Circular materials
July 2, 2024

Materials and carbon audit – Part 1 – De-construction for high Recycling rates and Circular material benefits

De-construction not demolition is the path to very high recycling rates and meeting circular economy requirements. It just takes some planning. LID are currently undertaking a materials and carbon audit…

Sustainable development
June 13, 2024

ESD consulting that saves projects money – Australia wide

After often encountering the challenge of integrating ESD (Environmentally Sustainable Design) where budgets are tight, it is pleasing to complete another project where ESD has saved the job money. We…

Low carbon living
May 31, 2024

Carbon emissions comparison – EV vs petrol car

The above graph shows the key elements when comparing the emissions from a petrol vs an electric vehicle. The light blue is the embodied carbon in the manufacture of the…

Liveable Communities
May 27, 2024

Apartment Retrofit Plans + High Life Expo

LID have been working for over 15 years in the space of delivering ESD and Waste consulting solutions for new developments. We also deliver services to provide action plans to…

Sustainable development
May 22, 2024

Valuing Sustainability benefits in dwellings

Intuitively we all understand the value of sustainability, but it is where sustainability initiatives sit in the priorities of the wider public, and peoples’ immediate decision drivers, that are the…

Energy and Renewables
May 8, 2024

Pumped Hydro in action – Kidston Clean Energy Hub

We have long been a fan of the potential of pumped hydro as a key member of the renewable energy mix. Here’s an update on a pumped hydro scheme in…

Waste minimisation & management
May 7, 2024

Towards zero waste – in an environmentally sensitive location

Congratulations to LID’s Waste Lead Leah Reynolds who has been working with Jaws Architects Tasmania Associate Chris Egan to deliver a tailored Waste Minimisation and Management Plan for this key…

Waste minimisation & management
April 17, 2024

LID’s Waste consulting experience Australia wide – WA

Low Impact Development (LID) have deep waste management and minimisation experience Australia wide. Here’s a sample of our recent waste consulting work in WA: hotels, food and beverage – Brighton…

Waste minimisation & management
April 17, 2024

LID’s Waste consulting experience Australia wide – NSW

Low Impact Development (LID) have deep waste management and minimisation experience Australia wide. Here’s a sample of some of our recent waste consulting work in NSW – generally covering both…

Waste minimisation & management
April 16, 2024

LID’s Waste consulting experience Australia wide – Tasmania

Low Impact Development (LID) have deep waste management and minimisation experience Australia wide. Here’s a sample of our recent waste consulting work in Tasmania: multi-storey mixed use residential, office and…

Carbon positive house Sustainable development
April 2, 2024

Demonstrating a carbon positive house via a LCA

What a fantastic result! We recently completed another Life Cycle Assessment for the sustainability boundary pushing Steffen Welsch Architects where we were able to quantify and demonstrate that the all…

Sustainable development
March 18, 2024

Life Cycle Assessments for Life Cycle Design

LID Consulting recently delivered a dwelling LCAs (Life Cycle Assessment) for leading sustainability focussed architecture firm Steffen Welsch Architects. As always, the process enlightens and changes the focus and elements…

Designing out Crime CPTED Assessments Liveable Communities
March 18, 2024

Designing out Crime (CPTED Assessments)

LID Consulting is utilising the combined skills of its architect and landscape design experienced team members, applying our sustainable communities understanding and liaising with a range of designers and stakeholders…

Uncategorized
March 4, 2024

LID leading the way on Sustainability in Subdivisions

We are very pleased to have delivered in conjunction with Mesh Planning and CASBE, the Draft Sustainable Subdivision Framework Version 2 document to the Municipal Association of Victoria’s (MAV) Council…

Sustainable Builders Yak Podcast Sustainable development
February 29, 2024

Talking circular materials solutions, D&C waste minimisation and sustainability opportunities

LID Principal and co-director Craig Harris is interviewed by Sustainable Builders Alliance / Builders Declare founders Simon Clark and Brian Guinan on their sustainable Builders Yak podcast. Once you get…

Circular materials
February 27, 2024

New reporting standards to push sustainable behaviour – including circularity

New reporting standards for larger Australian businesses will help push sustainable behaviour including embracing low carbon and circular materials use. Highlights from the article follow. Australian businesses are about to…

Environmental Sustainability online tool Sustainable development
February 19, 2024

Georges River Council online ESD Calculator goes live

We are very please to confirm that the online Environmental Sustainability tool developed by Low Impact Development (LID) Consulting with Organica Engineering and the Georges River Council has gone live,…

Liveable Communities
January 29, 2024

Sustainability in subdivisions

A very interesting article here about the critical importance of cooler roads, cool roofs, and more tree planting. Some challenges are also listed. For our part we are intrigued by the…

Circular materialsSustainable development
January 24, 2024

Circular economy low carbon permeable kerbing

Win – win – win – win. Australia’s first permeable, recycled tyre kerbs are being trialed at the Pakenham Level Crossing Removal project in the new East Pakenham Station car…

Energy and RenewablesHealthy indoor environments
December 7, 2023

Why renewable gas is unlikely to be burned in our homes

Our take on clarifying whether we will see 100% renewable gas in our homes… Gas burned in our homes is known as ‘natural’ gas and is a naturally occurring gas….

Circular materials
November 30, 2023

100% recycled crushed concrete rock for pipe bedding

Fantastic to find out today that the contractor undertaking large pipe rectification work in Yarra City Council is leading the way on the circular economy. Chris Coker from Fox Drainage…

Sustainable development
November 27, 2023

Net zero carbon ready apartments

LID Consulting were engaged to provide ESD advice to 82 Westgarth St, a 24 apartment development proposal in Fitzroy, Victoria. The developers aim was to produce the first net zero…

Circular materialsEnergy and RenewablesSustainable development
November 27, 2023

Refurbishing sites to optimise zero carbon potential and more

LID are pleased to be working through the implementation of our ESD recommendations report for the above large state government office and workshops redevelopment. Our ESD report made sensible but…

Circular materialsSustainable development
November 20, 2023

Test your ESD knowledge!

Question – how many clear and implied ESD initiatives can you see in this west elevation image of the fantastic Bellfield Community Hub (recently completed by K20 Architects) that we…

Liveable Communities
November 15, 2023

Off road bicycle paths – providing low carbon transport networks and much more

Awesome best practice urban design by Human Habitats. We love the future proof, low or no ongoing carbon emissions sustainable transport initiatives of off-road bicycle paths along all major roads linking…

Healthy indoor environments
November 15, 2023

Designing for daylight into apartments

Amongst the recommendations we make when asked to help an apartment development maximise daylight is to cantilever rather than recess, and stagger balconies from floor to floor. Another key suggestion…

Energy and Renewables
November 15, 2023

Victorian homes and public buildings requiring a planning permit go all electric

This is massive news for all new homes requiring a planning permit, including new public and social housing delivered by Homes Victoria. From 1 January 2024, planning permits for new…

Circular materials
November 15, 2023

Circular economy fencing

Circular materials in action. Concrete footing free fencing. We are working on a project where we started discussing how to better re-use the end of life components in their same…

Energy and Renewables
November 14, 2023

Gaps undermine your insulation installation

While this roof space picture does not demonstrate an extreme example of the gaping issue with the insulation of many existing roof spaces it does demonstrate the problem. The whole…

Something to Chew on
November 14, 2023

Lunchtime series ESD and Waste workshop – Hansen Partnership

It was fantastic to be invited in by Hansen Partnership for an ESD and Waste discussion. The team at Hansen Partnership were keen to understand better practice ESD and Waste…

Sustainable development
November 14, 2023

Georges River Council ESD Calculator – developed by LID

LID Consulting together with Organica Engineering recently prepared a new ESD assessment framework for new developments in the Georges River Council, NSW. The framework has been turned into a tool…

Sustainable development
November 14, 2023

Sustainably focussed builders

Fantastic to see so many builders embracing sustainability goals. It is the perfect place to start if you are looking for a builder. We are excited to see that there…

Sustainable developmentUncategorized
November 11, 2023

Banyule council ESD compliance inspections

Banyule Council is now undertaking ESD compliance inspections on all completed developments – to ensure ESD commitments approved at planning don’t get dropped out during the construction stage. It is…

Apartment retrofit plan Sustainable development
November 3, 2023

Existing apartments – Plan for getting off gas, going all electric and incorporating solar PV and EV infrastructure

LID have just completed preparing a strategy for two existing 1960s double brick apartment blocks in North Melbourne to get off gas, go all electric, and incorporate solar PV and…

Circular materials
November 3, 2023

Circular economy in the built environment – where to start

If you want to get serious about creating circular materials response this Circular Economy framework by project stage is a good starting point. (The Framework is from “The Circular Economy…

Energy and Renewables
November 3, 2023

Massive clean burning hydrogen gas reserves that could supercharge the move to zero emissions

Hydrogen burns cleanly to produce water, without releasing carbon dioxide as occurs when natural gas (typically methane) is burned. Until recently large reserves of naturally occurring hydrogen were not known…

Circular materials
October 31, 2023

Waste minimisation & management – Battery recycling

As ESD and Waste consultants batteries are a hot topic, where conversations are often charged! According to the Association for the Battery Recycling Industry, of the 264 million hand held…

Sustainable developmentUncategorized
October 27, 2023

Leading tourism developments in sensitive locations

Harmonious Co-existence through Design: As passionate sustainability consultants, LID Consulting are thrilled to spotlight one of the Victorian eco-tourism projects we recently worked on that incorporates significant sustainability in tourism…

Sustainable development
October 27, 2023

Adding balconies to public housing towers – the precedent

Chatting to architect friend Steffen Welsch from Steffen Welsch Architects we both raised the inspiring work of Lacaton and Vassal in France to revitalise housing commission towers, without the huge embodied…

Energy and RenewablesUncategorized
October 27, 2023

Photovoltaic thermal (PVT) hybrid solar collectors – new again!

I have just left the All Energy expo at the MCEC. Lots of PV panels, mounting systems, batteries, inverters and some smart ideas coming to market. One favourite is the…

LID Consulting works Australia Wide Food for thoughtLiveable Communities
March 17, 2020

Making the most of Coronavirus self-isolation time!

While the Coronavirus pandemic is undoubtedly a scary and challenging time for the world community, and particularly those who lose loved ones to the virus, we could prepare for how...
Energy and Renewables
June 5, 2019

Renewables successes and opportunities – that come from strong goal setting. (Simplified!)

Recently through one of our staff members we have become aware of some fantastic websites that share a wealth of information about Australia’s energy market and climate change performance, in…

Liveable Communities
March 15, 2018

Sustainable communities – Mandating Residential Growth Zone percentages

I was watching Four Corners and Q+A Monday night about population growth, the spread of the boundaries of our major cities, the pace of transport and community infrastructure construction, and…

Liveable communities - desirable parks Liveable Communities
November 15, 2017

Liveable communities – Interface Councils Liveability Snapshop indices

As a quick starting point in measuring liveability the following is one set of indices proposed in the Interface Councils Liveability Snapshot 2017 (from Table 2 – page 8). The…

Liveable CommunitiesSustainable development
November 6, 2017

Liveable communities – Growth Area jobs through high density protected crop (glasshouse) farming

We have a growing traffic and long commute time issue throughout our cities including surrounding our new, low density, predominantly residential, subdivisions. A basic contributor is people leaving their local…

Liveable communities - SPI results 2017 world map Liveable Communities
October 27, 2017

Liveable Communities – Social Progress Index

The Social Progress Index is an index that measures the capacity of a society across three broad categories: its capacity to meet the basic human needs of its citizens, to…

Liveable Communities
October 19, 2017

Liveable communities – transport options for the last mile

Transport options for the last mile. See below for the rules applying to different devices. Maybe it would be easier to just set a 10km per hour limit on shared…

Liveable communities Liveable Communities
October 19, 2017

Liveable communities – new growth area subdivisions

A collection of thoughts on the run to contribute to more liveable communities: Melbourne is relatively flat. Our new growth area subdivisions can be like Copenhagen with bikes to get…

Sustainable development
October 6, 2017

UN Sustainable Development Goals directly relevant to Australian communities

In September 2015 the United Nations adopted the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. This agenda delivered 17 Sustainable Development Goals with 169 targets. Below I have listed some SDG targets…

Liveable Communities
July 27, 2017

Density without the pain in new estates

Density is key to sustainable communities (1). However in Australia new home owners still aspire to the ideal of the quarter acre block in the suburbs (or something similar) –…

Liveable Communities
March 20, 2017

Improving new housing estates

With the Victorian government’s announcement of 17 new Precinct Structure Plans (PSPs) and associated new suburbs on the fringes of Melbourne, it appears we are continuing with the low density,…