Highly respected Australian residential architect Stephanie Skyring interviews industry experts to share the latest environmentally sustainable home design ideas, products and materials.
Each podcast season demystifies a specific topic. Episodes are released weekly on Tuesdays.
Australian Architects can claim their formal CPD hours for listening to the podcasts and completing an online quiz. Find out more at www.renovationcollaborative.com.au
Get Started: Climate Action in the built environment across Australia
Across Australia numerous groups are taking meaningful climate action and working hard to develop inspiring solutions.
Today, I speak with representatives from five different organisations from the built environment to find out what’s happening. These groups tackle climate change from various angles, employing different structures and methods. They include formal committees, research groups, informal support and information sharing, and grass roots action.
Today we’ll hear from:
1. The Australian Institute of Architects, Climate Action and Sustainability Committee – Andrew Noonan
2. The Retrofit Lab, from the University of Melbourne – Professor Sarah Bell
3. Australian Architects Declare – Steffen Welsch
4. Parlour Regenerative Designers Annexe – Anna Lindstad
5. Architects Climate Action Network, Australia – Lucy Humphrey
Most of the groups I speak with today welcome all built environment professionals. And most importantly, they all provide free environmental information on their websites.
Australian Architects can claim formal CPD (https://renovationcollaborative.com.au/continuing-professional-development/) hours the time they spend listening to the podcasts.
MORE INFORMATION
Find everything you need on the Renovation Collaborative website.
www.renovationcollaborative.com.au (http://www.renovationcollaborative.com.au/)
PODCAST (https://renovationcollaborative.com.au/podcast/)Key points summary, timestamps and resource links
FREERESOURCES (https://renovationcollaborative.com.au/free-resources/)Transcript edited into clear Q&A.
CPD (https://renovationcollaborative.com.au/continuing-professional-development/)Australian architects can find more information on CPD, and
COURSES (https://renovationcollaborative.com.au/courses/)Eleven easy to read courses demystifying the entire home design and construction process.
INTERVIEW QUESTIONS
[00:00:00] Introduction
[00:01:43] AIA – Climate Action & Sustainability Committee – Andrew Noonan
[00:02:19] What are the primary functions of the committee at State & National level?
[00:05:24] What projects are you working on at the moment?
[00:07:08] Can you tell us about the Embodied Carbon Curriculum?
[00:09:43] How can architects get involved?
[00:11:27] The Retrofit Lab, The University of Melbourne – Professor Sarah Bell
[00:12:08] How did the Retrofit Lab get started?
[00:14:13] Can you tell us about the Retrofit Lab and the work you do?
[00:20:18] Tell us about your project investigating digital info for retrofit decisions?
[00:23:53] Tell us about about your Climate Safe Rooms project?
[00:26:42] How can we get involved and find out more?
[00:28:29] Australian Architects Declare – Steffen Welsch
[00:29:29] How did Architects Declare get started in Australia?
[00:31:06] What are your primary aims?
[00:31:44] How is it run?
[00:33:49] How can architects get involved?
[00:35:17] What campaigns are you working on?
[00:39:35]...
10 Nov 2025
Get Started: Reducing Embodied Carbon – Lucy Humphrey, Studio Ecology
Reducing embodied carbon in all new buildings and renovations is fast becoming a global priority, and in Australia new regulations are on the horizon.
In today's episode, we move on to our final theme - Getting Started - and the first of two episodes to conclude the season.
I talk with environmental architect, artist and well known Australian climate advocate Lucy Humphrey. Lucy is a director of the climate active architecture practice Studio Ecology, she teaches at the School of Architecture at the University of Sydney and the Sydney University of Technology and was a co-founder of the Australian branch of ACAN.
Today, Lucy gives us a powerful wake up call about the current state of our planet. And she shares strategies to help us decarbonise our designs and meet our global targets, so together we can bring about change.
We'll learn about:
What's really happening to the planet and why change is urgent,
The validity of climate emotions
About Life cycle carbon assessments and practical strategies to reduce embodied carbon.
What's happening to the construction industry in Denmark where construction carbon caps are now mandatory, and also
The critical importance wholistic design thinking
Australian Architects can claim formal CPD (https://renovationcollaborative.com.au/continuing-professional-development/) hours the time they spend listening to the podcasts.
MORE INFORMATION
Find everything you need on the Renovation Collaborative website.
www.renovationcollaborative.com.au (http://www.renovationcollaborative.com.au/)
PODCAST (https://renovationcollaborative.com.au/podcast/)Key points summary, timestamps and resource links
FREERESOURCES (https://renovationcollaborative.com.au/free-resources/)Transcript edited into clear Q&A.
CPD (https://renovationcollaborative.com.au/continuing-professional-development/)Australian architects can find more information on CPD, and
COURSES (https://renovationcollaborative.com.au/courses/)Eleven easy to read courses demystifying the entire home design and construction process.
KEY POINTS SUMMARY
[01:08:57] Stephanie:
Today's summary only scratches the surface, and I found it very challenging to narrow down six key points. Lucy’s knowledge and passion are both inspiring and empowering so I recommend listening to the episode or reading the transcript.
1. Climate emotions are valid and can include heavy feelings such as anger, isolation, grief and guilt. It's completely acceptable and healthy to take a step back and say, ‘No, I'm not engaging with this today.’ As an industry, we need to foster open conversations about this to enable everyone to embrace change.
2. Enable clients to make informed decisions about their home designs by sharing embodied carbon information and letting them decide.
The best time to start talking about reducing embodied carbon is in the concept design stage at the very beginning of the project. This is when we have the most power to reduce carbon and all environmental impacts, because we can choose not to build, to reduce the size, we set the direction for the structural system and the form.
Present...
3 Nov 2025
Water & Ecosystems: Delight in your environment – Tim Bennetton, Tim Bennetton Architects
Careful consideration of water is now a critical part of design as we confront increasing floods and droughts due to climate change.
In today's episode, we move on to our next sustainable design theme - Water and Ecosystems.
We'll investigate the design of a small extension to an old timber home located in suburban subtropical Brisbane. This project has a very challenging site with overland flow and stormwater flooding issues. I talk with architect Tim Bennetton, the director of Tim Bennetton Architects, who will share the inside story on his Yeronga House project.
Tim has successfully transformed this problem site into a valuable asset that not only brings joy to the homeowners, but also provides much needed habitat for local flora and fauna.
Today we'll learn about:
The importance of retaining stormwater and rainwater on site and appreciating water as a very valuable resource.
Ideas that improve the resilience of cities to heavy rainfall and flooding, while also improving water quality and biodiversity, and
We'll also cover a wealth of other insights from Tim's years of experience.
Australian Architects can claim formal CPD (https://renovationcollaborative.com.au/continuing-professional-development/) hours the time they spend listening to the podcasts.
MORE INFORMATION
Find everything you need on the Renovation Collaborative website.
www.renovationcollaborative.com.au (http://www.renovationcollaborative.com.au/)
PODCAST (https://renovationcollaborative.com.au/podcast/)Key points summary, timestamps and resource links
FREE RESOURCES (https://renovationcollaborative.com.au/free-resources/)Transcript edited into clear Q&A.
CPD (https://renovationcollaborative.com.au/continuing-professional-development/)Australian architects can find more information on CPD, and
COURSES (https://renovationcollaborative.com.au/courses/)Eleven easy to read courses demystifying the entire home design and construction process.
KEY POINTS SUMMARY
1. This site was affected by overland flow or water that runs or ponds on the site after rainfall. Overland flow may occur before the stormwater enters a creek, or when the stormwater leaves the creek as floodwater, or in some cases when stormwater rises to the surface naturally from underground. Overland flow typically occurs in natural low lying drainage paths. And as we discover today with good design, overland flow can become a positive asset because water is a valuable resource, particularly into the future as droughts increase.
2. Urban development in low lying stormwater flow channels leads to multiple problems such as:
Increased flood levels, meaning that buildings take up space causing water to pile up, increasing flood depth and velocity,
Reduction of natural absorption processes, meaning that a natural soft landscape of grasses, trees and other vegetation absorbs water and slows its movement, whereas hard surfaces and buildings prevent this from occurring, and
Increased impervious surfaces, meaning that urban built surfaces like concrete, asphalt and roofs cause rapid and increased runoff. When it reaches the local waterways. The additional fast forward moving water causes erosion of banks and destruction of waterway ecosystems.
3. Sponge cities are urban areas designed to absorb,...
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