Sustainable user behaviour and environmental performance

Addressing the connected problems of urban growth, climate change, and human resilience, we develop more sustainable techniques for construction and fabrication, map user behaviour to inform domestic energy consumption practices, and investigate the implications of circular economies for the fashion industry supply chain.

News and projects

The Fairwater community showing lake, cafe and dwellings. — Photo: Leena Thomas.

Energy savings from the ground up

Leena Thomas

New research led by UTS demonstrates environmental benefits of geothermal technology and sustainable design.

Men Observing Floodwater, Brisbane Floods 2011. Photo: Adobe Stock.

Beyond sandbagging: what can we learn from all the floods?

Penny Allan, Andrew Toland, Martin Bryant

After heavy rain and repeated floods across Australia’s eastern states over the past three years, it’s worth considering what we have and haven’t learned.

A house in Australia that has been designed to be eco-friendly

Retrofit your home, lower your carbon footprint, save energy

Nimish Biloria

Heating (and cooling) our homes is an energy intensive, expensive affair.

Recycling clothes to meet sustainability goals

Timo Rissanen

Brands are leaning on ‘recycled’ clothes to meet sustainability goals, but why is recycling them further so hard?

Adaptive interventions and sustainable building technologies

Sara Wilkinson

This ARC funded project looks at how to address the carbo effects of our existing building stock, through sustainable adaptation such as living green algae panels for building facades, portable green rooftops, green alternatives to cement-based concrete, and air purification green wall infrastructure.