Our climate commitment

Monash Art, Design and Architecture (MADA) is committed to making a fundamental and critical contribution to an ethical, equitable, healthy, biodiverse, fair and prosperous future for life on our planet.

We believe that climate aware creative and critical practice contributes to improved planetary health. Framed by Indigenous Ways of Knowing and the UN Sustainable Development Goals, we aim to transform our ways of working and address the climate crisis through cross-disciplinary research and education.

Our Climate Action Taskforce was formed in 2020 and has developed action plans and priorities across the 4 key portfolios of research, education, operations and engagement, with ongoing implementation across each area.

At MADA, we work to imagine and articulate alternative futures and through transdisciplinary research partnerships, collect the most pertinent evidence, technology, behaviours and policy frameworks to help coalesce pathways for transition.

In order to support new, high quality and impactful research in this area, we are pleased to offer funding for one PhD stipend commencing 2022, as well as Climate Action Research Project seed funding designed to incentivise climate focused research across the Faculty.

Learn more

In our premiere issue of R:ADAR - Review: Art, Design and Architecture Research we explore how a number of researchers are confronting our climate emergency. Download the PDF.

Through our climate-related research, we are addressing the climate crisis and driving meaningful change in the areas of decarbonisation, adaptation, transition and re-imagination. Working with diverse communities and cultures, and across constructed and ecological environments, our research helps to propel us all towards greater sustainability, understanding and equity.

Academic research
Graduate research

Mohaimeen Islam

Integrating Computational Design and Digital Fabrication Strategies in Mass Timber Construction (MTC) for Mass Customization in the House Building Industry.

Wendy Christie

Future Housing in Vanuatu: A design framework for contextually appropriate urban housing in Vanuatu

20-Minute Neighbourhoods: Living Locally Research Project

Creating 20-minute resilient neighbourhoods and building community connectedness in Melbourne’s outersuburban growth areas.

Breeze: NSW Pattern Book Design Competition

Australian participation in the 24th Triennale Milano International Exhibition, 2025 Inequalities with the theme Land Use Inequalities curated by Monash Urban Lab and Baracco+Wright Architects

Building productivity – product, process, people

The research explores how the capture, analysis and use of data can contribute to waste reduction, quality assurance, and improvements in efficiency and effectiveness in the building industry.

Characterising Bicycle Types: Towards a taxonomy

This study proposes to differentiate bicycles to provide a clear language for further research. It introduces differentiation by wheel count as a distinguishing variable.

Citarum Action Research Program (CARP)

Creating clean, healthy and productive rivers and communities.

Climate Aware Creative Practices

A nation-wide alliance of creative arts educators, researchers, and practitioners addressing challenges posed by climate change.

Construction Waste Reduction through Prefabrication

This project evaluated the potential waste reduction associated with CLOS’ offsite timber panel manufacturing operation, together with a cost-benefit analysis exploring strategic opportunities for industrialised building in Victoria.

Demystifying volumetric construction: A Study of the bathroom pod

Volumetric construction promises faster builds, better quality, and less waste. However, increased transportation costs, structural redundancies, and higher overhead expenses can negate these benefits, limiting its widespread use.

Development of artificial neural network and automated Life Cycle Assessments for cloud-based residential energy estimations

We are developing an embodied carbon emissions dataset for Australia and New Zealand.

Digital Energy futures

Understanding and forecasting changing digital lifestyle trends and their impact on future household electricity demand, including at peak times.

Environmental credentials for building technology platforms

In partnership with uTecture Australia and Coresteel Buildings, we developed an International Organisation for Standarisation (ISO)-compliant Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) framework.

Environmental decision-support for structures

This project generated a knowledge base to inform the development of decision-support systems, supporting environmentally efficient building design.

From mixed tenure development to mixed tenure neighbourhoods

Demonstrating how mixed tenure dwelling design can enhance outcomes for individuals, neighbours and the community more broadly.

Generative architectural design engine

In this project, we partner with Lendlease Digital Delivery to investigate avenues to integrate these new technologies into a ‘design for construction’ pipeline.

Global Buildings Performance Network (GBPN)

Monash partnering to develop policy strategies for decarbonising the buildings sector in India and Southeast Asia.

Guidelines for implementing Design for Manufacture and Assembly (DfMA) and Lean Construction principles in building projects

This project spearheads research efforts aimed at assessing the contemporary landscape of Lean principles and Design for Manufacture and Assembly (DfMA) knowledge within the construction sector.

Homes NSW MMC Program

This project spearheads research efforts aimed at assessing the contemporary landscape of Lean principles and Design for Manufacture and Assembly (DfMA) knowledge within the construction sector.

Housing Atlas

Australian participation in the 24th Triennale Milano International Exhibition, 2025 Inequalities with the theme Land Use Inequalities curated by Monash Urban Lab and Baracco+Wright Architects

Infill Design

Promoting better quality apartment living in the middle suburbs

Long-span low-carbon floor systems (scoping study)

This project addresses the lack of data-informed product evaluation methods in construction through the benchmarking of nine long-span, low-carbon floor systems, in partnership with the University of Melbourne, Lendlease Digital, and Sumitomo Forestry Australia.

Malvern East apartment development

This project has focused on elevating the application of off-site construction within the building industry.

Milan Triennale 2025

Australian participation in the 24th Triennale Milano International Exhibition, 2025 Inequalities with the theme Land Use Inequalities curated by Monash Urban Lab and Baracco+Wright Architects

Mixed-reality construction demonstration

For this project, Monash University collaborated with Holmesglen Institute, Ynomia, and Fologram to leverage Augmented Reality (AR) technologies to advance the assembly processes of prefabricated components within carpentry and construction sectors.

Net zero precincts: An interdisciplinary approach to decarbonising cities

Helping cities and urban regions reach net zero emissions by taking the precinct as an optimal scale for urban transition.

Net zero precincts: Citizen data commons and technological sovereignty

Engaging users of Net Zero Precincts to have a say on the privacy of their data.

Partnering with Local and Indigenous Knowledge Systems to Improve the Impact of River Management in West Java

Community-led strategies for vibrant and resilient river ecosystems

Process engineering and design and estimating automation of Fleetwood’s product platform

The aim of this project is to leverage existing technologies, like Building Information Modelling (BIM) and computational design tools, along with state of the art machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI) techniques, to digitalise and optimise design and estimating workflows, increasing accuracy and efficiency in the production of documentation for tender and fabrication.

Revitalising Informal Settlements and their Environments (RISE)

Improving sanitation, mitigating flooding, and improving dwelling and open space provision for informal settlements.

Solar Bike Project

Designing the world’s fastest solar bicycle – running purely on sunshine.

Study: the new bicycles

Field work in the Mobility Design Lab has revealed that there are bicycle types not represented in AS2890.3. This document provides information about these new vehicles.

The National Centre for Healthy Aging (NCHA) Independent Living Lab

This Living Lab aims to support research and related activities to deliver the NCHA vision and aims, by providing a simulated home environment for multidisciplinary research, testing and demonstration of integrated spatial, assistive technology, and care models for healthy living and ageing.

Victorian Government Digital Build – translating theory into practice

This cross-sector collaboration aimed to bridge the gap between theory and practice, facilitating an increased adoption of digitally integrated building and offsite construction in Victoria.