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Rather than plunder resources, however, the Romans set about using them wisely. One such resource was the hot springs to feed public baths and underfloor heating.  Back then, the result was a beautiful form of bathing on a chilly winter's day. Nowadays, the result is tourist drawcard in the English county of Somerset known all over the world as a place called Bath. Sitting in a lovely warm bath on a cold winter's day back then, few Roman citizens would have contemplated the idea that the same concept used to heat their baths - a concept now called geothermal energy - would be widely used around the world and would be considered a serious part of a solution to stop the whole world from getting too hot. Today, however, such is the reality. In 2005, according to a GeoHeat Quarterly Bulletin published by Origin Institute of Technology, a total of 73 countries around the world produced a total of 273 petajoules (PJ) of energy using geothermal techniques. With the renewed push to achieve carbon emissions reduction in Australia, some engineers believe geothermal technology should be used more widely here.

With the release of the federal government's newest Urban Policy Forum the green building community will feel a new found sense of confidence in the future plans for urban development in Australia. Planning for a sustainable urban community has come as a priority in the new policy, which has been influenced by a wide range of experts across different industry sectors including Chief Executive of the Green Building Council of Australia (GBCA) Romily Madew. Upon his latest announcement, Minister for Infrastructure and Transport Anthony Albanese has assured the future planning processes will come as a culminated effort between the green building sector, government and the community in what has been labeled as an 'ideas generator'.

The Green Building Council of Australia (GBCA) has been ardently backing a complete retrofit of all 'brown' or sustainably unfit operational buildings in this country. Which is only logical, as these buildings, particularly in the commercial sector, join together to become the largest carbon emitters in Australia. Their move to transform these unfit buildings has received a huge boost recently, with the support of Australand for their Green Star - Performance rating tool. The rating tool will become the backbone of the GBCA's work moving forward, as it will most precisely "help building owners, operators and occupants to measure and monitor the environmental impact of their buildings and take practical action to improve their buildings' performance".

Even with all of the effort going into infrastructure and damming solutions to support flood-ravaged areas of Australia, Queensland and New South Wales continue to battle against water levels that are simply too high. The latest floods up north have been so extreme that some areas still remain completely isolated with more storms and extreme weather conditions to continue. While these areas face the brunt of the flooding in this country, and have a long history of these events, the support, ongoing and present from both government and public entities, means that responsive action has been swift with future irrigation planning in place. However, these freak weather incidents will still occur, and several architectural bodies have called for a push in further resilience planning

It's easy to forget that urban design is not a new concept. Ancient examples of carefully-planned and designed cities exist in Asia, Africa, Europe and the Americas, and are particularly well-known within classical Chinese, Roman and Greek cultures. The pioneer of urban planning, Hippodamus of Miletus, planned ancient cities of Rhodes, Miletus and the harbour-town Piraeus at Athens as early as the fifth century BC.  In England, many ninth century towns were designed on a grid plan, and by the twelfth century, urbanisation was seen as a means of stimulating economic growth and generating revenue throughout Western Europe. One of the earliest international contributions made by Australia to urban planning theory and practice sprang from the international competition held between 1911 and 1912 to design Australia's new federal capital, Canberra.

Due to its incredible benefits, both physical and mental, the connection between interior and exterior architecture has increased in popularity. This is especially relevant in neutral climes, where temperatures tend not to be too extreme, especially in terms of the colder months. Here in Australia, the inside/outside design element is often essential, as our mostly warmer climate allows us to embrace the fact that open-air spaces work best. Landscape architecture plays into this reality, and is now really finding its relevance as we move further into outdoor spaces. One design located in Melbourne is showing the power of landscape architecture in creating community spaces without walls.

In 2008, Marita Cheng identified a problem: too few girls in engineering, the field of her passion. Deciding to do something about it, Cheng and a number of her peers formed Robogirls, a student club which would set up and run LEGO robotics competitions for girls' schools around Melbourne, with teams receiving training and support in the lead up to the completion. What started from there has now grown into an organisation introducing girls to engineering in schools not just across Australia but also in England, Ireland, Holland and New Zealand.  Robogirls' success has now earned Marita the 2012 Young Australian of the Year.

Sustainable architecture and classrooms of the future have finally come together in an Australian green building concept that is out of this world. The latest renderings of what is arguably one of world's most impressive sustainable educational facilities have been released and already they are causing a stir in both architectural and green building fields. Created by architectural firm LAVA, the aptly named 'classroom of the future' is a design concept that sees the creation of a prefabricated, relocatable learning environment, which incorporates innovative and clever design features.

Australian architecture authority Archicentre has sent out a warning to the national architectural community that aging city buildings must be properly maintained in light of a recent, and dangerous, building related incident. The accident occurred when a large slab of marble located on the façade of a commercial skyscraper on Melbourne's Collins Street became unattached and fell causing damage to both the building and side walk area, highlighting the potential threat that these unmaintained buildings hold. Defects that the architecture authority have urged building owners to crack down on include façade staining or discolouration, sealant failures, efflorescence, rising dampness and water penetration, corrosion, buckling or deflection and plaster of tile delamination, says Manager for Archicentre West Australia Maureen Letter.

While feeling safe and secure is a universal need, the strategies through which this need is met have changed over time and across cultures. Recent natural disasters and terror attacks have contributed to a heightened level of interest in how best to protect public buildings and associated structures from natural or man-made events. Within Australia, the National Construction Code (NCC) defines types of building and associated structures, in addition to providing technical advice for their design and construction. The NCC covers such matters as structural integrity, fire resistance, access and egress, services and equipment, and energy efficiency as well as aspects of health and amenities.

Australian architecture has had an impressive start to 2012, already boasting a globally recognised industry award. The architectural firm in question is Australia's own HASSELL who have been ranked as the number one practice in all of Australasia at this year's BD World Architecture survey. Managing Director of the firm Robert Blackhouse indicated that the achievement is a testament to the works, both nationally and internationally, that HASSELL has been producing.

Mildura Solar Power Station is a concentrating photovoltaic (CPV) project being built in Carwrap, south of Mildura in the state of Victoria, Australia. The project will use high performance solar cells used to power satellites. The plant was proposed to have an installed capacity of 100MW initially to reduce the annual greenhouse gas emissions by 396,000t.

BluEntCAD uses Vectorworks software to develop architectural drafting, construction documents and 3D model for architects, designers and residential homebuilders.

At the start of this year, Australia's border authorities announced an ambitious plan to roll out biometric identification across all their international airports by 2020. In a "world first", international travellers entering the country will be processed via a completely unmanned system that uses fingerprints, iris and facial recognition.