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The practices of ecologically-minded alternative communities illuminate differing perspectives on what might constitute an economy. This paper explores the extant literature and presents a framework for considering four spheres of confluence between the modern market economy and diverse economies: economic production practices, attitudes towards growth, environmental responsiveness and the socialrelational context of transactions. Drawing on evidence from an Australian ecovillage, the paper adopts the framework presented as a means of understanding the experiences of cooperatively negotiating various practices necessary to establish an intentionally sustainable community economy. Through this analysis, the paper provides insights into ways ecovillages may operate in the context of the modern market economy without adopting all of its practices. Ecovillages may indeed be places where convergence between economic approaches may be incubated, experienced and experimented, and through closer trading with the local external communities opportunities for the diffusion of such practices may ensue.

Rental houses in Australia represent approximately one third of all homes, and this proportion has been growing over recent decades. However, the quality, comfort and environmental credentials of t...

Non-structural components contribute significantly to the lateral stiffness of a cold-formed steel (CFS) building structure, but are cumbersome to model explicitly in the structural analysis. They are therefore commonly ignored in a 3D structural analysis, and their benefits are lost to the design. This paper proposes an efficient modelling method that enables practical and accurate 3D elastic analysis of a multi-storey CFS building structure to study its lateral behaviour within the serviceability limit state. Each shear or gravity wall is represented by an equivalent shear modulus four-node orthotropic shell element, which incorporates the lateral stiffness (or flexibility) contributions of all components including sheathing, braces and fasteners as present in the wall. The equivalent shear modulus is determined from the experimental test of a representative wall panel, or from the analysis of a finely detailed finite element model of the panel. The resulting two-storey building model, which has much fewer degrees of freedom compared to conventional models, is verified against full-scale shake table test results with respect to the natural period, the peak storey drift and the peak floor acceleration at two different construction phases. This paper demonstrates that the proposed modelling method not only saves analysis time considerably through the drastic reduction of degrees of freedom, but also compares favourably against a published modelling method in terms of accuracy and modelling efforts.

Purpose The construction industry is a significant driver of economic activity in many countries. However, there has been a lack of growth in productivity within the Australian construction sector over recent years. The purpose of this paper is to gain an in-depth understanding of the causes for declining productivity within the Australian mid-rise residential construction network. Design/methodology/approach Two in-depth case studies have been conducted with a builder and developer, both significant entities of the Australian mid-rise residential construction network. Case study data collection comprised a five-stage process including semi-structured interviews and archival information review. Findings Drivers for declining construction productivity were identified under the categories of: industry-, firm- and project-level productivity. The drivers include: incomplete documentation, design changes, inefficient project management, supply chain fragmentation, among others. Originality/value The contribution of this study is the identification and categorisation of major issues impacting sector productivity along the mid-rise residential construction supply chain. The research identified that the substructure and superstructure are the construction phases during which most productivity losses occur. Mitigations are discussed in terms of systemic sector productivity increases at an industry, firm and project levels.

Within Australia, increasingly more people are choosing to live in cities. Due to a need for urban densification and more affordable housing, for the first time, development approvals for multi-residential developments have overtaken those for individual houses. The growing sector of mid-rise residential buildings in Australian cities has the potential to contribute significantly to improving the energy efficiency of the building stock. However, there is limited empirical research on this sector within the Australian context. The mandatory framework for the energy efficiency of mid-rise residential developments in Australia, with a focus on New South Wales with its distinct regulatory requirements, is critically reviewed and synthesised with the literature. The review provides an understanding of the regulatory context under which mid-rise residential developments are undertaken. The limitations of the current energy efficiency framework are highlighted. This study provides an understanding of the status quo in energy efficiency regulations for mid-rise residential buildings in Australia and demonstrates that there is both scope and an imperative for regulatory minima to be enhanced.

Australia has a growing population, especially in dense city regions; this has led to an increase in the number of mid-rise apartment buildings being constructed. More efficient methods of construction could enable the sector to meet this increased demand. Internationally, cold-formed steel (CFS) is used widely as the loadbearing structure within mid-rise apartment buildings. However, the use of CFS for the construction of mid-rise apartment buildings in Australia has been extremely limited. At the time of writing, Australian mid-rise apartment buildings are typically constructed using reinforced concrete, and the potential benefits of using alternative construction systems are not well-known. The Australian construction sector could benefit from an increased understanding of the advantages of CFS construction. Through the use of both a desktop study and a survey of international CFS industry experts, this study aims to explore the benefits and practices of CFS construction. The study identifies current CFS industry practices that have been used in completed projects in the UK, USA and Canada. A variety of loadbearing and lateral load resistance systems exist in practice, as well as fire and acoustic solutions. The prominent advantages of CFS are found to be speed of construction, cost effectiveness and non-combustibility. Potential improvements for design and construction are identified, including load-path alignment and solutions for long spans. Addressing these issues could lead to a more efficient solution for an Australian structural CFS system. The survey ascertains the positive benefits of CFS construction and common methods of use in practice. This addition to the body of knowledge helps to close the gap between research and practice and demonstrates that CFS offers potential benefits for the mid-rise apartment construction sector in Australia.

As the impacts from climate change are progressively being felt around the globe, there is an increasing urgency in the need for policymakers to find ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The rental housing sector offers one such clear opportunity to reduce CO2 emissions. However, there has been a lack of consensus regarding the policies that would best deliver a sustainable rental sector. Building on calls in the literature to examine policy mix solutions for this conundrum, a Policy Delphi methodology, using both qualitative and quantitative techniques, identified seven key policy areas. These were divided into carrot policies (tax incentives, rebates and grants); cusp policies, that are neither clearly carrot nor stick, but often have a leaning towards one or other (loans, energy arrangements, improved rental rights); and stick policies (minimum standards, mandatory disclosure). Minimum performance standards, rebates and tax incentives were identified as the most effective policy solutions by the expert panel. Findings suggest that any policy mix should include both carrot and stick policies. When integrated with the existing ‘enabling forces’ literature, a model emerges that highlights the policy pathways to an environmentally sustainable rental housing sector.

In England, there is a longstanding and increasing undersupply of both affordable and open-market housing. Around three quarters of all new homes in the UK are currently built speculatively by the developer-led private housing sector. However, demand for self-build housing is growing. Concurrently, there is also a need to address the sustainability of homes, which represent 29% of final energy consumption in the UK. There is a clear imperative to develop business models within the construction sector in which both social and environmental sustainability are inherent. The aim of this paper is to explore professional and expert opinions on the suitability of group self-build housing as a development model for zero carbon homes. A Policy Delphi study was conducted both at a national level in England and at a regional level in South West England. In this iterative, non-contact research method, online questionnaires were used to gather data from the same panellists over three rounds. Panellists were drawn from seven groups: public sector, specialist groups/experts, housing associations, housing developers, designers, contractors, and financial institutions. The findings highlight that the panellists believe that group self-build is well suited as a development model for the delivery of zero carbon homes and sustainable communities. The advantages identified include: energy efficiency, affordability, quality, innovation, and sustainable communities.

Active frontages are often advocated in best practice guidance and by local planning authorities. However, little research has been carried out to establish what benefits, if any, active frontages offer. Previous research in this area has been limited to examining observed behaviour rather than analysing public perceptions. This article aims to improve the understanding of the relationship between the quality of an active frontage and public perceptions of the public space the frontage addresses. The research was carried out through a combination of a critical literature review and a questionnaire survey that engaged 152 participants. The participants’ perceptions of a range of public spaces in relation to a number of frontages were investigated using comparison and correlation. The results suggest that the quality of an active frontage can significantly affect people’s perceptions of a public space in terms of its safety, comfort, sociability and liveliness. Good-quality active frontages can contribute to creating successful public spaces, which can help deliver far-reaching benefits for towns and cities. The findings contribute useful evidence to enhance our understanding of the role of active frontages in urban design and planning.

The take-up of the many voluntary energy efficiency standards which exist in the UK and internationally has been limited. As a result, governments have recognised the need to introduce mandatory schemes through legislation, e.g. from 2016 all new build homes in the UK will be required to achieve zero carbon in regulated energy consumption. However, as 2016 approaches, very few zero carbon homes are being delivered. This paper explores the drivers and barriers for zero carbon homebuilding. The perceptions of the wider construction industry were gathered through a series of semi-structured interviews with professionals involved in commissioning, designing, constructing and regulating housing. The results show that, whilst drivers for zero carbon homebuilding exist, the barriers are currently perceived to be greater than the drivers. The barriers are categorised into five groups: economic, skills and knowledge, industry, legislative and cultural. Mechanisms for policy and industry support for the delivery of zero carbon homes are identified to address these barriers. The research findings highlight the need for a clear and robust policy framework for the forthcoming standard. The Government and industry must prioritise raising public awareness of the need for and benefits of zero carbon homes to help develop market demand.