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The current paper investigates the application of the dual-process (psychological) model of risk perception to the prediction of flood preparedness intentions at the household level in Southeast Queensland (SEQ), Australia. In particular, the paper aims to explore the mechanisms by which cognitive and affective appraisals are related and integrated in risk judgments. Covariance-based Structural equation modelling (SEM) techniques were used for data analysis. The findings indicate that both cognitive and affective appraisals of risk are significant predictors of individuals’ willingness to undertake private precautionary measures against floods. At the end, it was concluded that the dual-process model provides an adequate fit to the data and has potential to inform more tailored approaches to flood preparedness efforts and advance risk communication strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background In Australia, co-benefits have rarely entered policy discourse and have so far failed to gain traction in climate change-related policy debates. This is partly due to the dominant perception about the difficulties associated with identifying, quantifying and incorporating co-benefits into decision-making frameworks. There is also limited understanding on the part of policy-makers about the profound policy implications of a ‘co-benefits approach’ as a paradigm that can address multiple policy goals, including addressing climate change impacts, achieving sustainable development, and enhancing health, wellbeing and liveability. Objectives Our paper addresses this gap by contributing to current understandings of the ‘co-benefits approach’ as a means of integrating climate concerns into local planning and development control in general. At a more specific level, the paper provides an insight into the Australian local government policy context to illustrate how to plan, generate and purposively promote co-benefits in planning urban built environments. Methods A desktop review of NSW councils’ web sites and their climate change-related policies was undertaken. A comprehensive online survey was subsequently conducted to investigate the extent to which councils have adopted a ‘co-benefits approach’ in their low carbon policies. Results Major barriers to integrating co-benefits in the policy process were identified in this research. They include: (i) local government's current practice of single-sectoral policy development; (ii) absence of an integrated and co-ordinated ‘whole-of-government approach’ to address climate change impact; (iii) over-reliance on quantitative decision-support frameworks; and (iv) over-emphasis on short term and readily quantifiable monetary consideration of benefits. Conclusion Local government's over-emphasis on readily quantifiable ‘monetary considerations’ in targeting benefits from climate change policies excludes a wide range of environmental, social and health benefits from incorporation in policy. This limits the achievement of optimal policy outcomes across multiple sectors using a co-benefits approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents preliminary findings of a recent research project on the barriers that lower-income households in four Australian cities – Sydney, Adelaide, Hobart, and Darwin – face in reducing their carbon consumption, and the impact of programs implemented by federal and state governments and support organisations to assist such reductions. Following a brief explanation of the methodology (policy reviews, focus group discussions with lower-income households, and interviews with support service providers and advocacy groups), it outlines issues that underlie the complexity of carbon reduction among lower income households. These include housing quality and tenure; health conditions; and user understanding and perspectives on low carbon living and environmental decision-making. This is followed by a review of the types of carbon reduction programs currently available to households living in different Australian jurisdictions. The paper will then reflect on focus group participants’ views of their access to these programs, their perceived effectiveness in achieving genuine carbon reduction, and how these programs fit in (or not) to the less formal carbon reduction techniques already employed by lower income households. It also highlights the challenges and limitations support service providers and advocacy groups face in connecting lower-income households to carbon reduction programs. It concludes with a discussion of potential policy avenues to address the barriers to low carbon living and ensure the intended outcomes of these carbon reduction programs are met in the longer term for those on lower incomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The recent enhancements of the National Construction Code have reduced the amount of energy required to heat and cool Australian homes. To date, the result of these changes, within Australia's temperate and cool-temperate climates, is generally warmer internal temperatures. However, many of these warmer homes are presenting condensation and mould. This is demonstrating a general non-awareness of vapour pressure management within the Australian design and construction professions. This paper discusses research from the architectural and medical science disciplines. The paper identifies a significant gap in appropriate building regulation and building science knowledge within this field in Australia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports on a project currently underway to investigate how an open exchange standard for modelling information at the scale of an urban precinct can be used to support integrated solutions to achieve low carbon targets in the built environment. The project is part of a major research initiative to deliver on low carbon targets in Australia. The project builds on the concept of BIM to develop an object-oriented approach to modelling the built environment at a broader urban scale, focusing in the first instance on a precinct, being any region within an urban context that can be regarded as an integrated whole for the purposes of planning, design or management. This approach is referred to as precinct information modelling (PIM) and provides a key mechanism to bridge the information modelling gap between building scale (BIM) and the spatial scale. The paper argues the case for such an approach, proposing that the current IFC data model, and recent work that is investigating how that data model can be extended to handle transport infrastructure elements such as roads and bridges, can be adapted with modest extensions to serve this purpose. The paper describes this approach, proposing an initial data model and addressing several key strategies and principles that influence the work (e.g. commonality of concepts to maintain semantic integrity and the use of data dictionaries to define concept hierarchies). The paper offers a review of current approaches, reflects on a couple of trial implementations and provides a discussion of how this work can be carried forward. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper outlines the approach in regenerating an aging city block into a new high performing skyscraper in the Sydney. The project incorporated some of the latest technical innovations in reducing carbon emissions, reducing water consumption and ultimately achieving a 6 Star Green Star commercial office development. The 50 Storey development accommodates 55,963m 2 of commercial office space. The building achieved a World Leadership 6 Star Green Star environmental rating through a number of technical innovations including a high performance curtain wall façade, a hybrid air conditioning system comprising of a combination of low temperature VAV with active perimeter chilled beams, tri-generation, low energy lighting system, and rainwater harvesting. The paper describes the technical innovations and resilient infrastructure that was installed that allowed the building to achieve the low carbon environmental performance. Performance monitoring undertaken demonstrates the building's actual performance. This presentation demonstrates that with a commitment from the developer, design team, and the builder, all future skyscrapers can achieve very high environmentally sustainable performance whilst still providing strong business cases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Current railroads require significant upgrading to meet the challenges of heavier loads at higher speeds. Due to excessive track degradation, the Australian rail industry spends large amounts on frequent track repair and maintenance, as well as ground improvement prior to track construction where soft and saturated subgrade soils pose considerable difficulties in design and construction. Moreover, the degradation of ballast particles under impact loading seriously hampers the safety and efficiency of rail tracks, which leads to speed restrictions and more frequent track upgrading. Hence, there is a need for innovative design solutions that can extend the service life of tracks to cater for faster and heavier train traffic. The use of planar geosynthetics and recycled rubber mats placed at the interface of ballast and subballast layer has proven an effective approach to mitigate ballast degradation and improve track longevity. This paper presents the current state-of-the-art knowledge of rail track geomechanics conducted at the University of Wollongong (UOW) including topics relating to laboratory testing and computational modeling approaches. The load-deformation responses of rubber mat/geogrid-stabilised ballast are studied in the laboratory using a large-scale drop weight impact testing facility, and Track Process Simulation Apparatus (TPSA). Numerical modelling using discrete element methods (DEM) are used to model geogrid-reinforced ballasted tracks, capturing both the discrete nature of ballast subject to various types of loading and boundary conditions. These results provide promising approaches to incorporate into the existing track design routines catering for future high speed and heavy haul trains. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To achieve the energy efficiency standards in the National Construction Code, houses generally need to use insulation and weather sealing. However, if poorly installed this can lead to houses that have lower energy efficiency performance than expected. There has been little data collected on newly built houses to quantify air-tightness and assess the quality of insulation. This paper reports on a study that investigated new house construction around Australia to gain insight into the quality of house construction with regard to air-tightness and quality of insulation. Twenty houses in each capital city, except Darwin, were recruited for the project. The houses in most cities were up to 3 years old and assumed to be at the 6 star NatHERS standard. Blower door testing was carried out on 125 of the volunteer homes and the resulting air changes per hour at 50 Pascals pressure (ACH@50 Pa) for each house was then determined. In addition, an inspection of each house was undertaken by a qualified energy assessor to assess the quality of the insulation installed. A thermal inspection of the walls and ceiling was undertaken as well as a visual inspection of the ceiling insulation (if accessible). Weather sealing around windows and doors was also inspected for any gaps and damage. A broad range of results was achieved and found that well sealed houses are being constructed, but equally poorly performing houses are also still being built. To maximise value for energy in our houses, it is critical that we determine why these differences occur and how we can consistently build well sealed houses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since 2010/2011 changes to the national construction code require newly constructed houses to perform at a minimum Nationwide House Energy Rating Scheme (NatHERS) energy rating of 6 stars (or BASIX equivalent in NSW), which determines the predicted thermal energy a house requires to maintain thermal comfort, given its location. This initiative aims to improve the energy performance of new housing stock in the residential sector, however, many existing houses were built before the introduction of these regulations. These houses account for the vast bulk of the nation's housing stock and are shown by studies to achieve low star ratings and can require significantly higher amounts of thermal energy to maintain occupant thermal comfort. This paper investigates the likely impact of various renovations for six existing houses in South Australia mainly within the Adelaide climate zone representing a range of typical housing stock constructed before the adoption of NatHERS based energy regulations. These houses were built between the 1930's to 1990's, are sited on individual allotments, and are modelled in NatHERS rating software from an existing base case and then for a variety of both minor and more significant building shell and fabric upgrades; extensions to floor areas or major structural modifications are not considered. The costs associated with the upgrades is presented together with the thermal energy improvements, which bring older houses up from star ratings of 1-3 to the current minimum performance of 6, which reduces the demand for and greenhouse gas emissions of heating and cooling devices, for material and labour costs of $15-25k. Further analysis identifies the types of renovations that are the most cost effective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Australian cities are experiencing more heat stress in the 21 st century than ever before. Public life in a majority of Australian cities suffer from heat stress in urban heat islands. This paper presents the concept of spatial heat resilience as the capability of the built environment to support outdoor activities during heat stress conditions. Outdoor activities and urban microclimate parameters were observed in selected public spaces of Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide. Outdoor neutral and critical thermal thresholds are determined. An indexing system to indicate spatial heat resilience is presented. Correlations between spatial heat resilience and urban surface covers, and potential applications in low carbon cities are discussed. Results indicate that outdoor activities decrease after the neutral thermal threshold of 28-32 °C. Critical zero-activity situations can occur in the range of 30-48 °C. Particularly public spaces with more tree canopy and natural landscapes have more resilience to heat stress. Heat mitigation during summer results in increased outdoor living. Heat resilient public spaces can provide high-performance outdoor environments in the context of climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

By 2031 the population of NSW is expected to increase by 2 million. Almost 80% of growth will occur within the Sydney metropolitan area. This will place increased pressure on our transport infrastructure as customer demands for an effective and integrated transport system in and around Sydney grows. The context for our unprecedented program of infrastructure build is clearly set. So too, is the imperative to develop our asset base responsibly to ensure we establish and maintain a legacy network that can serve the City and the State for generations to come - ensuring Sydney continues to be a great place to live, work and do business. The imperative to work smarter, to learn and to harness and deploy the knowledge and experience gained across the globe to our projects and our assets is set. The Asset Standards Authority was created as part of the reform of the metropolitan rail system and has evolved to become a primary assurance vehicle providing technical and governance expertise and advice across Transport for NSW (TfNSW) as well as providing linkages to and access for industry. With a clear focus on ‘whole of life’ multi-mode transport infrastructure, the asset standards authority has led an unprecedented program of engagement centred on competency and capability development across the supply chain. In concert with this, the authority has developed focused relationships with global academia and R&D entities - providing the ‘asset-owners’ perspective and drawing on the considerable intellect that the relationship offers. The paper will describe the early evolution of the ASA's role as an enabler of asset-focused concepts and knowledge, innovation and R&D as part of a broader Industry Engagement task. It will draw on our experiences to date including industry acceptance and readiness and provide insight into our future direction geared towards incorporating the ‘knowledge business’ as BAU. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Along with the recent real estate development in major cities of Australia, sustainable construction is one of the measures being implemented to reduce negative impacts of the construction industry on the environment, society, and economy. However, there is a lack of detailed review of this kind of important studies that is critical to Australian future endeavour. This paper presents a systematic review of a large scale earthwork project and discusses concerns/examples under three dimensions. Firstly the environment aspect, factors including remediation of the various type of contaminated and general waste, management of runoff water, dust control, noise and vibration monitoring are showcased; secondly the society aspect, factors including innovated wheel wash facility, CCTV system, drainage protection, and wildlife protection are mentioned; lastly the economy aspect, factors including integrated weighbridge management system, recycling waste water, recycling rock are demonstrated. The research identifies future opportunities such as the innovation of evaluation system, project design framework, finance analysis model, and potentially integration of sustainable construction practise into Australian code of practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Australia, the road network is extensive and consists chiefly of unbound granular material overlain by a thin layer of asphalt. With trafficking and adverse environmental conditions, roads may become unserviceable quite quickly. So there is a need to re-condition granular roads through in-situ recycling to achieve the sustainability goals of re-use of materials and reduction of greenhouse gases by minimizing transport of materials. Bitumen, in the form of either cold emulsion or foamed bitumen, has been used for this purpose quite successfully, but there exist situations where it is too expensive for the road authority, given the nature of the road, or bitumen may not be suitable if plastic fines exist in the pavement material. Environmental conditions such as poor drainage of primarily flat land may also have local government looking for alternative treatments. Hydrophobic dry powder polymers (DPP) mixed with lime can serve to provide an improved road base quickly at relatively low cost. Unfortunately the literature on polymer additives in aggregates is quite limited and so research has commenced with the aid of local government agencies in Adelaide, South Australia. In this paper a field trial and laboratory investigation are presented on the comparative engineering properties of treated and untreated aggregates from a road trial. Testing has included hydraulic conductivity, large column capillary rise tests and repeated loading triaxial testing. Performance of the road sections will be monitored in the coming years through La Croix Deflectograph testing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Subgrades of expansive nature are one of the main causes of damage to road network in Australia. Consequently, lime stabilization has been widely used to reduce the swell- shrink potential of these types of soils and thus reduce the associated damage. After stabilization and compaction, the subgrade will naturally be exposed to cycles of full swell and or partial shrinkage due to climatic cycles. This paper investigates this behaviour for lime stabilized compacted expansive soil from weathered Quaternary Volcanic geological deposits located in Western Victoria; Australia. These soils were stabilized with varying percentages of hydrated lime (2, 3, 4, 6 and 8 percent) and the swell-shrink paths of both untreated and treated soils were studied. Test specimens were compacted at optimum moisture content and maximum dry density. The samples were subjected to full swell-shrink cycles under a surcharge of 25 kPa to reach structural stabilization and to simulate the impact of climatic wetting and drying cycles. Vertical deformation and swell-shrink cycle relationships for untreated and treated samples were obtained and analyzed. The results of lime stabilization indicate that equilibrium is reached after three cycles for both untreated and treated samples. In addition, results suggest that maximum deformation occurs in the second swelling cycle. Vertical deformation of untreated sample was reduced to a third after adding 2 percent lime and reduced to a sixth after adding 3 percent lime. The gradient of swelling and shrinkage path reduced to about a sixth and third when it is treated with 2 and 3 percent, respectively. The treated samples reached maximum swelling at a higher degree of saturation than the untreated sample. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ballasted railroads form an integral part of the modern transportation infrastructure in Australia. However, they are subjected to large stresses especially on mixed traffic lines, where heavy freight trains are operated. Under such adverse operational conditions, ballast progressively degrades contributing to overall track deformations and frequent maintenance. Maintaining geometry of ballast embankments is necessary to improve safety and efficiency of railway operations. The use of artificial inclusions (geosynthetics and shock mats) as well as recycled (discarded) ballast in track can be economically viable options. In order to gain more insight, the CGRE has conducted extensive field trials on two rail lines in Bulli and Singleton in New South Wales supported by Sydney Trains and Australian Rail Track Corporation, respectively. In these studies, different types of geosynthetics (geogrid, geotextile and geocomposite) and shock mats were installed beneath the ballast layer constructed on varying subgrade conditions. Relative advantages of different geogrids were studied. Traffic induced stresses, ballast breakage, transient and permanent deformations were routinely monitored using precise instrumentation schemes. This paper discusses the details of track construction, instrumentation, monitoring processes and results of these field studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Darwin Harbour, Northern Territory, Australia, is a semi diurnal macro-tidal embayment that is situated in a cyclone prone area. The tidal variations range up to 8 m with a mean tidal range of 3.7 m. The coastal area consists of mangrove fringes, sandy beaches, tidal flats, rocky shore platforms and coastal cliffs. The main morphological changes are movement of the sandbars and erosion of beaches and coastal cliffs. Sea level rise due to climate change and more intense cyclones and storm surges may exacerbate these processes with detrimental impacts on the coast and the adjacent city, particularly when occurring at high tide. To assist with coastal erosion management, a greater understanding of morphological changes is required. A two-dimensional depth averaged finite-element hydrodynamic model (RMA-2), coupled with a sediment transport model (RMA-11) from Resource Modelling Associates, have been used to deduce the sources and spatial patterns of sand erosion and deposition in the harbour. Geochemical analysis is also used to characterize the sand source(s). This paper presents hydrodynamic simulations focusing on culturally and recreationally significant beaches in Fannie Bay. Simulations indicate that the Cullen Bay sandbar is an indirect sand source replenishing Fannie Bay beaches. Respective geochemical results also show similar Rare Earth Element contents of the sand in the area. Considering the fast pace of development in and around Darwin Harbour, this study is essential in providing a fundamental understanding of coastal processes and to assist coastal and shoreline management in a tropical estuary. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper evaluates and compares the system performance of a solar desiccant-evaporative cooling (SDEC) system with a referenced conventional variable air volume (VAV) system for a typical office building in all 8 Australian capital cities. A simulation model of the building is developed using the whole building simulation software EnergyPlus. The performance indicators for the comparison are system coefficient of performance (COP), annual primary energy consumption, annual energy savings, and annual CO 2 emissions reduction. The simulation results show that Darwin has the most apparent advantages for SDEC system applications with an annual energy savings of 557 GJ and CO 2 emission reduction of 121 tonnes. The maximum system COP is 7. For other climate zones such as Canberra, Hobart and Melbourne, the SDEC system is not as energy efficient as the conventional VAV system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Polocrosse is one of a few truly Australian sports that combines elements of polo, lacrosse and netball. It is played on horseback whereby a rider using a racquet with a loose twisted-thread net aims to carry a ball and throw a goal. Since hitting at an opponent's racquet is the only way to dislodge the ball or prevent the opponent from gaining possession of it, accidental facial injuries are possible, thus wearing of faceguards is recommended. While helmets worn in polocrosse require a safety certification, faceguards (as an optional equipment) are neither certified for safety not standardised. This paper represents a first attempt to review the polocrosse faceguard design parameters and to quantify some of the key performance characteristics with respect to the requirements of this sport. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]