Our experience with Buildings Alive has shown that building performance can improve quickly if operators receive the right information at the right time. Now we've got the opportunity to connect with researchers at Lawrence Berkeley Labs and UC Berkeley in the USA to compare notes and see whether these successes can be replicated around the world. Buildings are becoming technologically more complex, and the potential for energy and greenhouse savings are still huge - how much still remains to be shown.

Australia recorded its all-time hottest day on Monday, 7th January (40.33°C average across the continent). In Sydney, a maximum over 41°C yesterday put the buildings to the test. For those using the Buildings Alive platform, the operators' responsive management meant energy peaks were kept under control and on average they performed better than expected for such a sizzling day.

Through the efforts and commitment of their operators, the greenhouse gas emissions from each of the 32 buildings using the Pulse platform reduced by more than 200 tonnes on average during 2012! We look forward to hearing more from you, next year.

Green Buildings Alive is now an integral part of a fully independent venture called ‘Buildings Alive’. We want to work with those who share our vision for the built environment.

The University of Technology Sydney (UTS) Leadership and Change for Energy Efficiency Program is sharing approaches that bring energy efficiency onto the radar for accountancy professionals and students. Guest blogger Patrick Crittenden shares his discoveries and seeks reader views on how accountants approach the efficiency business case.

Here are some hot fashion tips for summer, and for office workers they might make shedding a few kilos so much easier…

In a slick data-sharing exercise, six olympic venues are put under the microscope. Analysis is possible against temperature, opening hours, daylight hours and rainfall.

Sharing recent video of green leasing presentations in Sydney and news from Brisbane where researchers into indoor environments and sustainability are meeting to share the latest developments in their fields.

Around the world, a number of buildings are taking part in the Living Buildings Challenge, a program describing itself as the “most advanced measure of sustainability in the built environment”; where in simplified terms, buildings give back more than they take. The current list of six certified projects includes several education and research facilities, a community centre and a home, with over 140 more projects under development. Could a high rise make this list? Should it? And if it can’t, what does that mean for the Living Building Challenge?

In these two purpose-built rooms all the indoor environmental parameters can be precisely controlled, changed and measured. This guest post by Professor Richard DeDear and Dr Christhina Candido explains how researchers can study how real people respond to a whole range of air-conditioned environments, that may be expensive to specify in a fully-blown commercial development. At Sydney University's new facility, it is possible to find out exactly how people feel, before the design, build and occupation of a new development.