Facility Perspectives v2#3 September 2008

facility

i n t e g r a t i n g p e o p l e – p r o c e s s – p l a c eVOLUME 2, NUMBER 3, 2008 SEPTEMBER–NOVEMBER

Offi cial magazine of the Facility Management Association of Australia Ltd Print Post Approved 340742 00155 $9.95 inc GST

FM TRAINING OPPORTUNITIESYour complete Guide

FOCUS ON SAGoing green for gold

GREEN RATING TOOLS3 rating tools explained

Toward a Carbon EconomyWhat price for sustainability?

fa•cil•i•ties [fe sil et ies] n. pl.

man•age•ment [man ij ment] n.

An establishment made up of people collectively charged

to run an organisation’s infrastructure and assets.

We know where Facilities Management starts, we also understand it doesn’t finish there:

: HVAC, Security & Fire Controls Technicians: Engineering Manager: Sustainability Engineer: Installation & Commissioning Engineer: Project Manager: Contract Manager/Team Leader

: Electrical/Mechanical Engineer: Compliance Manager: Building Services Engineer: Facilities Manager: Building Automation Technician

B R I S B A N E : S Y D N E Y : M E L B O U R N E : P E R T H

For specialist recruitment expertise contact : BRISBANE : Andre Faiva on 0403 239 415 or email [email protected]

SYDNEY : Marc Owen on 0434 989 810 or email [email protected]

www.dmgroup.com.au

: POWER

: PROPERTY

: ARCHITECTURE

: RESOURCES & MINING

: CONSTRUCTION & CIVIL

: FACILITIES MANAGEMENT

: CONSULTING ENGINEERING

: PROJECT MANAGEMENT & DEVELOPMENT

fac i l i typerspectives • 1

IN THIS ISSUE

38 Toward a Carbon EconomyIs the facility management industry ready for the challenges andopportunities posed by the Australian Government’s Carbon PollutionReduction Trading Scheme? This issue examines what emission tradingschemes are, and some of the initiatives currently underway in headingtoward a carbon economy.

16 FOCUS ON SAGoing Green for GoldFuelled by its own resources boom, South Australia has quietly madespectacular progress in its plans toward becoming the leadingecologically sustainable state of Australia.20 MANAGING AN AUSTRALIAN ICONThe Medina Grand Adelaide TreasuryLocated in the heart of the Adelaide CBD, the Medina GrandAdelaide Treasury is a hotel which also serves as a rich repository forthe city’s history.24 EDUCATION & TRAININGCurrent tertiary education opportunities available for facilitymanagers throughout AustraliaBond University’s Dr Craig Langston outlines the researchbehind a model designed to maximise the value of our ageingbuilding stock.36 FMA AUSTRALIA EXCELLENCE AWARDSCreativity, passion and a can-do attitude earned Emma Dudley thisyear’s FMA Australia and Tungsten Young Practitioner of the YearAward.38 SPECIAL FEATURE: Toward a Carbon EconomyBuildings and Emissions Trading: What’s it all about?Adjunct Professor Alan Pears, RMIT University, outlines the thinkingbehind the emissions trading scheme and how it might impact on thebuilt environment.Facilities Management in the Carbon EconomyCarbon Planet’s Dave Sag explores how the National Greenhouse andEnergy Reporting (NGER) Act is likely to impact on facility managers.Biomimetics and BuildingsMelanie Drummond spoke to Mick Pearce about nature’s influence onthe future blueprint of our built environment, and to ARBS presenterProfessor Derek Clements-Croome about the research in the field ofbiomimetics.Green Transport initiatives at the City of MelbourneBianca Frost looks at some of the green transport initiatives the City ofMelbourne has adopted to manage its workplace transport facilityrequirements.Building a Model FutureJohn Mitchell explains how Building Information Modelling (BIM) is setto add a new dimension to the delivery of asset and facilitymanagement in the 21st century.Life Cycle Assessment – creating a business language for theenvironmentThe Centre for Design’s research consultant, Andrew Carre explainshow life cycle assessment (LCA) can demonstrate the cost savings andstrategic benefits of ‘going green’. 60 ENERGY & THE ENVIRONMENTA Comparison of Green Rating ToolsFMA Australia’s Policy Advisor, Charlie Simson, details the features ofthe three leading rating tools available to facility managers.

71 INFORMATION MANAGEMENTInformation Central While many facility managers yearn to have a real-time digital andconvergent information resource at their fingertips, for many thereality is less than cutting-edge. 77 FMA AUSTRALIA SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPSWiFM – at the forefront of the industryWomen in Facilities Management (WiFM) was established in 2001 as asupport network for the benefit of those women working as the solefacility manager within an organisation.81 SECURITY & RISK MANAGEMENTA Design on CrimeMark Phillips outlines the benefits of cost-effective security planningpractices such as Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design(CPTED).89 ENERGY & THE ENVIRONMENTGreening the Great IndoorsAdjunct Professor Margaret Burchett provides a cost-benefit analysisfor the use of indoor plants in improving human wellbeing andworkplace productivity.92 BOOK REVIEWEstimating and Tendering for Construction Workby Martin Brook. Review by Melanie Drummond.

REGULARS

FEATURES

facility

i n t e g r a t i n g p e o p l e – p r o c e s s – p l a c e

FRONT COVER

COVER STORY

3 Editor’s Comment 4 FMA Australia Chairman’s Message 5 FMA Australia CEO’s Address 6 Fast Facts & News

62 FM ACTION AGENDA – Toward a Sustainable Future

64 ESSENTIAL SAFETY MEASURES – Building Update

Industry sectors, political parties and lobby groups may bickerover the details, but the time for putting a price on providingfor our future has arrived.

DECEMBER ISSUE3 Training at FMA Australia 3 FM Conference Events Report3 Maintenance & HVAC Feature

SPONSORED INDUSTRY PROFILES2 Fire Australia12 Express Glass22 Techs4biz30 UNE Partnerships40 Momentum Energy44 Culligan Water52 Impact Plumbing56 Clean Air Technologies59 IFM67 Aircon Rentals72 Shred-X75 Forbo76 Floor Safety Services of Australasia82 SNP Security84 Lan Corp Security Systems87 JLG Liftpod

www.fi reaustralia.com.auFire Australia 2008 is a Fire Protection Association Australia

& Institution of Fire Engineers Australia joint project

Fire Australia 2008The fi re industry plays a vital role in the

protection of people, property and the

environment. As an industry we have a

responsibility to society to continually seek

improvement to ensure all practices and

equipment are as effective as possible.

As rapid changes in technology,

construction, security and our environment

take place, it is important that we step

up to the challenges they present and

plan for our future.

Fire Australia 2008 endeavours to set

goals for our industry today, in order

to ensure a safer tomorrow.

Delegate Registration

Download the registration brochure from

www.fi reaustralia.com.au. It contains

the conference program, details of the

social functions and partners program,

registration forms for the conference and

accommodation and a map illustrating

the different venue locations.

Register by August 31 for the

early bird discount.

Australian Technology Park, Sydney Mon 13 - Wed 15 October 2008

“Through the goals we set today, we can ensure a safer tomorrow.”Setting tomorrow’s goals today

To book:T: 1300 731 922E: [email protected]

Fire Australia 2008 Conference and Exhibition CLIENT FEATURE

Setting Tomorrow’s Goals TodayThe Fire Australia 2008 Conference and Exhibitionaims to encourage innovation in the safety-critical fireprotection industry, as leading experts andprofessionals discuss the future and set goals for theindustry.

In the past century the fire protection industry hasbeen responsible for many developments that wenow deem essential for the safety of our lives andproperty. Although today’s society benefits fromincreased fire protection, recent advances intechnology and construction, along with changingsecurity and environmental concerns, havenecessitated change in the industry.

The upcoming Fire Australia 2008 Conference andExhibition aims to address these changes, with thisyear’s event themed ‘Fire protection – settingtomorrow’s goals today’. The Conference will featuremany key industry professionals and expertsspeaking on the theme, including Jim Shannon,President and CEO of the National Fire ProtectionAssociation in the USA. Also of note is PaulRichardson, International President of the Institute ofFire Engineers, who will be presenting a UKperspective to reducing risk.

Delegates at this years event have the opportunity toperuse the latest in fire protection technology andproducts at the concurrent exhibition. Interactive

exhibitor and training based workshops will also beheld, providing delegates the chance to furtherenhance their knowledge of current technologies,practices, standards and services.

Fire Australia 2008 will be held from 13-15October at Australian Technology Park, Sydney.For more information, or to register, contact theFire Protection Association Australia on 1300 731922 or visit www.fireaustralia.com.au

Delegates in attendance at a past Fire Australia

Conference and Exhibition.

2 • fac i l i typerspectives


EDITORS COMMENTS

Level 6, 313 La Trobe Street, Melbourne VIC 3000Tel: (03) 8641 6666 Fax: (03) 9640 0374

Email: [email protected] Web: www.fma.com.au

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ABN 30 007 224 204Editor-in-Chief: Ric Navarro

Layouts: Anthony Costin

National Sales Manager: Phil Haratsis

430 William Street, Melbourne VIC 3000Tel: (03) 9274 4201 Fax: (03) 9329 5295Email: [email protected]

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Director & Editor: Max Winter

Assistant Editor/National Communications Manager:Melanie Drummond

Staff Writer/Communications Officer:Bianca Frost

WinterComms Sydney Correspondent:Marie Geissler, Geissler Communications

Editorial enquiries:Tel: (02) 4471 1252 or (03) 8417 6577

Email: [email protected]

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The editor, publisher, printer and their staff and agents are notresponsible for the accuracy or correctness of the text ofcontributions contained in this publication or for theconsequences of any use made of the products, and theinformation referred to in this publication. The editor, publisher,printer and their staff and agents expressly disclaim all liability ofwhatsoever nature for any consequences arising from any errorsor omissions contained in this publication whether caused to apurchaser of this publication or otherwise. The views expressed inthe articles and other material published herein do notnecessarily reflect the views of the editor and publisher or theirstaff or agents. The responsibility for the accuracy of informationis that of the individual contributors and neither the publisher oreditors can accept responsibility for the accuracy of informationwhich is supplied by others. It is impossible for the publisher andeditors to ensure that the advertisements and other materialherein comply with the Trade Practices Act 1974 (Cth). Readersshould make their own inquiries in making any decisions, andwhere necessary, seek professional advice.

©2008 Executive Media Pty Ltd. All rights reserved. Reproductionin whole or part, without written permission is strictly prohibited.

MAX WINTER

Change

Welcome to the September issue ofFacility Perspectives. It is interestingto see the change filtering down

from the newly elected federal governmentand how it is starting to impact on societygenerally, and the Built Environmentspecifically.

Apart from the social agenda policies onthe table, the Climate Change Agenda inparticular, in my view, needs to be driven fromthe top and the Rudd government certainlyappear to be delivering on this aspect with theforthcoming Carbon Pollution ReductionTrading Scheme.

The emissions trading scheme will nodoubt have a huge impact on all sectors of theBuilt Environment with issues such as skillsshortages, and the increasing need for energyefficiencies for an aging building stock verymuch at the fore.

Sectors such as AEC – FM (Architectural,Engineering, Construction and FacilitiesManagement) need to produce the tools andtraining necessary to work cohesively andcollaboratively, using a common languageavailable, understood and utilised by allsectors, to provide the efficiencies the industrydemands.

It seems rather fortuitous that the FMAction Agenda, itself a collaborative team ofvolunteers from government, property industry,business, and educational sectors brought intofocus some of these issues and provided a

platform from which to move forward. This issue and the next canvasses some of

these initiatives, beginning with an outline ofwhat a carbon emission trading scheme is inrelation to buildings, what it means for facilitymanagers, and then progresses to some of thecurrent thinking behind functional buildingdesign, green transport, a comparison of therating tools available, the benefits of indoorplants, and last but certainly not least, BuildingInformation Modelling (BIM).

Building Information Modelling was one ofthe aspects of the FM Action Agenda FMExemplar Project: Sydney Opera House, acollaborative partnership between FMAAustralia, Rider Levett Bucknall (formerly RiderHunt), Woods Bagot, Sydney Opera House,Brisbane City, Queensland Department ofPublic Works, CSIRO, University of Sydney,Queensland University of Technology, and CRCfor Construction Innovation, who acted asproject managers.

CRC for Construction Innovation has, andis, actively pursuing the further development ofall aspects of BIM, including the pursuit ofnational standards for BIM with a series ofseminars in most capitals. See their website athttp://www.construction-innovation.info/index.php?id=1147 for moredetails on a recent report.

Max WinterEditor

BSM ’08 Expo, Melbourne Exhibition Centre, 14-16 SeptemberBSM ‘08 will be the largest total facility management expo ever staged in Australia, withexhibitors from the facility management and building services sectors that will includesuppliers of ground maintenance services, hygiene products, pest control services, safetyproducts, storage systems, signage, security, waste management, energy management andfire services.Go to www.bsmexpo.com.au for details.

World Sustainable Building Conference 2008, Melbourne Convention and ExhibitionCentre, 21-25 September 2008

Do not miss this! The World Sustainable Building (SB) Conference series, which has been heldevery three years, is the peak gathering of the world’s leading technical experts andresearchers on sustainable built environments. SB08 Melbourne will continue a traditionalfocus on technical developments and case studies. CSIRO (Australia’s national researchorganisation), leading universities and research groups in Australia and from around the world,are all expected to release new research.Go to www.sb08melbourne.com for details.


CHAIRMAN’S MESSAGE

The Review was commissioned by Australia’s Commonwealth, stateand territory governments to examine the impacts, challenges andopportunities of climate change for Australia. The initial draft report

was released on 4 July 2008 and details the system used in the Reviewto assess the following:3 evaluation of the costs and benefits of climate change mitigation 3 application of the science of climate change to Australia 3 international context of Australian mitigation, and 3 Australian mitigation policy. The final report is due by 30 September 2008.The interim period between the release of the draft report and the

final report gives business and community the opportunity to discuss therecommendations made by the report, particularly regarding the likelyintroduction of an emissions trading scheme.

Following the release of the Garnaut Review and the government’sGreen Paper outlining its proposal for the scheme, it seems probablethat Australia will see the introduction of a carbon trading scheme by2010.

What will this mean for the facility management industry? Increasedfocus on energy efficiency, clean energy and the reduction of travel couldhave significant impacts, as will additional requirements for measuringand capturing data from buildings. Initially the impact will be small as the25,000 tonne threshold will capture only the very largest emitters, but asthe reporting thresholds reduce, more and more facilities will be requiredto mandatorily report their emissions.

The unprecedented focus on emissions will probably also be feltfurther afield as organisations prepare for emissions trading andreporting to affect them. As well as some considerable challenges, thefocus on facility performance presents some significant opportunities forthe facility management industry. Increased focus on performance raisesthe industry’s profile and highlights the critical and complex role FMs playin ensuring that buildings perform to the standards (or sometimes inspite of the standards) of the design.

Given that FMs will play such an important part in helping to realisethe targets that will be set by the government, it follows that there needsto be significant investment in increasing the skills base within theindustry to assist them in doing this. As highlighted in the report, “thebuilding sector in particular is already an area of skills shortage, andresponding to carbon constraints is likely to exacerbate this skills gap.” Itis anticipated that the introduction of an emissions trading scheme wouldcause a surge in construction due to the requirements for re-fitting and‘greening’ existing buildings.

There is concern, however, that the industry would struggle to copewith the demand, hence the recommendation in the report for thedevelopment of re-training courses, the provision of advisory servicesand tools such as design guides and the introduction of accreditationschemes to provide incentives to learn.

FMA Australia has already begun to address the issues and findingsdiscussed in the draft report of the Review, particularly in the area ofeducation and training. The facility management industry will be ofparamount importance in assisting organisations to achieve emissionstargets and it will therefore be necessary for many facility managers to‘up-skill’ in order to help them to cope with the proposed changes. FMAAustralia has been in recent discussions with the government, with a viewto funds being allocated within the Green Building Fund to assist in theexpansion of this area.

With the final report of the Garnaut Review due at the end of themonth, we can certainly anticipate a momentous time ahead for theindustry.

FMA Australia will pay close attention to the findings of the reportand will continue to be in close contact with the government to secureappropriate support and recognition of facility management as a drivingfactor in emissions reduction.

Andrew McEwanChairmanFMA Australia

Chairman’s Message

Big changes are set to occur within the facility management industry inthe coming months following the release of the Garnaut ClimateChange Review.

ANDREW MCEWAN


CEO’S ADDRESS

In addition to this, guidelines for the National Greenhouse and EnergyReporting System (NGERS) have been released and the first reportingperiod for that system has begun which, if it hasn’t already, will have a

big impact on many of our members and is hence an issue that we havebecome closely involved with. These issues, together with theDepartment of Innovation, Industry, Science and Research’s (DIISR) GreenBuilding Fund consultation, have certainly kept us busy and given usplenty to discuss and respond to since the last edition of FacilityPerspectives.

FMA Australia has been working closely with industry partners toensure that government understands the opportunities the builtenvironment offers for no-cost and low-cost carbon reduction, andimportantly, the crucial role that facility management plays in achievingimproved efficiency from our buildings.

With the introduction of an emissions trading scheme in Australialooking very likely, the release of the NGERS guidelines has been acrucial policy outcome in moving towards an emissions trading system.The guidelines outline the reporting systems and methods that are to beused to calculate emissions levels, as well as determining which partieshave responsibility for emissions reporting. FMA Australia has providedformal feedback to the Department of Climate Change regarding theassignment of reporting responsibility for emissions from facilities. Wewill ensure that we keep you updated on developments in this area tohelp you to meet the requirements of the reporting system.

The Climate Change Green Paper gives us some more detail aroundthe likely impact of an emissions trading scheme, with the biggest issuefor the built environment likely to revolve around the industry’s ability torapidly improve the efficiency of existing building stock. Estimates at thisstage indicate that this could mean a boom in the building industry withaccelerated levels of refurbishment, although there is still some questionas to how the industry may meet the demand for skilled labour.Certainly it will be increasingly important for all levels of facility managerto have a strong understanding of the measures they can take toimprove efficiency in their facilities, both through re-fitting and re-commissioning and through tighter control of existing systems.

The Green Building Fund, an election commitment, will enableorganisations to apply for funding to assist them to retro-fit existing

buildings for energy efficiency, and also assist professional organisations,including FMA Australia, to develop training packages to up-skillindividuals to meet the impending challenges.

FMA Australia has provided DIISR with feedback on its proposedguidelines for the program, in terms of how proposals should beassessed for grants, the best use of the funds and how the differentaspects of a proposal should be weighted. We have also indicated wherethe incentives and disincentives are currently within the industry so thatthe Green Building Fund can be used to speed up the greening ofexisting building stock.

The Green Building Fund will no doubt be in demand by owners,facility managers and others as a method to fund re-commissioning andtuning works within buildings, as well as plant upgrade. In addition, astrong focus of the Fund will be on the commissioning and re-commissioning of existing systems.

It’s an exciting time for FMA Australia and the FM industry assharpened focus on building performance highlights the pivotalcontribution facility managers make in an efficient built environment.FMA Australia is ensuring the industry is well represented withgovernment and other stakeholders, while considering the educationand professional development initiatives that will be necessary to helpmembers and the industry meet the Climate Change challenge.

It’s also an important time of year for us as our branch committeeseach hold their AGM and committee members for 2008/09 are selected.I have already attended the first of these in WA and am pleased toreport that it’s shaping up to be a busy and highly successful year for thenew WA branch committee.

I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate and thank allmembers who commit their time and energy to serve in variouscapacities such as branch and national committees to help increaseawareness of the facility management industry across the nation.

The FMA Australia national AGM will be held in November, at whichthe board of directors will be announced. Members are invited tonominate for the board and details will follow shortly via email.

David DuncanChief Executive OfficerFMA Australia

CEO’s AddressDAVID DUNCAN

It’s certainly been a busy few months at FMA Australia. We have seen many recentannouncements in government policy which will affect the facility management industry,such as the publishing of the Garnaut review and the government’s Green Paper onAustralia’s Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme.

FMA Australia would like to thank its Premium sponsor for 2008/09, ISS Facility Services


FAST FACTS + NEWS

Melbourne’s Convention Centre developmentleads the way in facilities managementSet within a vibrant riverside precinct in central Melbourne, Australia’slargest combined convention and exhibition facility – the MelbourneConvention Centre Development (MCCD) will open for business in 2009under the watchful eye of Brookfield Multiplex’s facility management team.The project is being delivered as a public private partnership project byPlenary Group under the Partnerships Victoria framework with BrookfieldMultiplex contracted as the builder and facility manager. The collaborationenables Brookfield Multiplex to bring its capabilities in design andconstruction and its expertise in facilities management to the fore.

The ambitious project is estimated to add over $197 million dollarseach year to Victoria’s coffers, will accommodate up to 5,000 delegates inits landmark, reconfigurable plenary hall and has already achieved theworld’s first six star green star environmental rating utilising a AGBCConvention Centre Pilot tool that will be used as the basis for PublicBuildings.

With people on the ground since the design process for the projectbegan, Brookfield Multiplex‘s intimate knowledge of the building willmake the transition from construction to operation a significantly smootherprocess. With an increased understanding of the building, the FacilityServices team will also ensure the building is managed to achieve theoptimum performance it was designed for from day one. This approachhas meant the team has also been able to address facilities managementrisks and opportunities in a collaborative and solutions oriented manner,playing a major role in the procurement of fixtures, fittings and equipment(FFE) such as kitchen equipment, the selection of plant (such asMechanical plant) and providing input on whole of life performance issues.According to Brookfield Multiplex Services’ General Manager for BusinessGrowth Richard Gee, their greatest input has been “ensuringmaintainability and accessibility issues have been built into all aspects ofthe project“. In practical terms this has had an impact on a number ofareas, – ranging from the electrical switchboard layout, chilled beampositioning, the colour of the roof, choice of fabric for the Plenary Hallseats and choice of fixtures and fittings in toilet areas.

Integral to the project has been continuity of staff, with a FacilityOperation Manager dedicated to the project since the start of the RFP(request for proposal) phase in March 2005. Ongoing contact between theBid Team and the Transition and Delivery Team has also been maintainedthroughout the entire design and construct process. “BrookfieldMultiplex’s integrated property model is about releasing the synergies thatexist across the facility lifecycle. In its simplest form, this means onedelivery team focused on releasing whole of life benefits for our clients bydeveloping, building, managing and owning facilities that are able to meetour client’s requirements throughout the entire facility lifecycle,” saidManaging Director of Brookfield Multiplex Services, Jon McCormick.

“This approach fits well with PPP’s and Design Construct and Maintain(DC&M) projects where there are long concession terms and a whole oflife net present cost focus. For this project we have had one BrookfieldMultiplex Team since the start, with a focus on value over the project term– not just during the construction or operational phases in isolation, andwe’ve had a fully integrated design and construction process whereFacilities Management experts have provided practical advice andsolutions throughout,” he said.

Graham Oswin, Regional Managing Director Brookfield MultiplexConstruction agrees, noting “the Services team’s expertise and experiencein managing buildings has meant that we have made more fully informeddecisions on many aspects of the design and fitout of the building – fromservices shafts to fitout materials, the Services team has added anotheraspect to our approach to DC&M projects. In addition, there is a hugeadvantage in ensuring the design of the projects takes into account safeaccess for cleaning and maintaining the building.”

With 15 PPP/DC&M projects under their belt, the Brookfield Multiplexteam have experienced different challenges with the MCCD project,including aligning the requirements for the existing Exhibition Centre withthose of the new Convention Centre and, as with all PPP projects, scopemanagement has also proved a challenge. Brookfield Multiplex’s GeneralManager for Business Growth Richard Gee notes “there will always bechanges to the design and form and it is vital that the facility managementteam understand and have input into this process. We have the processesand relationships to address this important issue created through ourprevious PPP experience”.

The next challenge for the group is managing a site that will beAustralia’s foremost sustainable structure.

“A wealth of sustainable initiatives have been implemented duringDesign stage to ensure the facility achieves six star rating. However weunderstand that whilst design is a key factor in the delivery of sustainableprojects, the way in which facilities are managed over the long termultimately determines the success of sustainable initiatives,” Geeconcludes.

Integration is key to Brookfield Multiplex’s business philosophy andthe Services team offer an integrated property services solution throughfive distinct business streams, Corporate Real Estate, FacilitiesManagement, Property Services, Project Management and ResidentialManagement Services to accommodate their diverse range of clients’property needs. The group has recently transformed from MultiplexFacilities Management to Brookfield Multiplex Services to better reflect thebroad range of services they offer across the industry.

The delivery of the services will be undertaken through an operationsand risk sharing arrangement between Plenary Group and BrookfieldMultiplex whereby owner and Facility Operator have aligned incentives toensure the ongoing service delivery and whole of life performancemaintenance of the facilities.

The scope of services for the management of the new MCCDincludes:3 General Services including Performance Monitoring and

Reporting, Health, Safety and Environmental Management andQuality Assurance;

3 Help Desk services;3 Building Management Services including operational maintenance

and lifecycle replacement over the 25 year contract term;3 Utilities Management Services;3 Cleaning Services;3 Security Services;3 Grounds and Garden Maintenance Services; and3 Pest Control.

TALE OF TWO CITIESFM roles in Dubai and Melbourne

Facilities Management Consultant, Dubai

With 28 offices spread throughout the UK, Europe, Asia and the Middle East this multi-disciplinary consultancy and construction business has over 2700 employees servicing the commercial, aviation, residential, retail, rail and healthcare sectors.

Their rapidly expanding UAE operation has secured a number of high profile property owners and they require an experienced Facilities Consultant to:

Provide technical, strategy, compliance, procurement and audit advice on very large villa projects and commercial towers

Ensure optimum facilities management services are delivered across the portfolio

Manage and liaise with external service providers to ensure maintenance measures and major works programs are carried out efficiently

The salary package is inclusive of accommodation, flights, car allowance, performance bonuses, gratuity payments, insurance and medical costs.

Janet Morrison for a detailed

Established in the late 1800s and with head quarters in the city of London this multi disciplined consultancy also has established offices in Australia, Europe, the Middle East, Asia, the Americas and Africa. Their services include cost management, project management, facilities management and building surveying.

Their Melbourne office has created a new role for a Senior Facilities Consultant to manage and grow this crucial income stream. Reporting to the Director you will be the focal point of this newly created business unit with responsibilities including:

Identifying opportunities with large institutional clients

Providing strategic, technical and compliance advice to property owners on asset portfolios

Building a profitable and reputable service line including executive reporting to the Board of Directors

Janet Morrison for a


FAST FACTS + NEWS

Sydney Heritage Building awardedfirst 6 Star Green Star rating39 Hunter Street in the Sydney CBD has become the first heritagebuilding in Australia to achieve a 6 Star Green Star rating. This rating,recently announced by the Green Building Council of Australia, is aground-breaking achievement for a heritage building.

The awarding of the accreditation is the culmination of an extensivecollaboration between the building owner, Kador Group, projectmanager JCK Consulting, architects Jackson Teece, and engineers andESD consultants Arup. CB Richard Ellis, who is the leasing agent, hasbeen involved in the project from its inception.

This consultative approach has achieved an outstanding outcome forthe iconic 90 year old building which will make it relevant for decades tocome.

The extensive refurbishment project to the 7 level, 6,000m² building,which is the former home of Perpetual Trustees, is currently underwaywith completion expected early in 2009.

Ingenuity and a commitment to achieving the best possiblesustainable outcome were the keys to this achievement which isexpected to generate significant tenant interest. Initiatives include use offire sprinkler tanks for thermal storage, peak electrical load reduction,displacement air-conditioning system, lighting controls, rainwatercollection and re-use, waste reduction, bicycle storage, and recycling andre-use of the existing fitout and furnishings

The Kador Group has previously achieved ground-breaking resultswith the refurbishment of its 30 year-old building at 500 Collins Street inMelbourne. In November, 2006 this building was the first CBD high-riserefurbishment to achieve a 5 Green Star rating.

Kador Managing Director, Carolyn Parker, said the company wasdelighted that 39 Hunter Street has demonstrated that a high level ofsustainability can be incorporated within the restoration andrefurbishment of heritage properties. She said “the building was at theleading edge when constructed 90 years ago, and it is fitting that it isagain restored to this position”.

JenineCranston, DirectorOffice Services atCB Richard Ellis,said interest in thebuilding had beenwidespread and theGreen Star ratingwas expected tofuel additionalinterest given theheightened tenantfocus onsustainability inrecent times.

“We are seeingtenants shift fromhaving a basicinterest in bricksand mortar to agenuine support forenvironmentallyinspired officespace for the healthand productivitybenefits flowingfrom these designinitiatives.” MsCranston said.

39 Hunter Street is still in the early stage of marketing, targetingprospective tenants seeking an iconic headquarters serviced by state ofthe art technology.

Leighton Contractors expands Health Sectorcapabilities with Menette acquisitionLeighton Contractors has significantly expanded its capabilities in thehealth care sector through the acquisition of specialist facilitiesmanagement company, Menette Pty Ltd.

Established 12 years ago, Menette is a Melbourne based companythat provides facilities management, design, and project managementservices to health sector clients nationally.

Peter McMorrow, Managing Director of Leighton Contractors, saidthat over the next ten years there would be significant investment insocial infrastructure, particularly in health care facilities.

“This acquisition is a key part of our strategy to establish ourselves asthe leading building contractor and the preferred partner to clients in thehealth care, education and related sectors.

“Clients are increasingly looking for companies that can offer fully

integrated design, construction, financing and facilities managementsolutions and, importantly, companies that are committed to a long-termpartnership that creates value over the life of a facility.

“Through its health care focus, Menette adds significant capability toLeighton Contractors in facilities management. This expertise is highlycomplementary to our existing services capabilities and our broaderconstruction and project financing activity,” said McMorrow.

Utilising specialist and proprietary systems, Menette providescustomised solutions that meet the specific accreditation, regulatory,governance and compliance requirements of health care facilities. Thecompany also provides clients with on-going management andoperational expertise in both engineering and biomedical engineeringservices to effectively manage maintenance costs.

Currie & Brown has been at the forefront of facilities and asset management services since the early 1990’s. We have developed a comprehensive understanding of the strategic and operational issues and challenges facing organisations and have a proven independent approach to facilitate the introduction of successful models, practices and superior outcomes.

from the best, please contact us:[email protected]

Currie & BrownLevel 6, 67 Albert AvenueChatswood NSW 2067T +61 2 9415 1600F +61 2 9415 1443

Experienced. Reliable. Independent.


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FAST FACTS + NEWS

Aconex selected for Melbournehomeless housing developmentAconex will provide its online information managementservice, at no charge, to facilitate the construction of a$50 million inner-city housing block for the homeless inMelbourne.

The Aconex system will be used to manage all thedocumentation and correspondence generated bycompanies involved in the project. Through usingAconex, project participants will be able to view, trackand share their files in real-time – reducing the need forpaper documents and streamlining communicationbetween companies.

Aconex was selected by the developer Grocon,which is delivering the project in partnership with theVictorian Government, Yarra Community Housing andHomeground Services. Grocon is building the facility atcost price and has requested that its suppliers providetheir services either pro bono or at cost.

Based on a New York initiative, which has helpedreduce homelessness by 25% since 2005, the 10-storeybuilding will house up to 120 people. The housing blockwill be located on Elizabeth Street near the QueenVictoria Market and will contain on-site mental health referrals, drug andalcohol counselling, and employment services. The facility is expected toopen in 2010.

Leigh Jasper, Aconex Chief Executive, said: “Being a Melbourne-based company, we are proud to be supporting this development. Wehope the success of this project will help encourage similar initiativesaround Australia.”

David Waldren, Grocon Design Manager, said: “Grocon has usedAconex on more than 60 projects so we are delighted that they are on

board. The system will manage the thousands of drawings anddocuments that will be created and speed up the flow of information,helping us to open the doors of the facility as soon as possible.”

Aconex, is a leading provider of online collaboration solutions to theconstruction and engineering industries, with $210 billion worth ofprojects serviced across 60 countries. Clients include leading Australianconstruction and property development companies such as Multiplex,Australand, Hansen Yuncken, St Hilliers and Probuild. Other clientsinclude Qantas, McDonald’s Restaurants and Sydney Opera House.

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Melbourne Open House:Celebrating the Built EnvironmentSome of Melbourne’s most interesting buildings andhidden architectural treasures were open to the publicon Sunday, July 20 as part of a new initiative,Melbourne Open House, which was launched inconjunction with the 2008 Melbourne InternationalDesign Festival. This event afforded residents andvisitors a rare chance to experience first hand thediverse heritage, architectural, engineering and designgems of the city.

In its inaugural year, Melbourne Open Housefocused on a selection of inspiring buildings withinwalking distance of Federation Square and the centralevent hub of the Melbourne International DesignFestival.

A total of eight buildings were selected toshowcase Melbourne’s rich and uniquely diversearchitectural history from the height of the Victoriangold rush through to the present day. Collectively,these buildings provided a fascinating insight into thesocial, political and economic preoccupations of a cityand its people, reminding viewers that the builtenvironment is not simply an amalgamation of spacesbut a living historical document of human beliefs,values and aspirations.

Despite the cold, grey skies and rain, over 30,000people spent up to four hours queuing to access siteson the Melbourne Open House program, a numberwhich, according to Simon Johnson, Melbourne OpenHouse spokesman, well and truly exceeded theexpectations of event organisers.

Next year, to offset the high public demand foraccess to buildings, Melbourne Open House plans toopen up more spaces for viewing over the course of anentire weekend. There are also plans to focus on awider range of buildings in various locations acrossMelbourne that will include best practice examples ofmedium density housing, environmentally sustainabledesign and architectural award winners.

Open buildings on the 2008 program included CH2, the AGBR Six-Star City of Melbourne office building; the Labyrinth at FederationSquare; the Plaza Ballroom at the Regent Theatre; Manchester Unitybuilding; Capitol Theatre; St. Paul’s Cathedral and St. Paul’s ChapterHouse.

The most viewed building of the 2008 program was the PlazaBallroom at the Regent Theatre with 9,844 visitors while tours of the

Labyrinth at Federation Square were completely booked out prior to theevent.

To find out more about Melbourne Open House and discover what’s instore for the 2009 event, keep posted tohttp://www.melbourneopenhouse.org.au/cms-program-2009/buildings/buildings-2009.php

The Labyrinth at Federation SquareThe Labyrinth is a maze of subterranean corrugated concretewalls located beneath the iconic 2002 Federation Squareprecinct. These winding tunnels form a unique passivecooling system which is used to provide environmental aircontrol for the precinct’s Atrium and BMW Edge publicspaces.

At almost 40 x 40 metres and 1.2 km in length, theLabyrinth utilises qualities specific to Melbourne’s climacticvariations to cool the concrete walls by pumping air into itscells at night and through the cells by day. Air is thenredirected into the venue, dispersed by the use of a low-velocity displacement system located at floor level.

In peak summer conditions, the Labyrinth is capable ofdelivering air up to 12°C below the external ambienttemperature using one tenth of the energy consumption andgenerating less than one-tenth of the CO2 emissions ofconventional air conditioning systems.

In winter the Labyrinth’s thermal mass maintains aninherent warming potential that can be supplemented asrequired.


FAST FACTS + NEWS

CH2The CH2 project is the first purpose built office building in Australia toachieve a six Green Star certified rating for environmental design andperformance. This is a significant achievement is as the design for theproject commenced prior to the launch of the Green Star Rating Systemand Green Star – Office Design which evaluates buildings against thecriteria of energy and water efficiency, quality of indoor environments andresource conservation.

CH2 has sustainable technologies incorporated into every conceivablepart of its 10 storeys. A water-mining plant in the basement, phase-changematerials for cooling, automatic night-purge windows, wavy concreteceilings, a facade of louvres (powered by photovoltaic cells) that track thesun – even the pot plant holders embody a whole new way of thinkingabout sustainable office buildings.

Although most of the principles adopted in the building are not new –such as using thermal mass for cooling and using plants to filter light –never before in Australia have they been used in such a comprehensive,interrelated fashion in an office building.

MANCHESTER UNITYThe 1932 Manchester Unity Building in Swanston Street represented a newfaith in commerce and progress in the context of inter-war Melbourne.

Built during the Depression using round-the-clock eight-hour shifts, thetermination of Manchester Unity’s corner tower in the style of commercialmodern gothic has its inspiration in Raymond Hood’s 1922 competition-winning design for the Chicago Tribune Tower.

At the time, the pinnacles of the Manchester Unity made it the tallestbuilding in Melbourne and it was the first building in Victoria to haveescalators. These three high-speed lifts were driven by what was, at thetime, the largest diesel generator in Australia.

The building is faced in a gold-brown glazed faience and elaboratedby figures of benevolence and charity. It has been observed that the heightof the Manchester Unity building which substantially exceeded that of thenearby Melbourne Town Hall and St Paul’s Cathedral, proclaimed achallenge to the dominance of state and church by announcing commerceas a new force of social influence.

CAPITOL THEATREDesigned by the influential Walter Burley and Marion Mahoney Griffin, theCapitol Theatre was built 1921-24 on Swanston Street.

As one of Melbourne’s crowning architectural achievements followingfederation, Capitol Theatre is notable for a number of pioneering designand architectural concepts including its marvelous stained glass details andmagical geometric plaster ceilings.

When this cinema opened in 1924, the public flocked to hear theWurlitzer organ and see the movies and spectacular light show afforded bythe Griffins’ plaster ceiling design. To achieve the dramatic ceiling, massivereinforced concrete portals allowed the interior structure to be hunguninterrupted by any internal columns. Outside, the Capitol is alsodistinctive. Two deep cornices cap two pylon motifs each of three verticalpiers extending over the entire height of the façade, making it appear ashistorian Jeffrey Turnbull has suggested, like a giant gateway.

In the 1960s, the owners decided to insert a shopping arcade rightthrough the middle of the auditorium. A campaign to save the theatre waswaged and a compromise was reached: the cave-like foyers were destroyedand a new floor was inserted. Many of the original lobby and vestibulespaces were either destroyed or boarded up, but the ceiling was saved.

In recent years, great efforts have been made to restore survivingelements of the theatre. The dramatic cantilevering street canopy with itslight globes and skylights is the most significant recent restoration.

RMIT purchased the theatre in 1999 and has undertaken furtherrefurbishment work, including the repainting of the auditorium ceiling andthe installation of new seating. The Capitol is used primarily as a lecturetheatre and for special events. The theatre is open to the public for guidedtours on the third Friday of the month.*Adapted from “A Guide to Melbourne architecture”, by Philip Goad, 1999, p. 105. The Watermark

Press, Sydney.

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While the resource boom has left Western Australia chronicallyshort of building stock and critical infrastructure, SouthAustralia has quietly been implementing its plans for the future,

spearheaded by a prolific investment in sustainable building, energy andwater projects. Currently there are major projects worth over $45 billionin various stages of construction and consideration, 80 per cent of whichare related to the massive urban development required by the miningand defence boom. BHP’s Olympic Dam project 600km north-west fromAdelaide alone is expected to have an immense impact on the State’seconomy and will require the biggest expansion of facilities everundertaken in the global resources industry.

There is a certain amount of irony in the fact that while the rest of theworld devours the spoils of South Australia’s rich mineral deposits, theState itself is abuzz with plans for creating one of the cleanest, greenestcities in the world. Driven largely by the State Government, SouthAustralia’s initiatives have drawn praise from international environmentalleaders such as David Suzuki, Al Gore and Robert Kennedy.

In 2007 the South Australian government signed the ClimateChange and Greenhouse Emissions Reduction Act which made it the firststate in the country to voluntarily legislate reduction targets for

greenhouse gas emissions. These targets include reducing greenhousegas emissions in the State by at least 60 per cent of 1990 levels by theend of 2050 and increasing the proportion of renewable electricitygenerated and consumed to at least 20 per cent of the State’s suppliesby 2014.

The State has also created a blueprint for ongoing growth and well-being with the introduction of a comprehensive strategic plan.

Premier Mike Rann says community engagement and participationare important factors in the ongoing performance of the South AustralianStrategic Plan (SASP) which has been developed to reflect the aspirationsof the wider community.

“The Plan’s targets are unashamedly ambitious and none of themwould have been achieved without significant effort,” the Premier said.

“By working harder, working smarter and working together, we canachieve even better results.”

There are 98 targets in South Australia’s 10 year Strategic Plan withthe latest independent report card showing 68 targets have either been‘achieved’ or are ‘on track’ or ‘within reach’.

The report indicates that mineral exploration in the state is already atthree times the annual projected target of $100 million, while mineral

Going Green for GoldBY BIANCA FROST

Earlier this year, Victorian Premier, John Brumby, caused a minor diplomatic rift withneighbouring South Australia when he argued that Melbourne’s controversial Port PhillipBay dredging project was essential if Victoria was not to become a “backwater likeAdelaide”.

While Mr Brumby promptly apologised for his comments, the perception of South Australiaas the small and sleepy cousin to Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth has been apervasive one. However, with a dramatic wave of mining exploration and a bustlingdefence hub under construction, the state of wine, cheese and churches is about toundergo an unprecedented era of boom-time development across the next decade.


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production exceeded $2.5 billion in the 2007-08 financial year. Mineralsprocessing reached $1.15 billion in the same period, six years ahead ofthe plan’s forecast.

The South Australian Government is aggressively pursuingpopulation and employments targets with the defence sector projectedto contribute 28000 new jobs in the state by 2013. The Olympic Damproject is expected to create 25000 new direct and indirect jobs. Theprovision of employment opportunities in both the defence and miningsectors are expected to drive the State’s population growth towards itstarget of two million South Australians by 2050, and is also likely to slowinterstate migration and ease pressure on the State’s labour market.

Other development areas identified in the Strategic Plan includeprogress in land and marine biodiversity, greenhouse gas emissionreduction, public transport usage, the new River Murray salinity reductiontarget and renewable energy production.

The Government has also introduced a range of incentives toencourage increased energy efficiency in the State’s built environment.

On July 1, the Government introduced a solar feed-in scheme – thefirst of its kind in the country. This scheme pays householders and smallcommercial energy consumers who have installed solar panels aguaranteed credit of 44 cents for every unit of electricity (or kilowatt hour)they feed back into the national grid. This rate is twice the tariff chargedon regular electricity and could equate to a bonus of nearly $400annually for the average household, according to Government estimates.

With less than 8 per cent of Australia’s population, South Australiaclaims around 40 per cent of the nation’s total of grid-connected solarpanels. This is five times the number of household installations than inVictoria which is the next highest solar-energy producing state in thecountry. The take-up of solar energy in South Australia equates to 357per 100,000 households compared to Victoria’s much lower 73 per100,000 households.

Other solar projects in South Australia include an installation of onethousand kilowatts of solar panels on the roof of the soon to be openedGoyder Pavilion, the $42 million centrepiece of the recent AdelaideShowground’s upgrade. At a cost of $8 million, the project is the largestrooftop photovoltaic installation in Australia. It is five times larger thanthe next largest solar installation at Melbourne’s Queen Victoria Markets.Adelaide Airport’s rooftop solar plant is currently the third-largest in thecountry.

Once installed, the Goyder Pavilion investment will allow around10,000 square metres of solar panels to be installed, generating 1,400mega-watt-hours (MWh) of solar electricity which is the equivalent ofpowering over 200 South Australian homes per year. It will save around1,400 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions each year and is likely togenerate enough power to meet all of the power requirements of thenew Goyder Pavilion and over one-third of the annual electricity needs of

the Showground’s as a whole. “This will be more than a demonstration project,” said Premier Rann.

“For the first time, it will show that solar panels can supply electricity on alarge commercial scale.”

This installation comes on top of the roll-out of solar panels on majorpublic buildings, such as the South Australian Museum, State Library, ArtGallery and Parliament House, as well as the Adelaide Airport and on250 public schools across the State as part of the Solar Schools Program.

On top of the State’s solar capacity, South Australia also boasts 80per cent of the nation’s investment in geothermal energy. South Australialeads the nation in investment for geothermal energy exploration with 23companies having already applied for 237 geothermal licenses in theState. Together, they are expected to invest at least $686 million in theperiod between 2002 and 2013.

The commercialisation of the State’s vast hot rock resources isconsidered an important part of the State’s overall strategy for reducingits dependence on greenhouse gas emitting sources and achieving itsemissions reduction targets. The South Australian Government recentlypledged to provide a further quarter of a million dollars to support thedevelopment of hot rock technology in the State. It has so far provided$1.6 million to support several other geothermal projects.

Minister for Mineral Resources Development Paul Holloway says thelatest grant which is part of an agreement between the Government andthe University of Adelaide, builds on past initiatives and will accelerateprogress in the development of geothermal energy in South Australia.This is likely to secure the State’s position as the national forerunner ofgeothermal exploration in Australia.

“This Government is providing an additional $250,000 to co-fundcollaborative research with industry to ensure South Australia acceleratesall facets of finding, demonstrating and developing enhancedgeothermal systems in Australia,” he said.

Aside from solar and hot rock alternative energy sources, SouthAustralia is also home to 53 per cent of the nation’s total installed windpower capacity.

The June opening of AGL’s Hallet Stage 1 wind farm at Brown Hill inthe State’s mid-north region, valued at $250 million, significantly raisedthe State’s total wind power capacity. The project includes 45 turbineswith a capacity of 95 MW.

In five years, the South Australian government has invested about $2billion in wind power and now has seven operating farms with anotherfour either under construction or planned for construction. The success ofthe State’s ability to attract national and international investment in windpower projects is underpinned by its reputation as an international leaderwhen it comes to supporting and investing in renewable energy andproviding regulatory certainty to investors.

One of the great challenges to South Australia’s continuingeconomic prosperity is the scarcity offresh drinking water.

The proposed $75 million Glenelgto Adelaide Parklands project will extendover 30 kilometres of piping to provideover 5.5 billion litres of high-qualityrecycled water to property usersincluding developers, industry, irrigation,commercial and community groups. TheProperty Council, early proponents ofthe plan, have called for water from theproject to be plumbed through allcooling towers in commercial buildingsin Adelaide’s CBD and then used toirrigate the city’s major parklands.

Preliminary estimates by theProperty Council show that one billionlitres of water – or the equivelant of 4000Olympic-sized swimming pools – a yearcould be saved by directing it into thecity’s cooling towers alone.

The Acting Minister for WaterSecurity, Rory McEwen, said that theproject puts in place the long-termbackbone infrastructure for recycledwater use in the State.

“SA Water has already been workingwith local governments and large water

Artist’s impression of the new Goyder Pavilion at the Adelaide Showgrounds. Image courtesy of the Royal Agricultural &Horticultural Society of SA Inc.



users along the proposed pipeline routeto develop opportunities for usingrecycled water,” he said.

“Now other businesses close to thisroute can assess their water needs andconsider whether they would want toaccess a high-quality recycled supply.”

While the Government is beingurged to pay for the pipeline extension,building owners would be expected topay the costs of plumbing the recycledwater into their buildings. Somebusinesses and local government bodieshave already signalled that they wouldlike to access recycled water from thepipeline despite the costs of establishingan initial connection.

Construction of the pipeline is dueto start early next year and the firstrecycled water will be available for use inmid-2010. It is expected that the projectwill contribute to the Government’s 45per cent target of reusable wastewater.In 2007-08, the amount of recycledwater used in the State was 29 per cent,which is already double the nationalaverage.

“By increasing the use of recycled water we can significantly reducenutrient discharge to the gulf marine environment and also reduce stresson existing irrigation water supplies, including potable River Murray andMt Lofty Ranges water, the River Torrens and local groundwatersystems,” said Mr. McEwen.

Approval has also been given for a new 50-gigalitre desalinationplant at Port Stanvac which was declared a Major Project under theState’s Development Act earlier this year.

The $1.1 billion plant is one of the largest infrastructure projects thatthe State Government has ever committed to. The project will be subjectto tough environmental scrutiny that will examine every aspect of theproject from the suitability of the location, to its size and likely impact onthe marine environment.

Minister for Water Security Karlene Maywald says Port Stanvac wasidentified by the State’s Desalination Working Group as the preferred sitefor the new desalination plant.

“The plant is part of a $2.5 billion investment in water infrastructureto secure South Australia’s water supply, which includes doubling thecapacity of storage in the Mount Lofty Ranges and linking reservoirs inthe north and south of the ranges via a $300 million interconnector,” shesaid.

“The plant will occupy about 20 hectares and its exact location atPort Stanvac is subject to negotiations between the State Governmentand Exxon-Mobil.”

Acting Planning Minister Michael Wright said the major projectdeclaration was important because of the scale and complexity of theproject and the high level of public interest and community expectation.

“The Government is committed to a transparent developmentprocess for the plant that provides for extensive public scrutiny andcomment, which is best provided through the major projectdevelopment process,” he said.

In other developments, South Australia has recently been granted itsfirst Six-Star Green-Star rated building.

VS1, SA Water’s new headquarters in Victoria Square is the first andlargest commercially developed building of its kind in Australia and isexpected to deliver its occupants considerable savings in terms of energyand water conservation with its innovative design and constructionfeatures.

The 10-storey building will use over 70 per cent less mains watercompared to a conventional office building saving around 11 millionlitres of water a year. Over 90 per cent of construction and demolitionwaste will be recycled, a considerable gain on the 60 per cent or lesstypically achieved by comparable commercial developments.

Designed by South Australian company Hassell and built by HansenYuncken, the VS1 building will consolidate all SA Water’s customerservices for the public and the plumbing industry, a state of the art waterscience laboratory and head office functions. The building features an

on-site cogeneration plant to decrease peak electricity and energydemand on hot summer days, a rainwater collection and seweragetreatment system for reuse in the building’s toilets, irrigation and coolingtowers and facilities for up to 140 bicycle commuters.

According to the Property Council of Australia, Adelaide alreadyleads the nation in its stock of high performing buildings which includesthe national award-winning, Five-Star Green-Star building, City CentralTower 1. However, with existing building stock accounting for 96 per centof all buildings, the biggest cuts to greenhouse gas emissions within thebuilt environment must come from increasing the energy and waterefficiency of existing buildings.

Studies by the Australian Sustainable Built Environment Council(ASBEC), show that buildings and their occupants emit almost onequarter of the nation’s greenhouse emissions. They also show that theeasiest and cheapest method for delivering deep cuts to emissions is toimprove the environmental performance of buildings.

To achieve this goal, on June 4 the Premier announced the $2million Building Tune Ups project to improve the energy efficiency ofexisting commercial buildings in Adelaide’s CBD.

The four-year project, supporting the third sector agreement enteredinto under the Climate Change and Greenhouse Emissions ReductionAct 2007 between the State Government and the Property Council ofAustralia, was announced at the Local Government Association’s ClimateChange Summit.

The project has been designed to enable the owners and operatorsof commercial buildings to work together to improve the performance ofexisting stock.

The Premier said that the project aims to improve the performanceof all eligible commercial office buildings in the Adelaide CBD and hasthe potential to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by approximately70,000 tonnes a year.

“We will work with building owners to apply sustainable designsthat will lift the performance of their buildings by at least one star rating,”said Premier Rann.

“This project will stimulate innovation so that Adelaide’s commercialbuildings sector is the most progressive in Australia.”

The Director of the Property Council in South Australia, Mr. NathanPayne, said that the agreement and the Building Tunes Up programwould place the Adelaide commercial building sector at the forefront inAustralia for energy efficiency innovation.

“The Council is delighted that this mechanism is being provided forgovernment and industry to work together and the Council will belooking to replicate it in other States,” Mr. Payne said.

The variety and scope of the innovative sustainability initiativesaggressively pursued by the South Australian government will ensureSouth Australia remains a leader in the provision of long term solutionsto the increasing challenges of climate change.

SA Water’s VS1 building. Image courtesy of Hassell Architects

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Located on Victoria Square in the heart of the Adelaide CBD, theMedina Grand Adelaide Treasury is a hotel which also serves as arich repository for the city’s history. Designed in 1836 by George

Kingston, the Treasury Buildings served as the focal point of SouthAustralian government and administration from the late 1830s through tothe 1960s. The building incurred its first major overhaul when theinfamous Gold Rush and ensuing population boom of the 1850s saw theoriginal building nearly entirely demolished to make way for newGovernment Offices. In 1969 it was decided that no further alterationswould be made to the building’s exquisite Cabinet Room, to mark thelegacy of the 1876 - 1968 period, where it had served as meeting roomto the Members of the Premier’s Cabinet.

Gill Ishwinder, Hotel Manager of the building in its currentincarnation, says preserving the building’s vibrant and rich heritage hasalways been a top priority for staff and management at the MedinaGrand Adelaide Treasury.

“Before we occupied the building 5 years ago, it was unoccupied for6 or 7 years prior to that. When we came in, we kept the tunnels asoriginal and have kept the cabinet room as original – it still has the oldfurniture and books, fireplace, hat stand and the lobby itself still has theKingston Wall intact. All of the artefacts that we uncovered while we weredigging are all displayed in cabinets around the hotel. While we wererenovating, we also found the old fountain buried underneath dirt and

Managing the Medina GrandAdelaide TreasurySetting the standard for service deliveryin South AustraliaBY MELANIE DRUMMOND

Designed in 1836 by George StricklandKingston, Adelaide’s former Treasurybuilding is an established icon of the cityvista – blending a combination of world classheritage restoration and modern design.Once the hub for Adelaide’s politics andfinance, the building’s second reincarnationas the Medina Grand Adelaide TreasuryHotel has ensured the building remains anactive presence in the cityscape. At the helmof continuing the Medina Grand’s reputationas Adelaide’s most respected hotel is GillIshwinder – an inspired and inspiring HotelManager whose dedication to deliveringexemplary customer service is the key to histeam’s ongoing success.


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bushes, so we have restored that and it’s still there, working as we speak. “We also still have all the old pictures around that have captured

what the building was like when it was operating as a cabinet facility. Ourguests love looking at all of the images, as every picture has got a storyto tell you.”

A challenging component of Gill’s role is ensuring the building’s strictheritage requirements are met when any maintenance or repair work isundertaken.

“Most of my time is spent working in with maintenance to see whatwork is going on and if it is meeting the heritage requirements. We havea lot of interest from the Council and the Heritage Trust about thebuilding. It’s very different to managing a normal hotel, where it would allbe about the shiny marble and mirrors; here it’s also to do with theartefacts, the cabinet room, getting your polishes right for wood andleathers and so forth.”

The 79 rooms at the Medina Grand Adelaide Treasury primarilyservice a corporate clientele, but its unmatched reputation in theAdelaide marketplace also makes it a drawcard for out-of-town visitorsand tourists. With a choice of studio, one-bedroom apartments or two-bedroom apartments, the hotel also offers guests a restaurant, bar,swimming pool, gymnasium, spa, sauna and 4 conference room facilities.

With only one full-time maintenance person on staff, Gill still relieson outsourced contractors to keep all facets of the hotel operatingsmoothly.

“Five years ago when we put this place together, we opted forpremium products but we still need to get contractors in to have regularmaintenance checks on all of the rooms and public spaces. Ourmaintenance person has his own spreadsheets to update – and we havelog books that any out-sourced contractors fill in. I touch base with everycontractor who comes in and before they do anything they will need myprior approval, we discuss cost and plan of attack. Sometimes I will get acouple of quotations from a few different companies, to keep themhonest on price, and then we will make a decision. Everything we do incleaning and maintenance is documented as it’s for our own good thatwe don’t double up on things.”

Despite the importance of maintaining in-depth documentation andrecords pertaining to any Hotel works, Gill is still a firm believer thatcommunication is the key to staying on top of any operational issues thatmay arise on a day-to-day basis.

“We have operation meetings in the mornings, where all themanagers sit down and discuss the day ahead. I spend time with thepeople on the desk, the reservation’s manager, housekeeping, the

conference manager and our maintenance person. If my reservationmanager has a big group coming in then my housekeeping managerneeds to know – It’s a chain-reaction environment. I do regular visualchecks of the hotel to see what needs fixing and so forth.”

With ten years experience in all areas of the hotel industry, Gill wasthrilled to join a Hotel which set a new benchmark for delivering the bestin customer service.

“Our company motto is ’Home away from Home’, so that’s how wepitch it in the marketplace. If the guest comes in and is not feeling athome then that is where the problem starts. It can be anything from ourteam not recognising a previous guest to a guest having problems withhousekeeping. You’ve got to deal with these problems as they come toyou and you’ve got to put yourself in the guest’s shoes. You have to askyourself, if you were coming to stay at one of the best hotels in Adelaide,what sort of expectations would you have? If you’re not yet meetingthose expectations then you need to do whatever it takes to make thesure the guest is walking out of the doors happy and content.”

From busy corporates to leisure-seeking tourists, the broad spectrumof clientele at the Medina Grand Adelaide Treasury bring with them awide variety of needs that Gill’s team must address to ensure thecustomers leave happy.

“Because we are the market leader in Adelaide, the mostchallenging part of the job is to keep our services up to the benchmarkwe have set for ourselves. We need to keep our standards high in thepublic areas, room maintenance, housekeeping and customer serviceand do whatever it takes to look after our guests. We have to make sureour recreational areas like our pool, sauna, spa and gym are kept cleanand functional. It’s also essential to stay in tune with all of our contractorsand to know exactly what they’re doing, as everything they do in thishotel affects my guests.”

In order to ensure the safety and comfort of his guests is protectedat all times; Gill indicates the critical importance of keeping on top of anyOccupational Health & Safety issues.

“We have regular fire maintenance people who come in and checkthe fire panels and fire exit signs and we also have lift people, gaspeople and pool patrol people who come in. My maintenance guy alsotests the pool every single day that he comes in, to check that it’s at theright temperature and has the right chemical levels.

“For our staff we do regular training covering things like armed hold-ups, fire evacuation trainings, bomb threats, chemical training, andneedles and sharps training. When it comes to our guests we make surethat we’re aware of any guests who need help during training such as our


FM IN ICONS

disabled guests or elderly guests. Those roomnumbers are taken as a priority and staff wouldautomatically address those rooms first if therewas an emergency. Sometimes if there’s a falsealarm in the hotel, I encourage staff to take itas a positive and a chance to practice – it justmakes it easier should, God forbid, somethingunforseen happen.”

While it’s an unfortunate reality that manypeople in the hospitality industry simply paylip service to the concept of genuine customerservice, Gill Ishwinder is proudly driven by atrue passion for his industry and a love ofmaking people happy.

“When I come on the desk in the morningI love chatting with our regulars and the otherguests that are checking in and out. It is thatpassion for customer service that you drive inyour team – taking back the positivecomments when a customer has thanked themfor something they have done. It gives you jobsatisfaction to hear those things. I don’tevaluate my work satisfaction with the dollarsthat I make or the company makes, it’s theguest satisfaction which is paramount.”

Gill takes a ‘lead from the front’philosophy when driving his team to deliver exemplary customer service,undoubtedly a key component to the ongoing success of the MedinaGrand Adelaide Treasury in the marketplace.

“If something needs to be done, I should be the first one to do it. Ishould not expect anything from staff that I would not be a) capable ofdoing and b) I would not like to do. I try to show the staff how it’s done,from being on the desk, working with porters and housekeepers toworking in with our maintenance guy – rolling up my sleeves and saying,‘Mate, let’s do this’.

“I tell all of my staff that we need to be proud of what we are doingfirst rather than pointing fingers at other people who may have somestigma attached to the hospitality industry. We need to look at how weproject ourselves to see if we stand proud in a social environment andsay, yes, I work in hotels and it’s fantastic. It starts with the culture of thesector I think, the hospitality sector has got to step up and own the workthey do and be proud of what they deliver. It really is a career that isdriven by passion and we are no different to IT professionals or doctors.”


FM IN ICONS

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TERTIARY EDUCATIONTRAINING GUIDE

Facility ManagementTraining OpportunitiesFrom its largely trades-based beginnings, the facility management industry has grownprogressively toward a business management focus. Critical to the accommodation of thisgrowth has been the number and scope of educational opportunities available for thoselooking to enter the industry as a career of choice. Since the range of responsibilities anddemands being placed on facility managers has also increased during this time, facilitymanagers already in the industry increasingly need opportunities available in the tertiarysector to upskill and meet the evolving needs of the industry.

Facility Perspectives’ Melanie Drummond investigates the new tertiary educationopportunities on offer and explores what is available in 2009 for Facility Managersthroughout Australia.

MASTER OFPROPERTY AND DEVELOPMENTMASTER OFPROPERTY AND DEVELOPMENTEach year, nations commit more than half their capital outlays to land development, building and infrastructure.

Property development is a key sector of national economies and a rapidly expanding industry.

The Master of Property and Development at UNSW will teach you the skills you require to succeed within industry. The accredited degree combines built environment and commerce perspectives refl ecting a global approach and inspiring creativity.

www.fbe.unsw.edu.au

It opened various career paths within the industry to me

- Jacqui Smyth, Lend LeaseSpecialisations available:

General Master of Property and Development Development and Investment Major Asset and Facilities Management Major

Flexible program delivery. Part-time option available.

Take your career to the next level, and enrol in a Master of Property and Development at UNSW, apply online at https://apply.unsw.edu.au

Thinking About Your Future?



HOLMESGLEN INSTITUTE, VICTORIABachelor of Facilities Management

A recent newcomer to the facilitymanagement tertiary sector is HolmesglenInstitute, the largest TAFE Institute in Victoria.Offering a Bachelor of Facilities Management,Holmesglen will ensure students leave with akeen focus on improvement to enterpriseproductivity by strategically managing andoptimising the value delivered by built facilitiesand associate services.

Holmesglen has emerged as a new playeron the higher education scene with a freshvision for vocational-professional degreeprograms in building and property that aim atbridging the gap between vocational trainingand higher education.

The Holmesglen philosophy is that FMprofessionals should have the skills to locate,evaluate, and apply information appropriately,and to create knowledge in a changingenvironment where jobs and job challenges ofthe future do not yet exist.Dynamic Program Structure

Programs are designed around a 2 tierstructure, the first tier being a 3-year (full-timeequivalent) ‘foundation’ degree, the Bachelorof Applied Science (Built Environment), thatprovides graduates with a range of skills andknowledge to operate effectively across anumber of roles at pre-professional level.

Second tier programs include 1-year (full-time equivalent) professional specialisations in: 3 building surveying (Bachelor of Built

Environment)3 construction management and

economics (Bachelor of ConstructionManagement and Economics)

3 facilities management (Bachelor ofFacilities Management)

3 property valuation (Bachelor ofProperty Valuation).

Bachelor QualificationFacilities Management is an exciting field

which demands a diverse knowledge setrequired in managing modern technologydriven facilities, as well as the people andspace used within them. Students enter thisfourth year specialisation following successfulcompletion of the Bachelor of Applied Science(Built Environment), or those with significantrelevant industry experience and the equivalentof a degree may be granted credit and beaccepted directly into the course.

The overriding principle of the course is onimprovement to enterprise productivity bystrategically managing and optimising thevalue delivered by built facilities and associateservices.

0 www.holmesglen.vic.edu.au

CHARLES DARWIN UNIVERSITY,NORTHERN TERRITORY

Charles Darwin University offer a Diplomaof Project Management which can becompleted at full-time study in half a year, orundertaken in a part-time capacity over theduration of one year.

0 www.cdu.edu.au

BOND UNIVERSITY, GOLD COAST, QLDBond University offer a Bachelor of

Property and Sustainable Development degreewith a major in Assets and Facilities

Management. The degree consists of 16subjects which cover topics such as BuildingPathology, Sustainable Construction, BusinessLaw, and Cultural and Ethical skills. The degreecan be completed over 2 years of full-timestudy or student can study at their own pacepart-time.

0 www.bond.edu.au

UNIVERSITY OF THE SUNSHINE COAST,MAROOCHYDORE

The University of the Sunshine Coast inMaroochydore offer a Bachelor of Business(Property and Asset Management). Propertyand Asset management underpins areas suchas residential and commercial developments,construction, and tourism and facilitiesmanagement. The program includes the corebusiness courses such as marketing,accounting, economics and human resourcemanagement to ensure graduates understandkey business imperatives. This is supported byspecialist units which provide detailedknowledge on key industry areas such asproperty economics, property management,investment decision making, property law,valuation issues and asset and facilitiesmanagement. Students can also apply toundertake first-year courses in this program atthe USC Noosa Centre.

0 www.usc.edu.au

UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERNQUEENSLAND

The University of Southern Queenslandoffer a Master of Project Management whichaims to produce graduates who haveappropriate skills and knowledge to be capableof managing small, medium and large-sizedprojects as a senior team leader, a projectmanager or project director. The Masters canbe completed on campus, through distanceeducation or online. Duration is 2 terms full-time or 4 years part-time.

0 www.usq.edu.au

CENTRAL QUEENSLAND UNIVERSITYCentral Queensland University offer a

Master of Maintenance Management program.The program is suited to those currentlyemployed in the areas of maintenanceengineering or maintenance management,who would like to advance their careersthrough professional upgrading of theirknowledge, skills and qualifications.

The aim of the Master of MaintenanceManagement program is for the student toapply the knowledge and skills gained fromexperience and studies in maintenancemanagement towards creation of opportunitiesto improve maintenance practices therebyproviding leadership in the industrialmaintenance organisation.

0 www.cqu.edu.au

QUEENSLAND UNIVERSITY OFTECHNOLOGY

While QUT do not offer specific facilitymanagement courses, they do run the Bachelorof Urban Development (Property Economics). Anumber of graduates from this QUT programdo venture into the FM industry. QUT is alsothe headquarters of the Centre for IntegratedEngineering Asset Management – a major

research initiative funded under the FederalGovernment’s CRC scheme. The CRC forConstruction Innovation is also headquarteredat QUT and it has an emerging focus on theFM Field

0 www.qut.edu.au

UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH AUSTRALIAThe University of South Australia currently

offer a nested Graduate Certificate/GraduateDiploma/Master in Facilities and AssetManagement program through theirConstruction Management and Economics(Building) discipline. Most (and likely all) of thecourses are being developed for an onlinemode.

0 www.unisa.edu.au

UNIVERSITY OF ADELAIDEThe University of Adelaide offer a Masters

in Project Mangement, a Masters in AppliedProject Management and a GraduateCertificate in Project Management.

0 www.adelaide.edu.au

CURTIN UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY,WESTERN AUSTRALIA

Curtin University offer a 1-year graduatecertificate in Facilities Management. Alsocovered in the course are project managementand procurement management.

0 curtin.edu.au

VICTORIA UNIVERSITY, MELBOURNEVictoria University of Melbourne offers a

Graduate Certificate in Project Management, aGraduate Diploma of Project Management anda Master of Contacting and ProjectManagement.

0 www.vu.edu.au

UNIVERSITY OF MELBOURNEFacilities Management is offered at 4th

year undergraduate level as part of theUniversity of Melbourne’s Bachelor of Propertyand Construction program. It is also offered inconjunction with Asset Management andCorporate Real Estate as part of the Master ofProperty and Construction program. FMlecturer Chris Heywood says it is possible withthe Masters, and to some extent theundergraduate program, to construct a FMfocused qualification by undertaking othersubjects such as services, sustainability andbuilding regulations.

0 www.unimelb.edu.au

ROYAL MELBOURNE INSTITUTE OFTECHNOLOGY (RMIT)

RMIT offers a generic Master of ProjectManagement as well as specialisations inEngineering, Facilities Management andInformation Technology. The duration of themasters (one and a half years full time)incorporates the Graduate Diploma (One yearfull time or two years part-time) and theGraduate Certificate (Six months full time orone year part-time). The program also allowsstudents who are working as Project Managersin a particular discipline to specialise inengineering, information technology orfacilities management.

0 www.rmit.com.au



SWINBURNE UNIVERSITY OFTECHNOLOGY, VICTORIA

Swinburne University of Techology inHawthorne Victoria offers a Diploma of ProjectManagement and a Graduate Certificate ofBusiness (Project Management). In the area ofConstruction Management, also offered is aGraduate Certificate of Technology(Construction Management), GraduateDiploma of Technology (ConstructionMangement) and a Master of TechhnologyManagement (Construction Management).

0 courses.swinburne.edu.au

DEAKIN UNIVERSITY, GEELONGAt Deakin University, students can enrol in

the Bachelor of ConstructionManagement/Bachelor of FacilitiesManagement combined degree, which offers aunique mix of construction and propertydisciplines. Graduates are able to work acrosstraditional professional boundaries, fromproperty investment and development throughto space management and workplace logistics,using key project-management skills to ensureoptimum value for money is attained at allstages of the property life cycle. The courseallows the opportunity for students tocomplete an honours stream for theConstruction Management component or forthe Facilities Management component. Thedouble degree is a five-year full-time program,also accredited by RICS for construction,facilities management and building surveyingcareer destinations. Students can exit earlyfrom the program after three years with a

Bachelor of Facilities Management. Deakin alsooffers and FM major as part of their Bachelor ofManagement and Bachelor of Commercedegrees. From February 2008, Deakin isoffering a distance learning pathway for FM(both pass and honours degree), which willenable students to participate from anywherein the world. Face-to-face study is conducted atDeakin’s award-winning Waterfront

0 www.deakin.edu.au

UNIVERSITY OF BALLARATThe University of Ballarat currently offers a

Diploma of Project Management. The course isoffered on a fee-for-service basis, and monthlyworkshops are scheduled over one semester.The program is available in Sydney, Ballarat,Geelong and Bendigo.

0 www.ballarat.edu.au

UNIVERSITY OF SYDNEYThe School of Architecture runs a Graduate

Certificate, Graduate Diploma, and MastersDegree in Facilities Management. The Facultyof Economics and Business in conjunction withthe School of Architecture also offers a doublesdegree – the Master of Commerce and Masterof Facilities Management. The program isdesigned for those currently working as facilitymanagers and allows for interstate students toparticipate. Candidates with industryexperience but without formal qualificationsmay enter the Graduate Certificate course, andsubject to their performance can then upgradeto Diploma or Masters.

0 www.usyd.edu.au

THE UNIVERSITY OF NEWCASTLEThe University of Newcastle offers a

Bachelor of Construction Management(Building) which is accredited by the AustralianInstitute of Building, the Australian Institute ofQuantity Surveying, The Chartered Institute ofBuilding, and the Singapore Institute ofSurveyors and Valuers. The program is offeredin mixed-mode, allowing students the flexibilityto either attend classes at our Callaghancampus, or to learn in a virtual environmentwherever they are located. The program is alsooffered off-shore in Singapore (TMC).

0 www.newcastle.edu.au

UNIVERSITY OF NEW SOUTH WALESThe Faculty of the Built Environment at the

University of New South Wales is the largestfaculty of its kind in Australia by range ofprograms offered. On offer at the FBE is theBachelor of Construction Management andProperty which focuses on people and processmanagement within the specific contexts ofbuilding construction, property development,quantity surveying and facilities management.The four-year full-time program of study offersstudents management skills in the areas ofplanning, risk assessment, occupational healthand safety, property management andorganisational behaviour. The FBE also offers aGraduate Certificate in Construction ProjectManagement, Master of Construction ProjectManagement and a Master of ConstructionProject Management (in Professional Practice).Another postgraduate offering from FBE is theMaster of Property and Development which

Faculty of Architecture, Design and Planning www.arch.usyd.edu.au

Maximise your potential at The University of Sydney and choose from an array of

graduate and professional programs across all areas of the built environment including:

Facilities Management (with Master of Commerce combined degree option)

Sustainable Design Audio and Acoustics Building Services Illumination

Design Heritage Conservation Urban Design Urban and Regional Planning

Build your career at Sydney

Choose a course length to suit your needs:

Individual units of study and CPD options

0.5 year full-time Graduate Certificates with no Bachelors Degree required for entry

1 year full-time Graduate Diplomas

1.5 year full-time Masters Degrees

Part time options and intensive block-mode delivery make study easy for busy professionals

For information about our programs contact Jonathan Hulme on

+61 2 9351 2686 or [email protected]

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bp.u

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elb.

edu.

au/g

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If the built environments is your passion, the University of Melbourne invites you to the new Melbourne School of Design - the first graduate school in the Asia-Pacific region devoted to design professions responsible for habitable environments.The Melbourne School of Design is a dynamic and interdisciplinary community of students, academics and professionals addressing the environmental, social and aesthetic challenges in producing sustainable centres of habitation, locally and around the world.To find out more on the courses, research and activities of the Melbourne School of Design, visit

www.abp.unimelb.edu.au/graduate-school

* Program available to students of any undergraduate degree.

ArchitectureConstruction ManagementLandscape Architecture* Planning & Design

Property Urban Design Urban Planning*Workplace Planning & Design

The Melbourne School of Design

Introducing change throughdynamic teams

The reality of modem management is that many decisions

and activities are carried out in a team environment at

every level. In fact more organisations are taking a team

approach to just about every aspect of their daily functions

and as such all employees, regardless of their level, are

expected to be committed to developing effective and

motivated teams.

Organisational management requires consideration of the

connectivity that exists between an individual, their team,

and the organisation as a whole. Understanding the

dynamic nature of each of these relationships and their

subsequent impact on each other in decision-making and

adaptation to change is vital.

Team building takes time. Methods, behaviours and

processes can become entrenched and take considerable

effort and time to either eradicate or replace. Furthermore,

the critical elements of team building don’t happen

overnight, particularly when changes to the values and

work practices within the organisation are involved.

People in power must support change

Commitment to any change must be supported all the way

up the hierarchical ladder for effective implementation. For

the team, it is important to understand the goals and

aspirations of the facilities management unit or the

organisation as a whole. Any changes to these objectives

should be communicated directly to the team and must be

supported by all levels within the organisation. Likewise,

management must receive feedback from the team

regarding impacts associated with the change. This two-

way communication is vital and has to be ongoing.

The team must be adaptable to change

A successful team is one where individuals are prepared to

change when and as circumstances dictate. Teamwork is all

about achieving results for the good of the team, not the

individual. If results are poor and objectives are not being

achieved then the team may be lacking in coordination or

the implementation of its problem-solving and

decision-making processes may be inadequate.

The team must be committed to making and supporting

decisions to change its own structure or its processes if it is

clear that this is hampering the achievement of its

objectives. Such hard decisions must be supported by a

review process that looks closely at team effectiveness (as

opposed to individual effectiveness) in order to better

understand where the strengths and weaknesses lie.

Simply moving one person may have no effect at all if the

inefficiencies are spread across the team.

Involvement at all levels is essential

Individuals have a far greater commitment to decisions

they have been involved with than decisions imposed on

them. A team leader who manipulates the team processes

to achieve their desired outcomes, without allowing honest

involvement of the team, risks failure. Some short term

objectives may be achieved but the cooperation needed

from the team to achieve longer term objectives will often

be withheld, or even sabotaged.

This also goes for people further up the hierarchical chain

of command who may have an indirect impact on a team.

If they aren’t prepared for, or don’t understand, impending

change, they can unintentionally (or even intentionally)

put major barriers in the way of progress. This can be

overcome by putting structures in place for communicating

the vision and plan for change, and getting involvement

and contribution right from the start.

Team development

The most successful managers and team leaders know that

their first attempt to build a team may not be effective, so

they allow room to alter team structures and even team

members in order to achieve the best results. One method

for creating a framework in which the team can develop

and become self-sustaining is by taking an ‘action

research’ approach to communication and decision-making.

Action research incorporates double loop learning, where

individuals are organised democratically, empowered to

participate, collaborate and learn through action, reflection

and interpretation and then to plan action around what has

CLIENT FEATURE

been learned. This approach gives everyone the

opportunity to contribute to team outcomes, and make

decisions based on the observable impact of decisions on

workplace practices in a continuous improvement process.

The team can also reflect on how well it works together

and improve the interactions between individuals. These

action research teams can be working at different levels of

the organisation or include members from all different

levels. This structure facilitates communication throughout

the organisation, and allows the change process to be

monitored and adapted as needed.

This method can also be applied when changes in the team

dynamics occur, such as when a team member leaves.

What worked for the team in the past may not work now,

so managers need to adopt a flexible approach to the way

in which teams are developed and led. Agreements, for

example, on how and where tasks are achieved may

require renegotiating, as results of implementing changes

are explored and information is fed back up through the

organisation. When this level of communication is

occurring, all levels of the organisation can move through

the change process in alignment.

Conclusion

Successful organisations operate with a team of people

working together to achieve the aims of the facilities

management unit and the parent organisation.

Because people are a central element of a successful

facilities management unit, managers must be prepared to

develop a plan for the use and leadership of everyone

involved in it. This means not only the creation of a HR

management plan but also a method for the way in which

they intend applying leadership skills to create an

environment where team members willingly give their

best to support the overall plan. Therefore understanding

how to effectively motivate and engage the team

constructively and collaboratively is essential to achieve

the goals and objectives of the facilities management unit

or organisation.

Edited course material from UNE Partnerships’ Diploma of

Facilities Management.

© UNE Partnerships, 2008



allows students to specialize in Investment andDevelopment or Asset and FacilitiesManagement. In the area of sustainabledevelopment, FBE offer a Graduate Certificatein Built Environment (Sustainable Development)and a Master of Built Environment (SustainableDevelopment).

0 www.unsw.edu.au

UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY,SYDNEY

UTS offer a Bachelor of Construction whichprovides students with comprehensive buildingeducation. The degree is concerned with allaspects of the construction process, includingbusiness management, constructiontechnology, project management, quantitysurveying, applied economics, contractadministration and property development.

There are also opportunities for furtherstudy after completing the course through anHonours program, the Master’s programs inProject Management and Facility Managementor a Master of Business Administration (MBA).

0 www.uts.edu.au

UNIVERSITY OF WESTERN SYDNEYThe University of Western Sydney offers

students a Bachelor of ConstructionManagement. Students will developspecialised skills in construction managementtaught through theoretical, practical, andhands-on experience. Among topics covered inthe program are project management, buildinglaw, accounting and design science.

0 www.uwa.edu.au

UNIVERSITY OF NEW ENGLAND, NEWSOUTH WALES

The University of New England offers aGraduate Certificate in Project Managementwhich can be completed over 1 trimester fulltime or over 2 trimesters part-time.

0 www.une.edu.au

CHARLES STURT UNIVERSITYCharles Stuart University offers a Graduate

Certificate in Project Management whichincludes accreditation as a Certified AssociateProject Manager (CAPM) from the ProjectManagement Institute.

0 www.csu.edu.au

THE UNIVERSITY OF WESTERNAUSTRALIA

The University of Western Australia offers aMaster of Business and Engineering AssetManagement. The emphasis of EngineeringAsset Management is on achieving sustainablebusiness outcomes and competitive advantageby applying systematic and risk-basedprocesses to decisions concerning theengineering assets of an organization. Thepostgraduate degree includes units from theFaculty of Engineering, Computing andMathematics and the Business School.Students will engage in a balanced inter-disciplinary programme of asset management,engineering and business units with a focus inpractical applications and the challenges facedby today’s organisations.

0 www.uwa.edu.au

UNIVERSITY OF WOLLONGONGThe University of Wollongong offers a

Master of Engineering Asset Management. Theobjective of the program is to ensure continuosimprovement in the strategic and tacticalresponse of organisations and their managers,to the management of infrastructure assets.This is achieved through a balance program ofsubjects in asset management science andengineering, business administration andmanagement. Other topics covered include:Project Implementation and Outsourcing, Life-Cycle and Risk Management, MaintenanceRequirements Analysis and Managing Peoplein Organisations.

0 www.uow.edu.au

Facilities Management and otherpractices related to the industry may alsofeature as a component of coursesoffered at the following tertiary providers:

University of Tasmaniawww.utas.edu.au

Monash Universitywww.monash.edu.au

Murdoch University (Perth)www.murdoch.edu.au

Southern Cross University(Coffs Harbour)www.scu.edu.au

University of Canberrawww.canberra.edu.au

Australian CatholicUniversityinet.acu.edu.au

Flinders University, Adelaidewww.flinders.edu.au

Griffith University,Gold Coastwww.griffith.edu.au

James Cook University,Townsvillewww.jcu.edu.au

La Trobe Universitywww.latrobe.edu.au

Macquarie Universitywww.mq.edu.au

MAKE YOURNEXT PROJECT YOURSELF

www.rmit.edu.au/pcpm

RMIT56

2

Master of Project Management (Facilities)If you’re already working in property or construction, this is the ideal way to keep moving up. RMIT’s program allowsyou to specialise in engineering, information technology or facilities management, with great opportunities to work in collaborative teams and strengthen your professional knowledge. RMIT is Victoria’s leading educator in property, construction and project management, with great industry connections and a strong research background.

Postgraduate information sessionThursday 23 October, 6.00 pm at the State Libraryof Victoria (enter via LaTrobe St.).Contact Ian McBean on 03 9925 2230 or [email protected] for more information.


EDUCATION & TRAINING

The aim of the research is to developand test a model for the earlyidentification of properties that have a

high potential for adaptive reuse so thattimely decisions can be taken concerninghow best to maximise the remaining valueof our aging building stock. The research isalso expected to provide insight into howbuildings can be better designed foradaptive reuse in the first instance and sohelp to improve the sustainabilityperformance of our urban environment inthe long run. This research has particularrelevance to the current climate changeadaptation agenda, particularly given thefact our built environment impactssignificantly on both resource demand andwaste generation.

Adaptive reuse essentially refers to achange in building function or purpose fromthat of its current usage. Buildings, like otherassets, can become obsolete over time.Buildings in fact both deteriorate andbecome obsolete as they age. A building’sphysical life, which may be interpreted as itsstructural adequacy, is effectively reduced byobsolescence, resulting in a useful lifesomewhat less than its expected physicallife. While recycling, perhaps throughdeconstruction, is one strategy for salvagingvalue from obsolete buildings, keeping thematerials largely in-place and finding analternative use for the facility can provideeven more value-add. Not only can theembodied energy and cost of new work beminimised, but cultural and heritage valuescan also be preserved for futuregenerations. Many of our older buildings areoften better suited to our climate thannewer designs and can provide verypleasant spaces in which to work, live andplay.

Obsolescence is a phenomenon that iswidely discussed in literature, although rarelyin relation to buildings. Parallels are drawn inthis research between obsolescence,depreciation and discounting in order todevelop a new method for predictingbuilding obsolescence based on measurable context factors. Thesefactors have physical, economic, functional, technological, social, legaland political characteristics. Useful life is described as discounted physicallife, where the rate of discount is determined from predicted future

obsolescence. Buildings with substantial embedded physical life aftertheir useful life has been reached have good potential for adaptive reuse.This transformation to some extent resets their age, and the cycle ofpredicting further obsolescence continues.

The Strategic Assessment ofBuilding Adaptive ReuseOpportunitiesBond University is leading an Australian Research Council (ARC) Linkage Project into theStrategic Assessment of Building Adaptive Reuse Opportunities. The industry partners areWilliams Boag Architects and the Uniting Church in Australia. The research comprises$210,000 of funding from the ARC and about $90,000 of funding from the industrypartners (plus in-kind support) over three years, concluding in 2010. The chief investigatorof the project is Dr Craig Langston, Professor of Construction and Facilities Management inthe Mirvac School of Sustainable Development at Bond University.


EDUCATION & TRAINING

The conceptual frameworkof an approach to identify andrank adaptive reuse potential(ARP) for existing buildings hasnow been achieved, andreported internationally. Themodel requires an estimate ofthe expected physical life of thebuilding and the current age ofthe building, both reported inyears. It also requires anassessment of physical,economic, functional,technological, social, legal andpolitical obsolescence.Obsolescence is advanced as asuitable method to reduceexpected physical life in orderto calculate objectively theuseful life of the building. Analgorithm converts thisinformation and produces anindex of reuse potentialexpressed as a percentage.Existing buildings in anorganisation’s portfolio, orexisting buildings across a cityor territory, can therefore beranked according to thepotential they offer for adaptivereuse. Where the currentbuilding age is close to and lessthan the useful life, the modelidentifies that planning shouldcommence.

The research to date has also developed a ‘physical life calculator’.Similar in concept to the Living to 100 Life Expectancy Calculator forhumans, our calculator begins with an idealistic prediction of buildingservice life and modifies it positively and negatively for its lifestylecontext (akin to ‘healthy living’). In the case of buildings – environmentalcontext, occupational profile and structural integrity are the main areas offocus. Each has ten measurable factors that are weighted and computedinto a prediction of physical life. It is from this starting point that usefullife is able to be forecast.

Obsolescence is shown to be measurable. Through the applicationof surrogates that can suitably reflect the impact of physical, economic,functional, technological, social, legal and political obsolescence, physicallife can be “discounted” to determine a building’s useful life. Such anapproach offers advantage in being able to better predict possibleadaptive reuse potential, or indeed just to make informed decisionsabout the timing of building decommission. The individual hypothesesfor measuring obsolescence need to be further tested in the field. Thiswork is underway. The results of this research will likely lead to fine-tuningof the model parameters so that forecasts of useful life can become morereliable.

The research will shortly progress to the detailed analysis of anumber of case studies provided by the industry partners. Each will besubjected to the evaluation of adaptive reuse designs in consultationwith community stakeholders. The best options will be identified byapplication of a multiple-criteria evaluation tool that addresses aspects offinancial, social and environmental performance. The success of the initialARP model in ranking properties in order of merit can then be validatedin the hindsight of this detailed evaluation. The researchers are workingclosely with other experts from around the world to ensure that theirfindings are applicable to other countries and contexts.

Building adaptive reuse is an important global topic. In the contextof sustainable development and the effects of climate change caused byprevious disregard for our environment, adaptive reuse has significantimplications. This research will help to examine how the constructionindustry can reposition itself to increase focus on the revitalisation ofexisting buildings as an alternative to demolition and replacement, andlooks at the social advantage from making better use of what we alreadyhave. In the future adaptive reuse will need to be planned at the outset,and if this is done wisely and routinely, it will provide a means of realisingsustainability objectives without reducing investment levels or economicviability for the industry. In fact, adaptive reuse is the future of theconstruction industry.

Bond University is privileged to be leading this research. Newknowledge from this and other ARC projects is being integrated backinto the curriculum for undergraduate and postgraduate study. Throughthis process it is hoped that Bond University graduates are able to taketheir place in the construction, facilities management, property and urbandevelopment industries to help achieve better and more sustainableoutcomes for our world.


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FMA AUSTRALIAEXCELLENCE AWARDS

Creativity, passion and a can-do attitude were just some of theattributes that earned Emma Dudley this years’ FMA Australia andTungsten Young Practitioner of the Year Award.

Nominated for her dynamic and results-driven approach to facilitiesmanagement, Emma is the second recipient of the annual award whichrecognises the importance of encouraging and developing the skills andprofessionalism of talented young FM practitioners in the facilitymanagement industry.

As the winner of the award, Emma has demonstrated that she is anexceptionally capable FM practitioner who has achieved a high level ofoverall excellence in her work and made a significant contribution to herorganisation’s business outcomes.

Emma said that her win was very unexpected but a great honour.“I only found out about my nomination a month before the awards

ceremony,” she said. “So actually winning this award was a huge butwonderful surprise.”

Emma commenced with Knight Frank in mid 2005 as the FacilitiesCoordinator for the Knight Frank FM Macquarie commercial buildingportfolio. Emma’s primary responsibilities included the establishment ofsystems and processes to support Knight Frank’s growing Macquarieportfolio in Victoria and Canberra.

Emma was assigned a key project management role in thetransitioning and setting up of five landmark CBD properties for theportfolio. She was responsible for ensuring compliance across all facets ofthe properties’ management with a key focus on contractor management,OH&S, financial control, and property reporting, and provided assistancewith the strategic asset management plans for future life cycle analysis.

Since that time, the Macquarie portfolio has grown from sevenmanaged buildings in 2005 to 13 buildings under management in 2008.

The growth of the Macquarie portfolio in Victoria has been partlyattributed to Emma’s contribution to her team’s overall performance.

Craig Morris, National Director of Facilities Management at KnightFrank Australia said that Emma’s ability to effectively manage key tasks in atimely manner had impressed both Knight Frank management and theirclient’s leadership team.

“Emma both initiated and drove projects to develop and improveKnight Frank’s services to Macquarie, which included adopting a primaryrole in developing and implementing financial management and safetycompliance systems for the Macquarie portfolio – initiatives which havesince been applied to other client portfolios,” said Morris.

“While Emma often had to work autonomously, she also had theability to work alongside the site facilities managers with the same level ofeffectiveness. These strengths lead to Emma being ear-marked as apotential facilities manager for the future,” said Morris.

In recognition of her skills and potential, Emma was promoted to therole of Facilities Manager on the Macquarie Portfolio in early 2007 and,according to Knight Frank management, has continued to deliver excellentresults.

“Emma is a proactive facilities manager with a focus on presentation,compliance, environmental sustainability, tenant and client satisfaction andachievement of goals and targets. With excellent time management andorganisation skills, Emma consistently delivers outstanding results for Knight

Frank and our clients,” said Morris.Among Emma’s many demonstrable achievements in this role was the

attainment of 100 per cent compliance in Macquarie’s annual audit ofsafety, risk and statutory compliance in 2007. This was the highest everscore received in any state for Knight Frank’s Macquarie portfolio at thetime.

“It was a good result,” said Emma, “and I was extremely happy tohave been a young female just coming into the role and to set a newbenchmark for the other FM’s working on the portfolio at the time.”

Emma didn’t grow up dreaming of being a facilities manager but shedid have an interest in real estate and began her career in propertymanagement for a residential real estate agent.

“When the opportunity came up to work at Knight Frank, I initially sawit as a step towards a career in commercial property management,” sheexplained.

“Then once I started in the Facilities Coordinator role my eyes wereopened to facilities management as a professional career path.

“I didn’t know much about FM prior to working with Knight Frank butonce I saw what was available on the FM side it really began to interest mein terms of the large scope of works it covers and the huge knowledgebase that it requires. It’s a really interesting profession and you’re foreverlearning and growing. I guess that’s what I like most about FM. Thediversity of its daily challenges always keeps you on the go.”

Asked whether she felt that she had ever been disadvantaged by nothaving a trade background to supplement her work in FM, Emma repliedthat didn’t think she had.

“I’ve progressed well in the short time I’ve been working in FM. Ibelieve there is a new generation of FM on the rise and rather than comingfrom a traditional trade, building or engineering background, we come inas managers.

“I have very good skills in management and I believe that FM isessentially about managing your contractors and providing a service toyour tenants and clients.”

Emma regards facilities management as the art of managing adesigned space in terms of the unique requirements of each facility, clientand tenancy, and has a great respect for the different and very specificpurpose that each built space is used for.

“I really strive to achieve a balance between both client and tenantsatisfaction. My non-trade background and experience has taught me tofocus on the quality of service that I can provide to occupants and ownersto ensure that both parties are happy,” said Emma.

“As a facility manager, you’ve got to be very adaptable to what eachfacility, each tenant and each client require in order for their space tooperate exactly as they require.”

Not only does Emma have experience in commercial facilitiesmanagement, residential property management and even hospitality, all ofwhich have contributed to the skills she now deploys to deliver exemplaryservice in facilities management, she has undertaken various formal trainingand qualifications including a Certificate IV in Property (Real Estate AgencyPractice) at Victoria University, the Trane Air Conditioning Course and NoelArnold Risk Management Course. She is currently undertaking a Masters inFacilities Management/Project Management at RMIT. Emma has also

Out of the box and the world’syour oyster

A new generation of FM:Emma Dudley, winner,

FMA Australia and TungstenYoung FM Practitioner Award 2008


FMA AUSTRALIAEXCELLENCE AWARDS

recently been selected to participate in the Post Graduate Energy EfficiencyTraining pilot program which FMA Australia is involved in developing.

Emma also acknowledges the support of Knight Frank’s facilitymanagement team as a significant contributor to her success.

“I work with a team of 45 other facility managers, about ten of whomare female, and we come from all kinds of backgrounds includingmanagement, trades and engineering. Together we provide each otherwith an excellent resource of diverse skill-sets and experiences whichenables us to achieve a better end result for our clients and their tenants. Ifind it invaluable to draw on that network for support when I need to.

“I’ve also learned a lot from our State Director, Melinda Bool who hasguided me in the last couple of years that I’ve been at Knight Frank. Herexpertise and strong knowledge of the FM profession has really assistedme in my work and continually inspires me to strive and achieve goals Inever would have thought of reaching.”

For her part, Bool says that Emma is a “dream” to work with andpraises her for her commitment, passion and “all-round ability across allfields”.

“The difference between Emma and most FM’s that I’ve worked withover the years,” says Bool, ” is that she is both very intelligent and practicalfrom an operational and organisational perspective, yet she is alsoextremely creative.”

“It’s that combination of right and left brained thinking which setsEmma apart. It’s not something that most people have the ability to do.

“To find an efficient, organised, analytical person who is also creative isquite a rarity in FM. The fact that Emma has both is the reason why I thinkthat she has excelled as much as she has.

“She’s one out of the box.”While female FM practitioners are still a minority in the male-

dominated commercial environments of the FM industry, Emma denies thatthis has ever put her at a disadvantage.

“Initially when I started out in FM it was not common to find manyyoung women working in the industry,’ she said.

“The majority of contractors and sub-contractors are male, and theywill sometimes look on you as not being very knowledgeable, but ensuringthat you develop good relationship with your contractors by asking themquestions and really involving yourself with their work and the services thatthey provide, helps build their respect for you.

“I believe that most of the contractors that I work with respect me andmy work. It is a respect I had to earn but now I have it, my contractorsappreciate the female qualities such as time-management andorganisational skills that I bring to the job.”

Asked why Emma might have won this years’ Young FM PractitionerAward over all the other young FM talent in the industry, Emma’s manager,Bool is quick to cite Emma’s exceptional initiative and proactive approachto her work.

“Emma doesn’t just sit there and do the job,” says Bool. “She’s always looking at ways to do things better but she doesn’t just

say, ‘I think we should do this better’. Emma will actually come to me andsay, ‘I think we could improve by doing this and this is how I think we coulddo it and here are the tools we need to do it and I’ll go out there and helpeveryone implement it’.

“‘Emma doesn’t just come up with an idea and leave it at that. Sheactually follows things through to completion but does so in a creative andengaging way that interests people and gets them on board.

“Everyone in the team enjoys working with her. We’ve got 45 facilitymanagers in the Victorian team alone and they all enjoy working withEmma.”

In June, Emma commenced work on Knight Frank’s Digital Harbour,Docklands portfolio, an environmentally focused, technology enabled“urban campus” community on the fringe of Melbourne’s CBD.

Originally master-planned by award winning architects, Ashton RaggattMcDougall, the precinct’s unique benefits include leading edge,commercially driven green buildings with water views and surroundingamenity. She is now responsible for the full facility management function ofthe portfolio which currently comprises of two fully occupied buildings witha third set for completion shortly. When including the 1010 Latrobe andInnovation Building, Emma’s portfolio comprises over 20,000 sqm ofgovernment, commercial and retail tenancies operating under a regimedriven by green lease initiatives.

Emma says that over the next five years she hopes to grow as an FMpractitioner and is looking forward to the challenge of managing new kindsof buildings.

“To date, I’ve only been involved with existing CBD commercialbuildings, so looking after the Digital Harbour development where theyhave buildings incorporating the latest in environmentally sustainabledesign, technology and systems is an exciting opportunity to learn aboutan entirely different kind of building,” she said.

To other young people considering a career in FM, Emma says thatraising awareness about the broad scope of activities that the professionencompasses and the many career pathways that it provides are criticalfactors in attracting new talent to the industry.

“FM is a profession that isn’t very well-known in this country and Icertainly didn’t know much about it before I started in the industry. There’sso much opportunity and growth in the industry at the moment, so I thinkmaking young people aware of the profession and the options and thepathways that you could take after entering FM is really important,” shesays.

“FM is an exciting, diverse and demanding profession and, in myexperience, the world can really be your oyster once you enter the FMindustry.”

Emma receiving her Award at ideaction

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How is emissions trading likely towork within the Australian context?Essentially, large emitters of

greenhouse gases (probably over 25,000tonnes CO2 per annum and typically withannual energy bills over $1.5 million) will berequired to acquire and then surrender anumber of permits equivalent to theiremissions over each year. Since the numberof permits will be limited or capped by thegovernment, emitters will buy and sellpermits (similar to trading in the stockmarket). Those who reduce their emissionswill need fewer permits, so they can sellexcess permits to others who need them.

The price of permits is uncertain, as itdepends on the balance between supplyand demand. If many participants act earlyto reduce emissions, demand for thelimited number of permits will be low, soprices will be low. If participants are slow tocut emissions, and the targets becometougher, permit prices will be driven up asdemand exceeds supply, until it is cheaperfor someone to cut their emissions ratherthan pay the high price for permits.

Most owners of buildings will emitmuch less than the proposed threshold,and as a result they will not be directlyinvolved in emission trading unless theychoose to volunteer. They will experienceemission trading through their dealings withlarge emitters such as energy producersand high emission industries. These largeemitters will pass on their permit purchasecosts to the building industry, buildingowners and occupants through higherenergy prices and higher prices ofmaterials, goods and services used toconstruct and maintain buildings.

An emission price of $30 per tonne ofCO2, a mid-range estimate of the possibleprice, would increase standard electricityprices by around 3 cents/kilowatt-hour($30/MWh) and gas by around$2/Gigajoule. At this emission price, andassuming there is no change in upstreamgreenhouse gas emissions, buildingconstruction costs might increase by 2-3%overall, with greenhouse intensive materialssuch as concrete and metals suffering largerincreases. Costs of low emission intensityoptions such as renewable energy, highextender content cements and recycledmetals will be less affected.

Buildings and Emissions Trading:What’s it all about?ADAPTED FROM AN ABCB WHITE PAPER BY ADJUNCT PROFESSOR ALAN PEARS, RMIT UNIVERSITY, ANDFIRST PUBLISHED IN AUSTRALIAN BUILDING REGULATION BULLETIN WINTER 08.

With the very real prospect of Climate Change firmly on the Commonwealth Government’sagenda, the momentum to cut Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions is building, with manynew policies being announced in recent times. Key to this is the CommonwealthGovernment commitment for the introduction of a national greenhouse gas emissionstrading scheme from 2010.



As large upstream emitters reduce thegreenhouse intensity of energy andmaterials they produce, the cost impactswill decline down the supply chain for agiven CO2 price. For example, as more gas-fired power generation replaces coal-firedpower generation, standard electricitysupply will decline in greenhouse intensity.Similarly, as brick manufacturers improveenergy efficiency and switch tocogeneration, each brick will involvegeneration of less greenhouse gas for itsproduction.

Many policy makers and advisers arguethat, once emissions trading sets the price,other emission abatement (reduction)policies such as energy standards will nolonger be needed. Professor Ross Garnaut,who is conducting a review1 forCommonwealth, State and TerritoryGovernments, and Senator the Hon PennyWong, Minister Climate Change and Water,have noted that there are market failuresthat reduce the effectiveness of emissionstrading in some sectors of the economy. Inthese cases, complementary policymeasures will be necessary for the effectiveand efficient capture of emission abatementpotential.

The types of market imperfections andfailures that can occur in the buildingssector include, among other things:3 transaction-related barriers such as

the ‘landlord-tenant’ problem,where the person who makes decisions does not pay theongoing costs, and the actual cost and time involved intransactions such as purchase or installation;

3 inability for individual agents to capture the full benefits ofresearch and development (R&D) – competitors can learn fromthe innovator’s experience;

3 information failures, including lack of information andasymmetry, for example where home buyers have much lessknowledge than sellers, so that sellers can manipulate buyers byexploiting their lack of detailed knowledge;

3 the long-term nature of buildings, so that uncertainty aboutfuture costs and discounting of future costs means they may notbe appropriately factored into purchase decisions; and

3 positive externalities from improved building performance suchas improved health or comfort, which are not usually factoredinto building-related decisions.

These market failures mean the buildings sector is less likely torespond to price signals from emissions trading, so other measures arelikely to be needed. Indeed, US studies suggest that even with adoubling in energy prices, equivalent to a CO2 price of $150/tonne,household and commercial sector energy consumption would fall by only15-20% below previous trends, much less than the savings needed tomeet expected emission targets, or the cost-effective potential that isbelieved to exist.

What’s more, economic modelling shows that capturing additionallow cost emission abatement from buildings, for example throughstronger energy efficiency measures, reduces emission permit prices forall emitters across the economy. So failure of this sector to ‘do its bit’increases the overall cost to society and the economy of achieving agiven emission target.

The European Union, which has the world’s most advancedemissions trading and climate change response policies, has a strongregulatory policy approach to buildings in parallel with emissions trading.The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change2, the UN’s expertadvisory group, recommends a comprehensive range of policy tools beapplied in the buildings sector.

Overall, it is unlikely that the introduction of an emissions tradingscheme in Australia will significantly reduce the need for regulation ofbuilding energy performance. Indeed, there are some indications thatpressure for higher stringency and a wider range of coverage will occur,

so that buildings can contribute to a lower overall cost of meeting ournational emissions targets. At the same time, suppliers of buildingmaterials and products will come under pressure to cut emissions, and inturn, to minimise the flow-on effects on building costs, while builders willface increasing pressure from buyers to minimise ongoing energy coststhrough design and construction. 1 Professor Ross Garnaut. http://www.garnautreview.org.au/CA25734E0016A131/

pages/home. The Garnaut Climate Change Review has been commissioned by

Australia’s Commonwealth, state and territory governments to examine the impacts,

challenges and opportunities of climate change for Australia. A Draft Report will be

delivered to the Australian governments by 30 June 2008, and the Final Report by

30 September 2008.

2 http://www.ipcc.ch/ipccreports/ar4-syr.htm

ABOUT THE AUTHORAlan Pears has been an Adjunct Professor at RMIT University since

2000, and contributed to Environment and Planning’s teaching programsince 2001. Alan has worked in the sustainable energy and environmentfields since the late 1970s for community groups, government and theprivate sector. While working for the Victorian government in the 1980s,he helped develop and implement programs such as the Home EnergyAdvisory Service, public information and education, appliance energylabeling and mandatory building insulation regulations.

Since 1991, Alan has been co-director of Sustainable Solutions, anenvironmental consultancy, and has been involved in building energy andenvironmental rating and regulation, green building projects, educationalsoftware, green appliance development, industrial and business energyand environmental management, and policy analysis.

His teaching and work responsibilities include:3 Energy policy and management (including links to urban

development, transport, buildings, demand management andrenewable energy technologies, and energy market reform)

3 Climate change policy and mitigation measures 3 Technology and environmentAlan has assisted with books such as The Natural Advantage of

Nations: Business Opportunities, Innovation and Governance in the 21stCentury, and appeared on ABC Catalyst: The Consumers Guide toCarbon Conscious Shopping.

An emission price of $30 per tonne of CO2, a mid-range estimate of thepossible price, would increase standard electricity prices by around 3cents/kilowatt-hour ($30/MWh) and gas by around $2/Gigajoule. At thisemission price, and assuming there is no change in upstream greenhousegas emissions, building construction costs might increase by 2-3% .

“

“The continued development of a full range of renewableenergy generation is at the forefront of the VictorianGovernment’s climate change strategy, which is based on adrive towards near zero emissions from our energy sector”announced the Energy and Resources Minister, PeterBatchelor, in February of this year, highlighting the need forchange in how energy in Australia is generated and used.

With demand on the National Electricity Market expected toincrease at an average rate of 1.9 per cent annually over thenext decade no down-turn in the consumption of finiteresources can be expected. Increasing awareness of decliningresources and rising greenhouse emissions coupled with theGovernment’s recent ratification of the Kyoto Protocol aredriving consumer and business demand for energy Retailersto offer renewable energy products.

Higher costs and uncertainty about the future of carbontrading have deterred both domestic consumers andbusiness from investing in renewable or green energy offeredby Energy Retailers.

There is a lack of understanding in the market of howrenewable energy, which contributes to the AustralianGovernment’s Mandatory Renewable Energy Target (MRET),differs from Accredited GreenPower. Under theCommonwealth Renewable Energy (Electricity) Act 2000,liable parties, which include electricity retailers and wholesalepurchasers, are required to contribute to investment ingeneration of energy from renewable sources. Thiscontribution is in the form of surrendered Renewable EnergyCertificates (RECs) in proportion to the volume of theirelectricity acquisitions. Purchases of GreenPower contributeto the investment in renewable energy beyond thegovernment regulations outlined in the MRET.

Developed in consultation with a number of environmentalgroups and the energy industry, the New South WalesGovernment established the GreenPower AccreditationProgram in 1997. The audited national program appliesstringent environmental and reporting standards to thesupply of renewable energy. Accredited renewable energy iscurrently sourced from wind, solar, hydro and biomassgeneration facilities, which the GreenPower initiativestipulates must be built after 1997 to be eligible for programinclusion.

Momentum Energy provides the option to customers tooffset anywhere between 1% and 100% of their energyusage through the purchase of GreenPower. Essentially whenelectricity retailers offer GreenPower they will charge thecustomer an additional set cost per mega watt hour toacquire renewable energy from an accredited source on thecustomer’s behalf. Although this power is then fed into theNational Electricity Grid, it does mean the customer isdirectly contributing to the generation of new renewableenergy.

By providing GreenPower, Momentum Energy is not onlyresponding to increasing demand from consumers andbusiness looking to offset their carbon footprint, butencouraging others to become more sustainable in theinterest of Australia’s environmental future.

Increased take-up of GreenPower will undoubtedly increasethe demand for new research and the construction ofrenewable energy generation, which will decrease ourdependence on coal-fired power stations.

Natalie Davies is the Marketing Manager of electricityretailer Momentum Energy. She can be contacted on 038612 6440 or [email protected]

Climate Change –Toward ZeroEmissions

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The construction industry collectivelyshoulders around 8% of the responsibilityfor global warming, with concrete

production accounting for much of that. This hasnot gone unnoticed by the AustralianGovernment and the recently released ‘GreenPaper’ in no way excludes property managementor construction from the industry sectors to becovered by the forthcoming emissions tradingscheme.

In 2004 the federal Government introducedmandatory energy disclosure laws1 for allbuildings at the time of their sale or lease as partof the National Framework for Energy Efficiency(NFEE). In December last year the FederalGovernment, along with State and TerritoryEnergy Ministers, met in Perth and agreed to astage two of the NFEE adding measures forenhancing the Minimum Energy PerformanceStandards programme (MEPS), establishing anHVAC high efficiency strategy, phasing out ofincandescent light-bulbs, developing a ‘greenleases’ programme and starting to develop anational hot-water strategy. The NFFE Stage Twoextends the existing NFEE initiativesencompassing the Energy EfficienciesOpportunity programme, the Energy EfficiencyExchange and the National House Energy RatingScheme.

These programmes have, by-and-large, beenwell received by both the industry and the widercommunity who recognise that we have little tolose, and everything to gain by toughening theenergy efficiency requirements for commercialand residential buildings alike.

The new kid on the block however is theNational Greenhouse and Energy Reporting(NGER) Act 20072 which was introduced inSeptember 2007 and went live on July 1 this year.It is designed to underpin the forthcomingnational emissions trading scheme by forcingfacilities that emit more than 25kt (of CO2

equivalent (CO2e), or which consume, or produce,more than 100TJ of any kind of energy to reporttheir emissions to the Government.

To put this in some sort of perspective if yourfacility spends $1 million on natural gas, or $1.6million on electricity, $4.3 million on diesel oil, oraround $4.6 million on petrol then it will berequired to report under the NGER Act. Of coursemost facilities will use some gas and some powerand run diesel or petrol backup generators sothese numbers need to be balanced against each

Facilities Management in theCarbon EconomyBY DAVE SAG, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, CARBON PLANET

Climate change, and fear of the inherent uncertainties surrounding this current policyproblem, is driving a raft of economic reforms and, in some cases, revolutionary changes inthe legislative landscape. This is having a direct impact on a plethora of industries, andfacilities managers are among those at the coal-face. Carbon Planet Founder and ExecutiveDirector Dave Sag, explores how the National Greenhouse and Energy Reporting (NGER)Act , which went live on July 1 this year, is likely to impact on facility managers and thefuture of a carbon emissions trading scheme.



other to get a real view. The due date for registration if you believe you’llmeet these thresholds is 1 August 2009 and you must report by 31October on your emissions for the 2008/09 financial year.

Reporting under the Act requires you perform a comprehensivegreenhouse emissions audit. There are two accepted standards for thissort of audit and most respectable emissions management firms willprovide a single audit document that harmonises both the ISO 14064-13

and WBCSD’s (World Business Council for Sustainable Development)GHG Protocol Corporate Accounting and Reporting4 standards. TheGHG Protocol defines three ‘scopes’ of emissions. Scope 1 emissions arethose directly emitted by the operation of your facility, i.e. fuel you burn,boilers you run and so forth. Scope 2 emissions are indirect emissionsresulting from energy you buy. In this case the emissions are caused bythe power-provider, but they are considered to be your responsibility asyou are paying for them. Scope 3 covers all of the other indirectemissions generated by your supply chain.

As it stands the NGER Act only requires reporting on your scopes 1and 2 emissions but, in our experience, most firms, having made thecommitment to measure their carbon emissions, like to get a completepicture and then try to drive efficiencies down their own supply chains.

Of course many facilities on their own do not meet those thresholds,but the NGER Act has thresholds for corporate entities as a whole aswell, and these thresholds reduce every year, starting at 125kt CO2e /500TJ energy in 2008/09, and reducing to 87.5kt CO2e / 350 TJ in2009/10, and then 50kt / 200TJ for 2010/11. Initially this will coverroughly the top 1000 emitting companies in Australia but will expand itsscope to cover around 80% of Australian companies by 2012. So if yourfacility or firm escapes the threshold this year it’s only a matter of timebefore you too will need to report.

The penalties for failing to register or report are severe. Simply failingto register attracts a $220,000 fine with a further $11,000 per dayoverdue. Likewise failing to report attracts the same fines. Similar finesare levied for failing to keep proper records, or failing to commission anindependent audit of your emissions if requested to do so.

Emissions trading opens many opportunities for the building industryas, by and large, so many buildings in Australia are extremely inefficient.It should be fairly easy for most buildings to be made much moreefficient in a very short time-frame, ideally leaving many building ownerswith spare emissions trading permits they can then on-sell to firms thatare finding it harder to meet their emissions reduction targets, requiringthem to buy permits or pay penalties. But building owners and facilitiesmanagers that don’t make an immediate start on determining theirfacility’s baseline emissions will be left at a disadvantage when emissionstrading commences and they have not factored the ‘cost of carbon’ intotheir strategic planning. The Government is rolling out their plans with anunprecedented amount of public consultation and industry briefing;failing to make the most of these opportunities may well result in a raft ofshareholder and other stake-holder actions as they, and their lawyers,start demanding answers.References:

1 See www.nfee.gov.au

2 www.greenhouse.gov.au/reporting

3 www.iso.org/iso/catalogue_detail?csnumber=38381

4 www.ghgprotocol.org

ABOUT THE AUTHOR AND CARBON PLANET LIMITEDDave Sag is the Founder and Executive Director ofCarbon Planet Limited. A serial entrepreneur, Dave’scareer began in information technology and later ledhim to complement his experience with careers inonline retail, satellite-launch re-insurance trading andwork at the European Patent Office. In 2000, Dave

established Carbon Planet Limited – an Australian-based global carbonmanagement and origination consultancy that helps businesses tomaximise their opportunities in a carbon-constrained world. By focusingon the provision of tailored, integrated solutions Carbon Planet Limitedenables businesses to manage and reduce their impact on climate changeand implement more sustainable business practices. Dave also recentlypresented at FMA Australia ideaction 08 Conference. Seewww.carbonplanet.com/NGER for more information.

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The need to reduce our impact on the planet has forced design andresearch industries to search for building solutions which offeroptimum operational efficiency. Widely coined biomimicry or

biomimetics, the Eastgate principle of adapting the best of nature’sprocesses to meet design requirements is emerging as an inevitablemove towards more effectively addressing climate change.

Architect Mick Pearce’s concept of cooling and warming an entireoffice building through passive methods was one of the earliest caseswhere biomimetics had been practically incorporated into a buildingdesign. For Pearce, the idea of design mimicking nature emerged intohis consciousness largely by accident.

“I met a fellow called Bill Mollison in Zimbabwe in 1986; he’s thevery famous Australian who invented permaculture. Bill came toZimbabwe and gave a marvellous talk about how you could actuallydesign a community of plants to work in the same way as an eco-system.It was a very inspiring talk and that set me going. By 1991 I had starteddoing a number of things that had changed my architecture – I wastrying to do perma-architecture, copying the same principles. In otherwords looking at natural processes and trying to get them to work insidethe city.”

It wasn’t just Pearce’s interest in sustainable design that propelledhim to pioneer a new direction for architecture – he also knew globalwarming would soon demand action from those in a position toinfluence the built environment’s output of carbon emissions.

“In 1991 I was asked to design a series of 4 office blocks. The firstone, an office tower in Harare, had gardens all the way up it on hugebalconies, and then I did another two with internal courtyards. Theinternal courtyards worked extremely well, they were full of plants andtrees, right in the middle of the city. It worked like a courtyard in Arabiawhere cold night air fills up the courtyard and if you’re lucky it stays therefor the rest of the day following, so it serves as something of a reservoirof cold air which we would then take into our air conditioning systems.”

By 1992 Pearce came to design his fourth office building, the

Eastgate, and had decided to take his unique brand of ’perma-architecture’ to the next level. With the support of developers, Pearcewas given free reign to materialise his idea of developing a coolingsystem which relied almost entirely on natural methods.

“Talking to the engineers, we realised that we could use night airthat was sufficiently cold and blow that through the structure to cool itdown. As we were discussing these sorts of methods, my daughter sentme a copy of the David Attenborough series – one of the them was ofDavid walking around inside a termite’s nest in Northern Nigeria. Then Ithought, my god, if termites can do it then we can, and I started talkingto the engineers about termites. At this point I was already beginning tocopy living systems or eco systems that are always in balance, instead ofrequiring a power station. They work in entirely with the sun, wind,thermal mass and so on. We got very excited about this when we weretalking about Eastgate and we used the termite mound principles rightthrough the design period.”

In 1997, architect Mick Pearce captured imaginations around theworld by claiming termites were inspiration for the design of hislatest office building in Harare, Zimbabwe. A pioneeringarchitect, Pearce had convinced developers of the ‘Eastgate’ toabandon standard air conditioning methods in favour of thenatural cooling and heating systems he’d observed in Africantermite mounds.

Using only a tenth of the energy required for traditional airconditioning systems, the termite concept was a risk that paidoff for Eastgate developers, saving $3.5 million in energy costsover the first five years of operation. Pearce’s success in creatingthe unique, financially advantageous building solution latercompelled developer Rob Adams to enlist his expertise whendesigning CH2 – Melbourne’s first building to achieve a Six StarGreen Star rating.

Facility Perspectives’ Melanie Drummond spoke to Mick Pearcefurther about nature’s influence on the future blueprint of ourbuilt environment. She also discussed research in the field ofbiomimetics with Professor Derek Clements-Croome, a speakerat this year’s Air Conditioning-Refrigeration-Building Services(ARBS) exhibition.

Taking a leaf from nature’sbook of good design –Biomimetics and BuildingsBY MELANIE DRUMMOND

Architect Mick Pearce standing inside the Eastagebuilding in Harare, Zimbabwe. Image: David Brazier.

Giant red termite mounds cut a striking figure on the landscape in Western Australia.



Working in with the engineers, Pearce designed a system which usedthe building’s thermal mass as insulation and the daily temperatureswings outside the building to regulate temperatures inside. Fans wereused to draw fresh air from the atrium for circulation around the building,and any excess hot air was then drawn out through the 48 round funnelson top of the building, mimicking the African termite mound’s chimneyfunction. Cold night air was then used to cool down the building’sstructure which subsequently cooled incoming air the following day.

“During the night in termite nests they have a condition in which theair inside is warmer than the outside air and so it shoots up the chimney,and the more it shoots up the chimney the more oxygen they getthrough fresh air entering system through lower openings in the mound.A lot of social animals do that, bees do the same thing; bees get theiroxygen by fanning air with their wings into the nest. The more activity inthe nest the more oxygen they need and the more the bees have to fan.In a termite’s nest it all happens at night when you get updraft. In a daythe air gets hotter so it doesn’t suck the air out, so they actually sleepduring the day and work at night.

“The chimneys at Eastgate pull the air out of the building during thenight, in the day the air goes out that way but it’s not as fast, so in thatsense the building operates exactly like a termitary. During the winter inHarare you get hot afternoons because there are no clouds in the sky –it’s very dry. So in the winter we blow the air at a fast rate to warm up thebuilding to carry it through to the next morning. You can adjust the fancycle to suit the time of the year, and essentially that is a buildingresponding to nature.”

While the Eastgate ventilation process is heavy on fan power – whichrelies on electricity – the system uses only about a tenth of the energyneeded for full air conditioning.

“Later on we also developed a system where we used rock stores tocool the building. It is essentially a pile of rocks in a cage and you blowthe air through the cage and the rocks cool the air down the next day.”

Following the accomplishment of his Eastgate project, Pearce wasinvited by developer Rob Adams to work on the CH2 building inMelbourne. CH2 is Melbourne’s first building to achieve a 6 star GreenStar rating, and served as the perfect opportunity for Pearce to elaborateon the sustainable design features which he’d developed for theEastgate some 10 years earlier.

“We went much further here; we had a lot more help fromengineers. Also it’s a different environment – different economicenvironment and different social environment and a different naturalenvironment. The building here looks quite different from Eastgate and ithas enormously improved energy performance even compared withEastgate, it delivers a much finer tuned environment.

“CH2 is more sophisticated, it’s much more complex. However thebuilding does work with Melbourne’s climate, Melbourne has three daysof heat and three days of cold almost right through the year – particularly

in the summer.“During the three days of cool we do a lot of harvesting of cool

water by using evaporative systems, then we store that cool water in vatsin the basement which are full of phase-change balls (phase-change iswhen you change solid material like ice into liquid). That is available todrag the heat out of the offices when it gets hot. We do that bycirculating water through ceiling panels in the offices and dumping it inthese vats afterwards.”

Despite plenty of publicity surrounding the sexy, smart buildingswhich are racking up green stars and press releases, Pearce believesthere’s still plenty to be done with our existing building stock.

“We can easily change the old buildings; the most difficult thing is toget people to agree to spend money on them. The way buildings arebuilt and financed, people hate pouring money into an old building,even though it can easily be done – they prefer the excitement of newbuildings. I’m very keen on retrofitting; retrofitting is the only way we canget to the carbon emission reduction targets in time. It’s good fun, youcan do it, and you can make old buildings work.”

Pearce firmly believes that by continuing to look into biomimeticsand what nature can teach us, cities can improve the way theirinhabitants live, work and integrate.

“Thinking of the city as an eco system is the right way to think of acity, I’m very keen on that and getting that message across. What weknow scientifically speaking, is that the only way to reduce C02 from theatmosphere is with plants, you can’t pretend to sink it under the ground.The way to go is to increase plant cover which of course would put ahuge pressure on land so it means that buildings need to start holdingplants themselves. Cities need to be green, that’s why rooftops are soimportant – CH2 has as much greenery as its footprint. It’s anotherreason why I am also very keen on floating cities and putting cities on



water, which you could do in the bay here in Melbourne. It would thenbecome more like Venice, and then you’re not covering up land which isso important for growing food. We’re going to lose a lot of land with searise, huge amounts. We need urban agriculture.

“We also love moving around a great deal and we should becomemuch less dependent on having to move every day to work, by startingto work at home or work in smaller groups nearer home. Then itchanges, the city becomes a poly-centric city with lots of centres, all ofthese things add up to networks. You find those in nature, networks ofenergy distribution.”

Another keen advocate for taking lessons from nature is DerekClements-Croome, Professor of Construction Engineering at UnitedKingdom’s Reading University. Clements-Croome gave audiences at theAir Conditioning-Refrigeration-Building Services (ARBS) exhibition inMelbourne earlier this year an insightful presentation on sustainablebuilding solutions. His passion for biomimetics has spanned severaldecades and he continues today to look into the benefits of nature’sdesigns with research groups at Reading University.

“30 years ago, when research into biomimetics began, we werelooking into things like the self-cleaning lotus leaf; there was also agrowing interest in spiders and the science behind the strength of theirwebs. For example, even a structure created out of steel the samethickness as a spider’s thread would be still be weaker than a spider’sweb.”

Clements-Croome believes biomimetics offers the building industrypassive design solutions which can significantly reduce our demand onfossil fuels.

“The passive solution is where you don’t use any extra power orenergy in the system, where the thing is natural; something just unfoldsor uncurls according to the sun or the water. In terms of intelligentbuildings, humans have been doing this for thousands of years – anexample of this is vernacular architecture. Vernacular Architecture iswhere man has adapted to their local environmental conditions and usedlocal materials to build structures which suit that climate.

“The igloo is an example of vernacular architecture and an effectivepassive solution, it’s iceblocks put together in a certain way, shaped withnice curves – that’s it. There’s no heating system as such or ventilationsystem as such. It’s a naturally responsive building. An active building iswhen you then impose ventilation fans, pumps, heating and ventilationsystems. What you really need to do is to get the best you can out of thepassive part of the building which is the form, insulation, mass,orientation and shape of the building. Doing this will mean your energyrequirement will be lower and if you still need to put on some ventilationor air conditioning, then it won’t be very much.”

Education in areas such as biomimetics, Clements-Croome insists, isthe only way to ensure people in the construction industry have the skillsets necessary to meet the changing demands on the built environment.

“In Europe, in the construction and architecture industries, there arenew courses appearing in biomimetic architecture,” says Clements-Croome.

“It all fits in quite nicely with the sustainability agenda, which is allabout minimising energy, materials and so on. The research councils inEurope are paying much more attention and there’s also more moneybeing supplied to carry out research in places like Britain and Germany.The awareness has definitely increased in the last few years. Oureducation system needs to improve to get people involved in thebuilding industry that are interested in these ideas. Also, the reality ofeveryday life in the building industry is that a client can be reallyinterested in creating something new and innovative, like with the CH2building here in Melbourne, or you might have the kind of client whowants a quick fix job at the lowest possible price in the minimum time.You can’t really do this work based on a low, cheap price approach. It hasto be thought out carefully and designed properly for the long term.”

Despite the significant initial outlay for designing or retrofitting abuilding to incorporate biomimetic principles, Clements-Croome is surethe likelihood of a carbon economy will force industries to invest inbuilding solutions which reduce emissions.

“I think research does take time but the sustainability agenda isurgent and challenging, and people are now much more aware of it.Sustainability, in essence, is about nature. The fact is, at the moment weneed about 1.3 earths to be in balance, we have gone over what is reallypossible on earth, we’ve therefore got to cut back, we’ve got to reduce,we’ve got to look at doing things in other ways and biomimetics is oneof the avenues that will get us there.”

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With speculation that petrolprices might hit $2 per litreby September, and calls for

congestion taxes of up to $25 percar per CBD commute to beintroduced to ease pressure on city-bound arterials, organisations arebeing rapidly forced to consider theimpacts of global economic,environmental and populationchanges on their business, and thefacilities they manage.

Whether the solutions includeincreased bicycle storage andchange room facilities, more energyefficient corporate transport fleets,organised carpools or better publictransport arrangements, facilitymanagers are at the frontline ininstigating change for a brave newworld of workplace transportmanagement and planning.

Not content with resting itsgreen credentials on its new six stargreen home – the visionary andecologically sustainable CouncilHouse 2 (CH2) – the City of Melbourne now joins a number ofprogressive organisations leading the way in developing integratedsolutions to sustainable workplace transport practices.

The City of Melbourne actively encourages its staff to consideralternative forms of transport to commute to and from work. Thisincludes car pooling, car sharing, greener motor vehicle fleets andvarious cultural change initiatives. The most popular form of transportoutside of public transport are bicycles.

Rising fuel, service, registration and insurance costs combined withincreasing building and population densities, has brought aboutsomething of a renaissance for the humble bicycle with Australian salesof the two-wheeled trusty steed outstripping that of motor vehicles by32%. In fact the total number of bicycles sold in 2006 was 1,273,781units – the fifth year in a row that the bicycle industry has sold more thanone million units, a figure yet to be reached by car manufacturers.

Besides their energy and cost efficiencies, bicycles also deliver anumber of benefits to employers including increased staff productivity,reduced absenteeism, reduced pressure on car parking facilities, reducedgreenhouse gas emissions and lower contributions to noise and airpollution.

From a facility management point of view, there are significantfinancial benefits attached to increasing the number of staff who ride towork rather than drive. Reduced car parking overheads, more economicuse of land and area space and increased availability for customer and

business visitors are key drivers for facility managers looking to optimisethe productive values of their building assets. In the large capital cities,the cost of a single space in an A-Grade CBD office building can costanywhere between $8000 and $10,000 per annum. The fact that tenbicycles can be parked in one car space makes a very attractive valueproposition for space-constrained organisations looking to grow theirbusiness in the tight commercial rental market.

Other monetary incentives for organisations include reduced carfleet, taxi and petrol card costs. For businesses located in Melbourne andSydney, the conversion or reduction of one single car space equates to asaving of $800 in government congestion levies.

With transport consuming 25% of Australia’s total energyrequirements, the promotion and facilitation of active transport such asriding to work can also be part of a green operating strategy and triple-bottom-line reporting regime. According to the Australian GreenhouseOffice, just cycling 10km each way to work instead of driving, saves 1.3tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions each year. Reports have stated thatair pollution causes more deaths among Australians than road accidents:each year, on average, 2400 deaths are linked to air quality and healthissues – compared with 1700 people killed in road accidents.

To encourage more people to ride to work, the City of Melbourneprovides a range of facilities for its staff including bike storage, shower,change and locker facilities. There are specific bike parking facilitieswithin Council House and Council House 2, while the corporate car parks

Managing workplacetransport facilitiesGreen transport initiatives at theCity of MelbourneBY FACILITY PERSPECTIVES’ BIANCA FROST

Facility managers are discovering that they can have an important role to play in thequestion of how the workforce uses transport to get to work. Facility Perspectives’ BiancaFrost looks at some of the green transport initiatives that the City of Melbourne hasadopted to manage its workplace transport facility requirements.

Bike Racks – City of Melbourne



have bike parking provisions for 85 bikes. There are also additional bikeracks on the first level of the public car park off Little Collins Street. Whilethere are no designated bike parks at Town Hall, the garage is used, butthere is only a limited amount of space.

Shower and locker facilities are located in all three buildings.Will Lester from Bicycle Victoria, the community, not-for-profit

organisation that designed, supplied and installed bike parking facilitiesat CH2 notes that secure bicycle parking and appropriate end of tripfacilities are important ways to encourage employees to ride to work.

“If people are parking their bikes in the fire escape or the stair wellor attaching them to the plumbing, then that obviously becomes anissue for the rest of the building’s users as well,” says Lester.

“When there are inappropriate facilities bikes, clothing andequipment often end up in inappropriate spaces.”

There are a range of bicycle parking devices that are space efficientand allow cyclists to lock bicycles at ground or wall level. Good planningand design of bicycle facilities can also improve safety, maintain thestructural integrity of buildings and optimise dead space.

“We recently installed a bike parking facility in a CBD building andby making good use of dead space which couldn’t be used for carparking or any other purpose, we were able to get in 55 new bike

parking spaces and only sacrificed one car parking space in the process,”said Lester.

Lester suggests that facility managers planning to install new bicyclefacilities should talk to existing bike riders within their organisation togauge their needs.

“Find out what they want, where they want to park, what sort offacilities they need, and you’ll also develop an idea of how many bikeparking and equipment storage facilities you will need to provide.

“The provision of good facilities tends to have a snow ball effect interms of attracting new riders, which is something you will need to takeinto account in your planning stages,” he said.

Some of the key factors to consider when planning end of tripbicycle facilities include:3 Quantity of bicycle parks – ensure existing and future demand is

met 3 Safety and security – a separate bicycle cage is preferred3 Convenient location for cyclists3 Ease of access when the facility is full3 Weather protection3 Lighting3 AttractivenessWhile bicycles deliver multiple benefits in terms of managing

workplace transport issues, most workplaces will still require motorvehicles and car parking for both at-work and to and from workcommutes.

The City of Melbourne has attempted to address this issue byproviding a range of information on reducing employees’ daily travellingcosts by highlighting initiatives such as car pooling on its intranet.

Carpooling or ridesharing is well established and increasing in somecountries, particularly in the US, Canada and parts of Europe as aresponse to peak hour traffic congestion, car parking shortages, and as away for people to reduce emissions and the costs of getting to and fromwork.

In some parts of the US, such as California, there are speciallysignposted points along highways where commuters can pick up peoplewilling to share a ride. With two or more people on board, motorists areentitled to take advantage of specially allocated transit lanes cuttingtransport times by as much 80% in peak hour conditions.

In Australia carpooling has not yet become a common practice,however, large employee or service organisations are increasinglyinvestigating carpooling systems for a variety of reasons including:3 Alleviating car parking congestion at the workplace;3 As an employee benefit to assist employees reduce commuting

costs, and;3 As a means of making a positive contribution to the environment

through the practice of corporate social responsibility.

Michael McCann, Director of MyCarpools says that onceorganisations make a commitment to a carpooling system for theiremployees, it can take a while for it to work its way into the culture, butonce established there are a number of intangible benefits that begin toflow for and between employers and employees.

“For example,” says McCann, “beyond the obvious benefits to usersof a carpool system in terms of saving on transport costs, a carpoolsystem can significantly reduce the number of car parks that are taken upat the facility or destination.”

Depending on the specifics of the organisation and its facilities, thiscan translate into lower lease costs, increased tax savings, largerquantities of operational floor space or simply more available car parkingspace for customers, clients and business visitors.

“If all the car parks at your location are taken up by people whowork there everyday, it does make it harder for people to see you whowant to do business with you. Keeping car parks for visitors free at thedestination is a problem that facility managers are often struggling with,”added McCann.

McCann says that most of facility managers that approach him aboutcarpooling are primarily looking at ways in which to reduce staff demandfor car parking. With escalating rental costs and diminishing commercialvacancy rates across most of Australia’s capital cities, the need tomaximize usable floor space means that many organisations, instead ofmoving premises, are compacting more workers into existing officespaces.

Electric Cars in use by the City of MelbourneBike Parking Facility at Origin Energy


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The net result of this, says McCann, is that more people and morecars are exerting further pressure on road, parking and trafficinfrastructure that, in many cases, is already overburdened.

“There’s a tendency for organisations to grow their workforces, fillingevery available floor space with more desks, without considering theimpact on traffic management around the site,” McCann explains.

“The first thing that happens in this instance is that car parkingoverflows into the surrounding area then the council starts to complainand it’s the facilities manager who’s called upon to solve the problem – aproblem for which there are very few solutions available.

“The only real solution is to get more people into fewer cars andhaving those fewer cars deliver the same amount of people to the site.

“Carpooling is one solution to this problem, particularly in locationswhere it is simply not possible to expect people to rely on publictransport.”

The City of Melbourne also encourages car sharing as part of largedevelopments and in highly-congested residential/business strips such asCarlton and Southbank.

Car sharing means subscribing to a ‘car club’ that looks after themaintenance, insurance and registration of a fleet of communal cars.Member residents and businesses pay for access to a variety of new,often environmentally friendly, vehicles in their neighbourhood. Memberscan save thousands of dollars every year if they replace their privatelyowned car with a car-sharing service. Local communities also benefit,with less parking congestion. To improve access and encourage take upof car sharing services, the City of Melbourne provides specific carparking spaces on its premises solely for car sharing services used by itsemployees.

Corporate motor vehicle fleets are one of the most difficult areas fororganisations to downsize, particularly when a number of staff arerequired to utilise vehicles as part of their essential job function. Salarypackaging that includes vehicle allowances is also another barrier tosome organisations in reducing their corporate fleet size.

The City of Melbourne is achieving its environmental strategy targetsfor its corporate motor vehicle fleet by creating incentives for executives

to downsize vehicle engines or to elect not to take a vehicle. Diversifyingtransport options in line with salary incentives have been a key to thissuccess.

Since 2001, the City of Melbourne’s fleet numbers have beenreduced by 30 per cent (or 40 vehicles), while fuel consumption and CO2emissions have reduced by nearly 50 per cent since 1996.

The introduction of electric cars to the Council’s fleet has alsoassisted in reducing the carbon footprint of its corporate fleet.

Council has also invested in a Hyundai Electric Getz – the firstelectric car for the corporate fleet. It will be used for short distance staffbusiness trips. The operating energy costs of the new electric car are $1of electricity per 100kms travelled. The electric car conversion resultsinclude zero fuel consumption and reduced maintenance and servicecosts. Approval has been given to purchase a second electric car as partof the Council’s 2008/09 fleet replacement program. This second vehicleis expected to be delivered by December 2008.

The City of Melbourne has also implemented a fleet of eight electricbikes that were introduced into operations in preparation for theCommonwealth Games in March 2006. Electric bike numbers in thecorporate fleet are expected to grow with Council work centres acrossthe city, such as the Docklands Marina Office and ArtPlay staff, joiningthe growing list of enthusiastic users along with including Park Rangersand Child Care Centre workers, all of whom are embracing sustainabletransport alternatives to assist in the delivery of their services.

Some other incentives aimed at reducing employee’s reliance on cartransport to, from and during work can include a range of cultural changeactivities that aim to encourage employee’s to take up alternativetransport solutions and become less reliant on petrol driven motorvehicles.

At the City of Melbourne, programs such as “ride to work”, greenermotor vehicle campaigns and public transport promotions are someexamples of the Council’s cultural change initiatives. These programs canbe assisted by facility managers in various ways including the provision ofstorage, change room and reserved parking facilities.



An architect by training, John Mitchell became interested in thepower of computers to revolutionise the design, construction andmanagement of the built environment back in the early 80s. He is

now a part-time Associate Professor at the Faculty of the Built Environmentat the University of New South Wales specialising in collaborative designutilising Building Information Modelling (BIM) systems.

Mitchell was a member of the CRC for Construction Innovationresearch team that undertook the FM Exemplar Project: Sydney OperaHouse validating the BIM modelling and capability assessment of anopen data model to support the asset management services required bySydney Opera House. He is currently consulting on a 24 storey, five staroffice building being developed by Investa in North Sydney, assisting thedesign and construction team share model data to improve designdocumentation, on-site construction activities and asset managementhandover. Mitchell continues to participate in other ConstructionInnovation research projects aimed at increasing uptake of BIM acrossthe supply chain.Facility Perspectives’ Bianca Frost spoke to Mitchellabout the future of BIM in the design, construction and building servicessectors to discover how computer modelling of the built environment is

set to add a new dimension to the delivery of asset and facilitymanagement in the 21st century.

FP: What is a BIM?

JM: A BIM is essentially an intelligent database of a building whereobjects are represented in a three dimensional, digital form. Instead ofthe use of 2D drawings to describe a building we have a singleintegrated 3D object model.

In a drawing, we recognise a door by the gap in the wall and a doorswing. This convention has been developed over many years andtechnical experts understand the full implication of what is shownschematically and what is not shown. In contrast, BIM represents theseconcepts by explicit object types (wall, beam, window, slab etc) withaccurate geometry.

Objects also have properties: for example, the object type “door”might have a door number, security code, or that it is a fire-rated door.Another feature of a BIM is relationships. This allows users to search aBIM and ask it to show us all doors on building storey Ground Floor, or

Building a model future:How Building Information Models are creating newdimensions in building performanceBY BIANCA FROST

John Mitchell, Associate Professorat the Faculty of the Built

Environment at the University ofNew South Wales.



show us all doors connected to an object type “room” called Corridor, orall doors that have a property fire rated is true.

Another characteristic of BIM is that because it is an intelligent 3Dmodel, within a particular room it can check specific distances betweenobjects and thereby measure and test whether certain elements complywith building and safety codes.

FP: How is BIM different to CAD models?

JM: They are completely different. In fact the difference betweenBIM and CAD is that of a generational paradigm shift.

2D CAD is a drawing tool for representing conventional plans,sections and elevations. However, none of the elements in the drawingare connected, so if we modify the location of a door in the plans itdoesn’t update in a section or elevation. In BIM drawings are generatedautomatically from the model, so when you alter an object in the model,then all the drawings that include that door will change as well.

Another difference between CAD and BIM is that when we model awall in BIM the system recognises it as a wall whereas in CAD, it is simplya graphic representation of a wall. If we searched CAD for informationabout walls we wouldn’t be able to find anything because there is nowall, there’s just graphics. This is a very big difference between the twosystems.

Simply put, we draw in CAD whilst we model in BIM.The project is unique for its adoption of BIM by the architect,

structural engineer and the four services sub-contractors in theconstruction phase. Collaboration is being undertaken using the IFCmodel sharing protocol, and the team is developing an IFC mastermodel to hand over to the owner at asset occupation.

FP: BIM is generally described as a 3D modelling system, althoughthey have also been described as a 5D representation. What are theother two dimensions being referred to?

JM: So far we’ve described BIM as the architectural model, butanother advantage of BIM is that it allows you to add multi-disciplinaryinformation such as the building services and structural engineeringsystems into the same model which creates a rich set of building data. Bylinking the construction schedule to the BIM we create a 4D model whichis BIM plus time. When we add costing, the BIM becomes a 5D modelwhich is the BIM plus scheduling plus cost.

This capacity to integrate time and cost dimensions is a great benefitfor contractors involved in the construction phase of a given project.Viewing the construction sequence as an animation brings deeper

understanding of the construction process and enhances time, safety andon-site management.

FP: How long has BIM been used?

JM: BIM has been around for much longer than most people realise.BIM was started in the early 80s, but it wasn’t until the very late 90s thatthe term BIM emerged in the global architectural, engineering andconstruction press. The term BIM has become in the last two years themost widely known description of what is otherwise known as virtualbuilding or model based design and construction.

FP: Who is currently using BIMs?

JM: Architects have been the first to use BIM largely because theywere looking for better ways to understand and present their buildingdesigns. However, only a very small percentage of the architecturalprofession regularly models their designs in BIM. In fact, most practicestoday, while they talk a lot about BIMs, are still documenting theirdesigns using traditional 2D techniques.

FP: Who else is using BIMs?

JM: In the construction and building services sectors, the use of BIMremains in its infancy. However, structural engineers have adopted BIMtype tools as part of their modelling practices for around 15 years or so.In the structural steel industry, the use of 3D models for structures is verywell advanced and they exploit the automation of the design model tocalculate the design, detailing, cutting and fabrication of structuralelements. The Sydney Football Stadium and the Olympic HomebushStadium are all constructed from structural steel that has been modelledin 3D software which is essentially BIM type software.

FP: Who establishes the initial BIM?

JM: In common practice it is the architect who is responsible forauthoring the model. The architect is the person who takes a brief of theclient’s requirements and proposes spatial designs, concepts andsolutions. BIM allows users to collaborate on the one model. Thearchitect can give the structural engineer his architectural concepts, andthe engineer can then respond and send back his structural model, andlikewise with all the building services. Each discipline still retains theirtraditional roles as to authorship and editing responsibility but now workin an integrated model environment.

BIM schematics of Mount St illustrating theintegrated modelling of the building’s services,structure and architecture. This project is uniquefor its adoption of BIM by the architect, structuralengineer and the four services sub-contractors inthe construction phase. Collaboration is beingundertaken using the IFC model sharing protocol,and the team is developing an IFC master modelto hand over to the owner at asset occupation.Client: Investa Property GroupArchitect: Rice DaubneyDesign and Construct Contractor: Thiess PtyLimited.


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FP: What advantages does this offer in terms of facilitymanagement?

JM: BIM is a multi-disciplinary model that commences in the designphase, but once it gets onto the construction site can be updated withspecific product information about warranties, maintenance data and as-built information. In the hands of the users and owners, the result isactually a very richly integrated model for asset and facility managementpurposes. The advantage of this collaborative model building process isthat rather than simply handing over to an asset manager a schematicdrawing of a traditional axonometric of a drainage system, BIM deliversan accurate model outlining the piping network, fittings and systemperformance data. Coupled with the explicit client requirements of thebuilding, a user now has brief, design, and as-built data to check theactual in-use performance and manage the facility more effectively.

FP: What do suppliers and contractors think of BIMs? How do theyinteract with BIMs? Do they require additional training to interactwith?

JM: There is no doubt that BIM represents a big paradigm shift forthe industry. Moving from a 2D drafting environment to a 3D modellingone necessitates new processes, education and training. However, thereare significant benefits in making that transition and there is rapidlyaccelerating interest and change in parts of the industry. For example, if afacility manager has a problem in one of the plant rooms in a buildingand needs to have some services updated, instead of sending out a setof drawings to the contractors, BIM would provide a partial model of theaffected area. This model will detail all the walls, floors, slabs, buildingssurfaces, networks and property data related to those objects. Thisenables specialist subcontractors and suppliers to see all that informationin a single, integrated model which they can access using BIM tools.

FP: When do you expect the BIM model to become widely used inthe Australian construction and building services sector?

JM: While BIM is not yet being used extensively in these industries,some large projects in Sydney and Brisbane for instance, are beingdriven by major client groups who are requiring BIM on their projects.Their goal is to receive all of the information possible about theirbuilding at handover to assist them in achieving objectives such asGreenstar ratings. This is creating a much greater focus and priority onobtaining good information about the building that the asset managerscan then use to accurately measure, improve and substantiate the actualbuilding performance that they’re targeting for sustainability compliance.

FP: What are the greatest likely benefits to come from aparadigmatic shift to BIM?

JM: The move from a 2D drafting or documentation process to a 3Dmodelling one has the potential to deliver a number of significantbenefits. In the case of designers this is a move from a focus ondocumentation to a focus on designing, and understanding andoptimising building performance, a timely and necessary change tosupport the Government’s commitment to greenhouse gas reduction.For contractors and suppliers BIM provides the basis for improved andfaster construction with less errors in documentation, reduced waste,better use of resources and ultimately better quality of the constructedproduct. For owners and managers, availability of integrated holisticbuilding information that will support a change to strategic versusemergency maintenance, and the development of property knowledgebases that deliver better operational environments for users over longertime frames and optimise facility investment strategies.

FP: How can BIM improve building performance?

JM: When building a model, you are automatically assembling all ofthe building elements and the documentation at the same time. Thismeans that instead of putting a lot of time into the documentation, thereis more time to redirect to design and simulation. This gives BIM thehuge advantage of putting more resources into understanding theperformance of buildings which is exactly what we have to achieve inorder to meet the future challenge of greenhouse gas emission targets.BIM continues to impact in the construction stage, by providing ways of

manufacturing and assembling the final product in faster and moreefficient ways.

FP: Could you give an example of this?

JM: BIM can assist us to better understand the material performanceof the external shell as the principal modifier of the external environment.Today thermal analysis is largely left to a specific point late in thearchitect’s design development. However, what we need is thermalperformance advice at all phases of the process, so before we commit toa specific design when the costs of change are increasingly prohibitive,we can make strategic decisions. By entering key information into BIMand exporting that design model to the specialist engineeringconsultants, we can simulate patterns of daylight, solar load, shading andthen measure the thermal performance scientifically. We can then ask;what would happen if we changed this window to a higher performanceenergy transmission glass, or what impact would it have on the totaloperating cost in terms of energy consumption?

With BIM aided design we’re moving into an era where we will havemuch better understanding about the impact of multiple, oftenconflicting design measures which will lead to much more holisticbuilding design. BIM is a key facilitator of that process not only becauseit reduces clashes and errors in the documentation process, it alsoenhances our ability to collaborate with specialists in the thermal analysis,sustainability and lifecycle costing aspects of a building as well.

FP: BIM is clearly viable for new building projects but whatchallenges are involved in setting up BIM for existing buildings?

JM: If you had a good 2D drawing, you can build the BIM easilybecause you’re working off an accurate “tracing”. There are also severalemerging techniques that allow you to measure complicated existingbuildings. On the FM Exemplar: Sydney Opera House project, forinstance, the shell of the Opera Hall is a very complex shape. In order toproduce an accurate 3D model of that shell the consultants used atechnique which fires rays that form a point cloud of dots withgeometrical coordinates. When you connect those points together yougenerate a surface which gives you an accurate representation of thatsurface.

With the additional application of photogrammetry, these techniquesare becoming more and more sophisticated. The City of Sydney iscurrently undertaking a comprehensive aerial survey of the whole city tobuild a digital 3D model of its built environment. If you merge thesetechniques with BIM then you have access to several different ways ofcreating otherwise very complicated information about existing buildingsand structures.

FP: Speaking of Sydney Opera House, can you give a very briefoverview of the FM Exemplar project that you worked on?

JM: Sydney Opera House is a very unique building and hasdemanding operational requirements. The FM Exemplar Project: SydneyOpera House considered two key issues. The first looked at whetherhaving a BIM as a master database for the building would be a practicaland viable option as opposed to multiple disconnected applications thatlooked after work orders, security, finance, budgeting, eventmanagement, maintenance and all the traditional roles that facilitymanagement concerns itself with. The second looked at what keyperformance indicators could be developed to support bettermanagement and improved utilisation of the facility.

FP: What was your role on the project?

JM: My role was to assess whether a BIM using the open modelsharing standard IFC (International Foundation Classes) could actuallysupport the data information requirements of Sydney Opera House froma building management perspective.

FP: Can you describe some of the specific challenges that youencountered in developing an operational BIM for Sydney OperaHouse?

JM: The greatest challenge faced in the FM Exemplar Project:Sydney Opera House was the lack of accurate, well-coordinated digital



data. Sydney Opera House was opened by the Queen in 1982 which,coincidentally, also marked the emergence of 2D CAD tools, so almostall the original documentation of Sydney Opera House was still in theform of ink drawings on tracing paper rather than in the new digital CADform.

At the completion of Sydney Opera House’s construction, the NSWPublic Works Department created some CAD drawings but they wereexamples of the very first generation of 2D CAD drawings in Australia.The technology was new and difficult to operate and the skill level ofoperators at the time was still low which meant that these original digitaldocuments haven’t really stood the test of time.

To generate a fully operational BIM system for Sydney Opera House,we required a full and accurate digital record of the entire building andcurrently this simply does not exist. However, as a pragmatic procedure,whenever they have a new building project or upgrade, Sydney OperaHouse is now planning an incremental BIM which over time will build upthe database that a fully operational BIM model requires. The FMExemplar Project: Sydney Opera House was an exploration of theworking potential of an operational BIM, so it will be up to futureinitiatives to build a full working BIM model.

FP: What were the key learning’s to arise from that project?

JM: Sydney Opera House is an extraordinarily complicated buildingin terms of its spatial organisation and engineering services. The buildingstructure has very complicated shells which are a challenge for any BIMtool to represent accurately. JPW and Arup, the architects and engineersfor the building, had already completed an extensive model of theproposed new developments for the Opera Hall. The FM ExemplarProject: Sydney Opera House then took parts of that model and testedwhether we could exchange it with other applications and incorporateadditional property data to create a fully integrated BIM system. One ofthe key tests that we did was on a Presentation Index that Sydney OperaHouse had developed for the very high level of facility presentationrequired in their public spaces. This lead to a BIM assisted measurementtool to monitor cleanliness, visual appearance and traditionalmaintenance which would ensure that those aspects supported whatpatrons of Sydney Opera House would expect of Australia’s foremostcultural centre.

FP: Interoperability is a key feature of BIM. What is required toachieve the kind of interoperability required by BIM?

JM: One of the largest criticisms of drawing based practice today isthe low quality of documentation and the large number of errorsinvolved with multi-disciplinary documentation when produced indisparate forms by multiple parties.

One of the great advantages of BIM is that it is a single model whereyou can store information about every aspect of a building from conceptto operation. However, to achieve this kind of synthesis of information,BIM requires that a building service engineer can export a model thatcan be shared with the architect and all the other engineers, builders andfacility managers. In essence, interoperability is about developing andsharing a common language for understanding and describing buildings.

FP: Does this common language currently exist?

JM: buildingSMART, a not-for-profit international alliance dedicatedto improving the facility and infrastructure lifecycle, has developed a

standard for model sharing called IFC. It’s a non-proprietary, openstandard that can be used by anyone and everyone in the industry. Thisis a fundamental difference between BIM and the 2D CAD world wherethere are no open standards for drawing sharing. Proprietary standardslock information into information silos, discourage innovation, and tieusers to cartels. buildingSMART delivers an open standard that everyonecan access to improve interoperability and full lifecycle implementation ofbuilding information models.

FP: What impediments are there to adopting an open standard forBIMs?

JM: It’s remarkable that the construction sector is the last businesssector to make the paradigm shift into the digital environment. All otherbusiness sectors have developed their global definitions of informationmanagement in their domain of activity more than 10 years ago andsome many more. The key issue with this is that without an openstandard for sharing information about buildings or the builtenvironment, a large number of participants face barriers, extra costs andcontinued unreliability of data. The cost of interoperability has beendocumented around the world and is estimatedi to contribute 10-15% tothe cost of construction in Australia which represents $2 billion inQueensland each year alone.

For the construction sector to deliver better quality outcomes for thebuilt environment, we have to share information more easily and reliably;we have to move from a product-centric process that is locked toproprietary software environments, to an information-centric industrybased on open data sharing. This will deliver innovative value basedprocesses supported by best of breed tools chosen on the quality ofproduct functionality.

To help overcome impediments, the CRC for ConstructionInnovation is working with industry to develop a dynamic set of NationalGuidelines to promote consistency in the implementation of digitalmodels for building and infrastructure projects. The National Guidelinesintend to promote uniform guidelines for open, interoperable BIM usageand business processes for building and infrastructure projects overfacility life cycle to avoid overlap and duplication as experienced with 2DCAD. Lessons learned from case studies where integrated, digital modelshave been developed and used will inform development of futureguidelines.

FP: Finally, what is the cost of setting up a BIM? What cost-benefitanalysis needs to be undertaken?

JM: There’s a widely held opinion across the industry that to invest inBIM technology is a very expensive exercise but I think this is completelymistaken. Certainly the cost is not an impediment in new buildings sincethe experience of BIM users is that you can build a model of a buildingmuch faster that you can produce a set of drawings of a building. You arealso left with a much more valuable resource because BIM provides afully integrated information model of the building for the downstreamparticipants.

Clients and governments have a role in understanding andpromoting the benefits of BIM and open standards to the whole industry.It is not a case of architects alone having to change to BIM and bear thebrunt of the transition cost; it’s a national and even global change for thewhole of construction sector to support the creation of a moresustainable built environment.i Getting It Right First Time, IEAUST, etc

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Coming up in December:3 Training at FMA Australia 3 FM Conference Events Report 3Maintenance & HVAC Feature


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CLIENT FEATURE



Also referred to as cradle-to-grave analysis, Life Cycle Assessmentis the investigation and evaluation of the environmental impactsof a product, process or service throughout its life. The LCA

process itself involves assessing the impacts of the extraction andprocessing of raw materials, transportation and distribution, use, reuse,maintenance and final disposal.

Working at RMIT’s Centre for Design in the field of Life CycleAssessment, Andrew Carre spends most of his time helpingmanufacturers, businesses, government departments and multinationalcorporations minimise the impacts of their products and processes onthe environment.

“LCA is a way of trying to calculate the potential environmentalimpact of a product or a process by looking at all the different ways aproduct or process touches the environment or interacts with it over itslifetime. You look at a product and work out what drives the main impactand you then see if you can make some changes to reduce that totalimpact – it’s very much a directional assessment technique.”

When a LCA is undertaken, results are usually expressed in terms ofenvironmental indicators. One example of an LCA indicator is globalwarming, assessed by measuring the carbon dioxide and greenhousegas emissions that occur throughout the life of a product or process.Other LCA indicators include the impacts of a product or process onwater use, fossil fuels depletion, pollution and even the effects on humanhealth. On the whole, Andrew finds most companies tend to focus onone or two measures that fall in line with priorities or business objectives.

“The really good thing about LCA is its quantification ofenvironmental impacts. Some impact indicators are probably more useful

and understandable than others such as kilograms of carbon dioxidewhen you’re talking about global warming. Another impact indicator isfossil fuels depletion, and although it has a very difficult unit of measure,it allows us to gauge how exposed to fossil fuels a product or process isacross its life cycle. Business people can then interpret these results interms of the commercial risk they’re running by manufacturing aparticular product or continuing to operate in the same way. Both ofthose measures are objective and things you can really stack up against afinancial implication.”

As a concept, Life Cycle Assessment first emerged in the 60s and70s but Andrew believes the increasing focus on LCA in today’s marketcan be ascribed to the uncertainty surrounding the potential future costsof carbon.

“People want to understand what aspects of their product or processare driving global warming impacts and they want to know how they canreduce those impacts. Until you have a carbon trading or carbon taxsystem in place it’s really difficult for a business to know what costs it willincur. They’re aware that there’s likely to be a cost associated with carbonand they’d like to understand where in their supply chain that cost mightoccur. The uncertainty is leading a lot of people to develop anunderstanding of LCA so they’re prepared when changes happen.”

The innumerable environmental terms, slogans, jargon andbuzzwords that have flooded the industry have undoubtedly made itharder for companies to decide where to spend money on reducingenvironmental impacts. With so many choices, Andrew suggestscompanies take a close look at what will be the most effective decision interms of reducing their environmental load and saving money.

Life Cycle Assessment –creating a business languagefor the environmentBY MELANIE DRUMMOND

With increasing pressure on facility managers to take upthe reins of steering a facility’s energy efficiencyprogram, it’s becoming more important for FMs topresent a clear business case for implementing greeninitiatives. For many, putting parameters on‘sustainability’ can mean churning through massesof generic environmental informationin search of tangible frameworksto put forward.

According to the Centre forDesign’s research consultant,Andrew Carre, life cycleassessment (LCA) has given voiceto the environment by providingbusinesses with a means to quantifytheir impacts and thereforedemonstrate the cost savings and strategicbenefits of ‘going green’. Facility Perspectives’Melanie Drummond spoke to Andrew about thelikelihood of LCA becoming commonplace forcompanies committed to transparency ofenvironmental practices.



“I think where LCA becomes very powerful is that it allows you toquantify environmental impacts, and in a business setting that can bevery useful. As a language for communicating sustainability in business,it’s very, very effective. I think when you raise environmental concepts inbusiness without quantification; they’re very difficult to get traction on.”

“You need to be able to say how many kilograms of carbon dioxidewill be reduced by changing the way things are done. I think it goes alittle bit beyond that too, by quantifying impacts you start talking alanguage that’s very analogous to financial language; it suits a financialaudience better than when you talk about the environment in fluffyterms. Executives like to make decisions when they can say exactly whatthey’ve achieved, but if you’re talking in very generic environmentalterms how can an executive decide how much money to invest in aproject?”

When clients request a LCA of their business processes, Andrewtakes into account the daily activities which might be contributing to themost significant areas of environmental impact. It’s also important, beforeundertaking LCA, that the consultant and client agrees on a systemboundary - outlining what will and won’t be included in the assessment.

“What LCA does, that a lot of other studies don’t, is look beyond thegates of the operation to assess the broader environmental impacts. Ifyou’re a bureaucracy and you’re consuming paper then you need tounderstand what the impacts of manufacturing that paper are in the firstplace before you think about reducing its use. A lot of people alsooverlook the tail end of a process which is often the waste that exits afacility. We find in many facilities that not much effort goes intosegregating waste and that the impacts of something ending up inlandfill which could otherwise have been recycled can be very, verysignificant. Employee transport to and from work can also be a reallygood one to include if you think you can influence it – but there’s notmuch point if you don’t think you can change it.”

While the benefits of conducting a LCA of your business operationsare evident, one of the principal obstacles to overcome - particularly forsmall to medium-sized businesses – is cost. Due to the time required toresearch and provide a credible and accurate LCA, committing fairlysignificant capital to an assessment is likely to be a factor that won’tchange anytime soon. Andrew does believe however that investing inLife Cycle Assessment can provide valuable savings for companiesfurther down the track.

“You might not necessarily know where your impacts are until you’vedone a LCA. You might have decided that you need a new ‘green’building to reduce energy use when in reality a large part of yourbusiness’s impact surrounds the materials you’re consuming in thatbuilding - which won’t change by just moving premises. For example, itmight end up making more sense to upgrade your computers to makethem more energy effective. What you might find is that if you do spend$15 – 20,000 on a Life Cycle Assessment, it might be more efficient toput effort into some of the small things and not so cost effective toconsider the much larger investments.”

Facility Managers play a crucial part in the LCA process - oftenAndrew’s first port of call when looking into a company’s environmentalimpact on areas such as water and energy.

“I think a priority for Facility Managers using LCA, should beensuring they can understand how the consultant has translated theimpacts of their business into environmental indicators like globalwarming. They need to be able to see the links between the things theycan control, such as energy and lighting use, and what that means interms of environmental indicators such as global warming. I don’t thinkit’s beyond any competent facility manager to understand those linkagesand they should be very wary when those linkages are not clear or theconsultant is unwilling to explain them.”

Andrew agrees that having a good understanding of a company’sLCA outcomes also places Facility Managers in a better position whenarticulating plans of action at the boardroom level.

“My experience with facilities is that it has often been anundervalued area for investment in a business, especially an older one. Ithink what LCA can give an FM is some quantification of the benefits thatwill come from a proposed project, whether it be energy efficiencyinitiatives across the site, a water treatment facility on site, or a wastesegregation system.”

As companies and facility managers alike, struggle to differentiatebetween who really has their best ‘green’ interests at heart, Andrewwarns of the potential for LCA to be overused and misrepresented bypeople claiming to be industry consultants.

“LCA is a fairly complex methodology and it’s fairly easy tomanipulate. I think people using LCA, or having consultants prepare LifeCycle Assessments for them, need to make sure they can understandvery clearly how those results were calculated and they need to exercisea degree of due diligence when reviewing information. It has become afield that has a growing number of consultants, and I think people needto be careful about choosing consultants that provide high quality work.It’s a time consuming and costly exercise to do LCA properly. I think withLife Cycle Assessment it’s very easy to get an answer but a really goodstudy will tell the whole story between what’s happening across thebusiness life cycle and the resulting environmental impacts. If you can’tsee the link it won’t be a quality study.”

So how can a company ensure they find the right consultant for thejob?

“It’s a challenging question. There isn’t an accreditation system soLCA consultants aren’t accredited at the moment. There is however astandard for undertaking Life Cycle Assessments – ISO 14040 - andensuring that a consultant is going to produce a report that is consistentwith that standard is probably the best thing they can do to ensure itcovers the most useful aspects of LCA. I also think when choosing aconsultant it’s really important to look at what work that they’ve done inthe past to see if it’s going to be useful to you.”

“LCA is most useful when a business or an operation has made adecision strategically around sustainability and wants to see that decisionactually translate into actions. LCA, to me, is far more about what you sayin the annual report or sustainability report as opposed to proving somesort of short term marketing point. By this I mean that LCA can be anexcellent guide to help business achieve tangible environmental resultsand to demonstrate that achievement. You’ve got to be serious about itas a business, not just see it as short term green marketing mechanism todifferentiate yourself until the next thing comes along. I think customersare getting wise to ‘green wash’ and the role of legislation in the futurewill soon force companies to substantiate environmental claims morerigorously. In such an environment, only those companies that candemonstrate a sustained and deep commitment to environmentaloutcomes will be able to successfully differentiate themselves in the longterm.”

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In concluding the third and final year of the FM Action Agenda’simplementation phase, our thoughts are focussed on the future andthe potential of the FM industry to make a difference. Over the past

three (3) years significant progress has been made on a range ofinitiatives across the innovation, education, regulatory reform andsustainability platforms. The FM Action Agenda has not only enhancedFM’s recognition locally in Australia with some 40 presentations to date,but has reached out globally via downloads, articles and conferences inAsia, Europe and North America.

The 2008 Transition Plan for the FM Action Agenda has now beenapproved and provides for tangible outcomes for industry andgovernment, positioning FMA Australia as the peak industry body andcustodian equipped to develop the initiatives and implementrecommendations for continuing the FM Action Agenda legacy.

2006-08 Implementation Phase Highlights

Commitment – The mobilisation of an average of 65 volunteers perannum for the three (3) year Implementation Phase. Notably some 28 ofthose individuals acknowledged in the Year 3 Report have been involvedfor the entire 36 month duration, and for some the journey has beeneven longer. This level of commitment combined with the outstanding support theFM Action Agenda has enjoyed from the private and public sectorstakeholders and industry bodies locally and abroad is testament to theimportance of the issues and the quality of FM people.

The quality of government and industry support for the FM ActionAgenda as a unique collaborative initiative over and extended period hasbeen consistently excellent, with too many supporters to name in thisshort update.

Achievements – If the FM Action Agenda’s goals could be summarisedinto one word it would be “Recognition”. However, the measurement ofour success has be expressed in terms of the achievements across theRecognition Working Group platforms, some highlights included;

1. fostering of an Innovation culture and forum for FM with thewebsite www.fmactionagenda.org and research projects onServices Procurement and Workplace Productivity leading tofuture guidelines

2. greater Education & Training focus fostering FM as aprofessional career path within Vocational, Technical and HigherEducation, with Australia’s first undergraduate FM degreeprogram in 2007, and others in 2008 and a pilot scheme for a‘Workplace Training on Sustainability’ program to commence inJuly 2008

3. advocacy for Regulatory Reform, namely increased nationalharmonization and regulatory requirements mapping along witha pilot on-line ‘Legislation Guide’ to improve complianceefficiency

4. support of Sustainability with broad industry liaisons and thedevelopment of “a Practical Guide to Sustainability forOperational Facility Managers” soon to be released by FMAAustralia

5. FM Exemplar Project: Sydney Opera House research,publications and showcase presentations series, demonstrating‘FM as a business enabler’. The award winning FM ExemplarProject supported the FM Action Agenda in promoting thebenefits of improved and integrated information systems,service delivery and performance benchmarking for the benefitof FM industry stakeholders and ultimately the community.

Communications – The FM Action Agenda’s combination of issues andprogress against an action plan was created by focused industry widedialogue and implemented by FM focus area working groups. This,combined with timing, captured the imaginations and spoke to industrystakeholders, not just locally as intended but globally.

FM Action Agenda:Towards a sustainable futureBY STEPHEN BALLESTY OF RIDER LEVETT BUCKNALL AND FMA AUSTRALIA IMMEDIATE PASTCHAIRMAN, FM ACTION AGENDA DEPUTY CHAIRMAN AND IFMA FOUNDATION TRUSTEE ANDDAVID DUNCAN, CEO, FMA AUSTRALIA

“the FM Action Agenda has been remarkablysuccessful, achieving on multiple initiatives,

contributing significantly to the body of FM industryknowledge and demonstrating Australia’s leadership

in the FM profession globally”John McCarthy

Chairman, FM Action Agenda Implementation Boardand Chairman, AEH Group

The Facilities Management (FM) Action Agenda resulted from FMA Australia’s advocacyefforts in late 2003. We demonstrated to the Australian Government that FM was a keyintegrator across a range of professions and services throughout the lifecycle of crucialinfrastructure. During 2004 our strategic plan entitled ‘Managing the Built Environment’(2005) was developed. This set out a 20 point action plan to improve the recognition ofFM as the foremost contributor to a productive and sustainable Built Environmentthrough improved innovation, education, sustainability and regulatory reform.


Recent examples have included presenting at FMA Australia’sideaction 2008 on the Gold Coast in support of the theme of ‘enablingsustainable communities’. Also in May but on the other side of thePacific, the FM Action Agenda was the keynote at IFMA’s CaliforniaSustainability Mayday in Sacramento www.californiamayday.com andsharing ideas with California Government representatives includingRosario Marin, Secretary of the State and Consumer Resources Agencyfor the California Government as the leader of Governor ArnoldSchwarzenegger’s Green Action Team responsible for implementing apolicy aimed at ‘greening’ the state.

In June while presenting at the European Facility ManagementConference (EFMC ’08) in Manchester www.euroforum.com/efmc2008there was the opportunity to join an international panel, which includedthe current Chairmen of EuroFM, IFMA, BIFM, Global FM and the RICS-FM Faculty, to examine FM trends and hot issues worldwide. Notsurprisingly the FM Action Agenda was dealt with first, and recognisedfor its leadership.

Then closer to home, on 30 June, participating in the PropertyCouncil of Australia’s Existing Building Solutions Summit 2008 in Sydney,and sharing the lessons learnt through the FM Exemplar Project. Thesustainability challenge of relifing, maintaining and managing the BuiltEnvironment was the foremost issue.

The FM Action Agenda’s achievements and conclusions are plannedto be presented to industry, to date invitations have been accepted for16 October in Dallas, 21 October in Beijing and 13 November in Sydney.

Moving Forward

The FM Action Agenda’s implementation phase officially concluded atthe end of June 2008. However, it should be noted that it was alwaysanticipated that many of the FM Action Agenda’s initiatives would nothave defined completion dates. This concept of continuingimprovement and expanding opportunities has been incorporated withinthe 2008 Transition Plan. Hence, our Recognition Working Groupscompletion targets by Action and the resulting deliverables have not allbeen set at “100%” for handover.

In line with the Implementation Board’s wish to ensure that the ideasprogress and that the intellectual property is preserved, the TransitionPlan generally anticipates that FMA Australia will be the principal futurecustodian to continue the FM Action Agenda legacy.

The FM Action Agenda: 2008 Transition Plan sets outImplementation Phase achievements, deliverables and recommendationsintended to influence the future of the FM industry.

Full details are available in the FM Action Agenda: Year 3Implementation Report to be released soon. Should you wish toreceive a copy of the concluding FM Action Agenda: ImplementationYear 3 Report you can contact:

Belinda RalphTel: +61 3 8641 6605Email: [email protected]

Stephen BallestyTel: +61 2 9922 2277Email: [email protected]

Focusing on your sites’ people, Praxeo monitors:


ESSENTIAL SAFETY MEASURES

VIC: Annual Essential Safety Measures ReportA reminder that from 13 June 2008 building owners of all buildings

(old and new) will be required to sign an ‘annual essential safetymeasures report’ (AESMR) for the previous 12 months, 13 June 2009.

Essential safety measures (ESM) are nominated in the BuildingRegulations for the building owner to identify, inspect, test and maintain.An ESM can either be passive (fire rated wall) or active (an exit sign). Allbuildings contain a number of ESM with an emphasis on egress.

Inspections are an integral part of the compliance system. Buildingowners need to ensure that they are professionally carried out andreported correctly. Mandatory inspections have varying frequenciesdepending on the building type.

Building owners can now consolidate previously issued OccupancyPermits and Certificates of Final Inspection into one document known asthe Maintenance Schedule through a building surveyor. The benefit tothe building owner is that only one anniversary date will exist for theentire building when signing the AESMR, not multiple AESMR’sthroughout the year.

It is important that the building owner keeps all records of tests,maintenance and inspections for verification when called upon by anauthority to validate the signing of the AESMR.

QLD: Certificate of Maintenance – No Longer Facility managers must take note of the changes to the Building Fire

Safety Regulation 1991 which took affect on the 1July 2008 requiringadditional reporting to the Queensland Fire & Rescue Service (QFRS) onmaintenance of fire safety installations.

These changes to the Building Fire Safety Regulation 1991 comeinto affect under the Building Act 1975, Fire and Rescue Service Act1990, Queensland Building Services Authority Act 1991 and StatePenalties Enforcement Act 1999. The new regulation as made will becalled the “Building Fire Safety Regulation 2008”.

Under the provisions of the new regulation the previously mandatory“Certificate of Maintenance” has been repealed. A revised version ofthe “Record of Maintenance” is now required to be submitted to theQFRS on an annual basis and must now include specific information ofnot only maintenance and testing of “Special Fire Services” but all“Prescribed Fire Safety Installations”.

The new Record of Maintenance must include the following detailsand supportive documentation;3 Details of maintenance and contractors undertaking

maintenance works on a fire safety installation in a prescribedformat.

3 Relevant dates3 Maintenance standards complied with and relevant to the fire

safety installation.3 Reasons for non compliance with installed fire safety installations3 Details of repairs to fire safety installations3 Condition reporting from maintenance contractorsSupplementary documentation requirements;1. Statement signed by various contractors verifying the testing

and maintenance standards achieved.

2. Details of Critical Defect Notices issued by maintenancecontractors

AUST: Essential Safety Measure SchedulesThere have been a number of cases where property owners and

facility managers have been nominated on a statutory documentrequiring the owner (and tenant in some states) to ensure the essentialsafety measures are inspected, tested and maintained to a nominatedlevel, especially where tenants have altered a building. With Queenslandand Victoria recently introducing significant changes to their essentialsafety measures regulations, it is wise for all facility managers to takenotice.

Facility managers should also be careful to ensure that theauthorities (building surveyor) essential safety measures schedule isaccurate and correct. You may wish to check: 3 the correct Australian Standard being nominated. 3 the required frequency of inspections. 3 minor tenancy works that affect the whole building, thus causing

a rise in maintenance costs for the whole building. 3 to see if an agreed performance basis can be reached for certain

essential safety measures, thus reducing costs. 3 have all the essential safety measures being listed accurately. If the builder has a 12 month warrantee period make sure an

independent inspection/ audit of the essential safety measures is madeprior to making the last payment. Significant items can be overlooked inthe first 12 months requiring rectification works after the builder has beenpaid out, especially when the builder has commissioned maintenanceand inspection contractors within this period.

AUST: BCA 2009 Amendments for CommentThe draft changes for the 2009 edition of the Building Code of

Australia have been placed on the ABCB website for public commentand to give BCA users advance notice of proposals that may take effectfrom 1 May 2009. Go to www.abcb.gov.au to view the changes.

QLD: Critical Elements for EmergenciesFacility managers need reminding that it’s now mandatory to inspect

the critical elements of your emergency and evacuation system. AS1851-2005 (Maintenance of Fire Protection Systems and Equipment) makes itmandatory to undertake monthly inspections of the Critical Elements andRecords of Emergency Evacuation Procedures in all commercial buildingsin Queensland (AS1851 is a compulsory compliance document inQueensland).

The Standard introduced in 2005 sets out requirements for theinspection and testing of the critical emergency evacuation systemelements and records used in the controlled evacuation of buildings,structures and workplaces during emergencies.

There are 3 levels of inspections and testing is required monthly, 6monthly and annually.

Building Update

About the Hendry GroupDerek Hendry is the Managing Director of the Hendry Group of consultancy companies,including Essential Property Services. Derek pioneered the ‘private certification’ system ofbuilding approvals in Australia , and his nationally based consultancy offices assist clientsin all facets of building control and essential safety measure audits. The Hendry Grouppublish an e-newsletter entitled ‘essential matters’, available online at www.emau.com.au,and their new service, BCA Illustrated (at www.bcai.com.au), offers 3000 illustrationsexplaining and interpreting the BCA as it applies to your building.


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Glasdon’s commitment to the environment includes products manufactured totally from recycled materials, as well as products that can be recycled at the end of their service life.

Alongside products from Glasdon, comes the outdoor furniture range from Erlau. Blending harmoniously with every possible type of outdoor application, Erlau use steel tube and wire mesh of the highest quality and comes with a 10 year rust and UV protection guarantee. All mesh products are also treated with a protective coating resulting in furniture which is maintenance free.

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Maintaining a competitiveedge in business meanscontinually monitoring and

evaluating each aspect oforganisational operation. As a result,outsourcing is becoming anincreasingly popular option for allsized organizations, contributing tothe shift in responsibility to peoplein the supply chain. Business cannow reduce inventory ownershipoutlay and invest in the totalbenefits of user-ship that isassociated with using AirconRentals which can allow business toretain their focus on their coreactivities rather than runningrequirements.

Most Facility Managers turn toAircon Rentals for cost effectiveemergency air-conditioning. AirconRentals are at the forefront oftemporary air conditioning,providing reliable high performanceHVAC services for Facility Managers.As a continually innovatingcompany, Aircon Rentals also offersolutions for remote or unoccupiedsites. If your site is un-manned, youdon’t have to worry about yourAircon Rental’s temporary airconditioning system. As optionalaccessories we can offer wirelessalarm monitoring, and automaticcondensate removal, giving you atrouble free site. These accessorieshave been utilised in many applications includingcustomer service areas, staff facilities, server rooms,warehouses for OH&S safety, hospital wards, meetingrooms, and hotels (including both accommodation andfunction rooms.)

Aircon Rentals harnesses the skills and technical know-how to take care of people, their assets and theirworking environment. As Facility Managers know,businesses such as offices, banks and shopping centersdepend on the HVAC system and its disruption cancause significant damage. Not to mention in facilitiessuch as hospitals where climate control can be critical.

Aircon Rentals operates Australia wide, 24 hours a day,7 days a week in every state of Australia. We areAustralia’s leading supplier of temporary reverse cycleHVAC to the Facilities Management industry. With anextensive fleet of temporary, portable air conditioning,heating and power generation we can providecollaborative, cost effective solutions for all your

temporary Air-conditioning requirements.

We also look after the environment with over 80% of ourAircon Rentals temporary air conditioning fleet usingenvironmentally friendly refrigerant gas.

Here at Aircon Rentals we understand that you are notinterested in the aesthetics of our air conditioners, howpretty they are, or what a pretty color they are. As aFacility Managers, you are concerned that our productswill do what you need them to do. All of Aircon Rentalsair distribution systems are designed to have maximumperformance with minimum noise. They areaesthetically pleasing and they will keep your staff/room/equipment/facility at the optimum operatingtemperature.

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CLIENT FEATURE



ENERGY & THE ENVIRONMENT

Facility Managers anxious to ensure they are acting responsiblyregarding their role in reducing carbon emissions in the builtenvironment have no shortage of assessment tools to choose from.

Government organisations at Federal and State levels and a plethora ofindustry organisations in the private sector have rallied to provideassessment solutions to the vexing question of what constitutesenvironmentally sound management practice.

While the result of all this activity has led to a multitude ofmeasurement tools and practices, it would be fair to say that the ‘new’industry sector has matured rather quickly, with concerted andcollaborative efforts made at all levels of government, industryassociations and private sector organisations to arrive at some sort ofconsensus on the way forward.

The result of these collaborations have produced and refined a finite

number of methodologies and tools that have proven to be robust,practical in their assessment approaches and reasonably user-friendly,given the volume of information required to be able to assess yourfacility’s performance effectively.

Chief amongst these are the following: Green Star

Developed through industry consultation by the Green BuildingCouncil of Australia, Green Star measures building design potentialacross a range of environmental factors, and produces a scoring range ofa maximum of six stars, down to a present minimum of four stars.

The Green Star system is essentially a branding system that allowsorganisations to brand their buildings as Green Star certified if they reachcertain green design thresholds. The accreditation system allows an

With all the rating tools available, one could be forgiven if therewas some level of confusion over which rating tool should beutilised in assessing your facility’s performance. Charlie Simson,Policy Advisor from FMA Australia outlines the features of the threeleading rating tools, provides a comparison between them, andoutlines a case study to illustrate their benefits.

A Comparison ofGreen Rating Tools BY CHARLIE SIMSON, POLICY ADVISOR, FMA AUSTRALIA.



organisation to verify and receive recognition for their efforts at creatinga green building.

Green star measures design efforts across the following categories:3 Management3 Energy3 Indoor Environment Quality3 Water3 Transport3 Materials3 Land Use & Ecology3 Emissions3 InnovationThe categories are divided into credits, with a maximum number of

credits available for each category. Credits are awarded for initiativesthat improve or have the potential to improve environmentalperformance. Once all claimed credits in each category are assessed, apercentage score is calculated and Green Star environmental weightingfactors are then applied. Green Star environmental weighting factors varyacross states and territories to reflect diverse environmental concernsacross Australia.

Once an application for a Green Star rating has been assessed, thebuilding is awarded a number of stars reflecting the extent to which thebuilding is green. Green Star certifications have a minimum requirementof a four star achievement to be awarded a Green Star rating, althoughthe tools can still be used to assess a building and identify opportunitiesfor improvement if the building does not reach the four star threshold.

Green Star ratings are3 Four Star Green Star Certified Rating – “Best Practice”3 Five Star Green Star Certified Rating – “Australian Excellence”3 Six Star Green Star Certified Rating – “World Leader”

NB: Green Star Office Existing Building is rated on a one to six Star scale.

Australian Building Greenhouse Rating (ABGR)Administered by the NSW Department of Environment and Climate

Change (DECC), the ABGR measures energy efficiency performancebased on twelve months of data, and has a performance scoring rangeof a minimum of one star, to a present maximum of five stars.

The ABGR system allows organisations to assess their energyconsumption based on actual energy data for the preceding twelvemonths and benchmarks their performance against other organisations.ABGR may be used to assess performance of a whole building, basebuilding or tenancy. A rating is valid for twelve months, after whichorganisations are required to reassess their consumption if they wish tocontinue using the ABGR branding.

The ABGR scheme rates buildings from one to five stars with fivestars representing exceptional greenhouse performance. Current marketbest practice in Australia is three stars.

The ABGR rating scheme has recently been expanded to cater fornew buildings. Due to the lack of actual consumption data from newbuildings, ABGR allows developers and/or building owners to sign on toa Commitment Agreement that states their commitment to design, buildand commission the premises to a four, four and a half or five star level.Once twelve months of consumption data is available the building canthen be assessed to give it an accredited rating.

The ABGR energy calculator is available free online for anyone touse. The calculator allows an organisation to assess its energyconsumption, compare it to other buildings or organisations and identify

Green Star Rating Tools Green Star PILOT Rating Tools

Green Star - Office Design v3 Green Star – Office Existing BuildingEXTENDED PILOT

Green Star - Office As Built v3 Green Star – Education PILOT

Green Star - Office Design v2 Green Star – Healthcare PILOT

Green Star - Office As Built v2 Green Star – Shopping Centre DesignPILOT

Green Star - Office Interiors v1.1 Green Star – Multi Unit ResidentialPILOT

Green Star – Mixed Use PILOT

areas of possible saving. If the organisation then wishes to be able touse the ABGR branding, an accredited rating can be obtained.

Accredited Assessors charge customers for each rating, whichincludes a certificate, according to the time that is involved to collect andanalyse the relevant data. There is no set fee or recommended retailprice. As a rough guide, ratings usually cost between $1000 and $4000,depending on the type of rating, the size of the rated area and theavailability of the required data. Once a certificate is issued it is valid for12 months.

National Australian Built Environment Rating System (NABERS)Administered by the NSW Department of Environment and Climate

Change (DECC), NABERS Office measures energy efficiency and wateruse based on twelve months of data, and uses a rated scoring system ofa minimum of one star, to a present maximum of five stars

NABERS Office incorporates the ABGR scheme for energy andgreenhouse efficiency, and the NABERS Office Water rating. Bothmeasures are assessed on actual consumption data for the previoustwelve months and are tailored for use by building owners, facilitymanagers, and tenants. The ratings are available for whole building, basebuilding or tenancy.

The NABERS scheme rates buildings from one to five stars with fivestars representing exceptional greenhouse performance. Current marketbest practice in Australia is three stars.

NABERS is currently developing additional tools to enable buildingsto be rated on a full range of measured operational impacts - includingenergy use, refrigerants (greenhouse and ozone depletion potential),water use, stormwater runoff and pollution, sewage, landscape diversity,transport, indoor air quality, occupant satisfaction, waste and presence oftoxic materials.

Like ABGR, the NABERS rating tools can be used free online toassess your own likely rating and identify areas of potential savings. If anorganisation wishes to be able to use the NABERS branding, then anofficial assessment can be completed by a NABERS assessor. TheAssessor will issue the organisation with a certificate verifying their ratingwhich is valid for 12 months, the organisation is then entitled to advertisetheir rating using the NABERS branding.

Accredited Assessors charge customers for each rating, whichincludes the certificate, according to the time that is involved to collectand analyse the relevant data. There is no set fee or recommended retailprice. Again, as a rough guide, rating usually costs between $1000 and$4000, depending on the type of rating, the size of the rated area andthe availability of the required data.

Relationships between rating toolsABGR Vs. NABERS

The NABERS rating tool incorporates the ABGR tool for ratingenergy efficiency and its own tool for rating water use and consumption.The tools are built upon a similar platform; using twelve months actualconsumption data to assess a building’s actual performance. The maindifference lies in the scope of the tools, with ABGR only measuringenergy use and NABERS incorporating water as well.

Both tools provide a rating based on a building’s performancecompared to other like buildings. At this stage, ABGR and NABERStools are only available to rate office buildings in the commercial sectorand private homes in the residential sector.

ABGR/NABERS Vs. Green StarThe core difference between Green Star and the ABGR/NABERS

tools is that Green Star rates a building’s potential based on its designspecifications, whereas ABGR/NABERS both rate the performance of abuilding based on consumption data.

Because of the difference in rating systems, it is possible for abuilding to be rated using both systems. The building design can berated using Green Star, and then building performance can be rated usingNABERS or ABGR once twelve months of consumption data is available.

Green Star rating tools consider sustainability factors across ninedifferent categories to try and ensure a balance is struck betweenoccupant amenity and comfort, and minimising environmental impact.NABERS assesses two factors (water use and energy use) whereas ABGRis only concerned with energy consumption. Green Star tools are alsoable to rate a wider variety of buildings than NABERS/ABGR canaccommodate.



A CASE STUDY

The GPT Group – BuildingSustainable Solutions withNABERSThe GPT Group has a managed office portfolio comprisinginterests in 19 buildings with a value of over $5 billion. In owningand managing assets GPT seeks to improve the social andecological capital of the communities in which it operates. Thisobjective is followed up with action. Together with their propertymanagement partners, particularly Jones Lang LaSalle AssetManagement Services, they are strong advocates of businessvigorously pursuing greater sustainability through reducedenvironmental impact. NABERS has been critical in meeting thesechanges. Bruce Precious, GPT’s Sustainability Manager for GPT’soffice and industrial/business park portfolios said that GPT hadbeen using the NABERS Energy (previously ABGR) benchmarksince well before 2004, highlighting the value that GPT recognisein the NABERS suite of tools.

“Benchmarking amongst our own buildings as well as againstour peers has served a range of purposes: it informs our on-sitebuilding management teams, it confirms what’s working well andwhat’s not, and it has allowed us to set meaningful, widelyunderstood targets to improve environmental performance. Wehave even used NABERS to help clarify the design process for ournewest buildings, so that these additions to our portfolio have alow environmental impact from day one.”

“Having a standard protocol for measuring performance hassolved a lot of questions for us, such as how to deal with varyingoccupant hours, how to deal with non office space, even how toinclude factors like car park energy. The NABERS protocols haveprovided sound guidance every time.” explained Bruce. MikeGeorge, National Director – Asset Management Services, JonesLang LaSalle, said “NABERS has enabled us to develop with GPTexciting targets to create significant savings in energy and waterconsumption; the strategies that we are putting in place todayshould see water consumption drop by 36% and greenhouseemissions by 45% against a 2006 baseline. These areconsiderable savings created even after new assets are added tothe portfolio.”

“Another of the immediate strategies we’ve rolled out quicklyhas seen sub-metering through our buildings providing BuildingManagement Teams with detailed information on how energyand water are used and how these resources can be saved.”

Mike confirms “The JLL site teams now use the sub-meteringinformation routinely to identify each system that can be furtherimproved in energy and water efficiency. The sub-meter data supportsany business case for the integration of new energy and water savingequipment, for instance variable speed drives or new high efficiencychillers. Without this data we would have just been guessing as to theimprovement we could make with our mid term projects.”

In concluding Bruce said: “NABERS has been a critical factor indeveloping GPT’s energy and water savings strategies to delivermeasurable results. Last year water consumption from our buildings wascut by 200,000 kL, and this year we plan an additional 100,000 kL saving.Greenhouse emissions have been cut by 34,000 tonnes with a further10,000 tonnes per annum saving planned this year, real, measurable andsignificant results demonstrating GPT’s leadership in sustainability.”

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The Practitioner’s Certificate in Mediation presented by Nationally Accredited instructors and conducted Australia-wide, offers a practice-oriented qualification in mediation. Participants whosuccessfully complete the assessment module may apply for National Accreditation through IAMA.

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FIM, FILING & STORAGE

Facility managers need to deal with a multitude of documentsincluding tenancy layouts, health and safety information, as-builtdrawings, lease agreements, structural drawings, asset registers,

operations and maintenance manuals, compliance auditing records,essential safety measure log books, procurement contracts, service levelagreements, KPI reports, contractor performance reports, emails, faxesand written correspondence.

And while a sizable proportion of facility managers’ responsibilitiesmight encompass routine obligations such as maintenance management,occupational health and safety monitoring and risk assessment, thefacility managers’ diverse role also involves project based tasks involvingthe collaborative efforts of teams assembled to accomplished specificobjectives such as a refurbishment, a plant upgrade, the introduction ofnew energy efficient technology, or facilitating an organisations’ changemanagement process.

On the one hand most of the information requirements of thestatutory bodies that facility managers must deal with as part of theirresponsibilities involve the creation and filing and storage of hard-copyrecords, while on the other, collaborative project-based teamworkrequires electronic filing, storage and retrieval capability to enable theinformation-sharing needed to meet project time and cost deadlines.

An FM information management survey organised by FMA Australiaand Aconex last year found that:3 In 70% of cases, five or more people were responsible for

information management at a facility; in 29% of cases, 20 ormore people were responsible

3 77% of respondents needed access to information for more thanone facility at a time.

3 55% of all information a facility manager uses is from the designand construction phases.

In terms of compliance requirements, the information required byfacility managers is usually held by authorities such as Councils, FireBrigades and the various planning departments who are required tokeep hard-copy records for legislated reasons of security and “proper”record keeping for legal challenge if needed. This format is not one thateasily lends itself to the real-time sharing and tracked updating ofinformation in a team environment. Whether the information is madeavailable through NAS (network available storage) or intranet at site levelor web-based centralised information sharing and storage at organisationlevel, facility managers need this information at their finger-tips in real-time.

The survey also found that 40% of information was stored

Information Central BY MAX WINTER

While many facility managers yearn to have a real-time digital and convergent informationresource at their fingertips, for many the reality is less than cutting-edge – but things areabout to change. Max Winter investigates some of the developments surroundingelectronic information filing, storage, and retrieval.

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The secret in managing waste paperProviding a waste paper solution for corporate offices can bemore of a logistical and legal challenge than most people wouldcare to know.Today’s business environment is one of informationmanagement, collecting vast amounts of personal andconfidential data and utilising it to increase efficiencies, promotemarketing strategies, and manage day-to-day operations.But what happens to all this important and mostly sensitive dataonce it had been used for the reasons intended? Amendments to the National Privacy Act mandate that;• “An organisation must take reasonable steps to destroy or

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This is most effectively achieved by engaging the services of adocument destruction company. As an Australia wide service provider, leader in the secure officewaste management field and Quality Endorsed company, Shred-X’s mission is to provide the most secure and environmentallyresponsible method of destroying propriety and sensitiveinformation at a fair and reasonable cost whilst being respectedas the industry’s quality assured leader.Shred-X are foundation members of the National Association ofInformation Destruction (NAID) Australasia. NAID havesubmitted a paper to the Australian Law Reform Commission(ALRC) highlighting the need to recognise the importance oftreating office documents as reliable data and not as officewaste. Shred-X have participated in meetings with the office of

the Privacy Commissioner who are currently reviewing thePrivacy Act, which has now become one of the largest reviewsever conducted by the ALRC. It is expected that the new lawsregarding the collection, storage and destruction of personal andsensitive information will be applied to all Australian businessesnot just those with multimillion dollar annual turnovers.Shred-X works in conjunction with leading facilitiesmanagement companies including Jones Lang Lasalle, UnitedGroup Services, Thiess Services and Downer EDI Engineering toprovide specialised paper waste management and securedocument destruction services to their clients. These facilitymanagement companies have been impressed with the Shred-Xtailored service and some have conducted their own site visits toour destruction and recycling facilities.By utilizing Shred-X, clients receive a privacy act compliantprogram and a customized service schedule including floor tofloor servicing that meet the requirements of each individualsite. At the completion of each service and upon destruction ofthe secure waste, a certificate of destruction is issued.The primary objective for Shred-X in the last year was to establisha Victorian operation. Shred-X now proudly service the wellestablished Victorian customers with the same proven qualityservice rather than relying on third party contractors.Shred-X is constantly updating and improving its services to keepup with new legislative changes and the increasing demands ofour clients’ as awareness of the dangers of complacencyassociated with managing office waste paper increases. With Shred-X you can be assured that you will receive the highestlevels of security, confidentiality and service, “our business ismaking sure no-one knows your business”



FIM, FILING & STORAGE

electronically but that the industry believed that in 2 years this woulddouble to 80%. One of the developments that might assist in changingthis percentage, is the advent of the electronic DevelopmentAssessment, or eDA.

In 2004 the Development Assessment Forum (DAF), a group thatincudes the three spheres of government - the Commonwealth,State/Territory and Local Government; the development industry; andrelated professional associations, identified the need for a nationalelectronic data exchange standard for data transactions associated withthe DA process - for all Australian jurisdictions.

The eDA project examined ways to establish an interchangestandard that will encourage the on-line lodgement of building and landdevelopment applications, and having received submissions fromdevelopment industry including buildingSmart*, a NationalCommunication Protocol to facilitate the electronic processing ofdevelopment applications has been completed.

The National Communication Protocol was developed using theeXtensible Markup Language (XML), supported by agreed non-proprietary formats (file types) for exchanging development assessmentinformation. The XML schema is compliant with the “InteroperabilityTechnical Framework for the Australian Government” published by theAustralian Government Information Management Office (AGIMO).

The project does not aim to create electronic DA systems, but willfocus on enabling existing systems and processes to communicate.

The Regulation Reduction Incentive Fund (RRIF) funded a NationaleDA (NeDA) Project that has engaged 92 Councils, with Cairns CityCouncil as the lead Council, and engaged 12 software vendors thatprovide solutions to Councils to implement the eDA Schema (softwaresolutions).

As of 1 July 2007, Version 1.3.1 of the Schema was to be nationallyadopted as the current standard for electronic development assessmentas outlined by the Council of Australian Governments (COAG):

d) all jurisdictions agree that all new tender specifications forelectronic development assessment software purchased byCommonwealth, State, Territory and Local Government will incorporate a

National Communication Protocol for transferring developmentapplication information electronically from 1 July 2007.

Version 1.4.0 extended the protocol to include building applications.The protocol is well underway to being adopted by local councils and todate in New South Wales Strathfield and Shellharbour councils have thesystem in place.

On the 23 Feb 2007, the IAI’s Chairman, John Mitchell, gave apresentation to the Development Assessment Forum (DAF) meeting inAdelaide.

With a demonstration of a pilot eDA system planned at the end ofFebruary 2007, it was an appropriate time for the IAI to describe itsactivity: the specification of a non-proprietary protocol – IFC – for thesharing of building and related land & utilities data. Whereas DAF hasbeen implementing a national system for digital processing of DAs, theIAI has been creating a rich model based protocol for the smartdocuments attached in a DA submission.

The complementary fit of the two, so far independent activities,could not have been more striking. Some of the technology possibilities: 3 An IFC document comprising a model which incorporates all the

data and building description needed for either a DA or a BA,such as the systems already in use in Norway, Byggsøk fordevelopment assessment, and the Singapore ePlanCheck codechecker. Using their equivalent eDA protocols these web-basedportals operate 24x7 and radically improve accessability, speedand consistency of compliance processes. Work is also beingundertaken by the US ICCC, under the banner SmartCODES

3 “Smart documents” such as the PDF format & Adobe’s Acrobat3D application which can contain in a single documentstructured text, a navigable building model, linked model views(traditional drawings such as plans and sections) Interoperabilityhas been embraced as part of the protocol..

More information:http://mlaa.com.au/buildingSMART/Presentations/Catherine_Anderson.pdf

* buildingSMART Presentation to DAF Meeting, Adelaide

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FMA AUSTRALIASPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS

Initially commencing in Sydney with a membership numbering onlyeight, the group has expanded rapidly to encompass groups in bothMelbourne and Brisbane. Mirroring the industry as a whole, WiFM

groups include a wide cross-section of the industry: facility managers,consultants, architects, designers, students, property lawyers, projectmanagers, suppliers and quantity surveyors.

The events have quickly become well-attended with membershipnumbers booming in both Melbourne and Sydney, in part due to thetopical and practical WiFM sessions that canvass the day’s hot industrytopics. Facility Perspectives’ Melanie Drummond caught up withMelbourne WiFM Chair Louise Rowe (Judd Farris) and Sydney WiFMChair Kirsten Smith (Change Angels) about membership and what topicsare at the forefront of the industry for 2008.

LOUISE ROWE, CHAIR OF FMAAUSTRALIA MELBOURNE WIFMFP: HOW was last year from aMelbourne WiFM perspective?

LR: Last year’s WiFM was our mostsuccessful year to date. We have a loyalgathering of members as well as manynew attendees at each event. Our hostshave been varied, from tours around theRACV and Fosters Brewery toinformative presentations around Greenfurniture conducted by Schiavello,through to

our annual Xmas drink networks. The eventsare an excellent tool to keep abreast of thelatest developments as well as to networkwith fellow Facility Managers.FP: What do you have coming up this year?

LR: This year’s calendar of events is nearlyfull. We have already had a follow up touraround the Department of Infrastructure’s newoffices as well as a topic on workplacemanagement which took us around the NABDocklands. In April we had a site tourconducted by the architects Bligh Voller Nieldaround Lincolne Scott’s sustainable offices.Other events will include City of Whittleseaand the Department of Primary Industriesheld later on in the year and I am working onfinalising a couple of other events as wespeak.FP: What do you think are the Key issuesfor WiFM members?

LR: Sustainability is certainly the industrybuzz word at the moment. From a furniturepoint of view – when Schiavello spoke abouttheir manufacturing process from a greenperspective, through building services, toanything to do with issues such as recycling.Everybody is focusing at the moment alongthe sustainability line of things.

FP: Do you think Facility Managers need to have a fast grip onsustainability in order to be able to move up the career ladder?

LR: I’ve not had a Facility Manager say they have to learn aboutsustainability to make a career move but I know from a recruitment pointof view, employers are looking for Facility Managers with sustainabilityknowledge.

I think these days it is the big corporations that are pushingsustainability so Facility Managers are really working in with the values ofthe organisations as much as anything – which means keeping on top ofthe latest developments. I suppose in terms of what makes a marketableFacility Manager, it does involve keeping abreast of the latestsustainability initiatives but I don’t think that is driven solely from a careermove motivation. I think Facility Managers are embracing it in terms ofseeing whether it can create cost savings or greater efficiencies whilekeeping in line with a corporation’s values.FP: Do you think WiFM members are now looking for practical waysto incorporate sustainability into their work environment?

LR: I think Facility Managers are normally adapting to the best oftheir capabilities while keeping in line with what they might be able toplay with. Obviously some buildings themselves are pretty old and to getup to a green star rating such as the now iconic CH2 (Council House 2)building in Melbourne would cost an exorbitant amount. I think it alsodepends on whether the Facility Manager is leasing the asset or whetherthey actually own the asset. It’s not necessarily feasible for all of the newsustainable innovations in the marketplace to be adopted by allcompanies.

WiFM – at the forefront ofthe industryWomen in Facilities Management (WiFM) was set up in Australia in 2001 to provide supportfor women in the Facilities Management industry. Established as a network for the sharingof information on jobs, industry knowledge, issues and collective knowledge, the groupwas first created to benefit those women working as the sole facility manager within anorganisation.

Melbourne WIFM members enjoying a get together



FP: Does Melbourne WiFM offer its members practical informationon implementing and operating sustainability initiatives?

LR: FMA Australia has certainly been offering courses andinformation at lunches on sustainability. I think if a Facility Manager isswitched on then there is certainly enough information out there andenough networks that they can utilise to get what they need. In somerespects I also think what is now being called ‘sustainability’ is actuallyjust common sense and some facility managers have already beenimplementing ‘sustainable’ practises for a number of years.

At WiFM meetings we try to cover a number of different topics, theNAB tool that we did on workplace management was really quite warmlyreceived and that was probably because we hadn’t done anything onthat for quite a while. Project management is always quite a good topicand people like to keep abreast of that. It’s those day to day issues weneed to remember as well – the core principles of running a facility.FP: Do you think there are other Facilities Management issues asidefrom sustainability that aren’t being talked about?

LR: I think sustainability is still the buzz. Two years ago the buzz wascompliance and risk and now Facility Managers have adopted goodcompliance and risk initiatives. Sustainability is the new big wave and Ithink once that is over it will be on to something else. I do think thesustainability topic can be done a bit to death and I think some FacilityManagers are finding the topic is at a point of overkill. I suppose the nextwave will come when there is a change in legislation and anotherinitiative comes along.

FP: What feedback do you receive from people about the benefits ofbeing a WiFM member?

LR: WiFM in Melbourne has been going from strength to strength,and we’ve even had quite a lot of men enquire about coming alongbecause of the calibre of the topics we have on offer!

The WiFM events appeal to many corporate Facility Managers. Frommy understanding it appeals to Facility Managers as it is an excellentopportunity to see a facility fully operational and to discuss the pros andcons of the practicalities of running a facility - whether it be from abuilding services, sustainability, project management or workplacemanagement perspective. Often attendees are the sole FM on site andtherefore, the opportunity to share ideas and pick up new concepts isinvaluable, as well as providing a relaxed networking opportunityafterwards!

Joining WIFM is a great way of meeting new Facility Managers, theevents are interesting and you always pick up at least one new idea ateach one. It also enables you to get out of the office and to stand backand re-evaluate the services, how you are managing your facility andwhether there is room for improvement. Additionally, there’s the socialaspect afterwards and as we normally go for a few drinks it is always a bitof fun too!

If anyone is interested in being a speaker at a Melbourne WIFM eventor has topics for suggestion, please contact Louise Rowe [email protected]

KIRSTEN SMITH, FMA AUSTRALIASYDNEY WIFMFP: Could you give us a recap onSydney WiFM’s activities last year?

KS: Last year was quite busy inSydney. Sustainability was the subjectand at the end of the year the groupconfirmed that it would still be theirsubject of choice for 2008.

From our WiFM members’perspective, sustainability is the still thebiggest gap they have in terms oflearning, particularly because they see it

as an opportunity to engage with management at the CEO level. Formembers, it is knowing about measuring carbon footprints and knowingwhat sorts of programs are available to support them if they’re in a CBDlocation or if they’re a national firm. WiFMsessions have also helped members learnabout the Green Building Council ofAustralia, ABGR schemes, Green Leasesand so forth – people in the past have felta little bit vulnerable about their lack ofknowledge in those areas.FP: Are WiFM members keen to learnabout practical implementations forsustainability objectives?

KS: Absolutely, and this year we’re verymuch focusing on the practical applicationsof what’s going on with sustainability. Thefirst session for 2008 was provided byDesiree Sheehan from the Sydney 3CBDsGreenhouse Initiative. 3 CBDs basicallyconcentrates on tenants in Parramatta,North Sydney and Sydney CBD.Signatories to 3CBDs receive help onbettering energy usage and gaining theirABGR ratings. They also broker dealsbetween the building owner and thetenant in terms of getting the building to a‘more environmentally friendly’ level, whichencourages tenants to stay in a buildinglong term.

The program, which is also goingnational in the middle of the year, is a really

practical program. It also enables FM’s to benchmark themselves againstother tenants in their area. Companies who engage in cutting carbonemissions with the help of the 3 CBDs program are finding that thepayback they receive for any changes is three to four years which is apretty good outcome. It means that financially companies arecomfortable and prepared to fund the environmental upgrades as theyare getting significant cost savings as well as significant energy savings. FP: What else will be covered in 2008?

KS: In April we had the Sustainability Manager of Stockland, DavinaRooney presenting her view on the practical applications of sustainabilityfor Facility Managers. Davina was heavily involved with refurbishing theirown tenancy in an existing building to create a sustainable fit-out.They’ve been through the process themselves and they’re obviouslyselling that opportunity to their tenants. By encouraging their tenants tobecome ‘greener’, Stockland will be to meet their target of increasingtheir ABGR ratings on all of their property portfolio.



The majority of buildings in Sydney are old building stock. The issuewe have in NSW is that the State Government will only occupy four andhalf star ABGR rated buildings, and only 4 percent of the stock in Sydneyhas that rating. What we’re finding out in the market place is that facilitymanagers are the ones who are pushing for ‘green’ premises and will notlease space in a building unless the building owner can give tenants thatkind of rating. Rather than the building owner saying, “this is what you’regoing to get”, tenants are now pushing them to make the changes tosecure the lease and as we know, they won’t spend money on thebuilding unless they know they’re going to get more rent. FP: Prior to last year’s sessions on sustainability, were WiFM membersfeeling overwhelmed by the terms and jargon that go hand in handwith ‘sustainability’ and the green issue?

KS: Yes definitely. There is a lot of confusion about which rating toolto use – there’s the more practical measurement in terms of theABGR/NABERS energy side of things. The other requirement is aroundreporting to the CEO and whether the report should be on the carbonfootprint or on the reduction of greenhouse gases (which shows howmany cars are off the road for example). Actually, Jan Biggs from MorganStanley is presenting on her method of greenhouse gas measurementresulting from a lighting upgrade project which got her some greatrecognition at the global senior management meeting in May. Mostorganisations don’t know enough about this so they’re relying on thefacilities manager to tell them. People just want to know which tool worksfor their situation.FP: Within an organisation, are Facility Managers increasinglybecoming the ones people turn to for information on the greenissue?

KS: I think within their organisation Facility Managers are seen asbeing leaders in this area. I still think there’s not enough done in terms ofbenchmarking on the sustainability issue. There’s been a lot of work donein building services for example but they don’t all benchmark againsteach other and people do want to know how they rate within their

industry, and how their industry rates in comparison to others. Theindustry in terms of sustainability measurement is very young and untilwe’re actually required to report on it from a legislative perspective, thenthere’s going to continue to be confusion.FP: Do WiFM members find employers support their initiatives tolearn more about sustainability?

KS: Absolutely. A lot of our WiFM members are actually being sentto GreenStar Accredited Professional courses for example.FP: Are there any other key industry issues that are cropping up forWiFM members?

KS: Sustainability is probably the biggest one for most people at themoment. Outsourcing continues to be a major issue in terms of howorganisations need to restructure and resource themselves internally intomore of a management position when they start outsourcing the moreoperational aspects of property and facilities management.FP: What has been the feedback from members on the benefits ofbeing a WiFM member?

KS: People like that we’re giving them the connections to thespecialists and initiatives that can help them get themselves proactively infront of the CEO and senior management. FP: Is membership growing in Sydney?

KS: Membership is growing all the time. On average we would get10 to 15 per cent of people at each of our WiFM events that are notmembers of FMA Australia and have only recently come into the FMindustry. Our membership is at around 450 nationally at the moment andmost of our members continue to come through word of mouth. Keepup the good work, girls.

For information on joining Sydney WIFM contact Kirsten Smith [email protected]

Keep your eye out in future editions of Facility Perspectives for updateson the FMA Australia Brisbane WIFM.

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SECURITY & RISK MANAGEMENT

A designon crime

In today’s business world, proactive andintegrated security practices are crucialto any company’s success. However,realising that there are risks is a verydifferent issue to accurately identifyingthem and developing the most efficientresponses. Although there is no ‘magicbullet’ fix, there may in manycircumstances be an over-reliance onexpensive surveillance and accesscontrol technology, often to theexclusion of cost-effective securityplanning practices such as CrimePrevention Through EnvironmentalDesign. Mark Phillips reports.CONTINUED ON PAGE 82



In the wake of 9/11 the issues of building security, safety andemergency response in commercial facilities became subject tounprecedented scrutiny – not just in the US, but around the world.

Perhaps predictably, the initial reaction among facility professionals wasto invest in technology. Access control systems incorporating fingerprintscans, hand geometry, retina or iris scans, facial, voice, handwriting orsignature recognition became more commonplace, while intrusiondetection was bolstered by the addition of closed circuit television(CCTV) and, in some facilities, motion detectors, magnetic door contacts,duress alarms, and vibration and sonic detection.

Seven years on, demand for better protective technology continues.Indeed, the market for cutting-edge IP/networked video surveillancecameras grew by nearly 50 percent in 2007 to approach US$500 millionworldwide. The growth is nearly four times the growth rate of thebroader video surveillance equipment market.

OverkillBut are we over-reacting to exaggerated threats, installing buildings

with hugely expensive, under-utilised or even unused security systems?Obviously certain high-profile buildings warrant aggressive measures, butin the majority there is a need to balance the high price of much oftoday’s technology with the probability of a threat.

Given that the security risks for any building are dependent ontenant mix, location and many other factors, identifying potential risksand developing appropriate responses is the key to an effective securityplan. Few buildings are likely to be the target of a chemical, biological ornuclear attack, but a great many are at risk of theft, vandalism, fraud orworkplace violence. Notably, such more common threats can have veryserious impacts on staff retention, organisational credibility andreputation and consequently a significant financial impact, whether it is inlegal and recruitment costs, increasing security operational costs or evenloss of revenue. Also, it is not just multi-tenanted office towers that areripe targets for criminal activity: shopping centres, mixed use facilities,hospitals, business parks and hotels are at risk too.

And like it or not, facility managers are increasingly being asked totake on some type of responsibility for their organisation’s security. Even

Setting a new benchmark in Australian SecuritySNP Security has completedconstruction of new state-of-the-artpremises in West Ryde, establishing it asa benchmark in the provision of a‘world’s best’ standard of security. An investment in excess of $10 million,SNP’s new headquarters house thelatest Grade A1 monitoring system andautomated technologies, with nationalcapabilities, and are rated to the highestpossible Australian standards. SNP’s new software solution,Automated Response Tracking System(ARTS), links mobile patrol officers backto the new Monitoring Centre, toprovide an improved safety to SNPofficers and increased service reliabilityfor clients.“Businesses are offered greater securitywith the new software solution and theguarantee of business continuity through a moreenhanced incident and follow-up process,” said TomRoche, SNP Managing Director.Integrated into ARTS is the new Mastermind (MAS)monitoring software, which improves customer reportingcapabilities and allows clients to access monitoringreports directly at any time.

One of the key functionalities of the MAS software is toprovide clients with absolute transparency of theoperations via MASWEB. MASWEB provides clients withdirect access to all movements at all their monitored sitesfrom their own offices.“It is exciting to bring such a high level of qualitymonitoring to the Australian public, with seamlessintegration for a complete security solution” said Tom.

CLIENT FEATURE



for those facilities with a chief security officer (CSO) and proprietarysecurity personnel in place, fms may be called upon to assist CSOs andtheir staff during a crisis situation. So, whether a facility professional istasked with larger security responsibilities or just needs to play asupporting role, knowledge is still paramount.

Vulnerability assessmentExperts agree that as a starting point, facility managers need to

determine whether technology should be a supplement to a plan or if itshould be a foundation for a plan. In this respect, an assessment processis vital, and it must be done in close consultation with all keystakeholders and before the application of new technology is evenconsidered. After all, conducting an audit is not going to break the bank,but hitting the panic button and going straight to design just might.

Undertaking a security review and audit will provide an immediatesnapshot and health check on current security practices and determinesecurity requirements and gaps. Typically, it will incorporate anassessment of items such as security system performance, obsolescence,appropriateness of measures in place to manage risks, the effectivenessand efficiency of incumbent maintenance regimes and associatedstaffing level needs.

The results of the review and audit should also incorporate anassessment of both capital and whole-of-life costs. By understanding thecost in managing risk, organisations can then confidently plan for futuresecurity costs and assess the return on investment of existing orproposed measures.

Security and designSignificantly, good security planning also contributes to good facility

design by integrating with a building’s form in elements such as lighting,landscaping and pedestrian and vehicular traffic movement. In contrast, arealisation of risks ‘too late’ is likely to result in costly quick fixes thatnegatively impact on the aesthetics and finished form of a building.

The idea that the proper design and effective use of the physicalenvironment can lead to a reduction in the incidence and fear of crime isat the heart of a concept known as CPTED (Crime Prevention Through

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Environmental Design). Although not a new concept, CPTED has made astrong comeback in the facilities security arena in recent years. Indeed,there are some who maintain that building or renovating any facilitywithout utilising CPTED concepts borders on negligence if safety is asignificant concern. With regard to the bottom line, there is no questionthat by enhancing a building’s functionality, the integration of security cansignificantly reduce the overall capital cost of purchasing technology orovert physical barriers. Operating costs can also be minimised byreducing staffing levels. And should the security risk for a facility or itsoccupants change significantly during its life, robust planning will providebetter scope for savings in applying retrospective treatment.

Basically, CPTED assumes that there are two types of users of spacein the built environment – ‘normal’ or those users who have legitimatepurpose and intent, and ‘abnormal’ users who do not act according tolaws, policies and social norms. CPTED, founded on tenets such aslighting design, clear sightlines, landscaping for visibility and naturalaccess control, helps to make the normal user feel at ease and welcome,while making the abnormal user apprehensive about engaging ininappropriate behaviour.

Cost-effective ‘smarts’Once the audit process is complete and the most likely threats to a

facility identified, the traditional approach is to contract with CPTEDspecialists to work with the design team to offer suggestions to thearchitects and planning team. However, there are some basic CPTEDprinciples facility managers can put in place without necessarilyconsulting security specialists.

The key is to remember that criminals usually commit crimes in‘comfortable’ environments and that their comfort is heightened byisolation and concealment, where few witnesses exist and the chance ofbeing identified is minimal. Sometimes, very simple changes to an areacan create an environment that is uninviting for perpetrators.

For example, surveillance can be improved by creating clear andunobstructed sight lines in activity areas, reducing hiding places andcreating the perception of witnesses. Access control can be increased byemphasising primary entry points and minimising secondary outlets.

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CLIENT FEATURE



Clearly mark transition zones that indicate movement from public, tosemi-private, to private space. Put unsafe activities in safe spots, wheresurveillance is high and access is limited. Similarly, put safe activities inunsafe areas. This will increase the perception of safety in these areasand help to establish territorial behaviour.

There will always be situations where technology is necessarily thefirst option, but there are also many cases when a smorgasbord ofCPTED strategies can be integrated into the design of a facility to createa natural security environment, either eliminating the need for camerasaround the perimeter of a building or, at the least, reducing their number.Ensuring that parking areas and walkways have ample lighting if they areused at night is one obvious precaution, as is low shrubbery so as todiminish the risk of surprise encounters. Ornamental yet hostilevegetation underneath accessible windows is another low-cost buteffective defence strategy, the plants being aesthetically pleasing but thethree-inch spines on them reason to make potential intruders seriouslyreconsider breaking and entering.

Selling the solutionRegardless of whether a facility is in a low-crime suburban

neighbourhood or high density inner-city locale, facility managers needto understand what it is they are trying protect and why. Whether itconsists of basic CPTED initiatives or high-outlay technology-drivensurveillance and access control, or a combination of both, any securitysolution needs to be aligned with the company’s mission, goals andobjectives. Only by taking a proactive role in developing suitably tailoredsite-wide security solutions will fms be able to make the business case tothe CFO or CEO and secure the funding they need.

In other words, in an increasingly dangerous world, fms must be ableto say ‘this is what makes sense for us to do, and this is why it makessense for us to do it’.

Mark Phillips is the editor of Australasian Risk Management and has along-standing involvement in covering FM-related issues. He can bereached on 0407 437289 or [email protected]

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INTEGRATED SECURITY SYSTEMSCONTACT US ON 1300 300 [email protected] - www.lancorp.com.au

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Ladder accidents are a frequent problem resulting in more than 1 million injuries per year globally.

The ladder concept is older than the wheel and is a common cause of accidents – yet ladders remain the most commontool for work at height due to the lack of a practicable alternative technology. LIFTPOD is a breakthrough in elevatingwork platform technology. It is a lightweight, low cost, battery powered personnel lift developed to replace laddersglobally.

The Liftpod is highly suited to facility management work among other applications. It can be easily moved from one worksite to another on its own wheels without disassembly. It also can be assembled and disassembled into portablemodules in less than 20 seconds. The entire machine weighs only 70kg,

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Greeningthe Great Indoors

ADAPTED FROM ADJUNCT PROFESSOR MARGARET BURCHETT’S PRESENTATION AT FMAAUSTRALIA IDEACTION ‘08 CONFERENCE

Despite relying on plants for almost all our needs – from food and shelter, to our supply ofoxygen and removal of carbon dioxide, there still remains a glaring omission of plant life inour commercial workspaces. At FMA Australia’s ideaction ’08 Conference on the Gold Coastin May of this year, one of the standout presentations came from Margaret Burchett, whoinspired audiences to enable sustainable urban communities of the future by first ‘greeningthe great indoors’.

As Adjunct Professor for the Department of Environmental Services at the University ofTechnology, Sydney (UTS), Burchett also presented conference delegates with a cost-benefit analysis for the use of indoor plants, which clearly indicates how indoor plants canoffer a cost effective solution for improving human wellbeing and workplace productivity.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 91



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The increase in human migration to cities over the past fewcenturies has been accompanied by great benefits - bettereducation, less strenuous manual labour, more employment

opportunities, more available health services, fewer deadly infectiousdisease epidemics and longer life expectancy. However, urban lifestyles,at least in the western world, offer mixed blessings. Diseases ofsedentary living such as obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular problems,are rising, and urban mental health is an international concern. Add tothat the current and future impacts of climate change, and it’s clear wehave to act now to ensure we have a planet safe to inhabit in years tocome.

A UN Report released in 1987 – Our Common Future, was one ofthe first times the concept of developing an ‘ecologically sustainable’future was discussed at length. The Report defined ‘sustainabledevelopment’ as that which ‘meets the needs of the present withoutcompromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs’.The terms ‘built environment’ and ‘urban ecology’ have also gainedgeneral currency over the last couple of decades, and the term ‘facilityecology’ is newer still.

All these terms point to the international concern over global urbanand industrial development and the ability of the planet to sustain ouractivities. In Australia, North America and much of Europe, 80% ofpeople have come to live in urban areas, a frightening statistic when youconsider that urban air pollution in the Sydney metropolitan area alone isestimated to cause some 1,400 deaths per year. Considering that wespend 90% of our time indoors, the quest for a healthy human ecologyhas now become the quest for a healthy built environment, andespecially a healthy ‘indoor facility ecology’.

Contrary to popular belief, CO2 levels are generally recorded ashigher inside buildings, but the main class of indoor-derived air pollutantshowever is volatile organic compounds (VOCs), which emerge from‘plastic’ or ‘synthetic’ materials.

VOCs are a common cause of ‘Sick-building syndrome’ or ‘Building-related illness’ Even at imperceptible levels, the cocktail can causesymptoms including loss of concentration, headache, dry eyes, nose,throat, ‘woozy-head’, and nausea. Elevated CO2 levels can also producefeelings of stuffiness, loss of concentration and drowsiness.

Studies at the University of Technology, Sydney (UTS), havedemonstrated that indoor potted-plants improve IEQ by eliminating highor low doses of airborne VOCs within about 24 hours, once they havebeen stimulated by a ‘taste’ of the substances.

To further explore the capacity of indoor plants to improve IEQ byeliminating high or low doses of airborne VOCs, UTS laboratory-testedVOC removal capacity in eleven common indoor plant species. Removalrates started slowly but, over four to five days, they rose to more than 10times the initial rate; showing that removal rates were stimulated(‘induced’) by exposure to the initial dose. Low residual concentrationrates were also removed, effectively to zero, and all 11 species of plantsshowed a common pattern of VOC removal response.

As well as reducing the levels of toxicity in our air quality, researchhas shown that spending time in gardens or parks reduces anxiety andanger, and gives feelings of calmness and pleasure. Tree plantings alongroads reduce driver stress, as indicated by lowered blood pressure, heartrate and nervous system measures.

There is also an increasing body of literature on the benefits ofplanted views to building occupant health and wellbeing. Moore2 (1981)found that prisoners in cells with views of plants and birds, were lessdisruptive and requested fewer medications than others. Ulrich3 (1984)found that patients recovering from surgery, with views of a garden, gothome nearly two days earlier than those who looked onto a wall.

While it’s not feasible that every inhabitant of a building can be neara window, evidence shows the inclusion of indoor plants in workspaceswill add significant benefit to workplace productivity. Studies by ToveFjeld4 found that, when plants were introduced in an undergroundhospital radiology department, sick-leave absences declined by over60%. This represents a substantial increase in wellbeing and productivityand other studies have also shown decreases in sick-leave where indoorplants were installed.

Cost-Benefits Of Greening Your WorkspaceIn the year 2000, The World Health Organisation predicted that, by

2010, responsibility for healthy indoor air quality will almost certainly restwith facility managers. Already, forward thinking facility managers can seethe benefits of creating a green oasis within buildings – treating plant life

as a portable, flexible, attractive and effective low-cost standardinstallation which is as imperative as any other commonplace fitting orfixture.

It is clear that indoor plants improve IEQ in a variety of ways, withdirect benefits to human health and wellbeing. Studies have also beenmade of client and customer perceptions of indoor plants in the officeand the improved perceptions which will affect business prospects aswell. An American study with 170 respondents5, explored effects ofindoor plants on a business’s image to visitors and potential customers orclients. There was full agreement on a number of issues, including, thatindoor plants led to the perception that the business was:3 Warm and welcoming3 Stable and balanced3 Well-run3 Comfortable to work with3 Patient and caring3 Concerned for staff welfare3 Prepared to spend money on added beauty3 Providing a healthier, cleaner atmosphereThe costs of introducing indoor plants to a workplace and enjoying

the resulting improvement of IEQ and workplace productivity are entirelyaffordable for almost any sized business.

Whether bought and maintained in-house or hired, the cost ofmaintaining one basic indoor floor plant, is about $200 p.a. The salary ofa hypothetical staff member might be about $50,000 p.a., and it couldcost up to almost twice that to actually employ him/her. From evidencepresented here it seems likely that the plant would more than pay for itspresence. A couple of scenarios in which the investment might provecost effective are outlined here as examples.

Performance IncreasesStudies6 have shown found that participants in planted offices

showed 12% higher productivity on computer tasks, and less stress, thanthose working in an environment without plants. Twelve percent of$50,000 is $6000, so the hypothetical staff member would now be worth$56,000, for a further outlay of $200 for the plant (and $6000 couldprovide 30 plants). Improved productivity with plant presence resultingfrom reduced sick-leave absences, as discussed earlier, would similarlyresult in significant savings to the company.

Increased Retention RatesWith plants in the work environment, evidence has also shown that

intentions of an employee to leave the position were significantlylowered. If our hypothetical staff member was employed through arecruitment agency, their fees are likely to be 10% of the salary, that is$5000. In addition, there are costs involved in training a new employee.If the presence of plants prevents one staff member from leaving, thesaving would thus be at least $5000 (which could provide 25 plants).

In essence, the findings of this article clearly show the fundamentalneed for continued linkages between city-dwellers and plants. One wayto meet that need is to establish in-door potted-plant microcosms (PPM)which will significantly improve many aspects of IEQ, provide cleaner airand result in occupants having lower stress levels, lighter spirits, andimproved concentration, performance and productivity.

Thus the PPM represents an adaptive, self-regulating, portable,flexible, relatively low-cost, sustainable and attractive biofiltration andbioremediation system for the rehabilitation and advancement of healthyfacility ecology. This simple, effective horticultural technology cancomplement any engineering measures to improve IEQ, in any building.

To ensure our business objectives of enabling sustainablecommunities, and satisfying the triple bottom line’ of environmental,social and economic considerations, it can be expected that indoorplants will become standard installations of the future built environment.

1 Kaplan S, The restorative benefits of nature: towards an integrative framework, J.Environmental Psychology !5: 169-182.

2 Moore EO, 1981, A prison environment’s effect on health care service demands, JEnvironmental systems, 11, 17-34

3 Ulrich R, 1984, View through a window may influence recovery from surgery, Science,224, 420-421

4 Fjeld T, 2002, The effects of plants and artificial daylight on the well-being and health ofoffice workers, school children and health-care personnel, Proceedings of InternationalPlants for People Symposium, Floriade, Amsterdam, NL.

5 Aitken JR and Palmer RD, 1989, The use of plants to promote warmth and caring in abusiness

6 Lohr VI, Pearson-Mims CH and Goodwin GK, 1996, Interior plants may improve workerproductivity


BOOK REVIEW

Martin Brook tackles fairly complex subject matter in Estimatingand Tendering for Construction Work. Seemingly undaunted bythe complexity and variables of the work involved with

estimating and tendering, Brook wades through the steps involves withmethodical commitment to ensuring he provides a comprehensiveoverview of the area under discussion.

From cost studies to budget developments for successful tenders,the fourth edition of this in-depth handbook also brings to light recentdevelopments in the construction industry - including new procurementand tendering methods and the greater emphasis being placed onpartnering and collaborative work.

With over 32 years experience as a contractor’s estimator andlecturer teaching pre-contract studies, Brook is well positioned toilluminate all areas of an estimator’s workload. Early on, it’s clear anestimator needs to fully understand the consequences of entering into acontract – often defined by a complex combination of conditions andsupporting documents.

Essentially requiring an extensive understanding of almost all areasof construction, estimators must appreciate the technical requirements ofproject from “tolerances in floor levels to the design of concrete mixes,and from temporary electrical installations to piling techniques”.

In just 20 chapters Brook covers everything from procurement pathsand tender documentation through to pricing estimates and action withthe successful tender. He supports his findings with pages of examples -offering various flowcharts for estimating with cost planning, pricingpreliminary guides, various pricing methods and examples of final tenderreviews.

Based on procedures and standards in the United Kingdom,Australian readers may find few areas of relevance in the earlier chapters,but will likely find that Brook does address more universal areas ofestimating and tendering work later on in the book.

One particular area of interest in Estimating and Tendering forConstruction is Brook’s discussion on the benefits of smarterprocurement through integrated supply chains, and its effects onestimators and the construction industry at large.

There are efficiencies in working with suppliers and sub-contractorswho become part of a close working relationship. Through strong supplychain management, vendor lists are kept small, problems can be sharedand organisations begin to work better together. Term contracts can beset up with material and plant suppliers whereby prices are fixed for anysite in any location for a fixed period of time.

Brook also addresses Public-Private Partnerships (coined PrivateFinance Initiative or PFIs in the United Kingdom), and the complexitiesthat need to be understood by an estimator entering into that particularprocurement route. While a PPP is seen to be appropriate where itprovides affordability, value for money, best procurement practice andquality, Brook clarifies there is a considerable amount of work for biddersentering into a PPP tender – with bid processes sometimes spanningperiods in excess of two years.

Some of Brook’s most valuable advice however is directed atcontractors during his chapters pertaining to the bidding strategy stageof tendering. He stresses that while in business the stated objectives cansometimes be achieved by deceiving the opposition, principally the realobjective is to be successful in winning contracts at prices that enable theorganisation to carry out work profitably. He suggests that a tenderingstrategy can be approached as a statement of aims:3 To identify a suitable market in terms of type of work, size of

contracts and geographical location3 To develop a reputation for safety, quality and speed of

construction within economic limits3 To secure stated targets for turnover3 To evaluate the company’s performance, and compare with that

of its competitor3 To compare the financial performance of a project with the costs

predicted at tender stageBrook believes contractors can improve their tendering efficiency

with better marketing strategies and only by accepting invitations totender which meet clear guidelines.

It is worth considering a different approach; that is, to ignore thetender levels set by your competitors. Produce pricing levels which areright for your company and avoid playing the market. If prices fall belowwhat you consider to be an economic level, look for other marketswhere margins can be preserved.

While Estimating and Tendering for Construction Work can at timesbe a difficult, acronym-laden read, it’s fairly clear that you’re in safe handsthroughout. Brook’s knowledge and understanding of the intricacieswhich are crucial to successful estimating work is evident from start tofinish, with his only real shortcomings emerging during his chapter oncomputer-aided estimating – which unfortunately appears more as ahurried afterthought than researched information.

Despite covering some general areas of interest for anyone workingin the construction industry, this methodical overview of estimating andtendering is most likely suited as a handbook for students undertakingconstruction-related courses.

Estimating and Tendering for Construction Work is available direct fromElsevier Australia Customer Service, Tel: 1800 263 951, Fax: (02) 94228501 or by e-mail: [email protected]. Visitwww.elsevier.com.au for information regarding other science andtechnology books on offer.

Estimating and Tendering forConstruction WorkA BOOK REVIEW BY MELANIE DRUMMOND

Book for Review: Estimating and Tendering for Construction WorkWritten by: Martin BrookPublished: Elsevier Books 2008 (Fourth Edition)

Specialist Recruitment in the FM Sector

Hays Facilities Management

08 8212 5242 [email protected]



03 6234 [email protected]




Specialist Recruitment hays.com.au

Facility Perspectives v2#3 September 2008

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Transcript of Facility Perspectives v2#3 September 2008