The construction industry represents one of the greatest contributors to atmospheric emissions of CO₂ and anthropogenic climate change, largely resulting from the production of commonly used building materials such as steel and concrete. It is well understood that the extraction and manufacture of these products generates significant volumes of greenhouse gases and, therefore, this industry represents an important target for reducing emissions. One possibility is to replace emissions-intensive, non-renewable materials with more environmentally friendly alternatives that minimise resource depletion and lower emissions. Although timber has not been widely used in mid- to high-rise buildings since the industrial revolution, recent advances in manufacturing have reintroduced wood as a viable product for larger and more complex structures. One of the main advantages of the resurgence of wood is its environmental performance; however, there is still uncertainty about how mass timber works and its suitability relative to key performance criteria for construction material selection. Consequently, the aim of this study is to help guide decision making in the construction sector by providing a comprehensive review of the research on mass timber. Key performance criteria for mass timber are reviewed, using existing literature, and compared with those for typical concrete construction. The review concludes that mass timber is superior to concrete and steel when taking into consideration all performance factors, and posits that the construction industry should, where appropriate, transition to mass timber as the low-carbon, high performance building material of the future.

The manufacturing and construction industries have always been large contributors to global CO₂ emissions, largely as a consequence of material choices. Two of the most commonly used building materials are concrete and steel, but both of these industries have been identified as large sources of atmospheric CO₂. Therefore, reducing the use of these materials and finding alternatives to them that meet the engineering requirements of a design, while also minimizing emissions, is becoming increasingly important. Stone in its natural form is a zero-carbon emission material and has strong physical properties that make it a viable substitute for concrete and steel, across a range of applications. Yet research into the potential use of stone by the construction industry remains rare. The aim of this research is to investigate whether the use of stone as a building product is a feasible alternative in terms of carbon emissions. This study compares data from 11 Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) that provide Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) assessments of their considered product (i.e., types of dimensional stone, concrete, or steel). However, this research also highlights some shortcomings in the EPDs that point to a need for greater legitimate engagement with this tool, and for more consistency between the data being presented in EPDs. Global Warming Potential (GWP) data are compared between products to determine the difference in carbon emissions. The results indicate that GWP values for dimensional structural stone (135 kg.CO₂/m³) are 45–75% lower than the concrete products considered in this investigation (246–514 kg.CO₂/m³), and over 99% lower than certain steel products (22,294–29,202 kg.CO₂/m³). This research indicates that stone is demonstrably better in terms of its GWP, and that a more extensive use of structural stone represents a key opportunity for the construction industry to reduce its CO₂ emissions.

Improvements in plastic recycling technology along with pressure to reduce emissions and waste has led to a desire to find environmentally friendly, cost competitive railway sleepers. This study conducts life cycle analyses of emissions and costs for timber, concrete, short fibre and long fibre composite railway sleepers to determine which sleepers are more environmentally friendly and cost competitive. The results clearly highlight the environmental advantages of short fibre plastic composites. The basic scenario had concrete sleepers being the most cost competitive, before factoring in the recyclability and likely future cost reductions of short fibre composite sleepers. With as little as 50% of the entirely recyclable short fibre sleepers being recycled their cost quickly becomes comparable to concrete sleepers. Further, there are several likely changes in the future that will make short fibre sleepers even more cost competitive. The short fibre industry is still growing and could substantially reduce costs through the effects of economies of scale and experience curves of production. A further driver of future cost competitiveness would be the broader use of an Australian or international carbon price, where concrete sleepers have a disadvantage. Together, these changes indicate that short fibre composites have great potential financially and environmentally.

The building and construction industry is one of the largest greenhouse gas producers, accounting for 39% of global emissions, most of these coming from concrete and steel. Mass timber construction (MTC) potentially offers a sustainable alternative to these traditional building materials. However, more research is needed to establish the sustainability credentials of MTC relative to traditional concrete and steel structures, especially for mid-rise structures. The aim of this study is to evaluate the environmental and cost performance of mid-rise mass timber buildings by conducting a life cycle assessment (LCA). The LCA uses a cradle-to-cradle approach, considering the global warming potential (GWP), freshwater use (FW), and total use of non-renewable primary energy resources (PENRT). Results indicated that mid-rise mass timber buildings have significantly lower impacts than concrete buildings, with their GWP approximately 30 times lower, FW about 20 times lower, and PENRT reaching a negative value. Additionally, the cost analysis revealed that MTC buildings can be cheaper to build and thus possibly more profitable than concrete buildings. These findings establish mass timber as a viable and sustainable option for the future of Australia’s construction industry.

Floodplain soils are subject to quasi-periodic flood disturbances. This flooding serves to enrich floodplain soils, increasing their fertility and often making them ideal locations for agriculture. However, what is less well understood is how the frequency of flooding impacts on soil fertility and the diversity of soil character. This study investigates how flood frequency influences the heterogeneity (assessed using 26 physical and geochemical soil properties) of floodplain soils in a semi-arid floodplain wetland system in New South Wales, Australia. The study includes an investigation of soil properties across four flood frequency (or disturbance frequency) categories ranging from frequent through to infrequent flood disturbance. Thirty samples were collected from each zone and the physical and geochemical soil data were analyzed using a suite of univariate and multivariate statistical tests. The results show that sites subject to an intermediate level of flood disturbance have a greater level of diversity in soil properties than those sites subject to frequent flood disturbances. These results reflect those of the Intermediate Disturbance Hypothesis, an ecological theory that posits the highest biological diversity will also be found in intermediately disturbed environments and suggests that there might be physical habitat drivers of biological diversity in intermediately disturbed floodplains.

With the ever-increasing threat of climate change and global warming, ways to make energy intensive buildings, such as cold storage warehouses essential for food preservation, more sustainable need to be found. Some refrigerated warehouse owners may be unaware or unsure of the benefits obtainable from implementing sustainable practices and technologies. To search for innovations that could inform the owners and managers of cold storage warehouses about how to enhance their sustainability, convergent interviewing of subject matter experts was conducted. The resulting practices and processes were organized into a hierarchy that ranged from essential to best practices that can be implemented to improve the sustainability of refrigerated warehouses. Examples of these practices and technologies include ideal refrigeration systems, racking methods, and insulation types. To encourage the use of sustainable practices and technologies, more reporting on successful or unsuccessful applications of practices and technologies needs to be communicated. Applying change diagnostic tools such as convergent interviewing enables a practical and industry focused set of outcomes to be determined that can help drive change towards more sustainable cold storage warehouses in Australia.