IF you think the average size of new inner-city apartments has shrunk, you’re right.

And what some are calling a stroke of sustainable genius, others are calling an opportunity to capitalise on supercharged demand by cultures, which have come from environments where relative micro-sized apartments, are the norm.

Australian Institute of Architects president-elect Karl Fender told the AFR two-bedroom apartments of about 50 squares will become the norm.

Until recently – and through building booms in the 1960s, and 2000s - an average one-bedroom apartment would measure between 50 and 60 square metres.

RECEIVER Grant Thornton is hoping to find a development partner to joint venture a $170 million eco village at Foster, on the New South Wales mid-north coast.

Bank of Scotland International has appointed the receiver, after previous joint venture partner Babcock & Brown pulled out.

The eco village was to include 316 houses and apartments, in six five-storey apartment blocks, front The Lakes Way, on Seven Mile Beach.

ENVIRONMENTAL activist Al Gore will launch the Safe Climate Australia initiative in Melbourne next week.

VicSuper chief executive Bob Welsh has invited the former US president candidate to Australia to launch the initiative at a breakfast on Monday.

Mr Welsh is one of the biggest investors in Generation Investmnet Management, a London-based fund manager which Mr Gore chairs.

The Australian Government will today release the final legislation for the expanded Renewable Energy Target (RET) which will allow for the creation of new 'Solar Credits' to replace the existing Solar Homes and Communities Plan (SHCP) from today onwards.

Solar Credits will build on the largest ever investment in solar panels in the nation's history under the Solar Homes and Communities Plan, with more than 80,000 solar systems set to be installed on Australian rooftops since the Rudd Government came to office.

"This Government has overseen more installations of solar systems in 18 months than we saw over the previous eight years, transforming the sector from a cottage industry to part of a productive and growing green-collar workforce," Mr Garrett said.

THE FEDERAL Government has abruptly ended its $8000 rebate for roof-top panels, three weeks before the scheme was to expire.

Environment Minister Peter Garrett said the government has already spent $700 million on the initiative, more than four times the $150 million it indended when it announced the scheme as part of the governemnt's $58 billion second stimulus package earlier this year.

GARDENER turned US-talk show regular Jamie Durie and celebrity chef Tobie Pollock braved a cold Melbourne morning, to launch an “outdoor room”, on a seventh floor balcony of the 271 Collins Street office building, the former headquarters of the National Australia Bank.
 
The Original National Customer Contact Centre was designed by Durie’s PATIO team, and landscape designer Ian Barker and Associates as a space “to encourage creativity and outdoor activity, while providing a place for Origin’s people to relax and interact in an engaging, communal setting.”