future in balance, say climate
experts – Five main takeaways from the Global Commission on the Economics of
Water Report, October 2024 – Extracts from IEA World Energy Outlook 2024 Executive Summary – Extracts from Energy Source & Distribution Magazine, Sep/Oct 2024 – Reducing climate emissions from farm livestock – Energy-saving coffee concrete makes major project debut – Deakin launches hydrogen R&D hub in Warrnambool – Amid Australia’s chaotic climate politics, the rooftop solar boom is an unlikely triumph – First Dog on the Moon, 11 October 2024.
Watch video: Presentation of ESR’s submission on the Second Emissions Reduction Plan
Watch a video summary of ESR’s submission to the consultation document “New Zealand’s second emissions reduction plan”, presented by two of its authors, Professor Emeritus Thomas Neitzert and Dr Peter Whitmore. The presentation is followed by a Q&A session and a discussion
of next steps.
Submission in Response to New Zealand’s second emissions reduction plan (ERP2)
This submission relates to information given in the Ministry for the Environment discussion document regarding the currently proposed second plan to reduce New Zealand’s emissions – New Zealand’s second emissions reduction plan, July 2024 (draft ERP2). It also covers other matters relevant to reducing our emissions.
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