Participate in research on apartment building retrofits
Has your owners corporation made sustainability upgrades to your apartment building?
Has your owners corporation managed a building retrofit?
This research through the University of Melbourne is looking for apartment owners to share their stories of making their building more sustainable.
The research is aiming to uncover how more apartment buildings could be adapted by owners to make them more liveable and sustainable.
The project is seeking examples of any kind of sustainability upgrade made by owners at a whole building level. For example, this could include:
installing solar panels or electric vehicle charging
converting from gas to electric bulk hot water
adding more insulation or double glazing windows
greening the building through composting or shared vegetable gardens
or any other change to make living in an apartment building more sustainable.
What is the research?
This research is a PhD project on ‘Unlocking the sustainability retrofit potential of apartment buildings’. It is being conducted by a student at the Melbourne Centre for Cities.
Why is this research looking at apartment retrofits?
Cities are full of apartment buildings that are structurally sound but lacking energy efficiency or design features to make living there comfortable all year round. Most advice on making sustainability updates is targeted to houses, as are most of the government subsidies and rebates aimed at encouraging owners to reduce their carbon footprint. As a result, the potential for multiple households to benefit from a single retrofit project is being missed.
Who is doing the research?
The researcher is Denise Ryan, a student at the Melbourne Centre for Cities. The project is being supervised by Prof Sarah Bell and Dr Kirsten Day.
How can I get more information?
If you would like more information about the project, please contact the researcher: Denise Ryan by email Denise.Ryan@student.unimelb.edu.au.
