Episode 10: Can we solve the housing AND climate crisis at the same time with Ammon Beyerle and Jeremy Mansfield OAM

Australia needs 1.2 million new homes by 2029, yet housing stress, rising homelessness and climate risks are intensifying. A typical new home releases around 185 tonnes of CO₂ before anyone moves in, and housing and construction already make up nearly 20% of national emissions.

In this Episode 10, I spoke with Ammon Beyerle, Architect & Director of Here Studio, and Jeremy Mansfield OAM, Board Chair of Green Cross Australia and Founder/Director of Mansfield Advisory Pty Ltd about how adaptive reuse and nature-based urban design can help deliver the homes we need while cutting carbon and building more liveable communities.

A few things from our chat really stayed with me:

• 40% of carbon is locked in existing buildings and we simply can’t afford to demolish them all
• 90% of existing buildings will need redesigning by 2040, not just for carbon but for accessibility and maintenance

• Key worker housing affordability has dropped below 1% in some Australian cities indicating secure job is no longer enough to guarantee a place to live for many
• Nearly every regional town in Australia has an underutilised heritage buildings that could provide housing

Ammon shared his vision to transform 1,000 empty buildings across 1,000 towns in 10 years – not as the full solution, but to instill the culture of "We can’t afford to solve all problems by building everything new but work with what we’ve got".

Jeremy questioned why we don’t have consistent policies across Australia’s 500+ planning schemes that ask: “Do we really need to build new?”

We also talked about:

• How walkable, nature-connected neighbourhoods can reduce emissions and improve wellbeing
• How ecological design, e.g. using trees, green spaces and natural systems, can cool cities and lower embodied carbon
• How lightweight timber extensions can add three or more affordable housing floors without demolition
• The $1.3 billion Household Energy Upgrades Fund and the need to measure what actually requires upgrading
• Why success should be measured beyond carbon – through inclusion, health and resilience

If you care about housing policy, sustainability or urban design, this episode builds on earlier conversations about rooming accommodation, airspace development and modern methods of construction – exploring how innovation and policy can work together to meet housing targets while moving toward net zero.

#SustainableHousing #Nature-basedUrbanDesign #AdaptiveReuse #Decarbonisation #ClimateAction #BuiltEnvironment #NetZero