You can talk about a number of topics within major construction in Australia, such as safety issues, government regulations, improving the design process etc.

Leading and Embracing Sustainability in all Aspects

Amidst the challenges facing our industry, as we gradually move to more stability and emerging pipeline of building and construction projects, we cannot lose sight of the longer term objectives of social and economic reform. The construction industry employs 1.2 million people, accounts for 9% ($380 billion) of Australia’s GDP and key to the road to recovery and employment growth.

Implicit in this, is leading and embracing sustainability in all aspects from conception, site selection, design, building and eventual occupancy and lifecycle of all buildings. In the author’s view, we need to consider the size and purpose of all buildings considering permanent changes in working, living, and learning patterns because of CV-19. What will this look like?

Shorter office and apartment buildings, regional hubs, larger homes, fewer shops, regulated sustainability and energy saving, will see the end of the Skyscraper and high density city living. This is possible in Australia due to large tracts of land available for urban spread around capital cities. 2030 will Australia’s population reach close to 30 million and these folk should not be accommodated in crowded cities for social, economic and environmental reasons.

As reported, Victorian government announced a $797 million energy efficiency affordability package. This sets minimum energy standards with five stars for rental properties and seven stars for new builds and is also significant policy that can advance sustainability in retrofits and transform infrastructure.

This comes as part and parcel of Victorian and SW Governments’ significant investments in harnessing the power of energy efficiency and social housing to create jobs and drive economic recovery.

“Rurbanisation”, as coined by the author, needs to part of the solution. This is the development or rural communities such as Goulbourn in NSW and Seymour in Victoria to house around 250,000 to 500,000 people, each with access to a VFT, 45-60 minutes from outer Sydney and Melbourne.

Commercial building is no exception and we, as industry leading building professionals, can develop solutions and guide developers as to areas in which to build, what to build and hence, advise architects as to the ways in which buildings are to be built. Embracing technology, energy saving solutions for the betterment of occupants and the broader community will be an imperative over this coming decade.

Geoff Dart
Executive Director
Australian Institute of Building

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Sustainability will be a crucial buyer focus in 2021

A recent SHAWOOD consumer survey found that 24% of Australians would buy a more sustainable or environmentally friendly home if they had the chance. This growing awareness will mean a greater focus on sustainable technology, features, and approach in 2021.


At Sekisui House Australia, we take a holistic approach to sustainability to create long term and resilient housing in Australia. Housing should be economically sustainable, utilising materials and passive design principles to reduce ongoing running costs; and environmentally sustainable, optimising innovative building technologies and construction practices that result in long term efficiencies. It should also be socially sustainable, where homes are built within a
thoughtfully planned community designed to promote health and wellbeing.

SHAWOOD is a sophisticated pre-engineered post and beam system that delivers a home that is inherently strong and precise, with substantial improvements in quality and reliability, significantly reducing workload, build times and waste. This highly advanced wooden frame construction system was created by Sekisui House in 1995, following the Kobe earthquake in Japan. The SHAWOOD system exhibits the necessary resilience and durability to cope with the country’s frequent natural disasters.

In Australia, we fuse this technology with key design and construction principles that factor in health and wellbeing, thermal comfort, acoustic comfort, passive design, and energy efficiency, to ensure an optimal living experience. This kind of timeless design is allowing Australians to live and love their homes for longer as trends, needs, and abilities change.

Craig D’Costa
General Manager
The Hermitage and SHAWOOD
Sekisui House Australia

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A new era of sustainable infrastructure ahead

Two recent announcements – the federal budget and Infrastructure’s 10 principles for an infrastructure led COVID-19 recovery – can catalyse a new era of sustainable infrastructure. Among the measures announced by the Morrison Government, a massive $14 billion has been allocated to new and accelerated infrastructure projects, including Melbourne to Brisbane inland rail and the Western Sydney international airport.

Shovel ready projects, like smaller scale road safety, will receive $3 billion. A further $1.9 billion investment in next generation energy technologies will support low emissions and renewable technologies and help the federal government reach net-zero emissions by 2050.

Meanwhile, Infrastructure Australia’s 10 principles have been warmly welcomed by industry. The principles include selecting projects and reform initiatives that enhance productivity, improve sustainability, build resilience and encourage innovation, as well as coordinated action on climate change and other disasters.

Our challenge is to ensure the multi-billiondollar investment ahead delivers jobs and growth today, and secures positive social, cultural, environmental and economic outcomes for many years to come. By embedding sustainability into decision-making at the earliest stages of projects we can consider whole-of-life outcomes of infrastructure. We have clear evidence that sustainable infrastructure projects not only deliver better environmental outcomes, but also maximise social, cultural and economic benefits.

Independent analysis undertaken by RPS Group, IS Rating Scheme Return on Investment, finds infrastructure projects rated under the IS Rating Scheme will deliver up to $2.40 in benefit for every dollar spent.

IS-certified as-built assets have delivered accumulated reductions of 14% in energy, 27% in water and 31% in materials when compared to declared baselines.
We know infrastructure contributes around 70% of Australia’s annual greenhouse gas emissions. But an infrastructure-led recovery from COVID-19 can create jobs, enhance national productivity and build sustainable community assets. So, let’s roll up our sleeves and get to work.

Ainsley Simpson
CEO
Infrastructure Sustainability Council of Australia

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Victorian Construction Bounces Back

It’s heartening to see a promising bounceback in construction following Melbourne’s second lockdown as the number of jobs per company on Fergus software platform reached pre-COVID levels in November.


With this accompanying a 3.3% rise in GDP over the last quarter, Australia’s economy and construction industry are so far poised for recovery.


During March and April, Victoria’s 2020 jobs were higher than in 2019 due to an influx of home improvement jobs during the initial lockdown period.


This continued as Victorians saw more freedom in May, June and into the beginning of July before a sharp decrease in trade work when the second lockdown restricted the number of workers that could be on site.

As restrictions have lifted, so has the job creation number, putting trades businesses back to work at a time when they’re usually winding down for the year.

The data shows that tradies are having a strong end to a difficult year. The Federal Government’s HomeBuilder program, which had seen 7,636 applications in Victoria on November 20 – more than any other state – is likely to be playing a role in the recovery.


We are really encouraged by this latest data. This has been a really turbulent year for tradies – for all small business owners. To see new jobs being generated faster than at any point this year in the period after Stage 4 lockdown is great news for our trades, our customers, our families and our economy.


There are a lot of families out there who aren’t going to have the same kind of Christmas that they usually do because tradies are going to be catching up on the work that has been lost throughout the year.


A recovering housing market and healthy infrastructure pipeline will hopefully keep demand for construction strong in the early months of 2021, helping our industry power an economic recovery from a very difficult year.

By David Holmes
CEO
Fergus Job Management Software for Trades Businesses

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At a ‘Hinge’ in History

I recently read a fascinating BBC Future article which suggested that we were at a ‘hinge’ in history – a defining moment when the decisions made now can fundamentally affect the future of our civilisation. We are certainly at a similar defining moment in the history of our industry. The complexity of construction
is accelerating, projects are getting larger, and the social, economic and environmental stakes continue to rise. Meanwhile, evidence suggests that we are struggling to keep up with the demands of society; project delays, cost over runs, contractual claims and quality issues are still rife. It is no longer an option to
continue doing things the same way.


With a plethora of traditional, segmented and industrialised design solutions available, and an increasing range of technologies and approaches to utilise, it can be challenging to understand risk and make informed choices. One thing is sure; drawing a line between design and construction is no longer viable.

Permanent and temporary works design and construction methodology must be considered in conjunction with an overall Construction Methodology and Erection Sequence (CMES) to deliver holistic value.

It is now possible, powered by BIM and Digital Design techniques, to digitally rehearse construction and assess options in a way that is interactive and ensures all stakeholders have clarity and confidence to make better decisions including the ‘how’, not just the ‘what’.


This increases certainty, an increasingly rare and valuable commodity. Go to https://www.robertbird.com/virtualdesign-and-construction/ https://www.robertbird.com/virtualdesign-and-construction/ to see RBG’s approach and how our journey in Virtual Design and Construction is evolving.

By Paul Mullet
Group Engineering and Technology Director
Robert Bird Group

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