The appointment of Lend Lease Australia CEO Rod Leaver as chairman of the National Business Leaders Forum on Sustainable Development could be the game changer that the current policy debate needs.

Leaver is determined to revitalise the NBLF committee groups and introduce what he describes as some “heavy hitters” – CEOs from Australia’s leading industrial groups – to call on the government, whichever political flavour it might turn out to be, to act soon on climate change.

Leaver told Climate Spectator in an interview on Wednesday that advocating a carbon price would be his first and bigwillgest priority. “We need to take a pragmatic approach and develop a visionary leadership group that can come up with solutions,” he said. “This forum can set the agenda for how a carbon pricing mechanism may work, and come up with a fair and equitable approach which achieves a leadership position for Australia.”

The number of companies and business leaders calling for a carbon price in Australia has intensified recently, with most being deeply frustrated that they had to put investment decisions on hold because of constant political delays on introducing a carbon price. Read the whole story >>>

Daniel Grollo

By Tina Perinotto

2 September 2010 - Daniel Grollo is only a few minutes late for our interview. But then that’s to be expected. These days he sandwiches his time between his new home base in New York with his wife Kat and two children, and running Grocon, the huge private development business that has built and developed some of Australia’s biggest towers.

Not to mention roles on the boards of the Green Building Council of Australia and Bluescope Steel and as president of the Property Council of Australia.

On the day of our interview he’s been delayed at Macquarie Bank headquarters in Sydney. No hints can be prised from him on what the deal is about. It may involve one or two “secondary projects”, he says he is contemplating in the United States, while he and Kat continue to live in New York (he’s not sure for how long) or the major projects along Australia’s east coast, or even the consulting work Grocon is doing in the Middle East.

What Grollo is happy to point to though, is that there is imminent “big news” on sustainability in the wings. And yes, it could be the next Pixel, Grocon’s 1000 square metre carbon-neutral, “laboratory” office building in Melbourne that pushes all the boundaries and shows clients what they can aspire to for their new headquarters in five or 10 years’ time.

Grollo has a lot of pressure to keep the surprises coming these days. But happily, it seems, especially in the case of Pixel.

“We think the market moves so quickly that, in five years’ time, Pixel will be outdated and we’ll be onto the next generation. We’ll have to be pushing the boundaries again. That’s what it’s all about.”

For instance, some of the innovative technology of 18 months ago, such as LED lights, is already mainstream.

“People are doing it because it makes common sense and saves them money,” says Grollo.

“But it uses less energy so it uses less carbon. It’s not that hard. You’ve just got to change your mindset in how you think about things and you can achieve astronomical things. And I think that’s the really exciting thing about Pixel for me.

“Can you multiply it out on a building 10, 20, 30 times bigger? Yes. Is there a cost imperative? There is a cost implication, but my argument is that cost implication is only at a point in time, it actually reduces over time. ”

Drivers
At the corporate level the drivers are increasing, he says. And it shows in the “hordes of people” coming through to look at Pixel.

“Legislation, public expectation, regulation is moving so quickly that they need to be ahead of the curve.”
Grollo likes to use the example of the AXA building in Melbourne  that Grocon developed. It was contracted to four-star Green Star but his team took it to five stars instead.

“In the period of the gestation, the three-year construction period, the Victorian government came out and made a policy that said they will not move any new occupancy into anything less than a five-star Green Star. So, had we not been innovative, we would’ve been out of date in the construction period.
Around the country, says Grollo, governments are basically saying, “If it’s not five-star Green Star, they’re not moving in.”

And it’s across the board.

“All the PPPs [public private partnerships] across the country are having to get six-star Green Stars. All the private-sector new commercial office buildings are all six-star Green Star.

“It’s not a Grocon thing, it’s across the sector.” Most of the new buildings are six star.
“So we are responding as an industry.”

The excitement about Pixel, he says, is that “it turns back the clock”.

“Theoretically it doesn’t need connection to mains water; theoretically it doesn’t need connection to mains power.”

In fact it creates surplus energy that is put into the grid.

There’s a boom coming
The drivers for change will reach into Australia’s prolific stock of old buildings, the “80 per cent of buildings, B and C class buildings” that have a “massive refurbishment program to undertake”, says Grollo.

Although the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme did not get up, he points out that large corporates nevertheless need to report on their carbon footprints.

“For many of them, whether it’s telecommunication companies or banks, they can only look at their property assets and say: ‘How can we make our carbon footprint more efficient?’

“So you tell me, when you put that together, what’s going to happen to the property industry? There’s going to be some significant changes, some significant innovation. I think it’s an exciting time, quite frankly.”

Grollo admits the need to retrofit and go clean and green affects upper-end assets as well, such as Grocon’s Eureka Tower in Melbourne, with its floor-to-ceiling glass facades so typical of modern buildings, and which add significant head load.

Grollo is unfazed and includes this challenge in his horizon.

“There’s a lot you can do with it. It’ll involve retro-fitting. Eureka did the best it could in terms of the technology at the time, but there’s no doubt there’s a retro fit with Eureka, as there is with all buildings.

“And we may have some practical examples to show soon.”

The news is still under wraps, but Grollo hints at the huge potential of renewable energy, demonstrated by Pixel, and at the power of changing the facades, with the addition of screens for instance, to dramatically reduce head loads.

“I think we’ll get smarter about how we deal with building facades in the future,” Grollo says. “It’s not a hard thing to overcome. I think you’re going to see some innovation coming. ”

“At its worst, there is huge contingent liability in our old stock. At its best, there’s a massive opportunity to reposition all our old buildings into more sustainable buildings and create a huge amount of value. So it’ll be a question of whether people take it as a negative or a positive. But I think there’s a whole positive story there.”

In the US, he says, the Department of Energy has a program to create a register of the world’s most energy-efficient buildings.

“They’re working off a philosophy that says: ‘If you can save energy, you solve the biggest part of the carbon debate.’ They are very excited about Pixel. So when you get to retro-fitting, the big one, the big bang for your buck is renewable energy.”

Regulation
At what point does Grollo think the voluntary market-led move to greater sustainability and the mandatory disclosure of energy use now in play give way to, say, mandatory minimum performance?

Predictably, he’s not keen on mandatory performance.

“Personally, I’m not sure you need to get to minimum performance. And this is an optimist’s view. If I look at the success of the Green Building Council, we struggled with this question around the Green Building Council: How will we get anyone to go to four-star Green Star? Through the pursuit of excellence and through trying to market themselves and achieve excellence in new buildings, the market went to six-star Green Star.”

But surely new sustainable buildings are only a fraction of overall stock. Do we have time to wait for voluntary transformation, given the scientific projects of global warming?

“Have we got time is a good question. I think we have.

“If we really think we don’t have time – and you won’t like this answer – but if you really wanted to tackle carbon tomorrow, you’d close the coal power stations and replace them with nuclear.”

In Grollo’s opinion, the waste issue in uranium might well be solved by taxing uranium and using the proceeds to fund CSIRO research into the problem.

“We’ve just never invested in the science. So that if Australia was really, truly serious about saying, ‘What can we do to the carbon footprint of the globe?’ you stop coal and you go to uranium.”

In Grollo’s view, this issue points straight to Australia’s greatest potential contribution to climate change action: not so much an effective reduction of carbon but a massive leap in technology and intellectual property.

“Australia can’t effectively change the globe’s carbon footprint because ours is insignificant to the rest of the world’s. But we’re a very smart country. What we can do is tackle these challenges with science, with our education system, the smartest people, and share those ideas with the rest of the world.”

For instance, at Bligh Street the company has come up with a more sustainable concrete mix that critically, also “goes off” faster than its comparable mixes. At Pixel, says Grollo, RMIT has verified a concrete that has 60 per cent less embodied carbon than normal concrete.

“Think about that. That’s a big reduction. If you think about the concrete production around the world, it’s massive.”

In terms of buildings too, Grollo says Australia is leading the world with “a suite of the best.” In particular he nominates the ANZ Bank building at Melbourne Docklands, CH2 in Melbourne, 1 Bligh Street in Sydney and the Energex building.

“There’s all these six-star buildings, just incredible achievements.

“In my mind, Australia’s doing as much as anywhere in the world. But I have no doubt, as you look at countries like the Middle East and China, they are going to quickly learn and push the boundaries on us.”
Politics and leadership - Melbourne has it

Through his work on industry bodies such as the Green Building Council and the Property Council, which he has also been strongly involved in, Grollo senses a huge demand for more efficient planning as a priority. The industry, he says, “wants to get on with the job.”

But the politics of development is “very hard,” and in some quarters it is biting badly.

Anti-development sentiment is burgeoning, and in Sydney in particular the anti-growth, anti-development sentiment is dangerous.

Melbourne stands out among its city peers, says Grollo, because of its leaders.

“I think Melbourne’s a really good place because it’s got some good leaders at a couple of levels. It started with [former premier Jeff] Kennett; I think [previous premier Steve] Bracks was a very good leader.

“And I think that in [the city] council we’ve got some very good leaders, particularly Rob Adams who’s one of the best city planners in Australia, if not the best. And he’s been there for a long time; we’ve benefited from his leadership. We’ve benefited from even the current government, you know, John Brumby’s a good leader. Whether he’s popular is another story, but they are giving the state some good direction. So we’re benefiting from generally good leadership. ”

“But that can swing on a dime. You can change that momentum very quickly. So I think that’s Melbourne’s story: all it needs is your people in power to change their style from one of leadership to one of popularism.”

Sydney doesn’t
In Sydney, Bob Carr famously said to shut the gates, that Sydney was full.

Not a good idea in Grollo’s view.

“I think that’s a really dangerous things for politicians to be saying because it’s a lag effect. Because once you begin to send that perception out, you don’t feel the real pain of that for three or four years, but when it hits, it’s very hard to turn back the cycle. And I think New South Wales suffers from that agenda, and Sydney particularly.”

Daniel Grollo: The environmental movement has great traction around the world

But there are swings and roundabouts.
“I do remember in the early ’90s when it was reversed. I do remember when Melbourne was not the place to be … when everyone was coming to Sydney.

“So I’m a believer that actually there’s a lot of opportunity in Sydney, and that at some point Sydney is going to do some wonderful things. There’s a lot of cyclicalness in this. And I think Sydney’s a fabulous city that’ll come back.”

First though, it will need to resolve its global city status. For this you need a “big CBD, you’ve got to encourage density, you’ve got to encourage size – and this is something not supported by the city council, no doubt because this is the popular view, he says.

“The concept that you’re going to be truly an international city and somehow you’re not going to encourage big-city policy, I don’t follow that logic.”

In some ways, he thinks it’s a shame that Frank Sartor, a former Sydney lord mayor and former planning minister, does not have a greater role. Grollo and he “clashed a lot”, but the point was that Sartor was passionate about Sydney.

“He was a leader with a vision, you know, and he was going to make things happen.

“If I think back to the Sydney Olympics and Sydney’s heyday, and when it was a really important city on the world stage, and really going places and leading Australia – that’s the kind of leadership it had. It had very strong, powerful leadership. And you don’t need to necessarily love strong leadership. I understand that not every decision that gets made, you’re going to love. ”

Development – it’s not happening
For great cities, though, the corollary of a big CBD and inner centre is that you need to limit urban sprawl, Grollo says.

“I personally believe in big cities. It’s a good thing from a density point of view, from an efficient use of infrastructure, social infrastructure … high density around the transport nodes.”
But while it sounds good, it’s simply not happening Grollo says.

“I know it’s basically policy everywhere, but we don’t have the courage to lead that at a local level. So when you get into councils, they don’t want to have high density around train stations. No one wants it. Everyone understands the rationale for it but no one wants it to happen next door to them. So it is a complex issue.”

On the other hand, he sees the difficulty of new land release is “really biting” the development industry.

Population is not a good debate
On a broad level, Grollo is dismayed by the debate on population growth.

“I don’t like the debate on population. I think it’s very political and it really is short term and simple. The reality is Australia will have a growing population. From a financial perspective we need to have a growing population. I think also it’s extremely naïve.”

You only need to look at where Australia sits in a global perspective to understand the reality.

“I looked recently at a map of the world that depicted where the world’s population is by red dots. And the density of population around the northern rim of Australia … is extremely dense right around us. For us to expect that somehow we’re going to stay as sparse as we are … is naïve. I mean it cannot happen. And quite frankly, at some point, if we want to remain naïve for the next 20 or 30 years, it’ll become a security risk for us. ”

Grollo’s grandfather came to Australia from Italy in 1927, at a time when the population of Australia was about 3.5 million people. “Now, he was a migrant, and there was Chinese migration before that as part of the gold rush. How many of us think that we are actually in a position to say, ‘Well, Australia should take no more migrants?’ I reckon by and large we’re all bloody migrants anyhow.

“And who are we to say you can’t have migration? I find it quite disturbing and quite naïve, and quite populist. It disappoints me.”

Grollo is also uncomfortable that, in New York as in other countries he visits, the dominant theme in connection with Australia is “boat people”.

“For that to be our external communication to the world I think is a very unfortunate thing.”

Greenie

What about Grollo’s self-proclaimed “greenie” tag?

“I say that lightly. To me it just makes a lot of sense, and I think it does to most people.

“Every generation should hand over an environment no worse off than they inherited. Now, every generation preceding us has not done that. It’s the right thing to do. I think the whole environmental movement has got such great traction around the world because it breaks down to a principle that simple.

“It’s got a lot of passion with the mums and dads around the world. So I’m not talking about in Australia, but I’m talking about around the world. And so for that reason I think that you will find it’s a popular view, and in this instance I think popularity is a good thing.”

Grollo says you might point to the fires and Moscow’s recent heat wave and the floods in Pakistan, and have a debate about their causes. But regardless of your answer, he says, it’s fairly clear we can’t keep polluting the air and “just keep pumping sewerage into the oceans … creating more and more waste and more and more landfill, and burning fossil fuels forever.

“There is that technical limit to that, and we need to challenge ourselves in different ways.”

For Grollo, and his company it seems, that’s the only limit he’s taking notice of.

The Fifth Estate - sustainable property news

“We can’t wait for the future”

Bjorn Lomborg

From The Guardian - 2 September 2010 - The world’s most high-profile climate change sceptic is to declare that global warming is “undoubtedly one of the chief concerns facing the world today” and “a challenge humanity must confront”, in an apparent U-turn that will give a huge boost to the embattled environmental lobby.

Bjørn Lomborg, the self-styled “sceptical environmentalist” once compared to Adolf Hitler by the UN’s climate chief, is famous for attacking climate scientists, campaigners, the media and others for exaggerating the rate of global warming and its effects on humans, and the costly waste of policies to stop the problem.

But in a new book to be published next month, Lomborg will call for tens of billions of dollars a year to be invested in tackling climate change. “Investing $100bn annually would mean that we could essentially resolve the climate change problem by the end of this century,” the book concludes.

Examining eight methods to reduce or stop global warming, Lomborg and his fellow economists recommend pouring money into researching and developing clean energy sources such as wind, wave, solar and nuclear power, and more work on climate engineering ideas such as “cloud whitening” to reflect the sun’s heat back into the outer atmosphere.

In a Guardian interview, he said he would finance investment through a tax on carbon emissions that would also raise $50bn to mitigate the effect of climate change, for example by building better sea defences, and $100bn for global healthcare. Read the whole story >>>

Alex McKenna

2 September 2010 - Alex McKenna has left her role as sustainability manager for Dexus, and is about to embark on a new role, still hush hush for now.

Ms McKenna was with Dexus for two and half years, and prior to this with Colonial in a risk and sustainability role. Ms McKenna has a Masters in Environment Law Management and Business as well as a degree in applied science, finance and investment.

She told The Fifth Estate on Thursday that she expected to sign up for a new position soon but would meanwhile be taking a “long break.”

Meanwhile Dexus has appointed Michael to the newly created role of head of corporate responsibility and sustainability, reporting to Chief Operating Officer Tanya Cox.

Mr Lane was previously head of retail investments in DEXUS’s $3billion retail portfolio, where he was responsible for portfolio investment strategy, asset management, development management and the implementation of sustainability initiatives. He has also been chair of DEXUS’ community engagement committee since 2009.

Mr Lane joined Dexus from Lend Lease in 2001 and has more than 25 years of property and retail experience. Has a Bachelor of Science from the University of Sydney.

Floth Sustainable Building Consultants has recently appointed Dr Julien De Charentenay to the role of ESD Engineer and Building Physicist within their ESD Engineering and Floth Physics Teams. Julien brings a wealth of experience to the role, with an in depth knowledge of computational fluid dynamics (CFD), dynamic thermal simulation and overshadowing analysis. 

He has worked on and managed a number of large projects including Terminal 1 Sydney Airport, Myer Building Melbourne and Charlestown Shopping Centre Newcastle.

As a member of the Floth Physics Team Julien will conduct research in new ways to develop and deliver innovative building solutions.  Prior to his tenure at Floth, Julien held the position of Project Manager and Senior ESD Engineer for AAECOM and has also worked internationally for CD-Adapco Group UK and ONERA in his hometown of France.

Julien holds a Degree in Aeronautics (France), Masters of Science (Physics) from Université Pierre et Marie Curie Paris VI and a PhD from the Ecole Centrale de Paris finishing with first class distinction.

Lend Lease Solar

Chris Carolan

19 August 2010 - Chris Carolan’s latest venture at Lend Lease, Lend Lease Solar, is scouring the market for 100 talented people to help roll out the new solar panel business in partnership with AGL for the retail and commercial property market.

• See our story

Mr Carolan already has about 30 people in the team, largely sourced from the mothership, but he is now looking for assessors and people to work in the call centre, based at the company’s headquarters at 30 The Bond in Sydney.

Two to three new staff are being added a week in preparation for the 1 September rollout, Mr Carolan said. For details  Contact richard.north@lendlease.com.au

Cundall/Rob Lord/Ben O’Callaghan

Ben O’Callaghan joined Cundall’s Brisbane office as an associate in July. Previously a director of Neco, Mr O’Callaghan lectured in Ecologically Sustainable Development (ESD) at Bond University’s School of Sustainable Development and has been heavily involved in the award-winning sustainable community, The Ecovillage at Currumbin. He has 18 years’ academic and project-management ESD experience.

Meanwhile, Rob Lord has left Cundall after deciding he wanted a different role in pursuit of his passion for “sustainability engineering and innovation”, he says.
“It was an amicable split and I wish them well. They have a lot of exciting changes planned and they will continue to make a mark on the Australian property industry.

“I am taking a long break and considering my options. I am sure to be in the sustainability engineering space, though… It is great to work alongside such earnest people.”

Cundall is recruiting. In Brisbane it’s looking for a graduate-level staffer in environmentally sustainable design, a senior ESD consultant and a mechanical engineer.

Arup
Dave Martin has joined Arup in Australia as an associate electrical engineer, after running his own consultancy in Dublin. Arup principal Andrew Pettifer said there had been a very long wait to fill the position. “We don’t compromise,” he quipped. “We need to have the best in the industry.”

Andrew Cowley

S4B Studio
Building services consultancy S4B Studio formed just two months ago by Andrew Cowley, Mark Henderson and Luka Vulic, after the trio left WSP Lincolne Scott – hasn’t wasted much time picking up interesting new work.

How about a project for Westfield to warm the engines? Or two? The outfit has won a fit-out for a 1800-square metre retail tenancy in Westfield’s new Sydney CBD project, which The Fifth Estate understands to be none other than the high-profile Spanish retailer Zara.

Another Westfield project, involving peer review, is for a new five-star building at 85 Castlereagh Street in Sydney.

Luka Vulic

Mr Cowley said the building was originally designed three years ago and the company has now decided to “pull the trigger on the construction”.

Elsewhere S4B has picked up a 5000 sq m building project at Albury in regional NSW, aiming for a five-star Green Star outcome. The building is in a precinct favoured by government tenants. However, it will be built on a speculative basis.

Other work includes a recycled water project at Discovery Point for Australand/Landcom at Arncliffe, involving sewer mining.

Mr Cowley said the project would not only process the water for its own use but export some to the local council to use on parklands.
Commenting on the market, Mr Cowley said it had been a “rough 18 months”.

“It’s been pretty tough in Sydney, and I don’t know if this is mirrored

Mark Henderson

in Brisbane and Melbourne. Now everyone is starting to look up a bitand seeing some fresh opportunities.

“My personal view is that … we will come out looking a bit different, and [different] in the way building services engineering is delivered.”

In Mr Cowley would like to see a new approach emerge. Most sustainability outcomes were originally driven by architecture, he says, and now perhaps too much, by engineering.

“I feel like you need to be independent of engineering and architecture to take that next step forward. It’s what I’m really passionate about; creating that next generation of buildings.”

Carrathool Shire Council

11 August 2010 - Carrathool Shire Council in country NSW has appointed a new manager of planning and environment. Garry Stoll, who was previously director of environmental services at Tumbarumba Shire Council for three years will head the Shire’s sustainable planning and building services.

Patrick Cowie

Patrick Cowie, former national advertising manager of the Property Council of Australia, has accepted a role with Marston & Cook real estate agency as director of commercial and development.
Woodhead

Jeremy Deal

28 July 2010 - Jeremy Deale has moved to Woodhead  as regional principal and commercial portfolio leader after a role with Fitzpatrick + Partners where he was project leader on Macquarie Bank’s new six-star  Green Star building, One Shelley Street.  Maria Asenjo has also joined the team in Brisbane after leaving Argentina and working for a number of year in the UK involved in PPP (Private Public Partnerships) projects.

MWH

28 July 2010 - MWH has appointed Keith Uebel as sustainability and environment business operations leader. Mr Uebel comes from Storm Consulting, and previously senior roles with the Department of Infrastructure, Planning and Natural Resources, the former Department of Land and Water Conservation, NSW State Forests and the Minister for Forests and Minister for Land and Water Conservation and Sydney Water.

Gabrielle KuiperGabrielle Kuiper

20 July 2010 - For Gabrielle Kuiper it was clearly an offer “too good to refuse.”  Only nine months after heading down to Melbourne to join VicUrban from a role with Investa, Dr Kuiper has been snared for a top job with ANZ Bank, which is still enjoying the laurels of its new sustainable workplace at Docklands.

In conversation today Ms Kuiper confirmed this week’s rumours that she was on the move. The job, head of environmental sustainability at ANZ, will start on 17 August, after a break.

So why jump, exactly?

ANZ’s position as number one on the Dow Jones Sustainability Index helped, Dr Kuiper said.

“I paid particular note when they reached number one. Previously it was Westpac. There must have been a particular corporate commitment when they reached that goal in the banking sector. It’s also the opportunity to work for a large organisation- and one in the financial sector – that I haven’t done before.”

IFMA Foundation

Stephen Ballesty

20 July 2010 - Rider Levett Bucknall’s Sydney based head of advisory, Stephen Ballesty CFM, has this month been appointed international chairman of the IFMA Foundation.

Mr. Ballesty is the past chair of the Facility Management Association of Australia, former deputy chair of the Australian Government’s FM Action Agenda initiative and the first person outside of North America to serve as the foundation’s chair.

“It’s a particularly exciting time for us as we work to take the foundation to the next level and seek recognition of facility management as the foremost contributor to a more productive and sustainable built environment worldwide,” said Mr Ballesty.

Members of the IFMA Foundation board of trustees serve a two-year term and are tasked with managing the foundation and guiding its efforts to serve the facility management profession though education, research and scholarships.

Umow Lai

15 July 2010 - Engineering company Umow Lai has been busy with some new appointments and a swathe of upgrades to current roles as it prepares for new work on the horizon. (See our main story in News from the front desk Issue No 32.)

New on the block include Andrew Jenkinson and Warner Brunton from Aurecon who will join the newly revamped Brisbane office.

Mr Jenkinson has been involved in a number of high profile Queensland projects over the past decade and is a specialist in electrical and communications engineering. Umow Lai director Ken Loh describes him, however, as an “all rounder”.
Joining the two will be Anthony Marklund and Brian Mcdonnell heading to Brisbane from Melbourne, promotions in tow. Another “re-recruit” has been Leon Han who left for a stint on the massive $4 billion Dubai Pearl - the “world’s largest project”.

Andrew Jenkinson

NDY
Engineer Michael Shaw will join NDY in Melbourne, a position he secured on the same day as retrenchments were announced over his former position at Meinhardt, which also involved eight other people from the building services division. (See main story). Mr Shaw, by the way, provides seminars on how to interpret the quite challenging new Section J of the Building Code of Australia, which relates to sustainability features of commercial buildings.

Anika McManus

Lion Nathan National Foods
Anika McManus has been appointed to the role of group sustainability leader at Lion Nathan National Foods, reporting to sustainability director Duncan Makeig. Ms McManus said there was a swag of environmental processes under way at the company, especially in water and energy savings initiatives and product stewardship.

In New Zealand for instance the company’s new brewery in Auckland, where there is a surfeit of glass being recycled but a dearth of uses so that much of it has ended up as landfill, the company has insisted project contractors find a use for the glass. The result was “glasscrete” used in the foundations and road surfaces around the site.

Temperature is still lukewarm

15 July 2010 - Recruiter to the stars in Sydney sustainability Mike Skelding has moved from Judd Farris and away from transactional side of recruitment altogether for a business development role at HRX which “assists clients source the range of products and services to enable them to improve their direct hire,” as he put it. The company, owned by Katrina Leslie, now with 130 staff, has a strong social sustainability agenda internally with several of its key staff at present assisting with a project in Tanzania, said Mr Skelding.

Leon Han

Meanwhile Stephen Lording has been appointed the new managing director of Judd Farris and recently moved to Sydney from Melbourne where he headed the Victorian  office, while former MD Clive Brown has left to start Capstone Recruitment along with three other partners.

Mr Lording told The Fifth Estate that there was now a bit of uncertainty in the market in terms of recruitment, which was a shame because confidence had started to bounce back after the Global Financial Crisis had hit everyone for six.

“From a recruitment process when it comes to the commercial reality again for business it’s nice to have [a sustainability professional] but it’s not a necessity.

“When the GFC came along [activity] stopped because it was a cost factor. It’s gathered a bit of momentum again, but once again there is a bit of stalling with people waiting to see what the government’s intentions are. A Labor/Liberal government will have a different views on how they want to push sustainability in the market.”

Warner BruntoMr Lording said there had been little increase in the number of jobs;that it was more a case of "musical chairs".“ Things could change when the instability has washed through, he said.

Lisa Tarry

Turning Green’s Lisa Tarry, a recruitment consultant, has another take on the market, but in relation to the engineering services sector which she believed was quite competitive. In fact Ms Tarry had a word advice for companies in the engineering space: look after your staff.  She said there was significant competition in the marketplace and some regretted losses for some companies. It was not just the better packages on offer but the lures of  a better “work life balance” that was proving too hard to resist, Ms Tarry said.

Mirvac on the hunt

1 July 2010 - Corin Millais, new group sustainability manager for Mirvac, formerly with Westfield, has hit the gorund running at his new position. Going into newspapers tomorrow is an advertisement for staff to bolster his team. Mr Millais is in search of no fewer than three people to help re-engineers the sustainability vision for the company: a sustainability manager for  implementation and operational delivery of sustainability objectives across the business;  a sustainability manager for the development division, initially a maternity leave role and a sustainability reporting analyst.

The Warren Centre is searching for new talent

Robert Mitchell

1 July 2010 - The Warren Centre for Advanced Engineering at Sydney University, creator of major research work such as low energy high rise project which proved big savings could be achieved with low capital investment is losing its chief operating officer,  Robert Mitchell. Mr Mitchell will join Capstone Partners, an Australian management consultancy specialising in the commercial application of technology.

However, that means an opening for new talent- on the CV you should demonstrate the ability to “step out from your comfort zone and help spearhead this prestigious organisation” supported by “hundreds of volunteers who are also stakeholders from industry, government, universities and other research institutions,” according to the new job ad. Contact:  robert.mitchell@sydney.edu.au

Ben McCluskey

Ben McCluskey

Sydney based Big Switch Projects has hired Ben McCluskey as project manager. Mr McCluskey has moved from Melbourne where he previously worked at Ironbark Sustainability, advising local governments on “improving the sustainability of building stocks, both on the technical aspects and policy.”

He has a Bachelor of Environmental Engineering from RMIT, which involved time at the Shanghai Institute of Foreign Trade University in Shanghai. Among his interests are karate, in which  Mr McCluskey is a  black belt and restoring of vintage bicycles.

Jobs News Archives - Where they went; what they said

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August 2010

Sydney - Senior Urban Designers - 2 temp. positions, 97K-109K - The City of Sydney is seeking two experienced urban designers with tertiary qualifications in architecture to join its City Plan Development team. Click here for more details.

Sydney - Manager Environment and Services - 120K package. Management position at Mosman Council with a focus on environmental and sustainability issues and projects, environmental health issues and contract management. Click here for more details.

Parramatta, NSW - Project Officer - Environmental Outcomes -Working within Parramatta Council’s City Strategy Unit, you will be responsible for the preparation and evaluation of strategic environmental policy and strategy. Must be degree qualified and possess experience working in teams on complex strategic projects. Click here for more details.

Bankstown, NSW - Resource Recovery Officer - Role within Bankstown City Council responsible for fostering sustainable behaviours to reduce waste, dumped rubbish and recycling contamination. Click here for more details.

Yass, NSW - Strategic/Environmental Planner - 12 months - $51-61K package -  Yass Valley Council is looking for a new member to their Strategic Planning Team responsible for implementing the strategic planning program for urban and rural renewal of Yass Valley. Click here for more details.

Eurobodalla, NSW - Sustainability Project Officer - A new project role within Eurobodalla Shire Council responsible for implementing the council’s sustainability program, water audits and grants for large water uses. Click here for more details.

Melbourne - Director City Sustainability - Hume City Council is seeking a highly experienced strategic planner to take responsibility for strategic town planning, statutory planning and economic development and to encourage city sustainability and urban amenity. Click here for more details.

Melbourne - Environmental Officer - City West Water is seeking a science/engineering degree qualified Environmental Officer with an understanding of environmental management systems and environmental legislation. Click here for more details.

Melbourne - Principal Environmental Consultant - Contaminated Lands - GHD is looking for two Principal Environmental Professionals to join their Melbourne team. Successful candidates will hold a Bachelor of Engineering or Science in a related discipline and at least 10 years contaminated land experience. Click here for more details.

Subiaco, WA - Environmental Specialist - Endemic, a results oriented organisation with a specialisation in environmental solutions relating to urban development are seeking a degree qualified Environmental Specialist with three to five years experience in a related field. Click here for more details.

July 2010

Melbourne - Team Leader Health Services (Environmental) $72,000 package. Yarra Ranges Council a full-time environmental health professional to lead a team of environmental health officers to meet the challenges of legislative change. Click here for more details.

Narrogin, Western Australia - Director of Technical and Environmental Services. $125-165,000 package. The Town of Narrogin is looking for a degree qualified individual with a background in town planning to join the senior management team. Click here for more details.

Melbourne - Major Projects Executive - Environmental Impact Assessment. Parsons Brinckerhoff is looking to appoint an industry recognised responsible for leading and overseeing development of a key capability (EES / EIA) in delivering outcomes for major projects for key clients. The successful candidate will lead aspects of PB’s efforts in the business development, commercial and technical dimensions of the Environmental Assessment and Management group. Click here for more details.

Logan, Queensland - Environment Officer/Senior Environment Officer. $50-72,000 package. Role within Logan City Council responsible for developing and implementing vegetation and biodiversity related policies, plans, projects and activities. Click here for more details.

Blacktown, NSW - Environmental Engagement Officer. Role within Blacktown City Council responsible for implementing environmental sustainability projects, strategies, policies, guidelines and procedures. Relevant tertiary qualifications and experience in an environmental or related field required. Click here for more details.

Nillumbik, Victoria - Group Manager Environment and Planning Services. Role within Nillumbik City Council. Ideal candidate will provide visionary leadership and direction to achieve environmental best practice solutions for planning, building and economic development in a way that actively engages the local community. Click here for more details.

June 2010

Perth - Associate, Carbon Management and Energy Solutions. Perenia Carbon is looking for an associate to provide high quality and  innovative energy, carbon and sustainability consultancy services to their clients, managing carbon, energy and sustainability projects and proposals. Click here for more details.

Queanbeyan, NSW - Environmental Officer (Sustainability). $59-65K package. Queanbeyan City Council is looking for an Environmental Officer to lead council in creating a culture of sustainability through in-house awareness, knowledge, skills and values. The successful applicant must have demonstrated skills in project management and a personal commitment to sustainable practices and environmental issues. Click here for more info.

Brisbane - Project Director EIS. Leading international company is looking for an environmental project manager with eight years experience managing EISs and EIAs to work on some of the most major and complex projects in Queensland. Click here for more details.

Adelaide - Environmental Leader. Aurecon requires an environmental leader with a strong environmental science focus to lead their community development and infrastructure sector. Applications close 16 June. Click here for more details.

Adelaide - $62 - 94,000 package, up to 2 year contracts. The South Australian Department of Water, Land and Biodiversity Conservation is seeking people with political nous, policy and project management experience to manage the Murray-Darling Basin. Various positions available. Applications close 11 June. Click here for more details.

Northern Territory - Research Officer (Infrastructure/Built Environment). The Centre for Appropriate Technology requires a research officer to provide research and advice on the built environment, working with Indigenous communities to secure sustainable livelihoods. Applications close 4 June. Click here fore more details.

Indigo Shire, Victoria - Sustainable Communities Administration Officer. Indigo Shire Council requires an officer to give high level executive and administrative support, including liaising with stakeholders, undertaking projects, managing meeting schedules and records management. Applications close June 17. Click here for more details.

Ipswich, QLD - $57-72,000 package. Planning Officer (biodiversity) - Playing a critical role in supporting the Natural Environment Planning team, you will provide technical guidance on native flora, fauna and ecosystem management. Click here for more details.

May 2010

Hervey Bay, QLD - $54-57,000 package. Community Environment Program Officer. Fraser Coast Regional Council is looking for a CEP to administer and manage the Community Environment Program. Applications close 6 June. Click here for more details.

Muswellbrook, NSW - $73-85,000 package. Strategic Planner. Joining the Environmental Services team of Muswellbrook Shire Council, you will oversee the status of Council’s plans and provide strategic planning for the current and future development of the shire. Applications close 30 May. Click here for more details.

Wyong, NSW - 18 month contract. Senior Sustainability Officer. As part of the Sustainability Unit of Wyong Shire Council you will be responsible for coordinating strategic direction and delivery of Council’s sustainability program, provision of high level technical advice and policy development. Applications close 31 May. Click here for more info.

Newcastle, NSW - Team Manager for the Environmental Assessment Team. Parsons Brinckerhoff is looking for someone with demonstrated leadership skills and several years experience working with environmental assessments and approvals. Responsible for growing the environmental assessment capability in Newcastle, you will also lead projects and proposals, resource allocation and work closely with the NSW and national leadership teams. Click here for more info.

Carrathool, NSW $115,000 package. Director Planning and Environment. Carrathool Shire Council is looking for a director responsible for a wide range of services including planning, building and environmental. Click here for more

Sydney Environment Operations Manager, 12 month contract. Sydney Ports is looking for a manager responsible for implementing improvements to environmental sustainability practices and liaise with government and community groups. Click here for more info.

Rockhampton, QLD Environmental Co-ordinator. Capricorn Conservation Council is seeking a full-time co-ordinator to run their Environment Centre. Responsibilities include making media appearances (TV and radio), developing campaigns, preparing submissions to environmental impact statements and liaising with the community. Click here for more info.

Brisbane and Adelaide Senior Environmental Consultant. VDM Environmental have vacancies in two state offices for consultants responsible for delivering environmental impact assessments and approvals on major development, infrastructure and petroleum projects, preparing tenders, and client and project management. Click here for more info.

Brisbane Principal Environmental Consultant. RPS is looking for a consultant with 10+ years of experience in environmental science/ engineering. The role will include managing EIA for energy and infrastructure projects and there will be opportunities to work with project teams in other states and internationally. Click here for more info.

Melbourne Environmental Consultant. Envirocom requires a person with a minimum of one to two years experience in development and delivery of environmental education, planning and research projects. Duties will include contract and project coordination, delivery and evaluation. Click here for more info.

Melbourne Environment Management Officer. This newly created position at Hume City Council will be responsible for running the Community Greening Program, undertaking rural property visits with the Sustainable Land Management Team, and assisting in environmental planning auditing and enforcement. Click here for more info.

Melbourne $63,424 package. Sustainable Environment Officer. Hume City Council position responsible for reducing the water use, community gardens, Council’s Eco-buy program and coordinating the annual State of the Environment Report. Click here for more info.

Melbourne Climate Change and Energy Officer. The City of Casey is offering a new role responsible for supporting initiatives across all of council to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, as well as strengthen Casey’s capacity to respond to the impact of climate change across its operations and services. Clickhere for more info.

Mackay, QLD Environmental Health Officer. $52-66,000 package. Mackay Regional Council role responsible for providing consultation, education, guidance and advice to Council Officers, the professional and business community and public on health, safety, environmental issues and legislation. Click here for more info.

Sydney $60 - 70,000 package. Senior Health and Environmental Building Surveyor. Hunters Hill Council has an excellent opportunity to join its Environmental Services Department, providing advice on development issues and administering Council regulatory functions. Click here for more info.

Melbourne $78-86,000 package. Manager - National Centre for Sustainability. Swinburne University of Technology - School of Sustainable Futures is seeking to fill the position of manager responsible for educational quality and operational management. Click here for more info.

April 2010

Hollbrook, NSW Director Environment and Planning. Greater Hume Shire is looking for a director to deliver key services in strategic landuse planning, building control, waste management and other areas. Closes 16, April. Click here for more info.

Geraldton, WA $53,000 to $61,000 package. Senior Environmental Health Officer. The City of Geraldton-Greenough is looking for a suitably qualified individual to oversee the needs in the area of environmental health and sustainability. Click here for more details. Closes 15 April, 2010.

March 2010

Melbourne Marketing and Communications Manager. Position is with the Earth Watch Institute, requiring the candidate to implement high-quality communication strategies, manage media relations and organise promotions and events. Closes 5pm,16 April. Contact Click here for more info.

Sydney Environmental Officer (Sustainability) F/T for 12 months. Responsible for providing technical and policy advice on environmental sustainability issues. Duties include reporting on sustainability performance, managing external contractors and influencing key stakeholders. For more info, contact Con Lambous on 02 8588 5752.

Perth Electorate/Research Officer $62K-77K package. Key Responsibilities include: research and prepare media statements; update websites; prepare briefing notes and reports ; provide initial point of contact and follow up constituent enquiries; advocate on behalf of constituents and liaise with community organisations. More info visit www.jobs.wa.gov.au and key the Web Search number 96000168/MPCRO168 into the Search. Closing Date: Tuesday 6 April 2010 at 9.30am (WST).

Sydney Technical Director, Environmental Planning $160K-220K package. Oversee planning projects and manage the whole process end-to-end. Secure large-scale alliance projects across Road, Rail, Mining and Infrastructure. Handle key client relationships. Mentor, train and lead teams through your technical excellence in environmental planning and management. Send your resume direct toBrett@EnvironmentJobs.com.au or call Brett on 02 9467 6767

Sydney Project Manager - Water Quality and Public Health $95K - 125K package. Based at Parramatta, must deliver strategic scientific projects and offer advice to Sydney Water regarding science and technology developments, identify new research and development opportunities, implement business plans and benchmarks. Applications close 6th April 2010. For more info seewww.sydneywater.com.au and click on Career Opportunities.

Melbourne Manager Built Environment Circa $100K package. You will be an integral member of the Sustainable Environs leadership group. You will lead a small team in influencing the uptake of green building practices and promote SV in the industry with the aim of building relationships. Respond by quoting ref. no 2008360 via email to resume@sacsconsult.com.au (in Word format) or telephone Jarrod McLauchlan on 03 8622 8524 for a confidential discussion.

Melbourne Research Officer - Ecologist F/T, two-year fixed-term, $57,000-78,000 package. Ecologist required for a study by a team from La Trobe and Deakin Universities of biodiversity refuges in fire prone landscapes. Closing date: 9 April. To apply of for further info, visit www.latrobe.edu.au/jobs.

Horsham, Victoria Sustainability Officer Responsible for the delivery of workplace sustainability programs to increase staff awareness and participation and promote sustainable practice. Assist development and implementation of the Corporations Environmental Management System, Sustainability Strategy and Wastewise Plan. More info at www.gwmwater.org.au

Nationwide Graduate Environmentally Sustainable Design (ESD) Engineers Arup is looking to recruit fresh engineering graduates to take part in their graduate program. Applications close April 30. More info at http://www.goarup.com.au/recruitment-calendar.aspx

Tasmania Environmental Specialists Multiple opportunites for for specialists in Environmental and Social Impact Assessment; Contaminated Land/ Site Assessment and Remediation; Environmental Engineering. Click here for more info.

JOBS NEWS

Job news

Caroline Noller

6 May 2010 - Caroline Noller has been appointed sustainability manager at Australand after 10 years at the helm of GPT’s sustainability drive. Dr Noller, who we profiled here last year, is known for her visionary commitment to not just an ecological but a social sustainability agenda in her work. At Austral and her newly created position is designed to coordinate the sustainability strategies between each of the company’s separate divisions and to develop longer term plans for sustainability, including better communications of achievements, Dr Noller told The Fifth Estate. Dr Noller said managing director of Australand Bob Johnston had nominated sustainability as one of four key planks for Australand but that the company had already made significant achievements, such as the recently completed Corporate Express distribution centre at Erskine Park in Sydney, the first Green Star (Pilot) Industrial project. Communicating Sustainability in general was “back on the upswing” after the industry put many strategies – including her new role - on the back burner during the GFC crisis. So are any new positions likely? “Lets’ get the strategy in place first,” Dr Noller said. Other Australand appointments this year include former GPT Group executive, Kieran Pryke, as chief financial officer and former Lend Lease Primelife head Rod Fehring as executive general manager of the residential division.

CB Richard Ellis May 4, 2010 — CB Richard Ellis Group has nominated Peter Scarpelli as vice president, global leader of energy services global corporate services organisation to “oversee the firm’s global energy and sustainability offerings, assisting CBRE account teams and clients in identifying and implementing portfolio-wide energy reduction, alternative energy and cost savings initiatives,” the company said. Mr Scarpelli was previously business development manager at Schneider Electric, where as a member of the Demand Response Resource Center, he was responsible for identifying and developing smart grid and demand response opportunities in the US and global markets.

JUST IN - 3 May 2010 - Sydney NSW: Operations Manager, BuildingIQ. BuildingIQ, a fast-growing energy management software company commercialising innovative technology from CSIRO, is looking for an experienced Engineering Project Manager to manage the rollout of the BuildingIQ system in properties around Australia. Project management, engineering and client facing experience in the building controls industry a must. Send CV to Peterd@buildingIQ.com and see www.buildingIQ.com for more details. More jobs below…

Alex Cutler

New chief at NZ Green Building Council

30 April 2010 - The New Zealand Green Building Council has appointed former PricewaterhouseCoopers New Zealand associate director Alex Cutler as new chief executive officer, after Jane Henley left the position to take up a lead role with the World Green Building Council, according to NZ publication Celsias Weekly. However, an NZGBC source declined to confirm or deny the news to The Fifth Estate on Friday (30 April) and would not provide a copy of a media release cited by the news item until a media officer was available on Monday. According to the news item, Ms Cutler founded and headed a sustainability practice at PwC and has also worked for strategy consultancy and think-tank SustainAbility Limited. In her new role she would steer development of a performance rating tool forcommercial buildings this year as well a residential rating tool. “The development of a Green Star performance tool this year will mean the industry can assess the energy and environmental performance of the majority of New Zealand’s commercial buildings so they can be benchmarked, managed, rated and improved,” Ms Cutler is quoted as saying in the alleged media release.

Patrick Ibbotson

Maddocks appointment 30 April 2010 - Leading environment and planning lawyer Patrick Ibbotson has joined Maddocks Sydney office as partner after 22 years with Blake Dawson Waldron. The appointment was expected to strengthen Maddocks’ planning and environment team and two areas of focus, infrastructure and government, according to chief executive officer David Rennick. A note from Chambers Global (2009) said:”Patrick Ibbotson is well regarded in the market … He is sought after for his expertise in urban renewal projects, contaminated land and rail and water infrastructure projects.”

New CEO wanted for solar company 30 April 2010 - Michael Green of recruiter Bradman’s energy and carbon desk is on the look out for a general manager for a commercial solar power company that wants to expand its business but is already a “a force in renewable energy solutions”. A knowledge of tendering and asset management is important, he said. (Contact: 02 8243 0500)

Linda Selvey

Mr Green would not name the company but said the interest in green issues was growing. Most recently Bradman has run a series of briefing/meeting sessions between business and new Greenpeace chief executive officer Dr Linda Selvey. Audience members have included people from AGL, Aecom, Aurecom, Brookfield Multiplex, Brotherhood of St Lawrence, the Clean Energy Council and Carbon Planet. Next session on the list will be in Brisbane, Mr Green said. Dr Selvey came to Greenpeace last year with a background that included a career as a medical doctor, cancer researcher, public health advocate and public health administrator.

CBRE grows its sustainability credentials 22 April 2010 - CB Richard Ellis has recruited former Westpac and Cox Richardson sustainability professional Rebecca Pearce to the newly created position of associate director, sustainability, based in Sydney. Ms Pearce has a long string of high level and international experience. Prevoius roles include co-leadership of Westpac’s 2017 Sustainability Strategy and its property division, plus a senior role with Cox Richardson. For the past 18 months, Ms Pearce has been working in the UAE as a senior associate with Sustainability Advisory Group, an international alliance of specialists who advise organisations on business strategy, performance and governance. CBRE president and chief executive officer Australia & New Zealand, Tom Southern said: “Our industry leadership carries with it an ethical responsibility to our clients, employees, shareholders and the community at large to minimise our environmental impact and to assist our clients in doing the same at their properties.” CBRE in February appointed of Dr Richie Lee to the newly created position of executive director, energy and sustainability, Asia

Jane Jose joins Elton Consulting Jane Jose who played a key role in developing the Sustainable Sydney 2030 Vision and is a former journalist, Lord Mayor of Adelaide and member of the Central Sydney Planning Commission, has joined Elton Consulting. Her new roles include as specialist consultant in strategy, public policy, communications, community engagement and facilitation. At the City of Sydney Ms Jose was responsible for writing the City’s Local Action Plans and editing the final Sustainable Sydney 2030 Vision. She also focused on urban, community and cultural development and as a facilitator and chair. At Elton Consulting Ms Jose has taken on roles as high level strategy and community consultation projects including at the Sydney Harbour National Park Management Vision, the Chinatown Public Domain Study and land use planning for the Northern Territory Government. In addition Ms Jose mentors in leadership programs for women at WSP Lincolne Scott and for McCarthy Mentoring and is on the boards of the Belvoir Street Theatre, The Australian String Quartet and Object and the Centre for Australian Craft and Design.

14 April 2010 - Anita Mitchell will be Lend Lease’s sustainability manager for Barangaroo.

The move comes after nearly two years as head of energy and sustainability services at Jones Lang LaSalle. In the end, Ms Mitchell told The Fifth Estate this afternoon, the objectives for Barangaroo to be “carbon neutral, water positive and have zero waste,” was “an opportunity too hard to resist. “I’m very excited about the possibilities,” she said. Ms Mitchell will sign onto the new position on 31 May, reporting to Stuart Eagleton. See our article

AIRAH’s new president

Sean Treweek is the new president of the Australian Institute of Refrigeration, Air Conditioning and Heating, taking over from John Bosci at the AIRAH annual general meeting held April 12 in Sydney. Mr Treweek, a director of WSP Lincolne Scott, is a mechanical engineer and has served in a variety of roles throughout his career.

Start doing the numbers

Dexus’ Alex McKenna tips the next phase of property recruitment in the

Alex McKenna

sustainability space will be employers looking for financial skills along with the environmental. “The skills set they will need next is financial,” she told The Fifth Estate recently. “If I can’t pitch the benefit of sustainability [on a project] then I will never get it across the line, said Ms McKenna, who holds both scientific and financial qualifications. “If you want to inculcate sustainability in an organisation and demonstrate value then you have to make a value proposition.”

Mirvac Mirvac may soon be searching for a replacement for the role left byShauna Coffey after she winged her way to the US for an extended period last month.

Vodafone calling Vodafone has hired Allison Murray as a corporate social responsibility manager, in a direct hire.

NDY’s healthy promotion Norman Disney and Young’s Keith Davis has been appointed general director of health

Keith Davis

services in Australia and New Zealand following the recent growth spurt in the amount of health related work, especially in Australia. NDY’s biggest job in the sphere is the services component in the $1 billion Royal Children’s Hospital rebuild in Melbourne, on track for a 5-Star Green Star rating. Mr Davis was previously in charge of the Victorian health services before being appointed associate director about 18 months ago. He told TFE more health related work could be on the way. NDY was part of the bid team lead by Brookfield Multiplex for the Peter Mac or Peter MacCallum comprehensive cancer care centre, another $1 billion project in Melbourne and in a separate bid for the South Australian medical research Institute.

Hornsby Lisa Tarry of Turning Green has been busy with several placements recently. Included is Eva Egan who previously worked for SB Environmental placed in a temporary sustainability officer role at Hornsby Council in Sydney. Acting manager for environmental sustainability at Hornsby, Rebecca Maiden, said the council had also employed a new project officer, Ashley King, as part of a regional program with Willoughby, Ku-ring-gai and North Sydney councils to help improve sustainability performance among local businesses. Ms Maiden said other programs involved water catchment programs and sustainable energy policies for the council’s own buildings in an attempt to “practice what we preach a bit more and really lift our game.”

Adaptation Other placements by Lisa Tarry include two appointments for Sydney based consultancy Adaptation.Sarah Kinsela has joined as senior consultant from a previous role as sustainability engineer with the City of Ryde and John Gethin has joined as junior consultant from a similar role in the UK. Managing director for the company, Lara Barclay, told TFE that work for the company has been strong. Clients include government departments and private companies in the manufacturing and supply chain industries. A current project comprises producing a guide for sustainable buildings for a manufacturing client soon to seek new premises, including how to assess the competing options of buying or leasing, Ms Barclay said.

Poaching already? Recruiters report a busy period since January, but we’ve heard one engineering firm took the easy way out by poaching an entire team from a rival company.

Carbon skills in demand Turning Green’s Lisa Tarry has tipped long term growth will continue in the employment prospects for people who can skill-up in the carbon stakes. In a recent note to TFE she pointed to amended legislation for the Renewable Energy Target scheme passed by the Federal Parliament which means 20 per cent of Australia’s electricity generation is set to come from renewable energy sources by 2020, plus the Federal Government’s $4.2 billion funding for renewable energy. “Employment opportunities within the sector will continue to rise well beyond the 30,000 jobs quoted earlier in the year,” Ms Tarry says. Key employers in this area are the banks. Barclays Capital, Goldman Sachs, Merrill Lynch and HSBC have already established carbon trading desks while nabCapital has developed a Carbon Solutions Group and Investec acquired Rothschild’s natural resources team a few years ago and it has since been at the forefront of the renewable energy market in Australia, Ms Tarry added.

Carbon capture Genevieve Sovereign has been hired by Lawrence Creative to work in a project management and communications role for a carbon capture and storage website under development by an international institute which wants to promote the technology. She previously worked in Canada for the Code Project, a Wikipedia for programmers in a similar communications and project management role. Scholarships?The International Facility Management Association Foundation is calling for Australian university students to join its inaugural International Student of the Year award program and other related scholarships to be held in the United States in 2010. Open to students from around the world, the program will run alongside the 2010 undergraduate and graduate scholarships, aimed at recruiting university students completing a degree in facility management (or related disciplines). Applications for the award program close on 30 June, while scholarship applications close 31 May. See the website for more details http://www.ifmafoundation.org/international/soty.cfm

By Wendy Truong and Edie Mather

3 September 2010 - The success of the Federal Government’s Solar Bonus Scheme has seen over 30,000 households generating their own solar energy. Following is an outline of scheme and how it can benefit individual homes.

The Australian Government is finally back on the solar bandwagon with its national Solar Bonus Scheme, intended to boost the number of grid-connected photovoltaic system installations across the nation.

This article intends to provide information on the design process of a general grid-connected PV solar system and important issues to consider before deciding on a system. With an understanding of the operation and limitations of your PV solar system, you and your system designer can create a truly effective, or even profitable, solar energy installation.

Accredited solar system design

The versatility of a PV solar system lies in the fact that it can be tailored to your situation and needs. Some people like their house to be self-sufficient or to reduce their carbon footprint while others like to take advantage of the feed-in tariff as an additional income. Regardless of the reasons for installing a PV system, its important to work closely with the designer in order to get the most out of your system.

A grid-connected PV solar system is made up of the photovoltaic panels, electrically connected to an inverter, which feeds your power to the grid via the meter. Before installing, make sure that the system installer and components are Clean Energy Council Accredited, which ensures every stage complies with Australian Standards.

Another reason the system should be CEC Accredited is to ensure that you are eligible for the Renewable Energy Certificates provided by the Federal Government.

Earning credits

RECs are assigned based on the generating capacity of your system. This is calculated from the size of the system you install and your location. The RECs from the first 1.5kW installed are multiplied by five and dubbed Solar Credits. The monetary value of RECs change with the market, and they can be used to towards the cost of your installation by signing the certificates over to your installing company. If the RECs are used to pay for the system, the payback period of your system is significantly reduced thanks to the lower capital cost.

As part of the Scheme, several state and territory governments provide support (at different rates on on different bases) to people who turn to renewable energy by crediting them for electricity generated by their solar panels. The base rate in NSW is $0.60 per kilowatt hour, about three times the average purchase price, but some suppliers will pay more, making solar an investment worth considering. Payment can be in the form of a cheque or credit on your bill depending on your electricity retailer.

Site conditions are vital to the system design and performance.

To gain maximum sun exposure in Australia, it is ideal to have panels facing north with little to no shading caused by nearby objects such as trees or buildings. However, this this is not essential as the system can be designed to accommodate different orientations and small amounts of shading. Building plans and satellite photos are good tools to estimate the amount of roof space and surrounding sources of shading.

Another consideration is the suitability of the roof surface area. Solar can be quickly and easily installed on tin and tiled rooves, while slate and asbestos are difficult and generally not used for solar installations.

A common concern of householders is the load bearing capability of their roof as the average solar panel weighs approximately 16 kilograms, but householders should be pleased to know that all roof types other than fibro, asbestos, or slate roof are suitable as the weight is evenly distributed across the roof. This means the majority of Aussie roofs can support a standard PV solar system.

As well as facing north, for maximum output your panels should be installed at an angle of 30 degrees from the horizontal. The pitch of a roof is normally anywhere from 5 degrees to 35 degrees, hence the roof pitch contributes to the final installed angle of the panels. Those lucky enough to have a roof pitch close to 30 degrees can have panels mounted flush with the roof surface, but a roof pitch less than 30 degrees is easily catered for with tilted framing. Tilt angle is important for orientating your system to collect maxium energy from sunlight. In Australia, the peak irradiance (energy from direct sunlight) is 1 kilowatt per square metre, lasting for four hours in Sydney. Tilt angle can affect the peak sunshine hours and irradiance, so it important to optimise during design.

Installation generally takes a day. The existing screw holes in the roof tiles or corrugated sheets are used to mount the panels. They can be fixed flush to the roof surface or be elevated at a desired tilt angle to improve system output. However, tilting will create shadowing between rows of panels thereby reducing the number of panels you can install in a given area. This is where design by a professional can ensure an optimal balance between using more panels with less tilting or having better tilting that puts more of your roof in shadow.

PV modules - Different types and sizes
There are several types of photovoltaic modules (or panels) currently on the market. They are made from one of three types of silicon: monocrystalline, polycrystalline, or amorphous. Monocrystalline are the most efficient whereas the performance of amorphous modules degrade quickly. However, if there is excessive shading on your roof, amorphous is more suitable as its output is not as greatly affected.

The size of a panel is determined by its rated peak output power in Watts (W). So a 200W module will provide more energy than an 180W module, over the same area, as it may contain more efficient solar cells.

In terms of system size, the industry will talk in terms of peak output power. For example, a 2kW PV solar system, consisting of ten 200W panels may be installed but the maximum actual power may only be 1.7kW. The real output is lower as it takes into account the total system efficiency, impacted by factors such as dirt on the panels, electrical losses in wiring, and the individual efficiencies of the panel technology and inverter.

Generating Electricity
Electricity generated by solar panels is direct current, or DC so for it to be compatible with the electricity distribution network and standard appliances, the electricity must be transformed to alternating current, or AC via an inverter before entering the grid.

As well as feeding the grid, the inverter characteristics can help the system design accommodate the difference in power generation caused by shading. This is achieved by power point trackers in the inverter and good wiring design. PPTs regulate the output of the panels so that they always operate at the maximum power allowable, ensuring inverter efficiency is about 95-98 per cent. Again, its important to design with these features in mind, and therefore important to use CEC accredited designers.

A warning
Take note, your energy provider may not be responsible for connecting the solar system to the grid. Responsibility of the grid belongs to the company that owns that section of the distribution network. This information should be available online or on your bill. The application process varies but a solar meter is provided (usually free of charge) and installed in your existing meter box. The power measured by this meter is that value you are credited with by the feed-in tariff. A good solar provider will include connection to the grid in their service, so be wary that cheaper quotes may not include this vital step.

Warranties
Installation guides and warranties for panels and the inverter should be provided by the installer in case of faults, but solar panels are known for their resilience. All CEC accredited panels can withstand hail (reasonable size ones - not like the cricket balls we experienced in prior years) and are cleaned by rain, although you can give them a hand by hosing them down once a year.

Generally the warranty period for solar panel material defects is up to five years. The warranty period with respect to power output is for a total of 25 years.
The warranty period for power output of panels is spread out. For example the first five years you may be guaranteed 95 per cent of the nominal power output, next seven years 90 per cent of the nominal power output and the balance of 13 years 80 per cent of the nominal power output. The breakdown periods and its corresponding efficiencies can vary greatly for different manufacturers, but monocrystalline PV will general have a guaranteed life of 20 years or more.

The warranty period for inverters is five to 10 years. This means your panels will outlast your inverter and so it will need to be replaced after a 10 year period. Inverters are a more active electronic devise than the panels and have the shorter lifetime as a result. One advantage of having to replace the inverter is that it allows for the system to be expanded in the future. The existing inverter will be sized for the current system, but if you are considering expanding the number of panels in the future, you could wait until the inverter needs replacing and then replace it with the larger inverter as well as add more panels.

Do your research
It pays to do some research before going ahead with a solar installation. Different electricity retailers are offering different rates for the Feed In Tariff (from $0.66/kWh to $.072/kWh), so swapping retailers could earn you more cash.

Be sure to collect quotes from a range of solar companies, and look out for costs not included in the quotes, such as connection to the grid.

Finally, once you have decided on the best system, you can sit back, relax and enjoy watching your investment silently making you clean, green, renewable power.

Wendy Truong and Edie Mather are sustainability engineers with Blue Green Engineering, Sydney

Orange trees shade public land in Seville, Spain

2 September 2010 - Human city-makers know less than ants when it comes to cooling and warming our cities.

When it knows (we don’t know how) the coming summer will be hot the meat ant gathers white and pale pebbles and carries them to cover the ground above its nest.  For cold winter time the ant replaces the pebbles with dark coloured pebbles.

In this way the little critters cool or warm their nest as the seasons vary the ground temperatures.

I’ve just seen ants carrying pebbles and doing this on a recent ABC video and explained by Auntie Fran of the D’harawal people, south of Sydney; it swept me away. (1)

And what do we humans do to cool down where we live, our cities?

Most of what we do increases the heat of our cities.

Red tape makers whack the private sector over the head with planning rules but ignore their own roads, schools, hospitals, freeways, train lines, harbour foreshores, esplanades and cover them in black tar, dark roofs and no trees.  Their own development drives up city temperatures by 6 to 10 degrees above what they would be if tree canopy, pale road and roof surfaces were kept.

A few trees are kept but canopy cover in Sydney, for example, is less than 5% compared to the 90% before we came here.

What’s to be done?

Presently, those folk ‘in charge’ aren’t really.  They have not the wit of ants and, even if they could grasp the abuse their works – well-intended though it may be - on our cities, lack the accountability and urgency to do anything to change their designs.  They answer to no one for the damage they do, the huge and avoidable air con costs their black roads foist on we victim citizens, the human deaths their oven-hot roads cause.

A circuit breaker is needed.

A long time ago in a galaxy far away, when I bought my first house in Gladstone, Qld, and planted some trees a worried-looking neighbour came out while I was putting them in.  “What are you putting those trees in for?”, he asked.

All around us the streets were buggered treeless forlorn grass verges, and stinking hot in summer.  Bob Dylan had my street in mind when he sang, “Desolation Row”.

“I thought it would be nice to get a bit of shade, give the birds a bit of tucker”, I replied.

“Mate”, he said, “trees are only good for dogs to piss on”.

“Well, I’ll just put these in and we’ll see how they go’, I said, seeking peace.

I didn’t venture that the dogs, whose numbers there far exceeded those of the trees, might be relieved to have few new trees to have a go at because it was unclear to me whether he had uppermost in mind the wellbeing of dogs or knocking my head off.

What’s the circuit breaker this story brings to mind?

Simply, that the time has come for some plain talking.

We need to tell our city-makers – local and state governments – to stop heating up our cities.  It’s time to say to them, “Trees are for cooling our cities, and to give us some tucker.  Don’t treat trees as something for dogs to piss on.’  They’d never use such language but the truth of their designs is that’s how they think and design and build.

Well, if the Reserve Bank can have a charter to keep inflation of our dollar economy within a measurable band of 2 to 5%, why not our city makers have something measurable, too?

Wouldn’t we like to see local and state governments obliged to so design roads, public infrastructure and facilities so that they will not increase summer temperatures at all, and certainly not by as much as the 6 to 8 degrees their works achieve in the current free for all they enjoy?

Let’s have a law this year that says: no rate increases, no increase in water or energy prices unless local and state governments first certify they have a plan to reduce city temperatures by at least 5 degrees by 2020.  And let’s require local and stage governments to be crafted so that those agencies who want our money from taxex must first protect our cities from increases in urban heat islands from any new works they carry out. Thus, the road agencies must be tied down with their expenditure so that all new roads will only be financed and built if the designers and proponents first certify the road will not increase city temperatures or add to the urban heat island.

Why not?

It’s our money, our taxes, our roads, our lives.

And the dogs will love it.

Michael Mobbs is a sustainability coach who works with developers, governments and communities to design and obtain approvals for houses, units and subdivisions. He is based in the inner Sydney suburb of Chippendale, where in 1996 he pioneered the conversion of his inner city terrace into a sustainable house, which has now been disconnected to mains water and sewerage and is powered by solar energy. www.sustainablehouse.com.au

(1) The message stick, ABC TV, Fran Bodkin – the hidden truth - http://www.abc.net.au/tv/messagestick/

GBCA chief executive Romilly Madew said that the agreement will help establish the Green Star tool as a best practice benchmark for sustainable community projects after a memorandum of understanding was agreed upon by every state and territory Government Land Organisation in Australia.

The GLOs are: Landcom (NSW); Landcorp (WA); VicUrban (VIC); Land Management Corporation (SA); Land Development Agency (ACT); Urban Land Development Authority (QLD); Hunter Development Corporation (NSW) and Land Development Corporation (NT).

“This joint sponsorship initiative is a strong sign of national leadership and commitment to a unified approach to the development of sustainable communities,” Ms Madew says.

“Many of these GLOs have already spent considerable time and money developing tools to assess the sustainability of their own projects. These tools, research and practical experiences will be invaluable as we work together to develop a truly national set of best practice benchmarks for the planning, design and delivery of sustainable community projects across Australia.”

Ms Madew says that the proposed rating tool has been scoped in close consultation with government and industry and its key characteristics have been documented in the Green Star - Communities draft tool scoping paper, which was released earlier this week.

The agreement follows the launch late last year of Landcom’s Precinx sustainability assessment
tool for neighbourhoods.

The Green Star – Communities National Framework can be downloaded here.

ALGA president Geoff Lake said that such a change to the constitution would help protect funding for local councils.

“This is absolutely fantastic news for councils, local communities and for improved cooperation between the three levels of government,” Mr Lake said.

“The inclusion of local government in the constitution is all about stable government. It is about removing the current uncertainty stemming from last year’s high court decision in Pape which has cast serious doubt on the power of the commonwealth to continue to provide funds directly to local government.

“Ratepayers should be protected from the threat of having to bail out their local council should a constitutional challenge of local funding prove successful and affect future funding. They could also face having to pay back all of the money previously received directly.”

Climate change has emerged as a key issue in determining which of Australia’s two major political parties forms government with the Independents. Renewable energy is high on the agenda, with at least two of the Independents and the Greens’ Adam Brandt pushing for increased investment in renewable energy.

Here we provide a detailed look at the highly regarded Zero Carbon Australia Stationary Energy Plan, recently released, which outlines a path to how Australia can move to 100 per cent renewable energy by 2020.

The Zero Carbon Australia Stationary Energy Plan, published recently by Beyond Zero Emissions, has received widespread support from eminent scientists, academics, industry leaders and energy sector businesses.

At the heart of the Plan is a strategy to move Australia away from a dependence on fossil fuels to 100 per cent renewable energy. The report debunks the argument so often put forward by critics that renewable energy can never supply baseload energy because it is unreliable and too expensive.

Mike Sandiford, Professor of Geology and director of the Melbourne Energy Institute at the University of Melbourne, which sponsored the report, describes the Zero Carbon Plan as ” an extraordinary and pragmatic roadmap to a new and more sustainable energy system in Australia, and ultimately our region.”

In an opinion piece on ABC’s The Drum Unleashed, Pablo Brait, director of strategic planning with Beyond Zero Emissions, described the motivation behind the report:

“The Zero Carbon Australia report is the culmination of 12 months of pro bono work by engineers, scientists and postgraduate university students, performing the research that no Australian government has been prepared to undertake.

“The result is a truly innovative collaboration the likes of which has never been seen before in Australia.

“It is a true failure of leadership that our elected representatives have not developed a comprehensive transition plan for the energy sector even though it is at the heart of climate change mitigation efforts. Instead it has been left to a group of concerned citizens to pick up the slack.”

Shifting from fossil fuels to renewables

The report proposes a complete shift away from fossil fuels, combined with increased energy efficiency:

“With a combination of energy efficiency, fuel switching from gas and oil to electrified energy services, then using a combination of commercially available renewable energy technologies, Australia’s energy needs can be met with 100 per cent renewables. Wind and concentrating solar thermal or CST, with molten salt storage are the two primary technologies used, with minimal contingency backup from biomass and existing hydro. Modelling on a half-hourly timescale shows that this combination can ensure 100 per cent reliable supply…..

“The ZCA2020 plan proposes a complete phase-out of all fossil fuels (natural gas, oil and coal), starting from 2011. By 2020, total Australian energy consumption is reduced to less than half of business as usual projections. This is the result of moving to a higher efficiency, zero carbon, electricity-based energy system that applies negative pressure on energy costs in the long term.”

The Plan would be implemented over a 10 year period and would require an annual investment of $37 billion or 3 per cent of GDP. The estimated funding cost, including generation and grid upgrades, would be equivalent to an additional 6.5 cents/kWh on delivered electricity. This represents an extra $8 per week per household, says the report, the same premium paid for Green Energy.

Under the plan, it is projected that 2020 grid electricity demand will be over 40 per cent higher than today, from 228TWh/yr up to 325TWh/yr:

“This increase in electricity demand is due largely to the switch of services currently provided by gas and oil to be supplied more efficiently with renewable electricity. The increase is significantly offset by ambitious but achievable electrical energy efficiency targets. This is more electricity demand than would be required under Business-As-Usual growth.

“To meet this demand, a combination of wind and solar thermal with storage is proposed as the primary electricity generation technologies. Biomass and hydro are utilised as contingency, supplying about 2per cent of annual electricity.”

The energy demand forecast is based on:

• Business As-Usual projections of energy consumption, driven by population growth, and growth in per-capita consumption
• Energy-efficiency improvements for existing electricity use, a cost- effective strategy that reduces the need to increase installed generating capacity
• A fuel switch from gas and oil for end-use applications to renewable electricity. Electrical systems for heating and transport can have significantly higher efficiency
•  Improved thermal insulation for buildings to flatten demand peaks and seasonal variations in demand, reducing the need for peak generators
• Energy supplied from onsite generation, which displaces grid electricity.

Energy Efficiency

An integral part of the Zero Carbon Plan is much greater energy efficiency. It assumes an energy efficiency gain of 33 per cent per capita compared to current energy services. This is an achievable target, the report says, and will bring Australia in line with other modern economies. Germany’s per capita energy use, for example, is currently 30 per cent less than Australia’s and will be further reduced over the next 20 years due to ongoing official government programs.

The report outlines the areas where energy efficiency would be improved:

“The ZCA2020 Plan calls for energy-efficiency measures to progressively reduce electricity used for current services. Examples include efficient appliances, improved building design, retrofitting insulation, double- and triple- glazing, as well as improved industrial efficiency.

The switch of end-use applications from gas and oil to electricity is expected to yield substantial efficiency gains and result in a reduction in total energy use. Key switched services include:

• Low-temperature gas heating (such as space and hot water) is replaced with highly efficient electrical heat pump heating, bringing an average gain in energy efficiency of around 3:1
• High-temperature heating applications (such as cooking, industrial processes) can be converted to induction or electric resistance heating. This is typically more efficient, with no losses from hot flue gases caused by fuel combustion
• Replacement of oil with electricity for cars, freight rail, and passenger rail transport brings a high gain in overall efficiency. This occurs partly through the inherent efficiency of electric motors (>80per cent) relative to internal combustion engines (<20per cent) and partly through a proposed modal shift to light and heavy rail for both passenger and freight.

Renewable energy technologies

The chosen renewable energy technologies in the Plan are a mix of wind turbines, concentrating solar thermal with storage, small-scale solar, and contingency capacity from biomass and existing hydroelectricity, as outlined below:

• Wind Turbines - wind generation is a key component because of its relatively low cost and industry maturity. Wind is proposed to meet 40 per cent of the total grid-connected demand
• Concentrating Solar Thermal - large-scale Concentrating Solar Thermal with molten salt storage offers reliable electricity 24 hours per day. Solar power towers are proposed because of their technological maturity, higher operating temperatures and efficiency compared to other technologies. CST is proposed to meet 60 per cent of the total grid-connected demand.
• Small-scale solar - small-scale solar photovoltaic power has a role in reducing the demand for grid electricity during sunlight hours. This in turn allows the CST plants to accumulate more stored energy for release at night
• Hydroelectric generators - existing hydroelectric generators have a useful role in providing first-dispatch backup and peaking power
• Biomass contingency - backup from crop-residual biomass for the CST plants offers energy security, protecting against occasions when a combination of low wind and low daily solar radiation occurs.

“The plants are located at sites around Australia that are selected for their wind availability, solar incidence, ability to support economies of scale, transmission costs, and geographical diversity‚ giving 23 sites for wind, and 12 sites for CST. Extra generation capacity is also costed for remote off-grid power generation.

Contingency will be provided by existing hydropower capacity, and from biomass fired heaters attached to some of the CST plants.”

Concentrating Solar Thermal – what is it?

Sixty per cent of the power under the Zero Carbon Plan is provided by Concentrating Solar Thermal (CST) with storage, which the report says will provide reliable, 24-hour dispatchable power through molten salt thermal storage. CST is described in the report:

“There are four main types of CST systems: power tower, dish, linear fresnel and parabolic trough systems. Power towers are selected for their high temperatures and efficiency, high year-round solar collection performance, and easy integration with molten salt thermal storage.

“Solar thermal power towers with storage have been proven at commercial scale during three years of operation of the Solar Two tower in the USA, from 1996 to 1999. There are a number of companies building and operating utility-scale solar thermal with storage around the world, including Torresol, SolarReserve and ACS Cobra.

“The proposed CST power towers consists of a central tower receiver surrounded by a field of 18,000 heliostats. The heliostats are two-axis tracking mirrors that follow the sun, reflecting focused sunlight on the receiver heating it to at least 565oC. Importantly, the ability of heliostats to track both the daily passage and seasonal elevation of the sun’s position in the sky means they have increased solar energy collection efficiency compared to systems with less tracking ability.

“The receiver is similar to conventional boiler tubes, except that instead of water as the working fluid, molten salt is used. The molten salt flows through the receiver accumulating thermal energy from the focus and then flows into the hot salt tank. When there is a demand for electricity, the hot molten salt is passed through a heat exchanger to generate high-temperature steam for the turbine. The steam spins the turbine to generate the required amount of electricity. The heat extracted from the molten salt cools it to 290oC (still molten), and it is returned to the cold tank where it waits to be pumped up the tower again for heating.”

The Plan specifies a number of inland CST plants with transmission cables carrying power to densely populated coastal areas. It also factors in the impact of seasonal solar variations, which it says can be mitigated by choosing a number of geographically diverse sites for CST plant locations.

The report dismisses arguments of renewable energy not being able to provide baseload power:

“These power towers are able to operate at 70-75per cent annual capacity factor, similar to conventional fossil fuel plants. They are capable of dispatching power 24 hours a day, and are as reliable as conventional ‘baseload’ power. Furthermore, they are in fact more flexible to meeting varying demand. The steam heat-exchange and turbine systems are specifically designed for rapid start up, allowing CST to balance changing electricity demand patterns, and providing ‘firming’ power to more variable wind generation.”

There are 12 CST sites in the Plan, each with an operational capacity of just over 3,500MW. On each site there would be13 CST power towers rated at 217 MW. In total, the land use for CST sites is estimated in the report to be 2,760km2, less than 0.04per cent of Australia’s total land mass. This, says the report, is less than the land area of the largest single cattle station, or about the size of Kangaroo Island. Water use in the CST plants is minimised by using air cooling, reducing the rated plant output by 1.3per cent, but requires only 12per cent of the water used in a conventional power station.

“The total CST water consumption is projected to be 0.4per cent of Australia’s total water consumption, significantly less than the water used by existing fossil fuel plants. A preliminary study of water resource availability at each of the 12 sites has found that there is ample water available for the proposed CST usage of 6.3GL/yr per site. Even in Kalgoorlie, mining activities currently use twice this.”

Wind power

The ZCA2020 Plan proposes that 40 per cent of Australia’s total estimated electricity demand be met by wind power. The plan takes into account the variable nature of wind power, and has allowed for 15 per cent of the combined rated capacity (50,000 MW) of all wind generators installed across the country to be considered ‘firm’ wind output. This ‘firm’ wind output is as reliable as conventional baseload power, the report says. It goes on to explain the role of wind power in the Plan:

“To supply 130TWh/yr from wind power, 50,000MW of wind capacity is proposed. This requires the construction of an additional 48,000MW of wind turbines on top of Australia’s 2010 wind capacity. We propose that 6,400 high quality, technologically advanced 7.5MW wind turbines be utilised. E126 Enercon turbines are specified as they are currently the only commercially available 7.5MW turbines. Large turbine sizes enables the extraction of more energy from a given site by tapping into stronger and more consistent wind resource at higher altitudes.

“The Plan proposes 23 sites for wind power, each consisting of either 2,000 or 3,000 MW of turbines. The geographically dispersed wind sites exploit the diversity in weather systems that occur simultaneously across the Australian continent and counter localised wind variability.

Attempts have been made to select wind sites according to highest average winter wind speeds rather than highest average annual speeds, to accommodate the projected winter peak.

According to the report, wind power integrates well with CST, because CST has storage that can readily dispatch power, providing back-up for wind power during lows in energy production. Similarly, periods of high wind output offset CST electricity production, and allow the CST plants to direct more heat to storage for later use.

Biomass and hydroelectric backup

To insure against the possibility of simultaneous cloud cover over several of the CST sites coinciding with a period of low wind and high demand, the Plan uses a system of biomass co-firing of the CST plants to ensure energy security. The proposed system incorporates a simple biomass- fired thermal heater alongside the molten salt tanks at the actual CST sites. Biomass is burnt, and the energy used to heat the molten salt reservoirs, so that the existing steam power cycle, turbine and transmission can be utilised.

Hydroelectric backup is also included in the Plan but is limited as outlined below:

“A combination of 5 GW of existing hydro capacity and 15 GW electrical equivalent of biomass-fired backup heaters will be sufficient to ensure reliable supply of electricity even at times of low wind and solar radiation at several power plants/sites. ZCA2020 does not propose additional hydro dams in Australia. Future work will investigate the feasibility of upgrading existing hydro dams to pumped storage hydro for long-term seasonal supply, which would replace biomass backup.

A new national grid

The zero carbon Plan also proposes a comprehensive upgrade to Australia’s electricity grid to allow full utilisation of the distributed renewable energy network. Creation of the new national grid would require four main upgrades to the existing grid at a total cost of $92 billion. These include:

1. “Plug in” connections from proposed power generators to the electricity grid

2. Interconnection of the three main existing grids

3. Transmission upgrade of existing grids to provide resilience and reinforcement.

4. More active demand-side load management

The Plan also allows for reduced energy demand because of conversion of gas heating to efficient electric heat pumps and building efficiency programs. Peak demand would be reduced through active load management using SmartGrid systems.

The feasibility of the new transmission network outlined in the Plan is backed up by a review by engineering firm Sinclair Knight Merz, which found:

“The transmission scenario proposed is technically feasible in terms of capacity and reliability. In addition, the proposed transmission uses mature technology with proven capability around the world.”

More jobs

According to the modelling used in the Plan, many more jobs are created with the construction of a 100 per cent renewable energy grid than are lost with the phasing out of coal and gas. The report estimates the Zero Carbon Plan will create up to 80,000 jobs from installation of renewable energy generation at the peak of construction, and over 45,000 jobs in operations and maintenance that will continue for the life of the plant. If half the manufacturing for wind turbines and heliostats is done domestically, this would also create up to 30,000 jobs in manufacturing.

The report concludes:

“The ZCA2020 Stationary Energy Plan outlines a fully costed and detailed blueprint for transforming Australia’s energy sources to 100 per cent renewable supply. This is achievable using technology that is commercially available today, with no technical barriers to their deployment.

Implementing the proposed infrastructure in ten years is well within the capability of Australia’s existing industrial capacity. The required investment is the equivalent of a stimulus to the economy of 3 per cent of GDP. 100 per cent renewable energy in ten years is achievable and necessary, ensuring Australia’s energy security, national security and economic prosperity for the future. Australia has some of the best renewable energy resources in the world, and should be positioning itself as a leader in the emerging renewable energy economy. What is required to make this happen is leadership from policymakers and society, with firm decisions made quickly that will allow this transition to occur.”

To read the full Zero Carbon Australia Stationary Energy Plan click here.

Victorian Premier John Brumby said that the $30 million funding boost will support the development of alternative energy technologies, including $5 million for projects in the Latrobe Valley.

“This initiative is about partnering with industry to develop the technologies needed for the future to deliver clean energy for Victorian households,” Mr Brumby said.

“The funding will be available for parties interested in developing pilot-scale demonstration projects or research and development proposals for sustainable energy technologies in areas such as solar, wave, geothermal and bio-energy.”

Mr Brumby said the Office of Solar Energy would bring the state’s solar initiatives together under one umbrella.

“This new office will become the first point of contact for industry, small business, the community and educational institutes looking for information about Victoria’s solar potential and work already underway,” Mr Brumby said.

The Green Building Council of Australia chief executive of the GBCA Romilly Madew welcomed the move but said more needed to be done if the state was to achieve its commitment of a 20 per cent cut in emissions by 2020.

“The Brumby Government continues to demonstrate strong leadership in the area of climate change, and we welcome the government’s willingness to partner with industry to produce and operate technologies which accelerate the development of renewable energy options,” Ms Madew said.

“We do believe that more work needs to be done if Victorians are to cut their emissions by at least 20 per cent by 2020. Residential and commercial buildings are responsible for 23 per cent of Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions, which means that buildings should be a top priority for government action.

“There is a wealth of research that supports our message - that buildings represent the single largest opportunity for greenhouse gas abatement, outstripping the energy, transport and industry sectors combined. With the right policy support, green building can be a cost-effective solution to the nation’s climate change challenges,” she said.

Easton Town Center, Columbus OH

The Five Stages of Grief

By Michael Baker

This series of articles by retail analyst Michael Baker explores a retail format that is far more sustainable than its energy guzzling cousins at the mall.

In her famous 1969 book, entitled “On Death and Dying”, Elizabeth Kübler-Ross identified the five stages of grief through which people typically go in dealing with personal tragedy: denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance.

Retail developers also have their five stages of grief, which relate not to tragedy but to the threat of new competition.  These five stages all have to be negotiated by traditional mall developers in the fight against town centre projects.

In America, developers have long worked their way through the five.

Stage 1, as in the Kübler-Ross model, is “denial.”  In this instance, it’s denial that the new format is going to be rolled out at all because “consumers will not accept it.”

Stage 2 is “obstruction.”  Since it now does look like it will happen after all, attempt to thwart and frustrate the innovators by using the planning and legal systems, for example by attempting to make it difficult to acquire sites.

Stage 3 is “skepticism.”  You’ve had limited success in Stage 2 and not enough to ensure the defeat of the new concept.  So it’s time to just reassure yourself that the new format won’t achieve enough scale to be a serious competitive threat, or that it will fail for other reasons such as lack of climate control or inadequate demographics.

Stage 4 is “acceptance.”  The concept is found to have some compelling merits after all and has gained traction with consumers, who now prefer to shop at the new format than at your place.  It’s time to stop denying it and just accept.  And while you’re accepting, you’d better get cracking now and incorporate the new format into your own business model.

Stage 5 is “ownership.”  You are now successfully building and operating the new concept yourself and it’s time to start taking ownership of it by claiming that it was all your idea from the beginning.

Truth be told, the US developers went through a couple more stages involving completely dumping all enclosed mall development in favour of town centre developments, and then massively embellishing the town centre model itself until it has been disfigured beyond all recognition.

But we don’t need to get into that right now.

Where are Australia’s developers on their journey through these five stages of grief?  Certainly they have gotten as far as Stage 3 but have not quite yet moved on to Stage 4, acceptance.

The principal reason for dallying on Stage 3 is that so far there are few or no genuine town centre projects on the ground in Australia to act as role models for further development of the concept..  Execution of the projects that are extant has not been that great.

A tent in a hurricane is as strong as its weakest moment.  Likewise, the weak link in a retail concept can be its complete undoing.  It could be that the town square is too small and poorly designed, the restaurants too few in number, too unappealing or in the wrong places, the fashion brands boring, the scale too large, the parking inadequate or poorly located, or any number of things.

Consumers are not particularly forgiving and although many in the retail industry still say that “location, location, location” is everything, the reality is that the best location in the world is worthless without good concept execution.

So Australia needs some good town centre prototypes, but before it can get to that it needs to settle some arguments, largely spurious, that are standing in the way of getting to square one.

The development community usually bases its objections to town centre developments on three planks:

1.    Open-air shopping is not preferred by consumers, particularly during the seasonal extremes of summer and winter when air conditioning or heating are essential for a comfortable shopping environment
2.    Town centres are upscale concepts that only work in upscale neighbourhoods
3.    Town centres are “open” concepts in the sense that they are integrated with their surroundings and permit the free flow of pedestrians from the shopping centre to the adjacent neighbourhoods.  This is inconsistent with the successful shopping centre economic model, which depends on “capturing” consumers in an inward-facing and effectively sealed envelope.

Each of these arguments has merit yet there is compelling evidence that they are at best overblown, at worst completely wrong.  Since there are so few reference points in Australia it is useful again to look at examples in America, where consumer research and the ringing of the register has often suggested a clear preference for town centres over enclosed malls.  The open-air formats have worked in hot and cold climates, and in trade areas with high-end demographics and more moderate income profiles.

Arguably one of the best and most successful town centre developments ever built, Easton Town Center, is in Columbus, Ohio, hardly the sort of place you associate with toney demographics and a balmy climate.  Since it isn’t on the tourist trail few Australian shopping centre professionals ever go there.  Perhaps they should.

Easton, built and operated by Steiner + Associates and now 11 years old, is in a master class, thanks to its outstanding implementation of shopping centre economic principles, an emphasis on casual dining concepts and superb execution of public spaces with greenery, water features and street furniture.  Its sales density runs about one-third higher than the US average for traditional regional shopping centres.  This, in a place where the summers are hot and muggy and the winters are long, with temperatures typically hovering around 0 degrees Celsius.

The argument that town centres can’t make it in areas where climate can be extreme has literally dozens of examples to contradict it.  Easton Town Center is just one.  Over in Philadelphia where the winters are similar to Columbus, the Suburban Square town centre development continues to thrive.  It just celebrated its 75th birthday.

For examples in hot climates you can try any one of the fabulous smorgasbord of town centres in south Florida, such as CityPlace, Mizner Park or Coconut Point.  Or look around southern California, where you’ll find Gardens on El Paseo, Bella Terra and Victoria Gardens.

If you are still not satisfied, try scorching hot Phoenix where the average temperature for the three summer months is 40 degrees Celsius, which is higher than any Australian state capital.  Open-air town centre developments there include Desert Ridge Marketplace, Tempe Marketplace and Kierland Commons.  Kierland has a sales density approximately 75 per cent higher than the US average for regional centres and is widely regarded as a poster child for the town centre genre.

If the climatic argument doesn’t work, developers who are at Stage 3 in the five stages of grief frequently fall back on demographics to make their case.  It is observed by some of them that US town centres tend to work best in upscale neighbourhoods.

This is often true but again there are too many exceptions to make the argument stick – Easton Town Center, Bay Street Emeryville in Oakland, Englewood CityCenter in Colorado, Winter Park Village in Florida, the list goes on.

No one would argue that American and Australian consumers are identical in their preferences but there is too much evidence that town centres will work well if they are executed well.

The challenge then for the development and planning communities in Australia is to work together effectively, using good prototypes, to design and build something that emulates the best of the town centre genre.  Then, developers will finally get to Stage 4 of the five stages of grief, and who knows, stage 5 may be closer than you think.

Michael Baker is a Sydney-based retail property analyst and consultant. He is a former research director of the New York-based International Council of Shopping Centers. Contact: Mbakerconsult@gmail.com or www.mbaker-retail.com

Bob Katter

By Tina Perinotto

September 2010 - Making the most astounding headlines today was Bob Katter, one of the three key Independents who are deciding the future of this country, with his statement on ABC radio that two of giants of climate change Nicholas Stern and Australia’s Ross Garnaut were “lightweight” and “stupid.”

The remarks came as Labor and the Greens announced agreement on a number of issues including a multi-party, expert Climate Change Committee in a prospective Labor Government.

Green and climate groups welcomed the Climate Change Committee, but Opposition Leader Tony Abbott promptly renamed the committee the Carbon Tax Committee.

At least the major parties were now drawing a more clear demarcation along climate change lines. Or were they?

As Climate Institute chief executive officer John Connor pointed out to The Fifth Estate today, Abbott has backed a renewable energy target, which has an “effective” carbon price of $15 a tonne. But of course this is no time to highlight such an inconvenient matter.

How confusing can things get?

Mr Katter, whom we are sorely tempted to refer to now as the Mad Hatter - after so many journalists solemnly, declared he was not as unbalanced as his 10 gallon cowboy hat suggests - today said he simply does not “agree” with the climate scientists and their opinions backed by major reports from Nicholas Stern and Ross Garnaut. As if the climate science is a matter of opinion.

“I think their positions are fairly lightweight,” he told AM.

“I’ve heard their viewpoint many times, and I simply disagree with them dramatically.

“Just to indicate how stupid those people are, there is a very unassailable scientific case that there will be a problem arising in the oceans. They don’t mention that.”

Demonstrating remarkable sense of balance and calmness, Mr Connor said that Katter had some fairly passionate views about renewable energy but simply hasn’t made the connection with a carbon price yet - which he avowedly rejects.

“We met yesterday [on Tuesday]with [Tony] Windsor and [Rob] Oakshott and briefly with Bob Katter and had an hour and a half of discussion. Katter is a big supporter of renewable energy and he’s concerned about the acidification of the oceans and he wants to rein in pollution,” Connor says.

“At the end of the day he is a big supporter of a clean energy corridor between Mt Isa and Townsville. And regional Australia has so much to benefit from harvesting clean energy.”

At the same time, Mr Katter speaks passionately against a carbon price, Mr  Connor said.

What’s still missing is “an understanding that without a price tag on pollution we’re not going to get investment in those energy sources. It’s part of the engagement he and others need to have,” said Connor, demonstrating calmness and balance in counterpoint to Mr Katter’s wild remarks.

“Don’t expect that to happen overnight.”

But who will run the country? Surely the Independents will side with their heavily conservative climate change-denying constituents and we will end up with no climate action at all?

Connor, preaching what he practices says:  “It’s very important we take a chill pill and let the Independents work their way through the issues.”

It seems Labor was finally getting the message on climate change, judging by today’s announcement. It might also have been spurred by the Climate Institute exit poll, which showed that a third of The Greens vote would have gone to Labor if Labor had not delayed an emissions trading scheme.

Mr Connor agreed it was a case of a “pox on both your houses,” in response to a “no content - no outcome” election.

Mr Connor today also formally welcomed the agreement between the Labor Party and The Greens for a Climate Change Committee.

He said that Australia’s “pollution politics” had become mired in scare campaigns and misinformation and a new approach was urgently needed.

“Enshrining an independent Climate Change Commission, can help pull action on pollution and climate change out of the political quagmire,” he said.

The Australian Conservation Foundation executive director Don Henry also welcomed the Committee and said it should legislate for a price on carbon.

This would herald increased investment in sustainable energy in rural Australia where he said a majority of Australians are in favour of such a measure, he said.

“Just as world-renowned climate economist Lord Nicholas Stern said today in Canberra, a price on carbon is fundamental to action on climate change.

“An Auspoll survey conducted in June found 70 per cent of Australians support putting a price tag on pollution.”

Greens Deputy Leader, Senator Christine Milne, pointed out that The Greens supported many benefits for rural Australia.

“The Greens are growing rapidly across regional Australia, winning votes from farmers and many former National Party constituents, because we have a positive vision for the bush while the Nationals offer only scare campaigns harking back to a past long gone,” Milne said.

“Unlike the Nationals, the Greens want to deliver the NBN, providing communications, health and education benefits for people across regional Australia, as well as a food security plan that protects prime agricultural land, and much more.”

The Fifth Estate- sustainable property news

“We can’t wait for the future.”

NAWIC’s NSW Chapter President Bridgeen Rocks praised both winners for their contributions towards promoting women working in the construction industry.

“Both Tony Costantino and Marianne Foley are worthy winners of the Crystal Vision Award,” Ms Rocks said.

“Tony is committed to being a role model and mentor for advancing and furthering the interests of women, which is evident through his active participation in initiatives such as the Diversity Council, ensuring a strong level of female representation in his senior management team and the time and dedication he has displayed in the career development of a number of women.

“Marianne is passionate about actively promoting gender diversity within Arup and the industry. Marianne is influential through the use of her management leadership skills and technical expertise. We are delighted to celebrate the contribution of industry leading men and women who share NAWIC’s vision - to promote the contribution of women working in the construction industry.”

Other award winners included:

• Mia Feasey, Siren Design
  CB Richard Ellis Business Woman of the Year Award

• Melissa Chandler, Bovis Lend Lease                                                                                                                                                                                     Brookfield Multiplex Award for Contribution to a Project’s Development

• Bovis Lend Lease                                                                                                                                                                                                                 Master Builders Association NSW & Clinton Recruitment Award for Innovation - Team

• Alicia Maynard, St Hilliers
  Baulderstone Award for Contribution to Sustainability

• Kathleen Crone, Broadcast Builder
  Bovis Lend Lease Scholarship for Future Leaders

• Sophie Poole, Baulderstone
  Leighton Contractors Award for Achievement in Construction, Refurbishment and Fitout

• Kathy Franklin
  Stockland Award for Innovation in Design

• Monica Senff                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   Acoustic Logic Consultancy Tradesperson Scholarship

• Elizabeth Fensom, University of Sydney
  NAWIC University Scholarship

Following is the AS Hook Memorial Address delivered by Australian Institute of Architects 2009  Gold Medalist, Ken Maher.

FAVOURITES: 29 October 2009 - I believe designing in the future will need to be an organic process, an ecological process, where landscape and nature are integrated and interpreted.

This will be a critical to the profession facing the challenges of climate change, resources depletion, increased urbanisation, inequity and poverty, and of course the recent global financial crisis. Following is the full text of Professor Maher’s speech, delivered at Tusculum, the Australian Institute of Architects’ Sydney headquarters on 27 October.

Over the years I have highly valued the role and significance of the Institute. For me it is best characterised by one of its somewhat rebellious founders John Horbury Hunt, who described its purpose as: “assiduous cultivation of the art, the science, the literature and the honourable practice of architecture“.

I have been genuinely overwhelmed by the honour of being awarded the 2009 AIA Gold Medal, and the opportunity to give the A S Hook Address tonight. This recognition for me is a reflection of the support, permission, tolerance, friendship, and creativity of many people who have made my work possible and my life in architecture a stimulating and enjoyable adventure.

I believe architecture and design to be a potent force in our culture, and in our daily lives, one which can enrich human experiences and uplift the spirit,  yet one hugely under-rated.  Interestingly, we are now poised at a critical turning point for the way we live and use the finite resources on our planet, so the opportunity for architecture and design to reshape the future is greater than ever before.

Public responsibility

If we are to have a civilised society, then as writer David Malouf notes, we need…

‘the capacity to make a distinction between what belongs in the way of loyalty, to clan, or sect or family, and what the demands of neighbourliness, what belongs to our individual and personal lives and what we owe to res publica or common-wealth, the life we share with others“.

For me the Institute represents the public role and responsibility of architects in their considerable potential to contribute to the public good.  It is a place also for the profession to collectively express ideas and stimulate debate in the public interest.

Architecture is a very public art. This view is shared by a number of friends in the profession in Sydney, and was reinforced just recently by Philip Thalis in his 2009 Paul Reed lecture at UNSW, where he reminded us of Mendes da Rocha’s assertion that architecture can address the needs of the population “in ways that can be public, democratic, free, enlightening and positive“.

I propose to broaden this focus beyond architecture to encompass one of collaborative and multi-disciplinary design in the public interest, a focus that I believe will be essential in facing the future.

We live in challenging times in the face of climate change, resources depletion, increased urbanisation, inequity and poverty, and of course the recent global financial crisis.

My reflections are founded on optimism in our human capacity for change, a belief in the human spirit, a passion for the value of design thinking, and above all an enthusiasm for the collective wisdom we can develop as a society, in the face of substantial and seemingly insurmountable challenges.

Collaborative practice

In whatever I have done to be considered for this award, it has only been possible with incredible support from many wonderful people, be it in my personal life, my work or in my more public activities.

Their support, permission, tolerance, friendship, and creativity have made my work possible and my journey a stimulating and enjoyable adventure.

I also want to especially acknowledge my partners and colleagues and collaborators from HASSELL, who have provided the platform for my professional life over the past 15 or so years in such a generous and rewarding way.

It is my privilege to be the third generation of architects from HASSELL to receive this award, with Jack McConnell, who was a fine early modernist, receiving the Gold Medal in 1970, and John Morphett, who developed a strong culture of multi-disciplinary collaboration within HASSELL, being awarded in 2000.

For a practice committed to a strong design culture and continuity this recognition over time is indeed significant.

A life in architecture and design has been a great privilege and a great joy. It is a life with much more to offer in the future. Like many architects, I suspect, I am in it for the long haul - always optimistic regarding the unknown potential of the next project.  For me it is more a passion than a career.

I have been sustained by a passion for design: in the process of creating; the act of realising projects; and the advocacy of the value of design to others.

Design thinking

As people, and as architects, we are shaped by our experiences through life:  by the physical world we inhabit; by people we encounter; and, consequently by the values we adopt. My comments will explore these intertwining influences on my thinking.

An interest in the relationship between architecture and nature, and the impact on the human condition is not new, and indeed a number of experiences I had as a student have demonstrated this.
In my second year my understanding of architecture was ignited through attending a student convention in Perth, where I was exposed to the enlightened thinking of Team 10 members as well as the hypnotic mantra of Buckminster Fuller.  I was inspired.

Van Eyke’s humanism made a significant and lasting impression on me, as expressed in his observation that: “to come face to face with the phenomena of human beings is what the study of architecture should really do …bring you face to face with yourself and your fellow men“.
As young students at that time we were extremely engaged by Bucky Fuller’s mesmerising and poetic ramblings which placed architecture as invention, introduced the notion of “doing more with less” and celebrated the potential of the human mind. Fullers’ focus on the universal, and the “regenerative” aspect of architecture was influential.

Reinforcing this awakening was the teaching of Bill Lucas, my most influential design studio tutor and mentor during my undergraduate studies, and also an admirer of Fuller. Bill was a radical thinker, an idealist always on the brink of discovering the truth about life and the universe, a designer as inventor with incredible economy of means and the ability to question everything and to work at the “edge of the possible“. His significance to the profession is greatly under-rated.

Another turning point for me came from a second convention. In 1971 the RAIA staged a prescient event focussed on the challenges to our built world and the emerging environmental crisis.  Architects, scientists, ecologists, economists and sociologists came together to discuss “The Consequences of Man”.
This convention was my first direct exposure to Ian McHarg, with his evangelical zeal and profound message regarding man’s relationship with nature.  He suggested there was no environmental crisis - just a crisis of man.
“The remedy lies not with nature but with man…he must understand the way the world works… he must become a husbandman and a steward.”

His message is more than ever one for us now.  At that time it led me to study landscape architecture and later environmental studies in a search to better understand the broader context of architecture.

I am influenced by great traditions and continuity of thought in architecture.

Vitruvius’ simple yet profound principles of  “ firmness, commodity and delight” from Roman times still hold true to me. Although, our contemporary culture, social conditions, materials, and means all call for new interpretations in architecture we make. With each project differing aspects of these dimensions of architecture are explored.

Urbanisation

The 21^st century has been characterised as the century of cities. Only last year for the first time in history more than half the world’s population live in cities. In the next 50 years 10 million more people will live in Australian cities. In the next 20 years 350 million more people will live in cities in China.

Cities are undergoing a paradigm shift as they become the focus globally of cultures and economies. In this transformation there just may be a chance to remedy some of the failures of the past - the retreat from public values, the commoditisation of architecture and the privatisation of public space.

As works of design cities represent a fusion of art and science, of nature and artifice, as do individual works of architecture which contribute to the collective experience. Achieving a balance in these elements is critical, and is only possible through the process of design.
Cities fail if they are not civilising and sustaining in a spiritual sense, if they don’t stimulate the senses and provide the platform for enriching emotional experiences.  If they are to be worthy they demand more than mere functional expediency.

Cities demand the investment of creativity and passion in their making, and a greater level of engagement in this process by our community and political leaders. If we don’t get the design and reality of our cities right, then not only will our communities and our societies fail, but so might the life on our planet.

At our present rate of consumption and emissions they will fail regardless. So the issue of architecture and design is critical, and this starts at the building blocks of our cities - architecture and public spaces. In this context clearly works of architecture can no longer be considered in isolation from the natural or built context they occupy.

Climate change

In recent years we have learnt much about the consequences of human habitat on our planet.  While these issues have been of interest in the scientific community for a long time, they have only relatively recently been the focus of public, and consequently, political interest.

The now undeniable impact of climate change is generally accepted as a reality, even by the sceptics - earlier this year the conclusions from the G20 Copenhagen summit have accentuated the accelerating pace of change, and indeed Australia’s poor record of response, while we await the outcome of December’s summit with concern.

When we also take into account the depletion of natural resources, with peak oil supply upon us, and the increase in population and rapid urbanisation, we realise just what a challenge we have in designing and managing our built world, and in particular our cities to ensure their relevance into the future.

Changing values
Of course we now also have the global financial crisis to deal with, and with it the possibility of putting at risk strategies addressing our emerging environmental and cultural crises.

New York Times columnist Thomas Freidman recently observed: “Let’s today step out of the normal boundaries of analysis of our economic crisis and ask a radical question: what if the crisis of 2008 represents something much more fundamental than a deep recession? What if it’s telling us that the whole growth model we created over the last 50 years is simply unsustainable economically and ecologically and that 2008 was when we hit the wall – when mother nature and the market both said: ‘no more’.”
This crisis is indeed an opportunity to challenge many orthodoxies in how we live and work, as well as the way we design our cities.

A renewed future

Design is about imagining and inventing a future yet unknown. Design is about inspiration and desire, and if we are to engage our communities in desiring a better, a more sustainable future, rather than in the guilt of a more constrained future, then design thinking is essential.

The challenge for the design professions is to turn attitudes around by advocacy and demonstration, so the real value of design is better understood by our communities and our politicians.

In our current time with the dual challenges of climate change and the global financial crisis we clearly need to invent a renewed future. This will call for a change in political priorities.

We need to act quickly, but as the frenetic pace of development has recently slowed down, we have an important opportunity. It is time to reflect and following reflection to act.

The modern movement in 20^th century architecture was full of hope.  Its dream to liberate humanity through technology has failed.  Despite its genesis in socialism and aspirations to provide a better society, it has not resulted in architecture that resonates for, or is accepted by our communities.  This could in part be due to the retreat from collaboration on the part of many architects. For designing better cities is definitely not going to be achieved by architects alone. As a profession arrogance will not serve us well.

Sustaining cities

In order to reinvigorate our architectural culture I think we need a new paradigm for design, and perhaps we are on the edge of its discovery.

The time is right - especially given the renewed interest in urban policy being expressed by the Rudd government. The issues of cities must sit in our broad political framework and cannot be addressed by local and state governments alone - it is a collective responsibility.

It was heartening to note in a recent speech by Minister Anthony Albanese titled Building 21st Century Cities’ - Supporting the Development of a National Urban Policy, to hear him declare:

“The need to pay attention to the state of our cities is more urgent than ever…the cost of living, our  egalitarian culture, our economic productivity as communities, our sanity, our very way of life, in fact all of these are at stake.”

Minister Albanese went on to acknowledge that we have the knowledge and technology to address these issues - all we lack is the right leadership from government and business.

Much work is emerging in the field of sustainable urbanism, including ‘Resilient Cities’ - a recent book by Peter Newman and colleagues setting out an agenda for what they term “Cities of Hope”, as opposed to “Cities of Fear”.
Newman, in drawing on the observations of Hargroves and Smith, suggests that just as successive waves of industrialisation and innovation have shaped our cities, from the invention of iron through to more recent biotechnology, with the end of cheap oil we are entering the 6^th wave where new resource production, bio-mimicry, and new sustainable technologies will inform the future, and with this Newman advocates a vision for more resilient cities.
Deep design

In creating more sustainable cities in the future I believe we need to move beyond the conspicuous consumption and evident greed that leads to great imbalances in our societies.  We need to replace a present reality, where we seem to live to produce, consume and to waste.

This will require a new view of architecture and urbanism, a new way of designing - what I would term “deep design” - with a focus on the ecology of design and an unselfish creative expression. We need to adopt a more intelligent and informed way of thinking and designing with the public interest or the true common-wealth in mind.

Some reforms will only be achieved by political processes - energy policy, transportation strategies, housing strategies, carbon tax and carbon trading, and the like.

However some significantly are about design - how we arrange spaces and buildings in a more responsive and inventive way. Without this real change will not occur. Through making more effective urban spaces, more integrated urban environments, better arrangement of activities and, importantly, new architectural and urban space typologies, we can make a real difference to people’s lives and our cities.

Design ecology

I believe designing in the future will need to be an organic process, an ecological process, where landscape and nature are integrated and interpreted.

We need new design ecology, reaching beyond economics, or physics, to embrace human senses and emotions, to define an architecture that reflects life at a deeper level, or in Gideon’s words, “The interpretation of a way of life valid for our period“.
Architecture is a social art, and its legacy stands without excuse. So perhaps we can optimistically look forward to a new urban responsibility, with architecture serving a collective interest rather than an egocentric one.  Here we will need to return to the inspiration of nature.

I believe that architects and designers have a significant role to play in recapturing the spirit more recently lost from our cities -  not only through the quality of our own work but also through raising public awareness of the possibilities for a better, more ecological city that also sustains the human spirit.
We need to, and can inspire change. This is an exciting prospect for architects and designers, and for an equitable, humane and engaging future.

Our top stories for the month ending 31 August 2010.

1. News From The Front
2. Lend Lease Solar has very big ambitions
3. CBD energy ratings: how your building compares
4. People and Jobs
5. Lend Lease’s solar tilt - another leap onto the bright side
6. News from the front desk: Issue No 35
7. Sydney could soon have a Frank Gehry building of its own
8. Demand grows worldwide for BlueGen gas-to-electricity cell
9. Jobs and job news
10. News from the front desk: Issue No 34
11. Cundall Google Map of NABERS and Green Star rated buildings, updated
12. Lend Lease sustainability team jumps to the power of three
13. The lighting is everything
14. China – lessons for Australia in sustainable cities
15. What’s On - the latest delights, education and entertainment
16. Lighting case study: Local Government Super backs new improved T8
17. Mandatory disclosure – suddenly CBD has a whole new meaning

Cut and paste the title into our search engine to find the story

by Lynne Blundell

GPT's 111 Eagle Street features an organic structural frame and high performance fully glazed facade

FAVOURITES - 1 October 2009 - The construction of GPT’s sustainable office tower at 111 Eagle St Brisbane is another vote of confidence in the ability of premium sustainable buildings to attract tenants in difficult economic times.

The building, touted to be one of Australia’s most sustainable office developments when it is completed in 2011, is one of a handful of major developments to have gone ahead during the global credit crunch. It is one of the very few to go ahead without pre-commitments.

Its sustainability credentials will ensure its success, say its owners.

Designed by architects Cox Rayner with engineering company Arup, the building is targeting a 6 star Green Star rating.

It features an organic structural frame and a high-performance fully glazed façade, maximising the Brisbane River views. Another key feature is the building’s flexible floor plates.

GPT is developing the site jointly with the GPT Wholesale Office Fund and an existing external capital partner. The three partners are jointly funding the development to completion, at an estimated total cost of approximately $600 million (including the land).

Leighton Contractors was awarded the design and construction contract and began construction in May 2008, with completion expected in late 2011.

According to Tony Cope, head of office with the GPT Group, a key consideration for going ahead with such a development in the current market is whether the owner/developer is investing for the long term, or not. Another is the building’s positioning, both geographically and in terms of building quality.

GPT is a long term investor, says Cope, and in proceeding with 111 Eagle Street, is counting on the worldwide flight to quality, sustainable buildings.

The building’s location in Brisbane’s so-called Golden Triangle is a key factor. Currently there are only three premium grade buildings in the Brisbane CBD – Riverside (also owned by GPT), Riparian and Waterfront. All have 10 year leases and around one per cent vacancy rate.

Tony Cope: "Brisbane still has the fastest growing population and a shortage of land in the CBD for development - it will be desperate for another premium, sustainable building in 2011.

And while the vacancy rate for the commercial sector nationally is forecast to be 10 to 11 per cent next year, for premium buildings it will be much lower, says Cope.

“We are looking through the cycle to the other side. There is very little premium stock available and Brisbane has the demographics to support more. The CBD is also geographically restricted regarding expansion so over supply is unlikely.”

The project is GPT’s only speculative project in the current market. Other projects the company completed recently include Workplace6 fully leased to Google and Accenture as tenant, 545 Queen St in Brisbane (redeveloped by APH Properties) with 2,100 sqm left to lease out of 39,000 sqm, and 28 Freshwater Place which is 80 per cent leased. All of these, says Cope, happened when “the bottom fell out of the market.”

One major benefit of constructing during a downturn, says Cope, is lower prices for both labour and materials and much better service from contractors and consultants.

GPT has also been careful not to overestimate the rents it can achieve when the building is released to the market in 2011. This is crucial to ensuring the project’s financial viability during uncertain economic times, says Cope.

The company is anticipating a gross face rent in the mid $700 range per sqm. This compares to recent rents for premium buildings of $1100-1200 and current rents of $1,000.

“Our financiers were confident to back it. Brisbane still has the fastest growing population, it has a shortage of land in the CBD for development and it will be desperate for another premium, sustainable building in 2011.”

Key features

• 63,000 sqm of premium space over 54 levels, plus ground floor lobby, plant and basement levels
• large unrestricted side core campus-style floor plates up to 1,500 sqm
• river views
• external glass lifts
• parking for over 100 cars
• approximately 200 sqm of retail space

Sustainability features

The building has been designed to achieve a 6 star Green Star rating. Key environmental initiatives include:

• chilled beam technology
• temperature control zones
• large amounts of natural light through full height glazing and floor-to-ceiling heights of three metres at the perimeter
• high efficiency glazing to control glare
• high efficiency, low brightness light fittings with automatic dimming based on levels of natural light
• significant reduction in the carbon footprint through the use of co-generation using waste heat from the generator to produce chilled water via an absorption chiller
• significant water savings through the use of river water for heat rejection from the air conditioning system, instead of cooling towers
• potential inclusion of a grey water treatment plant

Owner - GPT, GPT Wholesale Office Fund and external partner

Architect - Cox Rayner

Engineer - Arup

Construction - Leighton Contractors

lblundell@thefifthestate.com.au

The Fifth Estate – sustainable property news

by Lynne Blundell

FAVOURITES - 25 February 2010 - Christoph Ingenhoven, principal of German architectural firm Ingenhoven Architects, had the audience at Green Cities 2010 spellbound during an impressive presentation of his firm’s cutting edge sustainable architecture. He and his team have designed buildings for cities around the world, collectively winning 30 first prizes in national and international competitions.

Considered one of the world’s leading designers of green buildings, Ingenhoven is also known for his emphasis on social sustainability and his strong stance against designing buildings for repressive regimes.

Some of his best known sustainable projects include Stuttgart Railway Station, Taiwan’s Opera House, the Breeze Tower in Osaka and in Australia, Dexus Property Group’s highly sustainable building currently under construction at 1 Bligh St, Sydney.

Ingenhoven opened his presentation with some insightful comments on the inspiration for his designs:

“Inspiration for architects should be buildings without architects – simple structures that provide shelter from the storm.”

“Form follows evolution in nature. As architects we should do the same to find beauty. Sensible form creates beauty.”

“Beautiful architecture is not driven by aesthetics but by efficient engineering.”

And on what cities should aspire to be:

“Supergreen is about political correctness as well as environmental sustainability. It is not just about being green, it is about acting responsibly.

“A denser city is a better city – not just the physical but in the vital mix of users. It must include residential, commercial, entertainment.”

Sydney, for example. said Ingenhoven, does not do this well. It is a sprawling city with an immense area of single family houses. This type of city is simply unsustainable. Better examples are Tokyo which, with a population density of almost 6000 people per square kilometre, uses a third of the power used by Los Angeles, and New York which has a vibrant mix of users in the inner city.

Ingehoven then went on to show slides of his projects and to explain the key sustainability features. The double facade with sun shading between the layers was a recurring feature, eliminating the need for airconditioning and dramatically reducing energy use. Sophisticated engineering maximises use of natural ventilation, improving indoor air quality, tenant wellbeing and productivity.

The projects

Lufthansa Aviation Centre

At the Lufthansa Headquarters in Frankfurt, the comb-like building plan has 10 wings and uses enclosed landscaped gardens as buffer zones. In total the building houses 4500 employees and has 1850 office spaces that all have views into the glass roofed gardens and can be naturally ventilated.

The gardens provide for an ecological and healthy climate. There is even a beach volleyball court, complete with sand.

Christoph Ingenhoven explained the ventilation system – outside air is brought in through air tubes underneath the building and used air then expelled via vents in the roof of the atrium. Office windows can be opened onto the atrium for natural ventilation of office spaces.

“It is a totally transparent office landscape – a city in itself. And it is designed so that people can work wherever they like. They don’t have to be in their actual office space,” said Ingenhoven.

Stuttgart Railway Station

Ingenhoven’s design for Stuttgart Railway Station is based on the reversed suspension model used in cathedrals such as Gaudi’s famous Sagrada Familia. This efficient concrete shell and supporting structure allows a lower construction height and a reduction in surfaces and diameters, an important aspect of the design.

The supporting structure and the lighting cone in the platform hall merge the platform level with the square and park landscape. Varied and wide views and the elegance of the supporting structure give the central station its unmistakable identity.

And once again natural ventilation and temperature control is achieved through clever design.

“Through use of natural daylight through skylights we can control the temperature at a maximum of 27 degrees in summer and 14 degrees in winter,” said Ingenhoven.

UCD Gateway, University College Dublin, Ireland

UCD Gateway, University College Dublin features a curved roof

Ingenhoven Architects design for University College in Dublin, UCD Gateway, arranges all existing and future buildings around a central green space, called the beltwalk-table

The concept is a sustainable campus without CO2 emissions and it aims to set benchmarks in terms of energy efficiency and sustainability. Features include a curved roof, covering all building parts and integrating photovoltaic and solar thermal systems as well as wind turbines and extensive greenery.

Deep piling to access geo thermal energy will provide more than enough energy for the whole campus, said Ingenhoven.

The project consists of 150,000 square metres of gross floor area including facilities for teaching, exhibiting, a film institute with cinema, offices and laboratories, a hotel and student apartments and space for retail and other services. Completion will be in 2013.

Osaka Breeze Tower, Japan

The Breezé Tower with its double glass façade allowing natural ventilation of the interiors, is the first environmentally friendly skyscraper in Japan, according to Ingenhoven.

The building achieved an S-Class in the Japanese CASBEE-System, the highest rating for sustainable architecture in Japan.

Ingenhoven created a 177 metre high-rise building with mixed use on the first seven storeys, an opera house on the eighth level, then offices and finally a restaurant on the top floor. The idea was to maximise the diversity of users.

The floor to ceiling office windows open inwards, with a second glass façade containing gaps, allowing 50 per cent natural ventilation.

“The windows can be opened – something that is very unusual in Japan,” said Ingenhoven.

European Investment Bank, Luxembourg

The head office of the European Investment bank in Luxembourg is partly underground. Its distinctive shape, curved on one side and vertical on the other contains a large atrium that provides natural ventilation for the rest of the building.

The building, which received a BREEAM excellent rating, is cooled by a geothermal district system and the design ensures minimum temperatures of six degrees in the atrium and 21 degrees in the offices.

A key feature is the open and transparent layout to encourage communication and interaction of the building’s occupants.

1 Bligh St, Sydney

Ingenhoven’s contribution to Sydney’s skyline is Dexus Property group’s eliptical tower at 1 Bligh St. (see our previous story on this)

Designed to achieve a 5 star NABERS energy rating and Australia’s first 6-star Green Star rating for a high rise, the building will use substantially less energy than a conventional high rise.

The elliptical glass tower is angled on the corner site to maximise both the harbour view and the sun. It will have a double glass skin that allows the sun in while also controlling its heat.

A major feature is an open south facing internal atrium, naturally ventilated via a series of automated glass louvres. Free heating is provided by in-slab pipework supplied with the heat that is normally rejected through the cooling towers.

lblundell@thefifthestate.com.au

Green roofs, massive wetlands with nesting boxes to attract birdlife, locally generated power, on-site bore water and the creation of local employment these are just part of the mix in the regeneration practiced in the UK by Tom Bloxham.

FAVOURITES: 29 April 2010 -Tom Bloxham’s keynote presentation at the Australian Institute of Architects National Conference 2010 at Darling Harbour in Sydney last week was in keeping with his reputation for overcoming the odds. The eruption of Iceland’s Eyjafjallajokull volcano may have thwarted his plans for a first-time visit to Australia, but there he was on the big screen talking to a packed-out session, coolly moving through his impressive audiovisuals with a flick of his hand – microwave link apparently….whatever that is.

He’s a man accustomed to doing things differently. As founder and chief executive officer of property development company Urban Splash, Bloxham is something of an urban regeneration pioneer. Since its beginnings in 1993 Urban Splash has won almost 300 awards for design, architecture and urban renewal and in 1999 Bloxham was awarded an MBE. He is also an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects.

It was his entrepreneurial spirit that got Bloxham into property development. When he moved to Manchester at 19 to study politics and modern history he began printing and selling posters to students. But when he began subletting portions of his first retail space at Afflecks Palace, and discovered this was much more lucrative than selling posters, his career in property began.

Bloxham sees himself as more of a regenerator than a developer, taking old, unused buildings and industrial sites and creating vibrant mix-used spaces, to revitalise both them and the communities where they are located.

“We buy these buildings that the property industry says are useless and turn ordinary places into extraordinary ones,” says Bloxham.

Not only is it more environmentally sustainable to use structures that are already there but it is socially responsible to bring life back into urban areas that have fallen by the wayside, says Bloxham.
The company aims to use less energy by regenerating rather than demolishing and to use sustainable features such as green roofs, open spaces, locally generated power, on-site bore water and the creation of local employment.

In a recent essay published by The Smith Institute Bloxham describes his philosophy to regeneration:

“ I started in the property industry – not even knowing what a covenant was – by leasing or buying those old, unloved buildings and exposing the great Victorian features that lay hidden inside them.

“We leased them to young, entrepreneurial, creative companies; first as retail space at Afflecks Palace in Manchester and The Palace on Slater Street in Liverpool, later as workspace in buildings such as Ducie House in Manchester and finally as residential loft apartments, such as Concert Square in Liverpool and Smithfield Building and Sally’s Yard in Manchester. This brought in a new generation of people, who wanted to live, work, eat, drink and have fun in city centres that had, until then, been empty beyond 6 pm.”

Concert Square Liverpool

At Concert Square in Liverpool an old derelict tea factory was converted into a mixed use development with public squares, residential in the upper floors, offices in the middle and retail on the lower level.

In the old match factory in Liverpool, the last in the UK, Urban Splash kept the concrete columns that were used throughout the building and constructed pods and kitchens at the back of the building to create a large commercial space.

In Bradford, which was once the centre of UK’s textile trade, the old mill buildings created by English investor and industrialist, Samuel Lister in the 1800s,as part of his huge empire had been left to rot. Following the decline of the industry unemployment escalated and riots became common. Urban Splash brought the Victorian mills back to life and, says Bloxham, helped “the community to be proud of itself.”

“A mass of developers entered the race to refurbish every underused building and construct exciting new mixed-use developments on the former bomb-site car parks. The new residents who inhabited them brought great spending power into city centres. They paid council tax, and were often educated, articulate, active citizens. This encouraged councils to improve city-centre services and retailers to take advantage of a new breed of customer, who wanted all that the cities had to offer,” says Bloxham.

Silk Warehouse Bradford

One project, New Islington in Manchester, involved partnerships between government, community organisations and private developers. These included Urban Splash, regeneration agencies English Partnerships and New East Manchester together with Manchester Methodist Housing Association.

The result was the conversion of an old low density council housing estate where people were unemployed and disenfranchised into a mixed use higher density development. It now houses people from varying socio economic backgrounds in 1400 rather than the previous 100 homes and contains large areas of public space, including canals and wetlands.

“We asked ourselves how do we turn the worst estate in Manchester into one of the best?” says Bloxham.

“We created an interesting streetscape and there was also a big emphasis on sustainability in this project.  We’ve retained materials wherever we can, used features such as green roofs and created a massive area of wetlands.”

Nest boxes in the wetlands are designed to attract a range of birds including kingfishers, and low-level lighting minimises the impact on the wildlife.

The project was shortlisted in the Sustainable Housing Awards, organised by Inside Housing magazine – the first to focus on the best green social housing projects in the UK.

Matchworks Liverpool

Regeneration after the GFC
With the arrival of the global financial crisis, development in the UK, like everywhere else around the globe, ground to a halt. Bloxham says regeneration is at a crossroads.

“If we are not careful, our towns and cities will be allowed to go into decline. We will lose the momentum gained over the past 20 years. Skilled practitioners will lose their jobs and regeneration will be left only to the private sector – but the private sector will not have access to the finance or debt to develop, at least not in the locations where the renaissance is most needed.”

The effective use of public-private partnerships has never been more necessary, says Bloxham, and the demand for quality housing is as great as it has ever been. But if regeneration is not to slide backwards, the public sector must take the lead and forge stronger partnerships with the private sector.

This would allow the regeneration sector to “take the benefit of low land values and of spare capacity in the regeneration, development and construction industries in order to work now in true partnership to continue the urban renaissance and create wonderful new places in our towns and cities.”

lblundell@thefifthestate.com.au
The Fifth Estate – sustainable property news and forum

Starry Night, by Vincent Van Gogh

By Lynne Blundell

The lowdown on lighting is far more complex than meets the eye. Greater efficiency might come with dangerous levels of mercury, or metals that need to be disposed of.Read our  TFE SPECIAL INVESTIGATION.

20 July 2010  - Lighting is hot right now. Every week, it seems, there is a new claim about the energy efficiency of this product or that. And with lighting consuming 19 per cent of the world’s electricity generation and CO2 emissions from lighting equivalent to 70 per cent of global emissions from passenger vehicles, according to industry data, it’s hardly surprising. But just how real are all these claims and is there enough emphasis by Green Star and other ratings tools on sustainable practices in the manufacturing and disposal of lighting products?

It is certainly true that advances in lighting technology over the past decade have been enormous – incandescent bulbs, the main source of lighting since the beginning of the 20th century, are being phased out and replaced by alternatives such as compact fluorescent bulbs. Halogen downlights, all the rage in the 90s, are also being replaced with more efficient bulbs such as LEDs (light emitting diodes) and metal halides.

In commercial buildings linear fluorescent tubes have gone ahead in leaps and bounds, T8s being replaced by the more efficient T5s (although one Australian manufacturer is bucking this trend with development of a highly efficient version of the T8 - see our story on this). And LEDs are becoming increasingly sophisticated and are now widely used for feature lighting, on facades and in all sorts of outdoor applications.

But according to engineers and designers who spoke to The Fifth Estate, while exciting developments are happening, there are also a lot of exaggerated claims. And for every advance in energy efficiency there are other problems to deal with such as high embodied energy and recycling and disposal problems. It is an industry in transition.

Take compact fluorescents globes for example – they are much more efficient than the incandescent globe but they also contain mercury and disposal of this is a major safety and environmental issue. In Europe and the US regulation of the disposal and handling of electronic waste has been significantly tightened in the last few years but in Australia regulations are far from strict and vary from state to state, the onus often placed on local councils to provide solutions. Too often they end up in landfills.

Then there are LEDs, also very efficient, but the amount of heat they throw off requires a large metal heat sink on the back, making their cradle to grave footprint pretty large - and once again disposal is an issue.

Ibby Kanalas

According to Ibby Kanalas, senior electrical engineer associate with JHA Consulting Engineers, there really isn’t anything yet that matches the linear fluorescent tubes for general office lighting in terms of efficiency, light quality and payback period.

“Large scale LED solutions don’t stack up yet compared to fluorescent if you do a comparison on a cost benefit and payback period. You need to use a higher wattage per square metre of LEDs to achieve the same lighting levels as T5s and if you are going for Green Star points this can make a big difference,” says Kanalas.

With each LED light fitting costing a substantial amount, payback period is currently more than 20 years, which is just not viable for tenants who are on a three to five year lease.

There are six points available under Green Star and the specification for efficiency is 5 Watts per sq m or less. This is very easy to achieve with T5s but not LEDs, says Kanalas. And even when you take into account LEDs’ long lamp life they don’t measure up on a cost benefit basis.

“T5s have a lamp life of around 20,000 hours while LEDs are guaranteed for 50,000 hours so they have two and a half times more life. But the fitting costs four to five times as much. LEDs also generate a lot of heat so if this isn’t taken away effectively it will reduce the lamp life. Some manufacturers are guaranteeing five years just to sell them which is a good commercial approach,” says Kanalas.

But it is the disposal and manufacturing processes of both lighting technologies that Kanalas would like to see under the spotlight. With fluorescents the main issue is mercury, while with LEDs it the large amount of metal needed to draw away the heat. Unlike other building products there are no stipulations regarding manufacturing processes for lighting under Green Star assessment.

“Lighting needs to be looked at in a more holistic way. LEDs, for example have changed a lot in the last two to three years – the light output has gone from 10 lumens per watt to 40 lumens per watt and it is going to go higher. But the heat also increases as it gets brighter and so the metal heat sink gets larger as well. Is this really green? All the energy saved in the higher efficiency is taken up in the manufacturing process and disposal,” says Kanalas.

Rebecca Patterson, Umow Lai

Energy efficiency is not the only issue
Rebecca Patterson, electrical engineer and Associate with Umow Lai, agrees that efficiency is only one of the issues to consider when choosing lighting. Another significant one is quality of light – it is not particularly useful being energy efficient, she says, if the space ends up looking like a bat cave.

The trick, says Patterson, is to get the best “bang for your buck” from lights while still achieving effective and attractive lighting. Often a combination is needed – T5s for general lighting, LEDs for feature panels and halogen desk lamps for individual control. Umow Lai used minimal overhead lighting with individual halogen desk lamps in Grocon’s Pixel building to give individual control and reduce over-lit spaces. The days of throwing in hundreds of halogen downlights are certainly gone but Patterson would not like to see regulation go so far that lighting becomes grim.

Each technology has its drawbacks - T5s, while the most effective overall lights for offices, throw light downwards so tend to make the ceiling and walls grey. And LEDs, while good at colour are not so effective at achieving white light and are very directional and somewhat cold, says Patterson.

“In Europe there is more of a trend to getting more light on the walls and ceilings rather than just using lights like T5s to throw light downwards. Sometimes there are no general lights in office spaces but just individual lighting on desks. I think we’ll be heading more down that path here, towards basic lighting and away from overlit spaces, particularly in the premium buildings.”

Other features increasingly used in commercial buildings include lighting controls such as motion sensors to activate lights when people are in the building and daylight harvesting where lights adjust to the amount of sunlight coming in to a building.

Government should provide recycling facilities
And with the increasing use of fluorescent lighting Patterson expects to see more pressure on government to provide recycling facilities for old fittings.

“The cheapest ones still have quite a lot of mercury in them. As they are made more efficient there is less mercury but I expect people are going to start making more of a fuss about recycling and putting pressure for less mercury to be used.”

Mirjam Roos, Steensen Varming

Steensen Varming’s lighting engineer Mirjam Roos says lighting controls are sometimes overlooked in energy saving strategies. She would like to see a focus shift from light sources to a more holistic approach that also addresses how these sources are controlled.

“Quite simply, the best way to save the energy is to switch the lights off when not needed,” says Roos.

“For example, in a large government development we are working on in Brisbane, nearly all lighting within the project, from general lighting down to individual workstation task lighting, is operated via motion sensors or timers that turn lighting off when not needed.”

And while saving energy is important, the impact of lighting on peoples’ comfort and wellbeing needs to be considered. There is no reason why lighting cannot be both aesthetic and energy efficient, says Roos, citing Steenson Varming’s lighting design for the Sydney Opera House box office and concourse, which uses half the energy of the previous lighting, The company also did the lighting design for the National Portrait Gallery in Canberra, using a system of high colour rendering linear fluorescent lamps in the galleries.

“It is the first major gallery in Australia to use a linear fluorescent system for display lighting,” says Roos. “The wallwashers create even display lighting, enhance the geometry of the space and contribute to the outstanding energy performance of the building.”

Data released from the International Association of Museum Facility) position the Gallery well ahead of other Australian facilities with its annual electricity consumption half of the mean average of all sites.

“Even if there are other, sometimes greater contributors to energy consumption, lighting is a more visible element of building services and therefore many times the primary target when it comes to energy strategies. This happens sometimes at the expense of reduction in the quality of visual environment, which is not always beneficial for the occupants’ wellbeing.”

Take the recent “phase out of incandescent bulbs” for instance, says Roos. When the lamps were phased out there was no direct replacement available with the same quality of light and there still isn’t.

“Yes, these lamps have less light output for unit power, however replacement options such as the compact fluorescent lamps have other issues such as mercury content, high embedded energy going into manufacturing process, compatibility with existing light fittings and disposal,” she says.

LEDs will dominate
On the other hand, LED technology is evolving fast but there is still a big lack of knowledge in the market when it comes to assessing LED products. Price is also an issue.

“Looking at the pace of the development in LED technology and the funds invested in LED product development, I believe in a few years this technology will dominate the lighting market, and will open the doors for new, exciting opportunities in lighting design.”

If prices of LEDs come down by as much as some in the industry are predicting (70 per cent by 2015) there is no doubt LEDs will have much higher market penetration in the near future. According to a report by climate change consultants, Carbonetrix, if prices do come down by that amount and energy use can be then halved by using LED tubes while providing similar illumination, the payback period will be around three years for a typical office, or lower once maintenance costs savings from longer lamp life are considered.

One recently patented Australian LED product is promising big energy savings, reducing power consumption by 68 per cent when installed in the Gosford City Council’s car park, where it replaced the fluorescent lighting.

The product’s manufacturer, enLighten, began taking its product to the market in November 2009 after almost two years of research, several patent applications and one patent granted and certified. Since then the company has conducted several trials in a mixture of office and car park environments. Both Gosford City Council and Willoughby Council have replaced fluorescent tubes with the LED product.

lblundell@thefifthestate.com.au

From Bloomberg - 19 August 2010 - Stuart Biggs reports:

The system, begun in 2008 and the only one of its kind outside Europe, awards farmers credits that are sold to offset greenhouse gas emissions. The project may earn them about NZ$600 a hectare ($172 per acre) a year on land unprofitable for grazing animals, said David Evison, a senior lecturer at the University of Canterbury’s New Zealand School of Forest

Forests planted for carbon credits may increase to 30,000 hectares a year compared with 3,500 hectares in 2009, the government estimates. The system is a welcome alternative for sheep farmers who’ve struggled for decades from a combination of slumping wool prices, drought and competition for land from the dairy and lumber industries, says Neil Walker, a forester in the Taranaki region of New Zealand’s North Island.

“If you’re an industry in decline, you have to see what options are available,” said Walker, who also heads the Taranaki Regional Council’s policy and planning committee. “There’s an economic case to be made for converting hill- country sheep farms to forests.”

Sheep have been in decline for decades and have fallen in number from a 1982 peak of 70 million to about 40 million, official data show. Carbon trading is embraced by some farmers and rejected by others as too harsh a change for New Zealand, the world’s biggest sheep meat exporter last year.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-08-18/carbon-cash-accelerates-cull-of-new-zealand-sheep-as-farmers-turn-to-trees.html

Read the whole story >>>

NSW Minister for Energy Paul Lynch said that the important terms of the Scheme, such as its length and the tariff rate, were locked into legislation.

“If any changes are to be proposed, the legislation would need to be amended and we are on the record stating that any changes would not be applied retrospectively,” Mr Lynch said.

“That means no customers who have already entered the Scheme will be affected by the review,” he said.

Public submissions for the review will be received before 30 September, with the review to be tabled in Parliament towards the end of its next session. A further review of the Scheme will be undertaken by the Auditor-General early next year.

The Total Environment Centre has praised the success of the Scheme with over 30,000 households taking part in the program so far.

Executive director of TEC Jeff Angel said that the scheme has allowed households to pay off their solar investments by selling energy back into the power grid.

“The tariff which is both generous and effective has so far paid 30,000 householders 60 cents per kilowatt hour to sell their energy back to the grid, which is four times what it costs to buy energy,” said Mr. Jeff Angel, executive director of TEC.

“This has meant that householders are able to pay off their investments in record time. It’s a win-win for all.”

Mr. Angel said the next step is to allow bigger industries, including commercial renewable energy projects, to access the feed-in tariff, and also raise the cap.

“The popularity of the scheme shows that Australians are hungry for clean energy,” said Mr. Angel.

“This demonstrates that both federal and state governments have been given a mandate to increase our renewable energy targets. It also protects us all from carbon price impacts as it helps change the carbon mix of generation.”

Submissions can be emailed to solarbonus.review@industry.nsw.gov.au or posted to Solar Bonus Review, Industry and Investment NSW, Level 17, 227 Elizabeth Street, Sydney, NSW, 2000 by close of business 30 September, 2010.

Chief executive officer for the council Monica Barone said a legal letter from Mahoney Dominic lawyers to the City had falsely claimed 102 companies and businesses located on Bourke Road were joined in a class action against the Council’s cycleway.

“The alarm bells began ringing when the lawyer’s letter arrived with a list of the companies supposedly against the cycleways.

“I was surprised to see the names of companies the City had worked closely with and who had long been supportive of cycleways and cycling.

“I responded by contacting representatives of four organisations on the list. They included Fairfax, Westpac and the Australian Museum. They were completely unaware that they had been included on a list of alleged claimants.

“I have been informed that a further five companies have contacted Mr Mahony to require him to remove their names from the list and that John Mahony has written to Council advising that in fact he only acts for one person who owns a business on Bourke Street and not 102 people.”

Corin Millais

By Tina Perinotto

25 August 2010 - Corin Millais, Mirvac’s relatively new sustainability manager, comes with an impressive background.

He was at the lead of intensive campaigns for renewable energy by Greenpeace. He took the European Wind Energy Association in Brussels from a three-person operation to a turnover of 7-8 million Euro turnover. He worked on Sydney’s Green Olympics and in 2006 came back to Australia to head up the Climate Institute. In the last two years he sandwiched in a role as sustainability manager for Westfield.

Not bad for someone who grew up in the south of England, wanted to be a professional conservationist, studied environmental science and at the age of 23 moved to Uganda to pursue his goals.

As you would expect of someone with these credentials, Millais comes with no shortage of challenging notions but a huge shortage of conventional reticence.

For instance he doesn’t want to offend but the idea of chasing five-star buildings, is not his primary goal. Nor the debate about whether the NABERS methodology is out of whack between Melbourne and Sydney.

“NABERS is important but we are not that bothered whether there’s a technical difference between Melbourne and Sydney. Frankly, who cares?” he says.

Millais concedes there is “some technical impact in terms of cost” for green buildings, but at the “business perspective level, it’s not the biggest issue at the director level

“NABERS is important  but it’s not the main game.”

No, Millais’ ideas for a more sustainable Mirvac will be more far-reaching than individual buildings and will go beyond a discrete sustainability unit. And besides the idea of a separate team is out of date, Millais says.

“If the whole business isn’t doing it then what’s the point of having a sustainability team?” he asks.

“There are great opportunities for Mirvac to move its strategy forward to the next level in the business.

“It was a similar role in Westfield, in the sense of helping to define their core sustainability strategy: what’s the potential; where can a property company like that take it?”

So how far can a property company take it?

“Much further,” says Millais. “It’s an exciting period of innovation in property and in the country and world wide.”

Companies can take “faster stronger, tougher actions.  Sustainability – that’s only the beginning of the journey.”

Millais also is  sceptical about the various indices to prove sustainability.

“We would never say that Mirvac was number one in sustainability but if you look at the top five companies we are all number one in different things.”

And besides, he’s a little dismissive about the global indices that rank the companies.

“It’s sometimes  just a question of downloading the forms and paying $20,000 to an expert to work out how to fill it in,” he says.

“External benchmarks are important but they’re one view.”

There are bigger drivers looming in any case, he thinks: “huge movements” in policy and regulations.

So he sees the regulatory environment moving quite fast?

“Not fast enough,” he answers.

Background

Of his earlier background, Millais will only say, intriguingly, that he ” grew up in the South of England…I’m just a foreigner.”

But he is forthcoming on his career choice.

His entrée to environmental issues was simple:  “I did environmental studies and went to live in Africa, in Uganda, when I was 23. I wanted to become a professional conservationist but ended up in Greenpeace.

“It was brilliant. I spent 12 years there and learnt a lot - a huge amount.

“There was a lot of engagement with the public and with business, behind the scenes and in front.”

At that time in the 90s Greenpeace was a big player, he explains. It was involved in the major climate change negotiations of the time that preceded the COP15 talks last year, and in writing the texts of various policies and agreement, especially in renewable energy.

Renewable energy was where Millais made his mark - windpower in particular.

“Renewables was a big push for Green Peace.

“We wrote a global plan. I wrote that for wind energy, pushing for 10 per cent of the world’s energy to be run by wind power in 2020 .

“Ten years ago it was seen to be a complete fantasy but now it’s coming true. In those days it was fringe and I guess we helped make renewables successful and mainstream.”

A key, he wants to point out, is that regulation was critical to the establishment of this kind of new industry - but it must be restricted to temporary intervention.

“You needed regulation to make it happen. You’re going from ideals to building [business] value, that’s been the difference. Now it’s a $150 billion industry world-wide.

“All you ever wanted to do in Greenpeace was to prove that scenario and make it profitable, so it’s self-propelling.You don’t really want it to be subsidised; you want it rolling off the factory lines like TVs. That’s what you want -  for these things to be like cars or computers…millions of them being made.”

So what were the highlights of his Greenpeace days?

No ambivalence here: “It was winning, really winning campaigns. Greenpeace is driven about goals and success. Very driven. It’s a very hard-nosed group. Sometimes people think it’s quite woolly but it’s not.”

In Australia it will be the 20 per cent target for renewable energy that drives the renewables business, he says.

Building energy

But Millais is not so sure about the role of buildings in producing renewable energy.

“Change the supply chain to 50 per cent renewable and you make every building green. We’re all paying the price of plugging into coal fired power stations.”

But the more you delve into the costs of co-gen or on-site renewable energy, the more complex the issue becomes, Millais says.

Mirvac has integrated co-generation into its developments and has a zero carbon house in Victoria but “how much can you really spend to pull industry technology forward? I don’t think it’s our job to make co-gen plug and play buildings,” Millais says.

The view from here

Right now Millais is in the final stages of recruiting a new team of up to four people to assist him.

“My job is to make the process effective and inclusive and ensure more and more analytical skills about opportunities rather than must-do green star or reputations.

On a personal level Millais says he likes to be involved in industry bodies and public speaking.

“I like committees, like the Property Council sustainability committee. It works very well. It’s got 10 major property companies. It’s a really good group.

“I like to be the person for Mirvac who goes into the public space and gives a view. I like to speak at conferences too.

“I’m really excited and motivated about this role. It’s a very rewarding role and I chased the opportunity. It’s a good time for the industry.

“Post GFC [global financial crisis] everyone’s got space for this and time and money, there’s not a staff freeze on these things  and there’s a bit more resources to get things done.

[Allowing for the hiatus of the election, which Millais might concede has had a dampening effect, and this interview was conducted prior to the election] Millais says the atmosphere has been positive for sustainability.

“It’s been a good time to recruit.  And a good time to reflect on the past five yeas and what’s happened - a reflective period, not just putting things out the door and the environment we’re operating in will be very different than the last five years.

“Everyone’ is more battle hardened and experienced and it’s an exciting phase to be moving forward. Like phase two.”

In terms of sustainability, says Millais, the property industry, relative to the Australian corporate scene, is “very strong”.

“You’ve got to look at the corporates - how many corporates are into sustainability - are over the line in sustainability? Who else is there?

“It’s a powerful industry group that is in the right location, the best industry.”

A brilliant day

Millais’s sense that anything can happen, is infectious, perhaps because he brings with his attitude none of the “wooliness” that he says people sometimes associate with green movements and all of the “hard-nosed” focus on creating business value and real-world outcomes.

Tallking to Millais you get the sense that big change is not only possible but probable.

He points out that today he says, it’s possible to work in a “mainstream” job and still pursue core environmental values - almost an impossibility when he started in his career.

In neat symbolism of his point he says that the day he got this particular  “mainstream” job he arrived home to final touches being applied to a new solar array on his northern beaches home.

Only 15 years ago in the UK when Millais at Greenpeace launched the first solar array on the home of Susan Roaf [see our articles on Ms Roaf] the cost was 90,000 pounds.

[Today it is about $7,000 to $10,000 and the price has been falling.]

“It was a brilliant day,” he says,  “brilliant.”

You get the sense that for this man with a most interesting past, there will be plenty more such days.

Australia: neither red not blue, but very brown

By Tina Perinotto

23 August 2010 - Business was so nervous on Monday after the deadlocked election result that some people even questioned whether to cancel functions scheduled for this week.

The Property Council chief executive officer Peter Verwer  yesterday played down the negative impact of the election on business sentiment. The industry had no trouble getting on with business during the caretaker government, he said. Buildings still got refurbished; people still started on new construction projects.

But he conceded that bigger decisions had been put on hold and may go back on hold.

Yes, we all needed to be patient and await the unfolding election result, but at the same time, a speedy resolution was important.

“We need to have something happen quickly,” Mr Verwer said.

What a shambles. A result that may not be known for days, possibly longer, a government that may or may not be able to govern very well or for very long as a result, and the potential of another election that will keep the country in a state of suspense.

OK so we didn’t get to move forward on Monday.

Business wants to know first who’s running the country.  At least.

Fair enough.

It’s a blurry picture for this industry. Will we get a climate-sceptic Coalition Government that will kybosh policy signals to decarbonise our economy? They’ve already promised to trash the green building fund.

Or will the Labor Party limp back in, and if so will they have the nerve to push for any new reforms at all, and if so, whose?

At least they have promised a beaut new $1 billion tax rebate for green building make-overs and a $100 million Carbon Trust.

What about the three Independents? One hates the ETS, one loves it.

And the Greens?

Mr Verwer pointed out that come next July when The Greens take their seats in the Senate they could bring a private members bill to perhaps introduce a version of an ETS - but only if the Labor Party forms a minority government.

Key issues creating uncertainty were: who the Independents would align themselves with; whether or not a firm commitment could be negotiated - and maintained - to not block Supply (which allows government finances to proceed); and how to find a Speaker in such a tight line-up,  “a very tricky part of the negotiations,” Mr Verwer said.

The only thing certain, he said was that the Independents would extract the “mother of all pork barrelling” for their rural constituents.

This would include Western Australian Tony Crook’s demands for 25 per cent of mining royalties to be sent to the bush, but who late yesterday also declared he could not side with the Labor Party if it persisted with the mining tax.

Chief executive of the Urban Task Force Aaron Gadiel echoed Mr Verwer’s concerns about business confidence.

The business community needs stability and long-term thinking from the next federal government and the prospect of a minority government was worrying, he said.

“Now more than ever, we need federal leadership to plan and fund new infrastructure and unblock our housing supply,” Mr Gadiel said

“This requires the kind of strength and determination that’s usually found in a majority government.”

Mr Gadiel said minority governments have a chequered history in Australia. “They can be prone to political crisis, abruptly change policy and be reluctant to make tough calls,” he said.

“With both parties promising to make big decisions on population growth and infrastructure investment, the last thing we need is short-term thinking. ”

The key indicator of what has happened in TFE’s view includes the informal vote of 5.64 per cent, up by 1.69 on the 2007 election. And a 3.4 swing to The Greens.

This is a major vote of dissatisfaction and a warning of what could happen next time. It’s as if the people have just discovered they have loads more power than they thought - mapped heartbeat-by-heartbeat through relentless focus groups and polls.

A kind of Twitter democracy.

You can bet that more Labor voters would have switched to Greens if they thought Labor was not likely to get trounced by the Coalition.

But if the Labor Party fails to sufficiently reform itself then remember the comments from one of The Greens on Saturday night: this time The Greens did pretty well; next time they will clean up.

You can’t say the Labor Party didn’t deserve it. Deposed Member for Bennelong Maxine McKew was clear as a bell on election night: a failure to sell the good stories; and a shocking campaign. And by the way, where has this excellent communicator and passionate politician been in the past three years? Another mistake.

It was the campaign that wasn’t there. On Both sides of the election divide, in fact. Tony Abbott ran an excellent marathon but a campaign every bit as devoid as vision, strategy or any sense of direction as the other major side.

The best thing the sustainable property industry can do is enjoy the thin little policy signals from the Federal Government on sustainability, hope they fatten up, but get on regardless with the job of building and enjoying this important work it does of creating the new economy.

The Fifth Estate - sustainable property news

“We can’t wait for the future”

By Tina Perinotto

FAVOURITES: 3 March 2010 - Five years after Cbus Property signed up Insurance Australian Group and other tenants to pay about $10 million in extra costs so their new premises at 181 William Street in Melbourne’s CBD would be a 5 Star Green Star building the property industry is still asking does “green” pay?

The question was the theme for a Green Cities 2010 session on ROI, or return on investment, and included the standard tough questions: what’s the valuation uplift for going green? Will tenants pay higher rents?

It was too much for City Metro’s Bill McHarg, the man who founded Colliers and then left to run a private campaign on climate change at the last federal election.

“We should have been asking this in 2000,” he told the audience. A better question was how to convince the owners of 80 per cent of the commercial buildings whose average age is 25 years that they need to retrofit, he said.

The chief executive of the Property Council of Australia, Peter Verwer, chaired the panel. Its members were: Nick Eggerton, research analyst for AMP Capital Investors; Rod Leaver, chief executive officer of Lend Lease Investment Management; Adam Murchie, vice-president of Australian Direct Property Investment Association; Adrian Pozzo, chief executive of CBus Property, and Elaine Prior, director and senior analyst for City Investment Research and Analysis and author of the recent investment door-stopper  of a report, ASX-Listed Office Trusts: Does “Green” Pay?

Most of the panel agreed with McHarg, at least in part. The feeling was that for most sophisticated investors the question of “does green pay?” has been somewhat superseded by more strategic reasoning, especially if there is a desire to be prepared for whatever economic and environmental storms come lurching over the horizon.

Adam Murchie

Even in the global financial crisis (GFC), the momentum to green never really slowed, panel members said.

AMP Capital Investors’ Nick Eggerton said the GCF created a de-leveraging across the board, rather than selectively against green property. “Cutting out some of the ESD [ecologically sustainable development] practices would have been disastrous,” he said.

“The market requires ESD best practice to remain competitive. It was a fairly controlled cut across the board.”

Lend Lease’s Rod Leaver said: “Sustainability initiatives over the last couple of years haven’t stopped.” If anything, the GFC was a “real driver for innovation”, he said. “It forces you to work out how best achieve what you want to achieve when you haven’t got the same budget to work with.”

For Cbus Property, the feeling was the same. It might still be a tenant’s market “but the philosophy at Cbus is still green. A lot of it is about future proofing the portfolio,” chief executive Adrian Pozzo said.

This was the crystal note; de-risking the asset, avoiding costly retrofitting down the track and anticipating what tenants would want — especially if the owner expects to grab a blue-chip tenant.

The panel noted the observation in the market at times that comparing the return on buildings was like comparing apples with oranges because Green Star buildings’ income was higher only because they were occupied by blue-chip tenants. “Doesn’t that tell you everything you need to know” was the answer.

Adrian Pozzo

Pozzo added another driver to green: “We’re members of the United Nation’s Principles for Responsible Investments framework [which covers environmental, social and governance reporting] and we will develop a minimum of 5 Star Green Star and 4.5 star NABERS.”

Murchie said: “The green building movement is one of the rare exceptions of an industry that’s moved on its own [without government regulation] but the market virtually mandated itself by setting the benchmark — one- to six-star and not we’re not seeing anything [new] sub-five,” he said.

None of these drivers have an impact on his Australian Direct Property Investment Association members, who are generally smaller private investors.

Eighty per cent of the industry, “the mum and dad investors who have bought a building or two for their superannuation fund, are disengaged and the question is really how to educate those people and bring them up to speed,” said Murchie, echoing the McHarg’s thoughts.

Mandatory disclosure will do that. Mandated policy intervention is how you engage the bulk of people; it’s “what moves mountains the quickest”, Murchie said.

In terms of the proof of green value, Prior’s huge study drew a blank, but not a major one.Sure there was no evidence that green was good in terms of higher passing rentals or valuation, she said, but she did stress that the data set used in the report was small.

Nick Eggerton wasn’t fussed. Although the proof was not there, it was “not not there”. .His interpretation was that it will be just a matter of time before solid numbers start to back up where the top end of the market is heading.

Prior said that subsequent work, with more “granular” data, may prove a different case – that greener buildings do pay off, as was found in a much bigger study in the US by Nils Kok.

There is another issue that emerges from the debate: what is green building? Isn’t it always a better building, and don’t better buildings or better cars always cost more, at least in the short term?

Verwer said that when airconditioning became the vogue, yes, it cost more, and probably there was no financial data to prove it paid off, but you would need to be a brave investor to build a major office block without it.

He also noted that since the oil crisis of the 1970s buildings have continually tried to improve their energy efficiency.

Anecdotally, the industry has heard that tenant satisfaction makes for happier staff, which leads to higher productivity, but this is very hard to prove  because most people enjoy going to a new building in any case.

However, several times during the conference people mentioned the results of a post-occupancy study for 500 Collins Street, Melbourne, refurbished to a 5 Star Green Star standard by its owners, the Kador group.

Some of the results of that survey, posted on the Green Building Council website, are as follows:

• A 39 per cent reduction in average sick-leave days per employee per month.
• A 44 per cent reduction in the monthly average cost of sick leave.
• A 9 per cent increase in the typing speed of secretaries.
• A 7 per cent increase in lawyers’ billings ratio, despite a 12 per cent decline in the average monthly hours worked.

Those are results not to be sneezed at.

The Fifth Estate - sustainable property
news and forum

See Part I

-Studies Into “Does Green Pay?”

In theory, higher rental income, lower vacancy rates, and lower outgoings (such as energy costs) would combine to yield a positive return on the incremental capital investment needed to build (or refurbish) to “green” standards. Over time, we expect that tenant demand and higher energy prices will combine to increasingly support the economics of “green” buildings.

Various studies have sought to assess the impact of “green” initiatives on returns and valuations. “Green” buildings will tend to be newer buildings, so comparability can be challenging.

At this stage of industry development, actual data is limited. Some studies are based on surveys of attitudes, perceptions, stated intentions, or hypothetical  buildings, whilst few studies are based on “hard” market data.

There is the possibility of study bias, since those who conduct such studies, or participate most actively in study surveys, may include the strongest proponents of “green” buildings.

Costs and benefits of new and upgraded green Australian office buildings

New Buildings
A 2007 Davis Langdon Australian-focused study investigated the cost and benefit of new green buildings, with results incorporated into a 2008 presentation.  The study looked at incremental cost and benefits of building 5-star and 6-star Green Star, versus 4-star. (Key conclusions are shown in Figure 47 of the report).

The analysis indicated that:

• Many measures that contribute to a “green” building are integrated into design, so separate financial assessment is difficult. It indicated that key features are building geometry (form, orientation, passive ventilation strategy, daylight strategy, exposed mass), and that these features are more important to energy/emissions efficiency than façade (such as lighting controls, shading devices, glazing, insulation) and technology (such as solar hot water, combined heat and power, wind, hydro and solar PV) attributes.
• For the Australian market, it estimated extra costs of 0-5 per cent ($98 a sq m) for a 5-star building, compared with 4-star, and 9-11 per cent ($203 a square metre) for 6-star compared with 4-star, based on overseas experience.
• Additional gross annual rental required for an 11 per cent IRR was estimated at $19 a sq m for 5-star, and $40 a sq m for 6-star, both relative to 4-star. However, this increment would be reduced with carbon costs and with re-prioritised (reduced) construction costs.
• After estimating potential productivity gains at 1 per cent or $40 a sq m, the study indicated that a net breakeven (or even positive) result might be achieved. The study concluded that productivity must be considered to achieve reasonable payback.

Industry feedback suggests that building 5-star Green Star is becoming the “norm”, with minimal additional construction costs, but that building 6-star is a bigger step involving extra costs.]

Upgrading Existing Buildings

A 2009 report by ARUP, the Property Council of Australia and Davis Langdon assessed the cost and benefits of various levels of upgrade to existing Grade C office buildings (with pre-upgrade NABERS ratings of 2.0 or 2.5 for energy and water).

While every project will be different, and the results will depend on numerous assumptions, some key conclusions were:

• The best payback was where the upgrade was sufficient to reduce the risk of obsolescence by giving tenants a green office space, and bringing the building up to new-building standard. For the CBD office studied, this resulted in an upgrade cost of $980 a sq m to achieve a Grade B building with NABERS energy and water ratings of 4.5 and 4.0 respectively. Internal rates of returns of  10-11 per cent were estimated, on the basis of rental uplift, lower vacancies and lower utility outgoings, though offset by higher costs of maintenance and building staffing.
• A further upgrade to Grade A had a slightly lower payback, and may have to be evaluated against undertaking a new build entirely.
• Much smaller upgrades that included NABERS energy upgrades to 3.0-3.5 and water to 2.5-3.0 showed much lower IRRs. These would not reposition the asset higher in the market, so the risk of obsolescence remains.

Industry feedback suggests that the financials may be better than indicated in this study, with lower project capex, as plant such as chillers, motors and cooling towers is replaced on an ongoing basis (perhaps every 10-20 years). More efficient plant would naturally be installed as part of this normal capex (capital expenditure) cycle.

“Doing Well by Doing Good?” – US-Based Study on Actual Buildings

A study into the financial performance of green office buildings (Nils Kok, Piet Eichholtz, John Quigley, 2009), covered 694 “green buildings” and a control sample of 7488 buildings across the US. Clusters of buildings within a quarter mile radius were compared. Rents, vacancies and market values were investigated.

The study found:

• an effective “green” rent premium of about 6 per cent
• that the increment in selling price may be as much as 16 per cent, but that the value increment was less in an expensive location
• that the market value incorporates part, but not all, of the energy savings benefits.

It may be difficult to isolate benefits of “green” compared with benefits of newer buildings in general, so we are not clear how definitive these results are.

“Do Green Buildings Make Dollars and Sense?”

Results of a US study by the University of San Diego and CB Richard Ellis were published in November 2009. The study covered 154 buildings under CBRE’s management in ten markets across the US.

The study found that:

• more intensive management of green buildings made overall operating expenses equivalent to non-green buildings, despite lower energy costs
• occupancy rates and rental rates were higher than market
• survey respondents felt that sustainable buildings provide a healthier indoor environment, improved staff retention and improved employee productivity,with fewer sick days
• metrics included 2.88 fewer sick days, a 3.5 per cent lower vacancy rate, and 13 per cent higher rental rates than market.

The Fifth Estate - sustainable property news

AECOM's master plan for Dalian in northeast China integrates the development with the mountainous topography

By Lynne Blundell

In the six years since Melbourne-based LAB Architecture Studio started working in China the sustainability landscape has changed dramatically. Other Australians too have found the country moving fast on its sustainability agenda- especially once the authorities get behind an initiative. Nanjing,  for instance, is almost a forest of solar panels from the air.

11 August 2010 - With politicians on all sides in the lead up to the federal election throwing around terms like “sustainable population growth” and “responsible immigration policy” it is sobering to take a look at how countries like China tackle the challenge of burgeoning urbanisation and urban renewal.

By 2025, China will have more than 200 cities with over one million inhabitants and more than 20 cities with over five million inhabitants with all the accompanying problems of traffic congestion, land contamination and air and water pollution.

But the will of Chinese authorities to find urban planning and low carbon solutions is equally enormous say Australians involved in urban renewal and green design projects in China. So much so, they are fast becoming leaders in sustainability.

Romilly Madew, CEO of the Green Building Council of Australia, recently returned from Nanjing in China, where she spoke at the Expo 2010 Shanghai China Forum “Towards a Low carbon city - Environmental protection and urban responsibilities”. She told The Fifth Estate Australia has a lot to learn from China.

“One thing is clear – China has huge environmental protection problems, the smog is constant, children think the sky is grey not blue and they don’t see the stars anymore, traffic congestion is overwhelming and water pollution is causing a variety of problems - all evidence of the growing urbanisation of China.  What is apparent is that China fully accepts it has challenges and is stepping up to meet those challenges on a scale Australians could not fathom,” Madew says.

Madew presented alongside speakers such as the Chief Architect of the China Pavilion of World Expo 2010, He Jingtang; China’s largest residential developer, Chairman of the Vanke Company, Wang Shi; and Chief, Sustainable Consumption and Production, United Nations Environment Programme, Arab Hoballah.

According to Madew, Chinese government speakers one after another outlined the many challenges China is facing. Liang Bohua, Secretary of CPC Jiangsu Provincial Committee, told the audience: “We need to change the way cities develop, we have to shift from resource driven to technology and innovation. This requires a structural adjustment to achieve a low carbon economy, attain green growth and harmonious development.”

The Minister, Ministry of Environmental Protection, PRC, Zhou Shengxian, spoke on environmental protection and urban future: “Urban development must be sustainable otherwise even abundant wealth will be depleted.  We need new ideas, new approaches and new models – developed through innovation.  The Chinese government has been emphasising the importance of environmental protection, sustainable development is a national strategy.

AECOM's development in Dalian, northeast China

“We have been experiencing urbanisation problems over the past 30 years whereas other global developed cities had over 300 years to develop. This has caused massive issues in China.  We have 1.3 billion people and are under a lot of pressure to develop our economy and balance this with environmental protection.

“Developed countries developed their economy first then focused on the environment. We have to achieve this at the same time, therefore we are learning from the experiences and lessons from other countries, but we know we cannot develop our economy at the expense of the environment.”

Australians developing new skills

Because of the size of the projects and scale of the challenges Australians who work in China on urban renewal projects are acquiring skills they would be unlikely to develop domestically.

Melbourne-based LAB Architecture Studio has been working on architectural and urban renewal projects in China since 2004. Peter Davidson, LAB’s design director, told The Fifth Estate Australia can learn much from China about creating sustainable cities.

“In many ways China’s cities are already much more sustainable than ours – they are more densely populated and compact, have very good transport networks and are building infrastructure as they grow.

“When you look at Nanjing from the air, for example, just about all the roofs are covered with solar panels. This has been built into the development regulations with incentives offered for installation. It introduces solar power on a huge scale when you think of the many thousands of roofs,” says Davidson.

The knowledge transfer is very much two-way for Australian firms working in Australia, says Davidson. Planning or sustainability initiatives, once taken up by authorities, are decreed and change is fast and far reaching.

“From our point of view our experience of working in China has given us exposure to a scale and complexity that doesn’t occur in Australia but gives us skills that are very useful for our work here.”

Change has happened fast – six years ago when LAB first worked in China green was pretty much an unknown word, says Davidson: “They thought it was an extravagance. Even with quite enlightened clients it was very difficult to get them to buy into sustainability. We had to incorporate things more by stealth by doing things like facades that responded to orientation by minimising heat gain through reducing the amount of glass in south and western facades. People thought they were aesthetic rather than environmental.”

The take-up of sustainable building is developing quickly in China, says Davidson, particularly with the recent introduction of the MOHURD (Chinese Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development) green star system, which for the first time establishes a benchmarking system responding to Chinese conditions.  This should be put in perspective, he says, considering Australian rating systems are barely a decade old.

LAB is one of the founders of the Australian Urban Systems initiative, together with Urbis and DesignInc. The three companies worked together to develop a cluster organisation that would have the combined expertise to work on a broad range of projects in China. AUS was supported by the Victorian government in 2006 to promote Victoria’s skills in the sustainable urban development field into the urbanisation market of China and is supported and managed through the Department of Innovation Industry and Regional Development.

“One of the things in the Chinese system is that there is not a strong holistic approach to design and engineering – these areas are often separated. The AUS initiative helps bring a more integrated approach to projects so that sustainable engineering systems can be built into a design rather than trying to be added on later,” says Davidson.

LAB also formed a team with economics and planning consultants, SGS, and landscape architecture firm, Oculus, to work on an urban renewal plan for Qilin for the Nanjing Urban Planning Bureau. This involved developing an urban framework for an 18 square kilometre area on the outskirts of Nanjing, which is part of the larger 100 square kilometre Xianlin University New Town development. The new quarter of Qilin is based on industries that are driven by knowledge, creativity and entrepreneurship.

The plan has now been adopted as part of the planning code for the area and will begin implementation in 12 to 18 months. It takes into account existing topography as well as water and ecology systems and uses this to determine the road networks and building development plots. Through traffic is diverted away from the main built areas and retail and commercial development are dispersed throughout the area to create a more integrated, walkable and liveable place.

The area was originally meant to have a large convention centre but because of a government decision the centre was moved, along with many associated businesses. There were already a number of universities in the area but, says Davidson, there was no real engagement between them and other activities or businesses.

“The function of this whole area changed and so we had to ensure the economic basis of the area remained viable. We developed a small scale mixed land use matrix to encourage small start ups and smaller scale industry to provide links with the universities. We also looked at locating some of the university campuses in other commercial and central residential areas to encourage more interaction,” says Davidson.

The Qilin project led to other projects for LAB including an renewal plan for the historic Nanjing Yangtze River waterfront. Covering a three kilometre stretch of the river, the area is historically and culturally significant and contains a number of 400 to 500 year old buildings as well as industrial buildings from the 1960s and 70s.

“This was the city’s original port area but the port was moved in the 1980s and this area has never been redeveloped. Cities like Nanjing are discovering that their rivers are part of their heritage and they are looking for ways to engage and develop the waterfront. The plan we develop is going to involve a sustainability framework for reusing existing industrial buildings and housing and integrating new office buildings with these,” says Davidson.

“The AUS initiative is really important in this work – it is providing different development models for the Chinese to use. And because AUS is engaging at a government level it really is having an impact on changing the development and urban planning networks. It is sustainable urban development of a very different kind to previously proposed.”

AECOM's Dalian development

Information flow between the two countries

Nanjing is the capital of Jiangsu Province, sister province with Victoria, and as a result of the relationship information about planning is flowing between the two. Nanjing is looking at different ways of applying models from the Melbourne 2030 Plan and the MCC’s Future Melbourne planning initiative including open community consultation.

“They really liked this idea of consultation with the main stakeholders and using a Wiki for communication– something that genuinely surprised us,” Davidson says.

“But because planning is done in a closed loop there is little chance to engage with stakeholders. By using something like a Wiki for feedback planning authorities can talk to residents, developers and institutions about their views. What they’ve found is that when people aren’t given a chance to give their views they can work against decisions after they’ve been implemented.”

Jason Marriott, managing director architecture for AECOM in Beijing, agrees that China will be a leader in sustainability not too far down the track, particularly in regard to carbon emissions.

“In China the future is about survival emissions whereas in developed countries it’s really about luxury emissions. China is dealing with infrastructure development and the processes to deal with emissions simultaneously and their approach to sustainability is very different – they are building new environments from scratch. In Sydney, for example, reducing emissions is really about changing lifestyles,” says Marriott.

The issues that China is dealing with are also on a scale beyond what Australians can imagine.

“Just the raw infrastructure needed as a result of urbanisation in China is massive. They are also faced with remediating land and water that has had hundreds of years of use and re-use for industry. There are significant areas of damaged land parcels and even cleaning the waterways is a massive undertaking,” says Marriott.

AECOM has a large presence in China with more than 1300 people working in a broad range of projects including engineering, urban design and landscape and architecture. Air, water and land remediation, and transport solutions are a large part of all projects.

“In our architecture we are trying to embody all projects with sustainable solutions and also to provide benchmarking. Local government authorities and mayors are very interested in this – they are given incentives by the government for sustainable development and there is definitely a sense of responsibility about it,” Marriott says.

Balancing growth with sustainability

While developers were driven by the need to make a profit, an increase in incentives and regulations were encouraging a much greater awareness of sustainable practices. But the Chinese government was trying to balance the need for sustainability with a policy of urban growth.

“They’ve got to keep the engine ticking so they don’t want to get too strict with regulations and retard growth,” says Marriott.

One of the biggest problems in China’s urban renewal process is the brain drain from the west to the east. Knowledge workers are migrating at a rapid rate from western China to eastern China as well as overseas.

“The challenge is to create better environments in west China to keep knowledge workers there and to help renewal. Consequently we are working with Tier Two, Three and Four cities and looking at the total district planning as well as individual projects.

AECOM uses an integrated approach in its planning. On one project in Dalian, in northeast China, a large development engages and blends with the mountainous landscape, the mountain bleeding down into a podium roof garden. This substantially eliminates the heat island effect of the development and reduces overall energy loading due the insulation effect of the landscape.

Energy infrastructure is a major growth area and the government is embracing renewable technology on a large scale, including smart grid networks.

“We have just created a new energy division as this is a big thing for China – developing smart grids for cities. It is one of our areas of interest,” says Marriott.

The beauty of working in China for sustainability experts of any kind is the chance to create new cities and renew old ones from the ground up. For Jason Marriott it provides the scale that is really needed if we are to have an impact on climate change and carbon emissions:

“People get caught up in putting in new technology in one building. It’s not the changes to individual buildings here and there that change things. But if you apply changes to 500 buildings and implement systems to work holistically that is when we’re going to see a difference.”

lblundell@thefifthestate.com.au