Official magazine of the Facility Management Association of Australia Ltd Print Post Approved 340742 00155 $9.

9.95 inc GST

facility
VOLUME 2, NUMBER 1, 2008 MARCH – MAY integrating people – process – place

The Next Step

ANTARCTICA in Sustainability –
Renewable Energy The Greening of
Existing Buildings
at the Edge of
The Commercial
the World Buyers Guide to
Renewable Energy

FM Events: The
Power of Three

Preview of FMA Australia’s

premier event ideaction 2008
– Enabling Sustainable Communities
ISS FACILITY SERVICES:
A GLOBAL COMPANY WITH A LOCAL ETHOS
ISS Facility Services is one of the world’s largest facility services
companies. It has a global workforce of over 435,000 personnel in
50 countries and annual revenue in excess of AU$15 billion.
The rapid growth of the company over the past 20 years largely
stems from its ability to draw upon its global experience to deliver
high quality services in the many countries where it operates.
More recently, its success has been driven by its ability to provide
integrated facility services that provides its clients with service
solutions that are even more efficient through process and labour
optimisation.
ISS Facility Services entered the Australian market in 2002 through
the acquisition of Flick Pest Control, an Australian-renowned brand
name. Since then, ISS has purchased a broad range of companies
and has extended its capacity to provide a full scope of Facility
Services. In Australia, ISS is a multi-service organisation employing
over 22,000 people in the provision of facility management,
maintenance, cleaning, security, non-clinical support services for the
health industry, grounds maintenance and washroom services. It has
a customer base of more than 100,000 clients and annual revenue
of more than AU$700 million.
3%26)#%3¬/&&%2%$
s )NTEGRATED¬&ACILITY¬3ERVICES
ISS is one of a handful of companies globally that offers a wide
range of service solutions that can be combined to meet all
of a customer’s service and support functions into one single
solution.
s ¬
#LEANING¬3ERVICES
ISS is the largest provider of cleaning services globally and in
Australia. For more than 70 years, ISS has continually raised the
standard for cleaning services throughout the world.
s 3ECURITY¬3ERVICES
ISS Security is the second largest provider of security services
in Australia. Core Services for the Security division include
general security guarding, emergency response, consulting
services, operational risk management, development and
implementation of safety plans and a focus on service supply to
the Australian Aviation and Maritime Security Sector.
s &ACILITIES¬-ANAGEMENT¬3ERVICES
ISS Facilities Management Services is a division which provides
a management structure and operational solutions with a
management team to cater for any facility service requirement
a client might have.
s 'ROUNDS¬-AINTENANCE¬3ERVICES
ISS Grounds and Maintenance Services is a growing division
within the company and currently has 160 staff operating in
NSW and Victoria.
s 0EST¬#ONTROL¬3ERVICES
As part of Route Based Services, ISS Pest Control enjoys
national coverage and provides preventative and reactionary
services for a large commercial and domestic base.
s 7ASHROOM¬3ERVICES
ISS Washroom Services is one of only two national providers for
this service in Australia. With a business-to-business customer
base of 28,000, ISS is continually looking for a more advanced
product range and now proudly introduces ISS Pure Water.
EDITORS COMMENTS

Level 6, 313 La Trobe Street, Melbourne VIC 3000

Tel: (03) 8641 6666 Fax: (03) 9640 0374
Email: info@fma.com.au Web: www.fma.com.au

Front Cover: Sustainable Energy at Mawson, Antarctica.

MAX WINTER Photography: Peter MacGee

An eventful year ahead Published by:

Welcome to the March 2008 issue of Facility Perspectives ABN 30 007 224 204
Editor-in-Chief: Ric Navarro
Layouts: Anthony Costin

S
ustainable development is very much
at the heart of this issue, with a host
of articles and perspectives that place
the questions and also some of the practical
solutions for the built environment, on the
table.
As we hear news worldwide of extreme
weather events with an intensity and
damage on such a massive scale that it
challenges our comprehension, it is no
surprise to see that topics such as climate
change, reducing carbon emissions and
what we as managers of the built
environment can do, has taken the centre
stage of our awareness.
This year’s event calendar alone
contains Green Cities February 10-11
Darling Harbour; CRC for Construction
Innovation’s Clients Driving Innovation:
Benefiting from Innovation March 12-14
Gold Coast, which contains a seminar
stream on Sustainable Construction for the
Future; the British Institute of Facility
Management (BIFM) 2008 annual
conference Sustainable FM – Meeting the
Challenge March 18-19 Keble College,
Oxford U.K; the Australian Institute of
Refrigeration Air Conditioning and Heating
(AIRAH) – ARBS 2008 April 21-23 MECC
Melbourne; Facility Management
Association of Australia (FMA Australia)
ideaction 2008 Conference May 7-9 Gold
Coast, which carries Enabling Sustainable
Communities as the Conference theme; SB-
08 September 21-25 MECC Melbourne, the
World Sustainable Building Conference
series which is held every three years; and
the International Facility Management
Association (IFMA) World Workplace 2008
Conference October 15-17 Dallas, Texas
USA.
The Facility Perspectives editorial crew
will keep you posted on the major topic
threads of these events, and also articles of
interest from overseas as we strengthen our
editorial alliances with kindred publications
overseas.
Max Winter
Editor
National Sales Manager: Phil Haratsis
430 William Street, Melbourne VIC 3000
Tel: (03) 9274 4201 Fax: (03) 9329 5295
Email: media@executivemedia.com.au
Web: www.executivemedia.com.au
Offices also in Adelaide, Brisbane and Sydney
Editorial: WinterComms
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: mrwinter@netspace.net.au
Stock Images: Photo Disc, Jupiter Images,
Digital Vision, Creatas.

Printed by Superprint Pty Ltd

2008 Awards for Excellence

NOW OPEN!
Nominate yourself, a colleague or a project for the
2008 Awards for Excellence, to be presented at
ideaction ’08 on the Gold Coast.
There are four award categories:
3 FMA Australia & Rider Levett Bucknall – Industry Award
3 FMA Australia & Transfield Services – Environmental Achievement Award
3 FMA Australia & Tungsten – Young FM Practitioner Award
3 FMA Australia & Culligan Water – Facility Manager of the Year Award
All nominations must be received by 17.00 on Monday 31 March 2008.
Call Rosie Bennett at FMA Australia on 03 8641 6666 for more details.
The editor, publisher, printer and their staff and agents are not
responsible for the accuracy or correctness of the text of
contributions contained in this publication or for the
consequences of any use made of the products, and the
information referred to in this publication. The editor, publisher,
printer and their staff and agents expressly disclaim all liability of
whatsoever nature for any consequences arising from any errors
or omissions contained in this publication whether caused to a
purchaser of this publication or otherwise. The views expressed in
the articles and other material published herein do not
necessarily reflect the views of the editor and publisher or their
staff or agents. The responsibility for the accuracy of information
is that of the individual contributors and neither the publisher or
editors can accept responsibility for the accuracy of information
which is supplied by others. It is impossible for the publisher and
editors to ensure that the advertisements and other material
herein comply with the Trade Practices Act 1974 (Cth). Readers
should make their own inquiries in making any decisions, and
where necessary, seek professional advice.
©2008 Executive Media Pty Ltd. All rights reserved. Reproduction
in whole or part, without written permission is strictly prohibited.

2 • f a c i l i t y perspectives

facility
integrating people – process – place
FOCUS 20 The Next Step in Sustainability:
The greening of Existing Buildings
Having taken some time for ‘green’ initiatives to surface on the general public’s radar, new
and exciting construction projects continue to make headlines with an array of leading
technology building ‘smarts’. Thankfully, the role of the facility manager in ensuring these
‘smarts’ deliver in the ongoing operation of these buildings is beginning to achieve the
attention and recognition it deserves. But is this all there is to the ESD equation? Facility
Perspectives’ Max Winter investigates.
REGULARS
2 Editors Comment 4 FMA Chairman’s Address
33 MANAGING AN AUSTRALIAN ICON – Brisbane City Town Hall
47 ESSENTIAL SAFETY MEASURES Building Update
52 FM AROUND THE GLOBE Facebooking up to the Future
72 SOFTWARE CASE STUDY The Business Challenge in Managing Essential Safety Measures
74 PROPERTY FOCUS Supporting business objectives through effective CRE
FEATURES
16 FM EVENTS
FMA Australia ideaction Preview
Early Bird registration extended until 14 March 2008
FMA Australia’s premier event ideaction 2008 – Enabling Sustainable
Communities will canvas the key issues concerning corporate
accountability in the sustainable performance built assets. Participate
in an engaging and thought-provoking program, enjoy some fantastic
social and networking events, and make the most of the relaxed
outdoor lifestyle on the beautiful Gold Coast.
27 ENERGY & THE ENVIRONMENT
Buyers Guide to Renewable Energy.
Bianca Frost investigates some of the myths and misnomers
surrounding so-called “green energy” to assist you in selecting the
right product, at the right price, for your facility.
36 FM EVENTS
British Facility Managers rise to the challenge
This year the British Institute of Facility Management (BIFM) Annual
Conference (March 18-19) topic is Sustainable FM – Meeting the
Challenge. Bianca Frost spoke to BIFM CEO Ian Fielder about the
issues, trends and challenges currently facing the British FM industry.
39 FM LEAD
Critical Maintenance – Facility Management in today’s Hospitals
For facility managers responsible for hospitals, effective maintenance
is critical, 24/7. Melanie Drummond spoke to James Smith, facility
manager at Mount Private Hospital in Perth, about the issues facing
facility managers in the HealthCare system.
43 ESD & THE ENVIRONMENT
Becoming carbon neutral – the future is now
Stephen Hennessy, Director of sustainability strategists for the built
environment at Steensen Varming discusses the issues around carbon
neutrality.
49 FM COMMENT
Sustainability in the workplace: How green is green?
The widely held belief is that the commercial and public sectors are at
the vanguard of the charge to address climate change. But are they
really doing as much as they say? Mark Phillips reports.
IN THIS ISSUE
5 FMA CEO’s Address 7 Fast Facts & News
54 ESD & THE ENVIRONMENT
Renewable Energy at the Edge of the World
Melanie Drummond interviews Australian Antarctic Division Engineers
Jeremy Bonnice and Peter Magill about their involvement with
Antactica's energy projects, enabling the delivery of renewable energy
systems to the edge of the world.
60 PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
FMA Australia Accreditation – Leading the Industry Forward
FMA Australia’s Facility Management Accreditation System (FMAS) has
been designed to provide facility professionals with industry
recognition of their skills, experience and knowledge. Melanie
Drummond spoke to AFM1 accredited Edward Japutra and his mentor
Michael Rowlands about the process of accreditation and mentoring.
66 FM ACTION AGENDA
The work of the Sustainability Working Group.
The FM Action Agenda’s Sustainability working group is steadfastly
working toward their objectives. FM Action Agenda’s Deputy Chair
Stephen Ballesty reports on their progress.
68 PROJECT PROFILE
Workplace 6 – Sydney’s Green Star Success
Workplace 6 has achieved Sydney’s first ever 6 Star Green Star Rating
for a commercial office building. Melanie Drummond spoke to
engineering consultants Waterman AHW about the contribution of the
building’s leading edge engineering systems.
76 FM EVENTS
The Power of Three
At a recent AIRAH forum three top-flight researchers unveiled the
findings of a comprehensive study that for the first time ever reveals
the views of Australian building users on ‘green’ buildings. Mark
Phillips attended the launch and files this report.
Next Issue
3 WA Focus: Facilities Management in Western Australia
3 FM in the Retail Sector
3 FM around the Globe: Beijing's Water Cube
3 FMA Australia ideaction 2008 Report
f a c i l i t y perspectives • 3
CHAIRMAN’S MESSAGE
Chairman’s Message
Welcome to the fifth edition of Facility Perspectives and the first for the
new year. 2008 promises to be a big year for FMA Australia and the
facility management industry in general, one in which we can build on
the successes of 2007 and continue to advocate and grow the industry at
ANDREW MCEWAN
every opportunity.
W
e will be focusing on building even stronger relationships with
government bodies and industry leaders in order to advocate
the significant role that facility management plays in the
Australian economy and ensure that the industry is represented in the
policy decision making process. FMA Australia has already begun to
address this matter by issuing a pre-budget submission to the federal
government for a single, national energy efficiency rating system which
will be the first of many communications to take place this year.
In particular, as many of you will know, there is a huge focus on the
issue of sustainability and the significance of facility management in
delivering sustainable outcomes. This is a big concern for the industry in
Australia where we have the highest per capita emissions of all industrial
countries.
To this end, I was delighted to be invited by the United Nations to
participate in an online discussion on ‘Achieving Sustainable
Development’. The purpose of the discussion is to convene a panel of
experts, practitioners and policy makers from within and outside of the
UN, to discuss the challenges that countries face in integrating the goals
of economic growth, social development and environmental protection,
with the aim of establishing policy initiatives that can help those countries
to achieve sustainable development.
In particular we’ll be identifying the barriers to integrating
sustainability in development strategies and implementing those
strategies, as well as how we can support countries to effectively utilise
the good practices of countries that have made significant progress in
pursuing the goal of sustainable development.
This is a fantastic opportunity to promote the Australian facility
management perspective to an international forum and ensure that we
are adequately represented. I intend to address the difficulties of
establishing an integrated approach to sustainability and energy
efficiency and discuss the three key areas that facility managers can look
at to reduce carbon emissions and increase cost savings:
3 Improvements in the management and use of existing infrastructure
3 Sustainable retro-fitting of existing buildings
3 Sustainable design of new buildings and re-developments
It goes without saying that, of all the building and construction
professions, facility managers are best positioned to have the greatest
influence over sustainable management practices, from planning and
design through to disposal. This is a key element that I will be
4 • f a c i l i t y perspectives
advocating throughout the discussion, in addition to the need to
establish a comprehensive approach to sustainability throughout the life
cycle of facilities.
The outcome of this forum will constitute an important contribution
towards this year’s Annual Ministerial Review on the same theme, which
will be held in New York in July 2008 during the Substantive Session of
the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC).
The FMA Australia ideaction conference will this year offer its own
contribution to the sustainable development arena, the focus being
‘Enabling Sustainable Communities’. I’m pleased to say that it’s shaping
up to be a fantastic event, offering some real solutions and cost-saving
ideas to considerably reduce the carbon emissions in your building
portfolios and to address some of the key issues facing you as facility
managers in the current environment.
We’ve just finalised the conference program which you’ll find later on
in the magazine, so make sure you take a look as we’ve secured some
highly influential speakers who will tackle the topic of sustainability from a
range of thought-provoking perspectives.
Of course, the conference is being held on the Gold Coast so there
will also be plenty of opportunities to relax, unwind and make the most
of your surroundings. We have organised an entertaining social program,
including the ever-popular Awards for Excellence ceremony at the Gala
Dinner. You can now make your nomination for one of the four award
categories so make sure you visit our website, www.fma.com.au, for the
awards criteria and nomination form. You’ll also find more information
about the conference itself and the ability to register online. I look
forward to seeing as many of you there as possible for what promises to
be a highlight in the facility management industry calendar.
As members of FMA Australia it’s important to remember that we are
all ambassadors for the Association. We can all play a part in furthering
the interests of facility management and the work that the Association is
doing whenever the opportunity arises, and must ensure that we do so
for the benefit of the industry as a whole, in order that facility
management receives the recognition that it deserves.
Enjoy this edition of Facility Perspectives.
Andrew McEwan
Chairman

CEO’s Address
2008 has begun on a very positive and proactive note for FMA Australia,
a position which we will be striving to continue and improve throughout
the year.
DAVID DUNCAN
I
am delighted that at the beginning of my second year as CEO we are
going from strength to strength and I believe that members will soon
be reaping even greater benefits of being a member of the
Association.
We are continually seeking to improve our offering and to ensure
that it is relevant and valuable to the facility management industry. A
large part of this is helping to further the interests of facility managers
through representation at a government level.
With this in mind, and in response to the government’s invitation, we
have made a submission which calls for a standardised energy efficiency
rating system to be implemented at a national level.
The largest growth area in carbon emissions between 1990 and
2004 was the energy sector, which accounted for 68.6% of Australia’s net
emissions. It therefore follows that energy efficiency is of critical
importance to reducing our emissions. This is particularly relevant to the
facility management industry, as emissions from commercial buildings
account for 12-13% of net emissions and 84% of a building’s emissions
stem from heating, ventilation, air conditioning and lighting. These are
areas that are directly under the control of facility management,
demonstrating that the industry is of vital significance to reducing
emissions from commercial buildings.
The submission indicates that there are many ways that facility
management can contribute to energy emission savings in commercial
buildings, such as:
3 existing buildings could achieve energy emissions savings of about
10% through improved management alone;
3 sustainable retro-fitting has the potential to achieve energy savings
of up to 50%; and,
3 fully integrated new building design has the potential to use up to
65% less energy than conventional buildings.
Given that these targets all require effective management to be
achievable, it’s clear that the role of facility managers is crucial in this
process.
There are currently eight methods of assessing building energy
efficiency potential across Australia and four that rate efficiency
performance.
It is believed that the number of rating schemes confuses the
situation for anyone wishing to assess the energy efficiency of their
building. There is no consistency or basis for comparison between the
CEO’S ADDRESS
existing schemes and no nationally accepted criteria for measuring and
assessing efficiency. Perhaps the most important factor affecting us is that
the current systems do not effectively recognise the performance of the
facility management industry.
In order to maximise energy efficiency potential we are calling for a
single, national energy efficiency rating system which rates the potential
of the infrastructure and then rates performance against potential. We
are proposing that each building gets a rating for the:
3 building’s potential (owner rating);
3 performance of FM areas (FM rating); and
3 performance of the tenancy (tenant rating).
These ratings should then be combined to produce an overall rating.
This kind of rating ensures that each area of building management is
recognised individually and issues can be more easily identified and
addressed at the correct level.
It also creates incentives for each area to achieve maximum
potential, thereby effectively decreasing the level of energy emissions
significantly more than if the system remains as it is.
The proposed single national system for measuring energy efficiency
will not only allow accurate comparisons between buildings in terms of
sustainability, but will give greater recognition of the impact that the
facility management industry has on building efficiency and help to raise
the profile of the industry in the wider community.
We are also submitting a response to the Department of Climate
Change and Water’s ‘National Greenhouse and Energy Reporting
System, Regulations Policy Paper’. This paper outlines the government’s
plan to create a national framework to allow corporations to report
greenhouse gas emissions and actions to reduce emissions. Our
response will consider the needs of the facility management industry and
ensure that the collective voice of facility managers is given due
consideration in the formation of this system.
Our focus is firmly on sustainable development and the
corresponding advocacy of the facility management industry. In the next
issue I hope to be able to update you further on the progress of these
issues and on other projects that are in the pipeline.
I look forward to seeing you at ideaction ’08.
David Duncan
Chief Executive Officer
f a c i l i t y perspectives • 5


%FDFNCFS



'FTUJWF



/FUXPSL



$BMM
+VEE
'BSSJT

+BOVBSZ



%FUPY



'SFTI
4UBSU



$BMM
+VEE
'BSSJT

4:%/&:

U





G





F
TZEOFZ!KVEEGBSSJTDPNBV

.&-#063/&

U





G





F
NFMCPVSOF!KVEEGBSSJTDPNBV
#3*4#"/&

U





G





F
CSJTCBOF!KVEEGBSSJTDPNBV
)0/(
,0/(

U




G




F
IPOHLPOH!KVEEGBSSJTDPNIL
4*/("103&

U




G




F
TJOHBQPSF!KVEEGBSSJTDPNTH
-0/%0/

U




G




F
MPOEPO!KVEEGBSSJTDPVL

#*3.*/()".

U




G




F
CJSNJOHIBN!KVEEGBSSJTDPVL
#3*450-

U




G




F
CSJTUPM!KVEEGBSSJTDPVL


."/$)&45&3

U




G




F
NBODIFTUFS!KVEEGBSSJTDPVL

&%*/#63()

U




G




F
FEJOCVSHI!KVEEGBSSJTDPVL

GPS
BMM
PVS
MBUFTU
WBDBODJFT
MPH
PO
UP
XXXKVEEGBSSJTDPN

Melbourne Convention Centre
awarded 6 Star Green Star
Rating
The Green Building Council of Australia (GBCA) has awarded the new
Melbourne Convention Centre a 6 Star Green Star rating for its innovative
environmental design, under the Green Star – Convention Centre PILOT
rating tool.
6 Star Green Star certification demonstrates World Leadership,
indicating that the Melbourne Convention Centre has set a new global
standard for Convention Centre design.
“The Green Building Council congratulates Plenary Group on its 6 Star
Green Star rating,” said Green Building Council of Australia Chairman Tony
Arnel. “By raising their green standards to the highest level during the
bidding and design process, Plenary have demonstrated their strong
commitment to a sustainable future.”
“The Victorian Government should also be congratulated for their
leadership in setting a requirement for the Melbourne Convention Centre
to be green,” continued Mr Arnel.
“By commissioning the development of the Green Star – Convention
Centre PILOT tool specifically for this project, the Victorian Government has
demonstrated unsurpassed commitment to the greening of Melbourne’s
built environment.”
The Melbourne Convention Centre was awarded points for innovation
in recognition of its pioneering use of chilled floor slabs in conjunction with
displacement ventilation, as well as the installation of a backwater
treatment plant in a large public building, and for driving product
innovation in the supply of new sustainably harvested timber veneered
board.
“The scale of the project has provided the opportunity for the
development of new and innovative green solutions,” said Mr Arnel. “The
Convention Centre PILOT tool will now form the basis of the GBCA’s new
Green Star - Public Buildings rating tool, to be developed in 2008.”
He added, “The project was very strong overall. For example, full
Solar Gard Window Film will significantly reduce the transmission
®
of solar heat through glass windows.
Solar Gard helps cut energy costs associated with air conditioning
in homes and commercial buildings.
Solar Gard Reduces Energy Costs
• Up to 81% solar energy reduction
• Up to 93% glare reduction
Improve internal living and working conditions by reducing heat and
glare and let Solar Gard show you how it will pay for itself.
Free quotations - phone (02) 8825 6677
for your local installer
www.solargard.com.au
FAST FACTS + NEWS
points were awarded in the Management category, recognising Plenary’s
commitment to managing the environmental performance of the product
both during construction and in the ongoing operation of the facility. The
Melbourne Convention Centre is arguably the best of what is a small
number of green Convention Centres internationally, demonstrating that
Victoria, and Australia more generally, is leading the way in green building.”
The new Melbourne Convention Centre is due to open in 2009 and
has already attracted major international business events.
Woods Bagot bag awards
Australian design and consultancy firm, Woods Bagot, is the recipient of
two prestigious Emirates Glass LEAF Awards for its work on the new Qantas
First Lounge at Sydney Airport and the City Central Tower 1 building in
Adelaide.
Considered one of the highest accolades in the architectural calendar,
the LEAF Awards recognise and reward excellence within the architectural
and design field.
With nearly 150 entries from 33 countries, the 2007 Awards were
announced on November 29 last year in London. There was keen
international competition for the Awards with many leading names in the
architectural and design fields and several new and less well-known
organisations vying for the coveted awards in eleven categories.
Woods Bagot was first founded in Adelaide in 1869 by Edward Woods,
and now has offices across Australian, Asia, Europe and the Middle East.
The Qantas First Lounge won the LEAF International Interior Design
Award with the judges applauding its “clever and thoughtful response to
the architect’s work”.
The City Central Tower 1 building was awarded a commendation in its
category of Focus on Sustainable Environmental Ability. The judges were
particularly impressed by “the manner in which the architect was able to
create something principled in a commercial environment”.
For a full report of winners and nominees, visit www.designbuild-
network.com/awards/
ADworks 10850
®
Registered trademark of Bekaert Specialty Films Australia
f a c i l i t y perspectives • 7
FAST FACTS + NEWS
Cashing in oil for the World’s first carbon-neutral city
A vision of a carbon-free future was revealed at the World Future Energy
Summit in Abu Dhabi on January 21, 2008.
With population increases, especially in coastal urban areas, placing
increasing pressure on the natural environment through habitat loss, waste
disposal and pollution, the great challenge of the 21st century is to find ways
of dealing with the growing demand for energy, land, water and other
products dependent on natural resources.
It is perhaps then less of an irony than a shrewd business strategy, that
one of the worlds’ richest oil producing countries, Abu Dhabi, has revealed
plans for a US$15 billion zero-carbon, zero-waste, car-free city.
The city is called Masdar – which in Arabic translates into the “source”, a
reference to the sun.
Housed within six-square kilometres, electricity will be generated by
photovoltaic panels, while cooling will be provided via concentrated solar
power. Water will be provided through a solar-powered desalination plant.
Landscaping within the city and crops grown outside the walled city will be
irrigated with grey water and treated waste water produced by the city’s water
treatment plant. Cars will be prohibited from entering the city, and internal
transport will be restricted to walking, bicycles or rides on small, electric
vehicles that run on underground paths.
Dr Sultan Al Jaber, Chief Executive Officer of Masdar said, “Masdar has a
simple promise – to be the world’s centre for future energy solutions. It is not
about discussion. It is about action.”
“I am very pleased with the progress Masdar has made over the past 21
months. We are making bold but strategic investments; applying scale and
capital to drive down the cost of renewable energy, accelerating innovation,
sponsoring research and building human capital.
“Our promise is as multi-faceted as the problem, which is why we have
deployed a basket of solutions to develop and deliver sustainable solutions to
meet the world’s future energy needs.”
The city of Masdar is part of the government’s larger Masdar Initiative, a
multi-million dollar investment company specifically set up to “explore,
develop and commercialise” future energy sources.
The ambitious programme involves a series of forward-looking projects in
Abu Dhabi, West Asia and beyond. Its focus is on renewable energy projects
including solar, wind and hydrogen power generation, sustainable
development and planning including cityscapes, and education and research
into future energy technologies that are environmentally benign.
Already, the Masdar Clean Technology Fund, a US$250-million
investment fund, has concluded its first year with strong deal flows and has
deployed “most of its capital,” one year ahead of schedule. A further US$1
billion fund is also in the pipeline and a partnership has just been announced
between Masdar and BP to build a US$500m industrial-scale, 500MW
hydrogen-fired power plant, the largest of its kind in the world.
It is envisaged that Masdar city, planned close to the Abu Dhabi airport,
Smartsoftware announces new solution for architects and engineers
Smartsoftware, an international provider of software and service solutions
for the Engineering, Architectural and Professional Services sector announced
recently that they have partnered with US software company Newforma to
bring an innovative Project Information Management system to the Australian
AEC market.
Newforma’s flagship product, Newforma™ Project Center was designed
to create a more productive environment for project-based teams by
organising project information, facilitating information exchange, and
enabling efficient project process. This system was developed to address
time-consuming information searches, disconnected project email, scattered
project files and awkward handling of transmittals which were among the
main sources of disruption, frustration and inefficiency.
Smartsoftware’s research with a dozen leading Australian and New
Zealand architectural and engineering firms established that managers easily
identified with the difficulty of finding the right information quickly and easily,
having project specific e-mail disconnected from other project data and the
project team constantly exceeding their Inbox size.
As Mark Hansen, smartsoftware’s General Manager explained, “We saw
that by taking on this innovative product and combining it with our existing
business management software, that we could really offer our clients
significant value. By extending our scope to include Project Information
Management it allows us to cater for the vast majority of our clients software
needs.
Unlike document management systems and extranet collaboration
8 • f a c i l i t y perspectives
will eventually grow to have over 50,000 residents and 1,500 businesses when
completed in 2016, and be home to international business and leading minds
in the future energy field.
Lord Foster, internationally renowned architect and Masdar designer, says
that Masdar will be “design in a holistic sense” and “be an inspirational
model.” The city will be at least 70% less energy intensity than a conventional
city, and be laid out so as to keep “cool in a warm climate,” with a south-east-
north-west street alignment. Further, the city will be of “high density,” with no
separate zones as such for industry, culture space and residences et al.
Every roof would be an energy source at Masdar, and over half the
residents would have access to green spaces within a minute’s walking
distance. The architecture would be “timeless”, combining a mix of traditional
Arabic design forms and elements such as courtyards, splashing fountains and
domed roofs with modern, state-of-the-art, western skyscrapers.
Besides its goal of carbon and environmental neutrality, the driving
principle behind Masdar is to create an urban design model that delivers an
improved quality of life, which could then be replicated elsewhere.
Says Dr. Al Jaber: ‘”Masdar City will question conventional patterns of
urban development, and set new benchmarks for sustainability and
environmentally friendly design – the students, faculty and businesses located
in Masdar City will not only be able to witness innovation first-hand, but they
will also participate in its development”.
“Masdar is an example of the paradigm shift that is needed. The
strategic vision of the Abu Dhabi government is a case study in global
leadership. We hope that Masdar City will prove that sustainable living can be
affordable and attractive in all aspects of human living - from businesses and
manufacturing facilities to universities and private homes”.
Link: www.masdaruae.com
Also announced at the World Future Energy Summit in January, was the
establishment of the Zayed Future Energy Prize, funded by the Abu Dhabi
government, which will award over US$2m dollars annually to honour
individuals and organizations for their excellence and innovation in the
innovation, development and implementation of sustainable energy solutions.
The Zayed Future Energy Prize will be awarded to three individuals or
organisations that have made significant contributions in the global response
to the future of energy. The award is named after the United Arab Emirates
founding father and conservationist His Highness the late Sheikh Zayed Bin
Sultan Al Nahyan and will be chaired by R.K. Pachuari, Chairman of the Nobel
Prize winning Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
Projects and innovations in the following fields are eligible for
nomination: renewable and sustainable energy; efficient use of traditional
sources of energy; conservation; sustainable energy policy and
communication and public awareness.
More details on the nomination process and jury composition will be
released with the call for nominations in April 2008.
portals, Newforma Project Center software allows the user to file Microsoft
Office Outlook email with other project documents without having to move,
copy or tag any files. Another function is the software’s ability to search terms
in 200 industry file formats, including Outlook and attachments, as well as in
the BIM (Building Information Model) object properties of (AutoCAD) DWG
and DWF files. It also provides a seamless way to assign, track and respond
to issues as they arise, allows for managing large file transmissions, and most
importantly “drapes” its solution over a company’s existing infrastructure.
Users do not have to stop using their existing applications or reconfigure
existing servers.
About smartsoftware
Smartsoftware is an international provider of operational software and
service solutions for the Engineering, Architectural and Professional Services
sector.
Visit www.smartsoftware.net or email info@smartsoftware.net
About Newforma Project Center
Newforma® Project Center, Newforma’s flagship product, creates a more
productive environment for project managers and the project team by
organizing project information, facilitating information exchange, and
enabling efficient project processes.
The smartsoftware team will be offering live demonstrations at the Form
and Function Expo in Sydney from 10-12 April, 2008.
For more information visit www.smartsoftware.net or email
info@smartsoftware.net


  # !*
", %")"#
   +'

)"

***


  
 




 




./ ,
 ,

,0
/,. 
,.$,., ,
%
/
 ,-,0,$,

,(
-




+ , ,!

$,,%
,,,-,
$,


  !"#
$" % "#$"#


 
 








 

  










 














 !



 

 
 
 



 " #

$





#
 %&!
'


(






-.//00--.1





 

 


&&&'()**+)*' '" "))("# !")

FAST FACTS + NEWS

Szencorp chooses greywater The first field

trial of a Ceramic
treatment system Solid Oxide Fuel
Cell in real life
The award winning Szencorp building at 40 Albert Road South conditions in
Melbourne, in keeping with its policy to use only the best “green” Australia. The full cell
technology to ensure an environmentally sustainable profile for the converts natural gas
commercial office tower, chose Nubian’s GT600 Grey Water Treatment into electricity
System for the building’s greywater. supplying 90% of
The system, which was designed in conjunction with Tiller + Tiller the hot water and is
and installed in the basement of the Szencorp Building by Sustainable 85% efficient.
Plumbing Solutions, has already realized excellent water saving results. A weather
Capable of treating up to 1,500 litres of grey water a day to class A water station that works in
quality without the use of chemicals, “this biological treatment plant has unison with the
been a welcome feature to our sustainable building” says Tony Dorotic Building
State Manager Victoria for Energy Conservation Systems. The Oasis Management
GT600 is set up to receive grey water from two showers and ten hand System was installed
basins, the treated re-cycled water is then used for toilet flushing. It is to control ventilation and provide data for the heating and cooling
estimated that the water savings in a year will be around 78,000 litres. systems. The weather station monitors wind speed, wind direction,
The idea for the sustainability initiatives of the Szencorp Building was rainfall, barometric pressure and air temperature.
the vision of Peter Szental, Managing Director of the Szencorp Group of Lighting design and installation is world’s best practice utilising new
Companies. He was concerned that commercial buildings were major generation triphosphor and T5 lamps, dimmable DSI ballasts controlled
users of energy and water, and on current projections would account for via an intelligent occupancy based system achieving 1.4 watts per 100
20% of Australia’s greenhouse emissions by 2010. Deciding to lead by lux.
example in the practical design of the Szencorp building, he has A low energy IT solution which features LCD flat panel Screens,
demonstrated how they can become more environmentally friendly. reducing heat-load on the building.
It has achieved the highest possible green rating in Australia To improve the quality of the indoor environment an energy saving
including a 6-star GreenStar design rating and 5-star ABGR & 5 Star central vacuum cleaning system was installed.
Nabers. Usage of power and water day and night is metered and An upgrade of the lift controls and lift car to modern standards
recorded providing information for benchmarking against government ensured smoother, safer operation reducing the energy consumption.
and private rating tools, and vital information for sustainable buildings for The underground car park has CO sensing which operates lighting
the future. when people are present and the exhaust fans to remove the carbon
monoxide when cars are presents.
Key Features of the Szencorp Building
Natural air flow through out the building – Automated opening For more information and interview with Szencorp or Nubian please
windows, automated louvers and open air meeting spaces. contact: Marie Geissler T: 02 9380 5510, E: marie@geissler.com.au

Gregory Commercial Furniture

Gregory and Damba merge to deliver BETTER choice!
Gregory Commercial Furniture, Australia’s leading ergonomic seating solutions supplier, and Damba
Furniture, a leading New Zealand based commercial furniture manufacturer, recently merged to form the
largest commercial seating design and manufacturing company in ANZ. GCF today offers an extensive range
of Commercial Seating Solutions, as well as a growing range of Workspace Solutions (covering desking and
storage) and Healthcare Solutions (including specialty seating and beds).

While the Australian Design Award winning “Dual Density Posture Support System” remains Australia’s
leading ergonomic seating range (and to this day the only seating system to have received an Australian
Design Award), GCF now offers the added choice of the patented Softcell seating technology, as well as a
range of economical general office seating. Like the Dual Density System, Softcell was also developed by a
physiotherapist to deliver improved posture while seated, and hence greater well-being for users.

Better still, GCF’s Boxta, Inca and CO2 task seating ranges now have GECA (Good Environmental Choice
Australia) certification, with certification pending for other popular ranges. So, with our line-up now
encompassing Gregory, Softcell and Damba products, you’re guaranteed choice, quality, and value.

To find out more, call: 13 ERGO (13 3746) or visit: www.gregoryaustralia.com.au

10 • f a c i l i t y perspectives

The retiring type?
Not yet, apparently
A new Australian Bureau of Statistics report shows that Australians
are not just working longer because they want to, but also because
they have to.
Rising interest rates, inflation and grocery prices combined with
falling stockmarkets and superannuation values, are just some of the
challenges facing Australia’s ageing workforce.
While impressive wage growth in some sectors and low
unemployment levels across the country generally bode well for the
Australian economy in times of financial and market unrest overseas, it
seems Australian workers are not only working longer, but retiring later.
A recent Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) report shows of the
7.4 million people aged 45 years and over who had, at some time,
worked for two weeks or more, 4 million (54%) were in the labour force,
3.1 million (42%) had retired from the labour force, and the remaining
329,400 (4%) were not currently in the labour force but had not retired.
One of the most graphic figures presented by the ABS, shows that
in the past 20 years the percentage of women in work after they
reached 60 has trebled from 12% to 36%.
The average age for women who had retired, said the ABS, was
48, but in the past five years this age had ballooned out to 59. For
those still working, results showed that working women are putting off
retirement for even longer, with most women reporting that they were
not thinking of retiring until the age of 62. Fewer than 50% of those
surveyed had any retirement age in mind at all.
The working life of men has also lengthened. On average, men
had retired at 58 years of age, but those still working were not thinking
of retiring until at least 65.
Perhaps not surprisingly, is the fact that for those in the labour
force who intend to retire, the most common factor influencing their
FAST FACTS + NEWS
decision about when they would retire was ‘financial security’ (44% of
men and 41% of women).
The Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia has recently
reported that the average super balance at a retirement age of 65
would be $183,000 for men and $93,000 for women. With longer life
expectancies, this clearly is not enough money for individuals to live
out the remainder of their lives with, at least not in the manner in which
many asset-rich baby boomers have become accustomed. In fact, the
association estimates that 70% of workers do not have adequate
retirement savings to fund the latter years of their life.
The other factors influencing retirement age were ‘personal health
or physical abilities’ (40% of men, 40% of women), and ‘reaching the
eligible age for an old age (or service) pension’ (12% of men and 11%
of women).
For men, the most commonly reported main source of income at
retirement was a ‘Government pension or allowance’ (52%), followed
by ‘superannuation or annuity’ (22%).
In contrast almost half (47%) of women at retirement relied on their
partner’s income as their main source of income, followed by a
‘Government pension or allowance’ (33%) and ‘Superannuation or
annuity’ (7%).
Decreasing access to Government pensions means that more and
more Australians will be dependant on Superannuation and their own
personal savings and asset wealth to fund their retirement.
Liberalisation of superannuation requirements including tax-free
provisions will assist Australian workers with their retirements, however,
recent share volatility and increasing inflationary pressures indicate the
trend for Australian workers to retire later, are not likely to change
anytime soon.
f a c i l i t y perspectives • 11
FAST FACTS + NEWS

Affordable Housing Competition announced

In a joint response to community needs,
and the ACT Government’s Housing
Affordability Action Plan, the Royal Australian
Institute of Architects (RAIA) and the Housing
Industry Association (HIA) have teamed up to
announce the ACT Affordable Housing
Competition to promote the value of
sustainable, delightful and
affordable housing.
The Affordable Housing
Steering Group, March 2007
reported that “In the period
between 2000 and 2003, the
median house price in Canberra
almost doubled. This price
growth reflected strong demand
for dwellings driven by a low
unemployment, sustained
wages growth, low interest
rates, relatively lower returns on
competing investments and
subsidies such as the first
homeowners grant.
The effect on housing
affordability was significant. In
2000-01 a median priced house
in Canberra cost around three
times the median household
income. By 2003-04, this ratio
had risen to around six, due to house prices
growing considerably faster than income. As a
result, access to affordable properties for ACT
households on Australian median income
became limited. As at the December quarter
2006, the median house price in Canberra was
$398,000.” (Affordable Housing Steering
Group Report, March 2007)
“This situation must be reversed. The ACT
Government, through its Housing Affordability
Action Plan, has called upon architects and
builders to contribute to the housing
affordability solution and is seeking excellence
in affordable design and construction. The
RAIA and the HIA with the support of the ACT
Government will partner on exciting and
creative initiatives, which showcase best
practice in this area of, thus far, high demand
and poor supply.” said Melinda Dodson.
Appropriately launched in Architecture
Week the competition will acknowledge clever,
innovative solutions and promote the value of
collaboration between builders, architects and
the ACT government. “Entrants will be asked
to design a solution for one of three sites
including one outer Greenfield site, an inner
Greenfield site and a recycled building site.
Creative solutions to each site will be
encouraged.
Melinda Dodson noted that
“The competition objectives are
seen in context of the broader
government reform seeking
efficient land release, and tax and
regulatory practices that increase
affordability. The ACT government
is commended for its minimum
15% land release target for
affordable housing, as a positive
first step. The RAIA is looking
forward to working with the HIA
and the ACT government in
contributing to sustainable, quality
design outcomes in affordable
housing in the ACT.”
The competition will include a
student category and entries close
Thursday, 20 March 2008. Brief
and registration details are
available through the HIA and the
RAIA.
Contact: Sophie Clement email:
sophie.clement@raia.com.au and to discover
more abuot the RAIA, log on to
www.architecture.com.au

The Direction of Professional Development in FMA Australia

Interview with Ann Maree Bullard, Manager of Professional
Development for FMA Australia
FP: What is currently planned for professional development this
year?
AMB: A range of professional development programs have been
successfully run over the last seven months in FMA Australia and more
are currently being advertised. Many of these programs have been on
more generic rather than FM specific topics. However this will change as
the work of the Professional Development Advisory Group (PDAG)
comes to the fore.
The PDAG is composed of senior Facility Managers from a range of
organisations in the public and private sectors including Department of
Defence, Holmesglen Institute of TAFE, Multiplex Facilities Management,
Tungsten Group, Sodexho, Transfield Services and Corporate Real Estate
Services.
The PDAG has taken the results of the survey on professional
development that was done with members last year and developed this
into the topics (with proposed content and presenters) that we intend to
run in the rest of 2008.
These topics include:
3 Financial Principles in FM
3 Strategic Planning for Facilities
3 Understanding and Developing Service Level Agreements
3 Environmental Management/Sustainability
3 Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity
3 The Future of Facilities Management in Australia
3 Attracting, Developing and Retaining FMs
3 Leadership and Management in FM
3 Asset Management.
FP: Is professional development available to all members around
the country?
AMB: We offer the same topics in each major city, however whether
a session runs depends on whether it is financially viable, that is whether
there are enough interested people. Hopefully we will be running
sessions in Brisbane, Canberra and Perth over the next two months, as
well as in Melbourne and Sydney.
FP: Have you trialled alternative delivery modes?
AMB: We ran our first webinar in December. A webinar is an online
seminar during which participants dial into a conference call to enable
them to communicate with the speaker and watch an interactive
presentation via the web. It had 51 participants and received very
positive feedback. We will continue to use this format for short sessions
in the future.
Presenting Opportunities
FMA Australia continually reviews potential new topics and
presenters for professional development events. If you are interested in
presenting on a topic that you think would be of value to members
please contact Ann Maree Bullard on 03 8641 6612. She will consult the
PDAG for feedback on what is proposed.
Joining the PDAG
If you would like to join the PDAG and assist determine the direction
of professional development for FMA Australia, please contact Ann
Maree Bullard on 03 8641 6612. The PDAG meets monthly by
teleconference. New members would provide valuable input.

12 • f a c i l i t y perspectives
Performance, maintenance
ease & massive variety with
Forbo’s Eco Portfolio
With a fist full of eco awards and eco certified product la-
bels, easy-care longevity and a 130+ strong colour/texture
palette, Forbo’s Marmoleum, Artoleum and Dutch Design
ranges more than satisfy most flooring needs.
They also achieve maximum credits in the Green Star Mate-
rials Calculator.
The wide offering of monotone shades, cools, warms, neu-
trals, naturals and vibrant colours means there is an option
for almost any mood of décor, enabling a plethora of looks.
Design flexibility and options are further extended as Mar-
moleum dual is available in not just sheet format but also /BUVSFµT
QSFGFSSFE
¿
PPSJOH
two different tile sizes.
Adding to this environmentally friendly portfolio are Furni-
ture Linoleum (for furniture and desk pads) and Bulletin
Board (for noticeboards and work stations) – both of which 8F
BMM
LOPX
'PSCPµT
.BSNPMFVN
BOE
"SUPMFVN

co-ordinate with the flooring ranges. SBOHFT
MPPL
BOE
GFFM
HSFBU
CVU
EJE
ZPV
LOPX
UIFZ

BMTP
BDIJFWF
NBYJNVN
DSFEJUT
JO
UIF
(SFFO
4UBS

Extremely durable and with excellent Life Cycle Assessment
.BUFSJBMT
$BMDVMBUPS
*O
PUIFS
XPSET
UIFZ
BSF

scores, every one of these products is made from natural,
BCPVU
BT
FDPGSJFOEMZ
BT
ZPV
DBO
HFU
renewable raw materials such as linseed oil, rosin, wood
flour and jute. 'PSCP
VTFT
POMZ

OBUVSBM
SFOFXBCMF
SBX

NBUFSJBMT
UIBU
IBWF
OP
BEWFSTF
DPOTFRVFODFT
GPS

Marmoleum, Artoleum and Dutch Design all feature Top QMBOUT
BOE
BOJNBMT
PS

Shield, an extra tough finish that keeps floor cleaning costs UIFJS
IBCJUBUT

and maintenance to a minimum. Being also inherently bac- 4P
JG
ZPVµSF
MPPLJOH
GPS
FDPGSJFOEMZ
DSFBUJWF

teriostatic, these floor surfaces do not need the application ¿
PPSJOH
UIBU
BMTP
FOKPZT
MPOH
MJGF
BOE
FBTZ
DBSF

of significant quantities of disinfectants, even in healthcare XJUI
5PQ
4IJFME
ZPVµMM
¾
OE
JU
XJUI
'PSCPµT
GFFM

applications under normal conditions. Dry maintenance HPPE
.BSNPMFVN
BOE
"SUPMFVN
SBOHFT
methods mean very little waste water is generated for dis-
posal. 'PS
NPSF
JOGPSNBUJPO
HP
UP


XXXGPSCP¿
PPSJOHDPNBV
PS



A point of interest for healthcare operators is that a major
study has found that Marmoleum completely inhibits the
growth of the MRSA superbug (Methicillin-Resistant .BSNPMFVN

"SUPMFVN
GSPN
'PSCP

Staphyloccus Aureus), and except in the most extreme lab-
oratory testing conditions, even killed the superbug. * Cur-
$SFBUJOH
CFUUFS
FOWJSPONFOUT
tis Gemmel, Professor of Bacterial Infection and
Epidemiology at the University of Glasgow, May 2006.
Forbo is the world’s first and largest linoleum manufacturer.




 



For further information or samples, contact Forbo Flooring










on 1800 224 471 or check www.forbo-flooring.com.au.

 
You manage
the business.
We’ll manage
everything else.

Big commercial and industrial sites often bring their own unique problems. One way to overcome many of these issues
is by outsourcing your non-core operations from asset maintenance to facilities management. Spotless are the leaders in
managed services. We support many of Australia’s largest companies by creating safe and effective work environments
designed to get the very best from your people. The result is more efficient, more flexible service delivery every time.
Spotless, will allow you to focus on your core business with confidence.

Spotless. Our people make the world work

www.spotless.com
FM EVENTS

ideaction 08:
Enabling Sustainable Communities
7-9 May 2008
Gold Coast Convention and Exhibition Centre, Queensland
www.fma.com.au

ideaction is the official conference of the Facility Management

Association of Australia and is widely recognised as the premier event in
the facility management calendar. ideaction ‘08 focuses on Enabling
Sustainable Communities. Owners and managers of facilities are faced
with increasing demands for corporate accountability in regard to the
sustainable performance of their built assets, making this one of the key
issues that the facility management industry must address in the future.

You are invited to participate in an engaging and thought-provoking

program that will focus on sustainability across a range of perspectives
and enjoy some fantastic social and networking events. Of course, you’ll
also have the opportunity to make the most of the world-renowned
beaches, balmy weather, world heritage listed rainforest and relaxed
outdoor lifestyle on the beautiful Gold Coast.

16 • f a c i l i t y perspectives

The Conference Program
The Facility Management industry is a significant contributor to the
Australian and global economy and consequently also contributes to the
pressure on natural resources such as water, energy, land and materials.
As demand for FM services increases, the challenge for the industry in
the future is how to do more with less.
As custodians of built assets, facility managers are in a unique
position to influence the shape of the built environment towards a more
sustainable model.
The conference program features some highly respected and
entertaining speakers who will address the subject of sustainability from
various angles, with the aim of giving you new ideas, solutions and
perspectives on the most important issue facing facility managers in
the future.
Speaker Highlights
Dr Peter Ellyard
Futurist & Strategic Analyst
Dr Peter Ellyard is a futurist and strategist.
Currently Chairman of the Preferred Futures
institute and the Preferred Futures Group, which
he founded in 1991, he also chairs the
Sustainable Prosperity Foundation and two start-
up environmental companies.
Peter is a former Executive Director for the
Australian Commission for the Future. He held
CEO positions in a number of public sector organisations and was also
Chief of Staff for an Environment Minister in Canberra for three years.
Peter Ellyard has been a Senior Adviser to the United Nations system
for more than 30 years including to the 1992 Earth Summit where he was
a senior advisor on both the climate change and the biodiversity
conventions. He is the author of the best selling book ‘Ideas for the New
Millennium’ (1998, 2001) and ‘The Birth of Planetism’ (2007).
Presentation: Peter will address the increasing demands for
corporate accountability with respect to the sustainability performance of
built assets. Greater understanding and awareness of sustainability issues
such as climate change and depletion of natural resources has prompted
the need for immediate action toward improved stewardship of our
resources and communities.
Romilly Madew
Chief Executive
Green Building Council of Australia
Romilly is the Chief Executive of the Green
Building Council of Australia. She has previously
been a Board Member and Chair of the Urban
Committee for the ACT Government’s Land
Development Agency and has a background as
ACT Division Executive Director of the Property
Council of Australia and National Executive
Director of Sustainability.
In 2006 she authored Australia’s first cost benefit analysis of green
buildings: “The Dollars & Sense of Green Buildings: The Business Case
for Green Commercial Buildings in Australia”.
Presentation: “Challenges and Opportunities for Creating Green
Buildings in the new Kyoto Environment”.
Not understanding the impact of Australia signing the Kyoto
agreement for the property industry will be to the peril of the industry.
FM EVENTS
Signing the Kyoto agreement has created opportunities for green
buildings in Australia. There is great capacity within the property sector
to reduce its impact on the environment and to become the most
significant contributor to Australia’s efforts in dealing with climate
change. The 4th International Panel of Climate Change report showed
that globally, buildings represent the single biggest opportunity for
greenhouse gas abatement, exceeding the energy, transport and
industry sectors combined. Romilly Madew will outline these challenges
and opportunities.
Keith Brewis
Director
Grimshaw Architects Australia
Keith Brewis has expertise in leading highly
complex civic projects as demonstrated in
Grimshaw’s work at Paddington Station in
London, Southern Cross Station in Melbourne,
and the Fundacíon Caixa Galicia in A Coruña, all
landmark projects which included master
planning and strategic management services.
Having successfully secured the commission for the redevelopment of
Spencer Street Station in Melbourne in 2002 Keith relocated to Australia
to lead this project and to establish Grimshaw’s Australian venture.
Keith Brewis is a UK registered architect, a member of the Green
Building Council of Australia; sits on the Commission for Architecture and
The Built Environment (CABE) advisory panel in the UK and on Property
Council (VIC) Sustainability Committee and the recently formed industry
group Steel: Framing the Future, sponsored by the University of Sydney.
Presentation: “Embedded intelligence”
Keith Brewis describes the Grimshaw practice philosophy, which
embodies the phenomenon of “collective memory” characterised by
structural legibility, innovation and a rigourous approach to detailing and
sustainability in their work.
Lindsay Bevege
Managing Director
Business Outlook & Evaluation
Lindsay Bevege is Managing Director of
Business Outlook and Evaluation and is the co-
author of several innovative studies that
measured improvements in staff productivity in
green buildings. Lindsay has also developed
market transformation, innovation and cultural
change programs for a range of industries,
including developing the City of Melbourne’s Zero Net Emissions by
2020 strategy.
Presentation: Employee Productivity in a Sustainable Building
Lindsay will present a case study which describes a shift by two
companies to sustainable office accommodation which led to
improvements in a broad range of business productivity indicators. The
shift delivered business gains that far exceed the cost of upgrading the
Indoor Environment Quality (IEQ) of the offices.
For more information on
Session Speakers, please visit
www.fma.com.au
f a c i l i t y perspectives • 17
FM EVENTS

ideaction ’08: Conference Program

WEDNESDAY 7 MAY 2008 – SITE VISITS

9.00am:
Coaches depart for Site Visit 1: Millennium Arts Complex BRISBANE
Coaches depart for Site Visit 2: Desal Plant/Marine Precinct GOLD
COAST
11.30am:
Coaches depart for Site Visit 3: Carlton Brewhouse Lunch and Site
Tour
12.15pm:
Coaches from all site tours arrive for lunch and site tour at Carlton
Brewhouse
3.30pm: FRIDAY 9 MAY 2008 – CONFERENCE DAY 2
All coaches depart Carlton Brewhouse for Gold Coast Exhibition open from 8am
4.00pm: 9.30am - 10.15am
Coaches arrive in Gold Coast Concurrent 7:
6.30pm - 8.30pm: Title: What in the New IR Laws is Relevant to FM Entities?
Welcome Reception Presenter: Tim Capelin
Concurrent 8:
Title: DEGW Strategic Brief for Stockland “Stockhome” Workplace
THURSDAY 8 MAY 2008 – CONFERENCE DAY 1 Revitalisation
Exhibition open from 8am Presenters: Chris Alcock & George Websdale
8am: Concurrent 9:
Registration Opens Title: Sustainable Cultural Change
9am: Presenter: Mark Kelly
Opening Address: David Duncan, CEO, FMA Australia 10.20am - 11am:
Keynote Address: Dr Peter Ellyard, Futurist and Strategic Analyst Keynote Address: Embedded Intelligence – Keith Brewis, Director,
10.30am - 11am: Grimshaw Architects Australia
Morning Tea/Exhibition 11am - 11.30am:
11am - 11.45am Morning Tea / Exhibition
Concurrent 1: 11.30am - 12.15pm:
Title: Practical Guide to Socially Sustainable Facilities Panel: Enabling Sustainable Communities – The Integration of Urban
Presenter: Lois Besnard and Facility Planning
Concurrent 2: 12.20pm - 1.05pm
Title: Technology Innovations Simplify Carbon Management Concurrent 10:
Presenters: John Martin & David Sag Title: Sustainability in Building Regulation
Concurrent 3: Presenter: Glen Brumby
Title: The Colour of Money. The Business Case for Environmentally Concurrent 11
Sustainable Development Title: Case Study: Exploring Opportunities to Apply Sustainability
Presenter: Chris Mobbs Practices to an Existing Multi-function Campus
11.50am - 12.35pm Presenter: Steve Jones
Concurrent 4: Concurrent 12:
TBC Title: The Role of Facility Ecology for Quantitative Productivity,
Concurrent 5: Performance and Wellbeing Gains in Buildings
Title: City Central: Post-occupancy Evaluation of a Sustainable High Panel Discussion
Performance Workplace 1.05pm - 2pm:
Presenters: Megan Antcliff & Sean Coward Lunch - Networking / Exhibition
Concurrent 6: 2pm - 2.45pm
Title: The Impact and Measurement of Change on People and Place Concurrent 13:
Presenter: Beverley Honig Title: Realising the Full Potential of Life Cycle Costing
12.35pm - 1.30pm: Presenter: Dick Lister
Lunch – Networking / Exhibition Concurrent 14:
1.30pm - 3pm: Title: The Process Involved in Managing Buildings in a Sustainable
Hypothetical: Sustainable FM – Been There, Done That Manner
3pm - 3.30pm: Presenter: Doug Smith
Afternoon Tea / Exhibition Concurrent 15:
3.30pm - 4.30pm: Title: Pimpama Coomera Waterfuture Master Plan
Closing Keynote: Challenges and Opportunities for Creating Green Presenter: Sayed Khan
Buildings in the New Kyoto Environment 2.45pm - 3pm:
Romilly Madew, Chief Executive, Green Building Council of Australia Refreshment Grab
4.30pm - 4.45pm: 3pm - 4pm:
FM Action Agenda Presentation Closing Keynote: Employee Productivity in a Sustainable Building –
4.45pm - 5.00pm: Lindsay Bevege, Managing Director, Business Outlook & Evaluation
Closing Day 1: Andrew McEwan, Chair, FMA Australia 4pm - 4.30pm:
7pm: Global FM Presentation and Launch of ideaction 09.
Conference Dinner 4.30pm:
Close of Conference & Networking Drinks

For all enquiries on the ideaction ‘08 conference, please contact the conference organisers at:
Think Business Events, Level 1, 299 Elizabeth St, Sydney NSW 2000
Ph: 02 8251 0045 Fax: 02 8251 0097 Website: www.fma.com.au Email: ideaction@thinkbusinessevents.com.au

18 • f a c i l i t y perspectives
 FM EVENTS

Site Tours – Wednesday 7 May 2008 How to Register

This year, ideaction ‘08 is offering some fantastic site visit
opportunities, providing fascinating insights and behind the scenes
knowledge of some of the Gold Coast’s best known locations.
Site Tour One:
Marine Precinct/Desalination Plant (departs Gold Coast)
(includes lunch and site tour at Carlton Brewhouse)
Marine Precinct: The Gold Coast City Marina is Australia’s world
class working marina, providing facilities to service boats weighing up to
150 tons. This is a true working marina incorporating sixty-four purpose-
designed marine factories providing five star facilities for boat building,
boat maintenance and service plus ancillary marine industries. This site
tour will showcase the unique business model operating at the site with
the integration of the various business entities and service providers to
the Marine Industry Sector. You will be given an understanding of the
elements that drive projects from ‘concept‘ to ‘operating marina’ and an
overview of the various legislative frameworks that govern operations
and impact viability.
Desalination Plant: The Gold Coast Desalination Project is a joint
initiative between the Queensland State Government and Gold Coast
City Council, to construct the first large scale water desalination plant on
Australia’s eastern seaboard by November 2008. This site tour will
present the community challenges and environmental hurdles of
obtaining fresh water from the ocean – a modern ‘water into wine’
miracle! You’ll receive an overview of the elements of the Alliance and
the delivery, ownership and operational models that support the facility.
Other interesting aspects will include operational cycles, budgeting
cycles and forecasting of repairs and maintenance.
Site Tour Two:
Millennium Art Centre / Carlton Brewhouse (departs Brisbane)
(includes lunch and site tour at Carlton Brewhouse)
Take a ‘back of house’ tour through one of Queensland’s most
architecturally and environmentally significant developments. The project
has been awarded numerous industry accolades, including the 2007
Professional Excellence in Building Award and the Building of the Year
Award by Queensland’s Australian Institute for Building. To meet the
project’s strong focus on environmental sustainability, integrated leading
edge initiatives were implemented including a chilled beam air
conditioning system and a river cooling system. This site tour will take in
the technical aspects of the management of the complex’s buildings and
state of the art environmentally awarded operational systems.
If you wish to attend the Conference please access the Conference
website at www.fma.com.au and complete the online registration form.
Online registration is strongly recommended.
Registration Fees
CONFERENCE REGISTRATION FEE
Standard FMA Australia Member Full Registration AUD$1725
Standard Non Member Full Registration AUD$2125
FMA Australia Member Day Registration AUD$1050
Non Member Day Registration AUD$1295
Student^ FMA Australia Member Registration
AUD$495
(must be full time student)
*To qualify for early bird registration, registration fees must be
received by the published date. Registration fees are based on date of
payment receipt, not the date of receipt of registration form.
^ Student Registration excludes attendance at the Gala Dinner.
Student ID is also required for verification upon collection of name
badge at the conference.
Sponsorship and Exhibition
ideaction ‘08 promises to be our most successful conference yet and
we are looking forward to welcoming some of the most respected and
influential figures in the industry. There are plenty of opportunities for
your company to be a part of this major event in the FM calendar,
including corporate supporter packages, sponsorship of a speaker or
session and exhibiting your products and services at the expo, all of
which will bring significant exposure for your company as part of the
ideaction marketing campaign.

The Sponsorship and Exhibition Prospectus is available to download on

the Conference website www.fma.com.au or alternatively please contact
us at ideaction@thinkbusinessevents.com.au or phone + 61 2 8251 0045
for further information.

Confirmed Sponsors

Site Tour Three:

ISS Facility Services Platinum Supporter of ideaction ’08
Carlton Brewhouse (includes lunch)
Experience one of Australia’s largest 3 CRC for Construction Innovation
breweries and discover how your
3 Sustainable Living Fabrics
favourite beer brands are made. See the
3 AG Coombs
speed of the bottling line and state of
3 Judd Farris
the art brewing and packaging
technology in action. This site tour will 3 Kingfisher Property Recruitment
be of special interest to Facility 3 Pink Hygiene Solutions/Rentokil Initial
Managers as it showcases ‘just in time’ 3 Transfield Services
facilities, the forecasting of production 3 Urban Maintenance Systems
needs, the management of staged 3 Valorem Systems
maintenance and manufacturing shut- 3 Rider Levett Bucknall
downs in a 24hr facility, as well as an 3 Tungsten Group
award-winning water management 3 Movers and Shakers Business Relocations
system. After the one hour tour, return 3 RUD Chains
to the Brewhouse to enjoy a sumptuous 3 UNE Partnerships
barbecue lunch accompanied by all your 3 Bekaert Specialty Films
CUB favourites in the beer garden. 3 JLG Prolifts
3 Thomas & Betts
For more information on site tours including costs, times and departure 3 Culligan Water
locations, please visit www.fma.com.au and click on the ideaction ’08
logo www.fma.com.au

f a c i l i t y perspectives • 19
ESD + THE ENVIRONMENT

The next step in sustainability:

The greening of existing buildings

Having taken some time for

‘green’ initiatives to surface on
the general public’s radar, new
and exciting construction
projects continue to make
headlines with an array of
leading technology building
‘smarts’. Thankfully, the role of
the facility manager in
ensuring these ‘smarts’ deliver
in the ongoing operation of
these buildings is beginning to
achieve the attention and
recognition it deserves. But is
this all there is to the ESD
equation? Facility
Perspectives’ Max Winter
investigates.

40 ALBERT ROAD, SOUTH MELBOURNE

W
hen FMA Australia promoted a ‘green’ seminar series delivered
by Spowers Architects MD Ros Magee at the turn of the
millennium, it was the first time many of us had heard of the
concept of ‘embodied energy’ – the energy consumed by all processes
associated with the production of a building, from the acquisition of
natural resources to product delivery.0 The FMA Australia ‘green’ seminar
series highlighted how buildings such as 60L (60 Leicester St, Carlton)
would benefit from the use of recycled timber, and materials that used
less embodied energy such as non-chromium plated furniture.
While the building has had its problems, 60L was, and still remains, a
leading example of what is possible in ecology sustainable design,
incorporating features such as:
3 Natural light throughout via the atrium and light boxes
3 Natural air circulation, with chimneys designed to draw out hot air
3 Grey and black water treatment on site
3 Tenant agreements to follow green principles, including sorting
waste, limiting use of heating and cooling, and no toxins
3 Bike racks and shower facilities
3 Energy and water efficient facilities
Subsequent newer buildings such as 30 The Bond at Hickson Road
Millers Point in Sydney achieved a Five Star Green Star rating through
the use of not new, but at its scale, certainly innovative chilled beam
technology, an atrium and automatically controlled external shades.
More recent projects such as Melbourne City Council House 2 (CH2)
have taken these initiatives a significant step further and included ‘smarts’
such as cogeneration systems and rainwater reticulation systems.
The National Australia Bank building at Docklands has likewise
benefited from an “H” style building configuration utilising thermal
purging chimneys, an automated sunlight control system, a centrally
located atrium between the major floorplates and the use of
architecturally innovative walkways plus meeting and dining areas to
improve workplace productivity.
Having undertaken a commitment (or at least an appreciation) of
ecology sustainable development however, the architectural, engineering
and construction (AEC), Corporate Real Estate (CRE) and indeed facility
management sectors have progressed to the broader considerations of
whole of life planning and the question of embodied energy for
buildings.
These business sectors appear to be arriving at something of a
juncture in their path toward the evolution of the built environment. On
the one hand the commercially built environment have an ageing
building stock and a need for ‘new’ workplaces, and on the other they
have the increasing realisation that from an embodied energy point of
view, it does not make sense to demolish and rebuild entire buildings
from the ground up.
The business cases for the complete demolition of buildings and the
subsequent construction of newer ones will still exist, and there will no
doubt be compelling arguments such as IT upgrades, mechanical
services upgrades and capital appreciation and realisation issues that will
continue to drive these instances. It is also true that the incidence of
Green Star rated office fitouts and their supporting services have
matured to the point where there are also excellent business cases for
the major restructuring of existing buildings to significantly higher Green
Star standards.
At one of the better examples of this, namely 40 Albert Road in
South Melbourne, facility management state that “the project has proven

20 • f a c i l i t y perspectives

that sustainable buildings are a good business model – retrofitting
reduces day-to-day running costs and increases a building’s value”1.
A significant portion of that business model is the expected and
measurable increase in workplace productivity. Achieving measurable
increases in workplace productivity is the Holy Grail of ESD major capital
works and refurbishments because any incremental productivity increase
equates to significant savings in the largest cost of doing business –
salaries and wages. Workplace productivity increases also contribute
towards notable enhancements in the corporation’s bottom line.
At the same time, the science of building performance measurement
is improving, with purpose-built and manned units such as MABEL
(Mobile Architecture and Built Environment Laboratory) able to quantify
and qualify the cause and effect of workplace environmental variables.
Also available is dedicated software such as Integrated Environmental
Solutions building performance modelling able to provide building
performance assessment in the application of engineering and
architectural solutions to existing and proposed buildings.
While most of our existing building stock is still around the 2.5 to 3
Star Green Star rating, a significant number of refurbishments in the last
decade have had ‘green’ as a stated objective in their outcomes, and as
such these refurbishments are steadily raising the benchmark of
expectations for ecologically sustainable outcomes. Some of the more
celebrated existing buildings to benefit from the use of technology are
as follows:
40 Albert Road South Melbourne Victoria
40 Albert Road in South Melbourne is Australia’s first green building
refurbishment project to achieve a 6 Star Green Star rating and NABERS
5 Star Water rating. The multiple award-winning retrofit project has
refurbished and restructured a 20 year old building and transformed it
into one of Australia’s highest rated green building, with a reported 13%
increase in staff productivity.
The building boasts a host of leading-edge building smarts
including:
Energy
3 Ceramic Fuel cell producing 1kW of electricity and 1kW of domestic
hot water (meets 90% of the building’s hot water needs)
3 Polycrystalline (4.8kW, 4.6 MWh pa) and amorphous (1.1kW, 1.47
MWh pa) solar panels generate 6.1 MWh pa of electricity.
3 Lighting systems - high efficiency lamps and ballast used with
integrated occupancy sensor/control system
3 High efficiency office equipment: water boiling units, chillers,
printers, PCs
3 Integrated occupancy sensing: In addition to controlling lighting
occupancy sensors also used to reduce air-conditioning load to an
area when unoccupied and used for out-of -hours security
monitoring
3 Gas engine air-conditioning: This unit incorporates a small natural
gas fuelled reciprocating gas engine which is directly coupled to a
conventional refrigeration compressor. This unit provides a cost
effective means for providing building heating/cooling, reducing
summer peak electrical loads and greenhouse gas emissions.
3 Windows: increased window area and skylights allow greater
daylight penetration (resulting in reduced artificial lighting), all
windows double-glazed
3 All electricity supplied from the grid is 100% green power.
Indoor Environmental Quality
3 Use of low VOC carpets, paints
3 E-zero carcass construction used low emission particle board
3 E-zero joinery and wall panelling – all face joinery and wall panelling
use E-zero (low emission) MDF (medium density fibre board)
3 Carbon monoxide sensors in carparks
3 Natural ventilation system - operable windows at the ends of each
floor allow fresh air to enter each office floor, displacing warmer/stale
air via the centrally located stairwell/thermal chimney - this is
automatically controlled by the building management system
3 Indoor air quality tests (based on the ASHRAE standard) showed no
detectable formaldehydes and VOC levels so low they were
equivalent to a rural setting.
Water
3 Water efficient AAA tapware (6L/min), showerheads (9L/min); AAAA
toilets (3L/4.5L flush)
3 Waterless urinals
3 Greywater recycling: grey water collected from hand basins and
ESD + THE ENVIRONMENT
showers is filtered, disinfected and stored together with stormwater
from the building rooftop. This recovered water is used for toilet
flushing saving an estimated 12,000 L pa.
3 Rainwater collection (2 x 2,200L tanks)
3 Cooling tower water consumption eliminated
Waste
3 centrally located segregated waste bins on each floor: recyclables,
organics, general waste
3 paper recycling bins only at each desk
3 Waste generation is 94kg/for each staff member which is 54% lower
than the 173kg average waste generated by office workers per
annum
3 81% of waste collected is recycled, organic waste is composted
3 Waste to landfill has consequently been reduced by 81%
3 Discharge to sewer reduced by over 70%
Materials
3 Reuse of the Structure – 96% of the existing structure re-used
3 Re-use of the Façade – 88% of existing façade re-used
3 Recycled material from the existing site made up 98% of the
construction materials for the new building
3 Recyclable carpets
3 Reconstituted timber veneers were specified as finishes for all doors
and cupboards forming entries to the service/amenities and in the
reception area
3 Wood pulp panels – pressed wood pulp panels have been utilised as
feature walling the office and receptions areas
3 Recycled aluminium ceiling tiles (>90% post-industrial recycled
aluminium)
3 Phenolic resin desktops
3 Minimum use of joinery pull hardware: The use of specific hardware
has been minimised by designing the pull in tot eh joinery unit.
3 Leather upholstery is non-chromium treated
3 Meeting room tables are made from recycled stringy bark timber
3 Synthetic rubber flooring for the kitchen areas
3 Polyester (not vinyl) privacy and graphics film was used to provide a
degree of screening on glass panels in areas of the fitout
Like most cutting edge buildings, there have and continue to be
challenges in the maintenance and fine-tuning of the building’s
technology, and new lessons are being learned and shared for future
development.
500 Collins St Melbourne Victoria
500 Collins Street is a 30-year-old 28-level multi-tenanted refurbished
office building that has achieved the Green Building Council of Australia’s
five star Green Star rating.
It provides an important example for the large pool of existing
commercial building stock which contributes heavily to the performance
of the commercial building sector as a whole. Significantly, it is has been
monitored before and after the upgrade and indicates improved
occupant productivity.1
Kador, the owners of 500 Collins Street, and Sustainability Victoria
conducted a workplace productivity study following a green fit out of a
number of floors. The research was conducted by Business Outlook and
Evaluation on two building tenants; law firm Oakley Thompson and
stockbrokers Lonsec. The study involved staff surveys, examination of sick
leave records, typing tests and billable hour’s ratios. Carbon dioxide and
carbon monoxide levels, along with temperature and relative humidity,
were also measured.
The results are impressive and speak for themselves:
3 average sick days per employee per month reduced by 39%
3 sick leave costs reduced by 44%
3 speed and accuracy of typing increased
3 lawyers’ billing ratios increased, even as average hours declined
Apart from the workplace productivity increases, the refurbishment
saved about $15,000 a year in energy bills and cut greenhouse gas
emissions by more than 1,700 tonnes a year.2
The company believes, quite rightly, that the refurbishment has
demonstrated that old, energy-inefficient buildings can be upgraded to a
high-quality sustainable outcome with tenants in place. Kador took the
fairly unusual step of undertaking such a major project while they had
tenants in place, upgrading three floors at a time while the rest were
occupied. Their management team were particularly adept at keeping
their tenants informed through direct contact and newsletters, and in
managing any complaints that arose. Demolition and strip out works
CONTINUED ON PAGE 24
f a c i l i t y perspectives • 21
ADVERTORIAL
XML/SOAP
in the Building Enterprise
Building automation has embraced many technologies from the IT world over the past few
years, enabling a greater standardisation of systems. This has allowed greater levels of
integration between Building Automation Systems (BAS) and other systems including, access
control, CCTV and fire safety systems etc.
One of the more recent adoptions has been XML/SOAP. This
is a technology that has allowed disparate systems to
communicate and share data in a managed and far simpler
way than was previously possible.
What is XML/SOAP?
SOAP was developed by Microsoft and IBM, amongst others,
and provides a way to communicate between software
applications running on different operating systems, with
different technologies and programming languages.
Previous technologies were able to do this, but SOAP allows
this to be done over the Internet with the ability to get around
“firewalls” and proxy servers.
SOAP is a protocol for accessing a Web Service, where a Web
service is a standardised way of integrating Web-based
applications over an Internet protocol backbone.
What does this mean in simpler terms? As an example
Automated Logic uses Web Services to allow other software
applications (e.g. MS Excel) to access data from the
WebCTRL Building automation system. Some actual
installations are highlighted later on in this article.
Automated Logic was among the first to implement
XML/SOAP (Enterprise Integration) in our WebCTRL server
software. 3rd party software can read and write data from the
building automation system. This can be as simple as reading
point data (e.g. temperature) into an Excel spreadsheet. Or
could be more complex such as interfacing with an After
Hours Air Conditioning application.
Automated Logic has built functionality, using web services,
into the server that allows 3rd party software to:
• Retrieve point data
• Write point data
• Retrieve complete Trend Logs
• Retrieve Reports Data
The following diagram shows how the WebCTRL server
residing on the Ethernet IP LAN gathers the data from the
building automation system and allows 3rd party software to
access the server over the LAN.
(Note that other system data, including security, lighting
control and life safety, can be accessed via the WebCTRL
server)
XML/SOAP allows users to write applications to suit their
needs. The following describes 3 examples of applications
that are using this technology:
After Hours Air Conditioning (AHAC)
Waterfront Place in Brisbane, was the subject of a BAS
upgrade that was recently completed. Part of the contract was
to provide an AHAC request and reporting system.
Upon logging in to a dedicated web server, the user is
presented with a choice of zones and is asked to select the
desired, date, time and duration of air conditioning required.
If their password access permits they can also see the
historical usage of AHAC and temperatures for that zone.
Using SOAP the AHAC system submits requests for AC and
displays usage and zone temperatures.
Similar systems have also been installed in the Herald and
Weekly Times and 484 St Kilda Rd buildings in Melbourne.
VOIP Interface
The Kumutoto Building in Wellington, New Zealand, home to
Meridian Energy Ltd., has installed a Voice over IP (VOIP)
interface to the WebCTRL BAS. This allows the user to
control:
• Blinds, windows and lighting scenes in the meeting rooms
from Cisco VOIP phones in over 30 rooms throughout the
building.
A simple menu on the phone allows simple user friendly
control, whilst reducing the “clutter” of wall and table top
control devices.
Dynamic Building Modeling
The Forestry SA building in Mount Gambier has interfaced the
WebCTRL BAS to a dynamic building modeling program,
AEM4.
AEM4 calculates the theoretical energy consumption of a
building, based on live temperature and humidity data,
supplied by WebCTRL.
WebCTRL then compares the actual metered consumption
with the AEM4 data. AEM4 assumes that the building is
commissioned and running correctly. When a discrepancy is
discovered, indicating a malfunctioning air conditioning
system, WebCTRL will raise an alarm and alert the building
manager by email.
These are just examples of successful WebCTRL / SOAP
implementations. SOAP now provides the tool for building
owners to expand the usefulness and capabilities of the
building automation systems.
ESD + THE ENVIRONMENT
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 21
were carried out at night and carpet was kept on the floor for as long as
possible to reduce the noise for the tenants below.
The air flow modelling used for the optimisation of the chilled beam
technology, (which normally requires a virtually airtight building façade)
was comprehensive and believed to be a first for an existing tenanted
building in Australia.
Australian Ethical Investment Offices at Trevor Pearcey House
(Block E), Bruce ACT
An office refurbishment and fitout designed to achieve
environmental benefits and resource efficiency as well as increased staff
comfort and productivity, the building refurbishment gained a 6 Star
Green Star rating – office design.
Situated at 34 Thynne Street, Block E, Traeger Court, in Bruce ACT
and part of the Fern Hill Technology Park (about 5km from the Canberra
CBD), the building is one block in a complex of 5 near identical, square
two storey blocks. Prior to refurbishment it was a standard 20-year-old
commercial office building with a net lettable area of about 1000sqm.
The refurbishment features:
3 passive cooling and ventilation combined with a wider thermal
comfort band (19˚-26˚C) reducing demand on mechanical systems
3 double glazing
3 external walls are ‘reverse brick veneer’ – thermal mass on the inside
is insulated (75mm) from the outside air temperature
3 R5 insulation under the metal deck roof
3 improvements to the shading panels
3 exposing the ground floor slab
3 evacuated tube solar hot water heating
The building is designed to be passively cooled in summer by a
‘night purge’. When the night temperature drops well below the internal
temperature the windows open automatically to draw cool air into the
building. Hot air is exhausted via the stacks and the louvered windows in
the barrel vault.
The Building Management Systems consist of C-Bus lighting control,
sub-metering, a basic BMS (Building Management System), Water Guard
leak detection and complete building commissioning, producing savings
of an estimated 75% reduction in CO2 emissions*.
Water efficient features incorporated into the building include:
3 taps upgraded to 4L per minute, showerheads to 5A fittings – 6L per
minute
3 upgrade of the existing single flush toilets to dual flush with a 9/4.5L
system
3 urinals upgraded with a Sani-Sleeve low water use system reducing
water use by 95%
3 rainwater tanks collecting from the roof and plumbed for use in
flushing the toilets
3 garden drip irrigation with moisture sensor
Estimated total draw on mains water: 9.24L per person per day,
which constitutes an estimated 75% reduction in water use.* The
recycling rate for the project also represented an increase of 80% by
weight.
Comparisons with estimates for previous premises and for average
Canberra office buildings.
Driven by an increasing sense of necessity, the architectural and
engineering skill sets required to deliver on the greening of the Built
Environment while still in its infancy, have come a long way in a relatively
short time. What will the future hold? One vision is fully interactive
buildings that operate in much the same way as cars deliver occupant
needs presently, and that fully mimic nature’s heating and cooling
systems to produce negligible carbon emissions. Others see a hydrogen
economy with buildings that produce their own non-grid dependent
power. Whatever that future holds, the lessons learned from each new
project will bring us collaboratively toward it.
References
0 http://www.greenhouse.gov.au/yourhome/technical/fs31.htm
1 http://www.yourbuilding.org/display/yb/40+Albert+Road,+South+Melbourne,+VIC
2 http://www.sustainability.vic.gov.au/www/html/2575-green-building-productivity.asp
3 http://www.austethical.com.au/company_information/about_us/offices_-
_trevor_pearcey_house/australian_ethicals_green_office_building

A TRAINING SCHEME
WELL WORTH THE ENERGY.
NOW OPEN: NABERS OFFICE Accreditation Training Sessions, running throughout 2008.
Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Canberra and Perth. PLACES ARE STRICTLY LIMITED.

NABERS (the National Australian Built Environment Rating System) is the gold standard performance-based rating
system for existing buildings. NABERS rates a building on the basis of its measured impact on the environment and
incorporates the respected ABGR (the Australian Building Greenhouse Rating) for energy and greenhouse efficiency.

Applications for training from suitably qualified individuals to become Accredited Assessors
under the NABERS OFFICE Scheme are now being received.

For more information, training dates and to register visit www.nabers.com.au

Benchmark 2008 will see the launch of a suite of new NABERS tools. The new
tools will be launched in Sydney, Melbourne and Perth at the NABERS Benchmark
Conference Series in May. For more information visit www.nabers.com.au

24 • f a c i l i t y perspectives
 CARBON
A.G. COOMBS

ROADMAP
REDUCE YOUR BUILDING’S CARBON FOOTPRINT
A.G. Coombs transform buildings A.G. Coombs offer:
for Star rated energy efficient ᔢ Single point of responsibility

performance. We work with you ᔢ Warranted Star rated outcomes

to deliver the best path forward ᔢ Extensive experience in all aspects of building
energy efficiency
through staged targets to reduce ᔢ Industry leading experts, accredited Green Star
greenhouse emissions. Along with and ABGR professionals

the necessary environmental ᔢ Innovative management tools for assessment, project

benefits, we will reduce your
energy costs, and help improve
the building’s value.
management, tuning and performance management
ᔢ Energy efficiency maintenance and building
tuning programs
ᔢ Product independence – best of breed technology

To Carbon Roadmap your building

contact A.G. Coombs Group.
Telephone John Cucé 03 9248 2700.
A.G. COOMBS GROUP
ADVISORY | PROJECTS | SERVICE | TECHNICAL MANAGEMENT agcoombs.com.au

DISEGNO COO1466C
Reducing peak electricity use for
profit and community benefit
Extreme peaks in electricity demand
are expensive for everyone. Typically
occurring on just a few hot summer
afternoons and cold winter nights
each year, they put pressure on util-
ity companies to provide reliable
supply and increase the price for all
consumers.
Building infrastructure just to handle
extreme peaks leads to inefficient
use of resources. Utility companies
that can minimise or delay expensive
extra investment by reducing peak
demand are willing to pay busi-
nesses to reduce their electricity de-
mand from the grid. Energy Response
links demand with supply, working
with these utilities and businesses
to run peak load reduction programs
Participants come from all sectors –
from commercial buildings and RSL
clubs to wood product manufactur-
ers; government facilities to mines;
mushroom farms to telecommunica-
tions companies. They reduce de-
mand either by temporarily turning
off specific equipment, rescheduling
processes or switching some or all
their load to local or standby genera-
tion.
“Facility Managers play a key role”
says Energy Response Managing Di-
rector Michael Zammit. “They under-
stand operations and the needs of
tenants or staff. Many have under-
taken energy audits and are very
aware of electricity load and patterns
of use. They can devise workable
plans that benefit the community
and add thousands of dollars directly
to their bottom line. Receiving up to
24 hours advance warning of a po-
tential issue on the grid can in itself,
be extremely valuable”.
For more information visit
www.energyresponse.com
 RENEWABLE ENERGY BUYING GUIDE

Buyers guide to
Renewable Energy
Who gets the green light on green energy?
BY BIANCA FROST

Green is the new black as far as current marketing trends are concerned. With everything
from domestic consumables to large scale industry projects promoted as “green”, “organic”,
“carbon-neutral” or “environmentally safe”, the green bandwagon offers a boon to
marketers looking to target the “green” dollar of well-meaning consumers. So lucrative is
the green dollar that the term “green-washing” has been coined to describe the practice of
opportunistic marketers looking to capitalise on the demand for greenhouse gas-neutral
products and services. This month, Facility Perspectives’ Bianca Frost investigates some of
the myths and misnomers surrounding so-called “green energy” to assist you in selecting the
right product, at the right price, for your facility.

W
hile debate over the degree of mankind’s contribution to global
warming continues, the overwhelming consensus that climate
change is real and happening now is mobilising individuals,
corporations and governments alike to invest in green friendly product and
energy alternatives. For facility managers in particular, increasingly strict
compliance regulations, rising energy costs and the growing push to
demonstrate responsible corporate citizenship, are creating strong demand
for energy-efficient solutions to building operation requirements.
In 2001, the previous Australian government introduced the Mandatory
Renewable Energy Target (MRET) to enforce compulsory investment in
renewable energy. However, this target is set at only a relatively low 2-3% of
our total energy generation. Interestingly, the total percentage of
renewable energy being fed into the national energy grid is currently
around 8%-5% more than federally legislated requirements due to the
demand created by residential, commercial, state and local governments.
The remainder of electricity on the national electricity grid comes from
generators that burn black and brown coal, and other high-polluting fossil
fuel sources. Coal burning – especially that of brown coal as used
predominantly throughout Victoria – is the most greenhouse intensive form
of energy generation in the world and is collectively responsible for 35% of
Australia’s total greenhouse gas emissions.
To put this in some perspective, a single 20-storey office block can use
more than four gigawatt hours (4 million kWhs) of electricity every year,
producing about 4000 tonnes of greenhouse gas. This is equivalent to the
greenhouse pollution emitted from nearly 1000 cars each year.
To combat further increases in Australia’s greenhouse emissions, the
government has introduced a mandatory Clean Energy Target of 15%
renewable energy by 2020 but there is broad agreement that this is not
nearly enough to reduce Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions in time to
avoid the risk of dangerous climate change.
Kim Barnett, Program Manager of GreenPower, a government run,
national renewable energy accreditation program, says that any approved
GreenPower purchases made by consumers are additional to MRET
requirements and give consumers an opportunity to go beyond what the
government has mandated through regulation.
“For example,” says Barnett, “a customer on just 20% GreenPower is
buying roughly seven times more ‘new’ renewable energy than a customer
on standard electricity”.
Energy retailers and a whole crop of emerging renewable energy
providers now offer a growing range of “green” energy products that
deliver a variable percentage of electricity purchased from renewable
sources such as wind, solar, bio-mass and hydro. The big question is, which
of these products are genuinely promoting cuts in our greenhouse gas
emissions, and which of those are simply exploiting the desire of those
wanting to “do their bit” for the environment?
What you need to know…

BASED ON PURCHASING GREENPOWER TO THE EQUIVALENT OF 100% OF AN SME’ ELECTRICITY CONSUMPTION WHEN USING LESS THAN 160 MWH
PER YEAR.

Origin – GreenEarth Wind Off-set Climate Friendly – Climate Neutral Emerald

Origin claim more customers purchase GreenPower from them than
from any other energy retailer in Australia.
GreenPower approved, the GreenEarth Wind Off-set energy plan is
a ‘block’ product, which means you buy a fixed amount of green energy
no matter how much electricity you use. Depending on your electricity
consumption, achieving the equivalent of 100% of your energy usage
may mean buying more than one block.
Available nationally, you don’t have to be an Origin customer to
purchase Origin’s GreenPower renewable energy. Supply agreements
including a ‘top up” option can be tailored to quantities and lengths that
suit your businesses needs.
The GreenEarth Wind Off-set policy costs an extra 5.5 cents extra for
each unit of GreenPower.
Green Electricity Watch rating: rr
Origin
13 24 63 • www.originenergy.com.au
Climate Friendly sources its carbon credits from 100% GreenPower
approved wind farms in Port Lincoln, South Australia, east of Ararat in
Western Victoria, and from Shark Bay north of Perth in Western Australia.
This company is not an electricity retailer. Instead, Climate Friendly
purchase carbon credits on your behalf. While Climate Friendly is part of
a global green energy company funding renewable energy projects in
China and Turkey, only the green energy bought from Australian sources
meets GreenPower’s criteria. The renewable energy you purchase is then
fed into the national grid on your behalf, but you will still need to buy
electricity from your normal supplier.
Expect to pay around 4 cents per k/W on top of your regular energy
bill for this kind of green energy investment.
Climate Friendly also supply carbon credits to off-set or “neutralize”
air and car travel, freight and even paper use.
Green Electricity Watch rating: rr
Climate Friendly
(02) 9356 3600 • climatefriendly.com

f a c i l i t y perspectives • 27
RENEWABLE ENERGY BUYING GUIDE
What is GreenPower?
GreenPower is a national renewable energy accreditation scheme
administered by a collection of state government authorities to guarantee
that so-called “green” energy is sourced from environmentally sound sun,
wind, water and waste electrical generators.
All accredited GreenPower energy is subject to stringent environmental
standards and can only be derived from energy facilities built after January
1997. Renewable energy from generators established prior to this date is
not eligible for GreenPower accreditation on the basis that one of the key
objectives of the GreenPower scheme is to drive investment in new
renewable energy projects.
Once a GreenPower energy generator is approved, they are subject to
an annual compliance audit to ensure that retailers and consumers receive
the full amount of accredited renewable energy that they are paying for.
Why use GreenPower?
By buying GreenPower, consumers can increase the amount of
renewable energy investment and generation in Australia over and above
any mandatory targets. To date, GreenPower sales have represented
greenhouse gas savings of nearly 4.5 million tonnes, which is equivalent to
taking one million cars off our roads for a year.
Which generators have GreenPower accreditation?
Currently there are over 169 new renewable energy generators that are
accredited under the GreenPower program. GreenPower only accredits
companies that produce electricity from eligible renewable energy
resources.
What qualifies as eligible renewable energy?
GreenPower has established a number of specific criterions for eligible
renewable energy sources. Renewable energy is energy derived from
sources that cannot be depleted or energy that can be replaced, such as
solar, wind, biomass (landfill gas, municipal solid waste, agricultural wastes,
energy crops1, wood wastes2), wave (tidal), hydro (small scale or on existing
dams3) and geothermal energy.
Why choose GreenPower for your business?
GreenPower offers your business the opportunity to reduce polluting
greenhouse gas emissions in Australia. Nationally, almost 27,000
organisations and over 600,000 residential households purchase accredited
GreenPower energy. By choosing GreenPower you will be driving demand
for electricity made from renewable sources. It also means that your
business will be adopting an environmentally-responsible image that many
employees and consumers will respect and value.
Research has shown that the majority of consumers prefer to buy from
companies who position themselves as responsible corporate citizens. In
terms of GreenPower, a survey conducted by Artcraft Research in 1999
showed that 79% of respondents agreed with the statement: “If I had the
choice of buying goods from a company that contributes to a GreenPower
scheme versus one that does not, I’d definitely buy from the one that does
contribute to GreenPower.”
COzero – COzero Business
COzero was founded by Nick Armstrong, a graduate of Sydney
University, and Dan Sullivan, a web, software and UI developer. COzero
not only provides carbon off-setting via GreenPower recognized
renewable energy products, they offer a bespoke range of services for
companies including a full environmental audit and consultancy service,
while their website encourages members to car pool, share energy-
saving tips and socialize.
Another non-retail, GreenPower trader, COzero Business purchases
its carbon credits from two main sources in Australia – the Mt Miller Wind
Farm on the Eyre Peninsula in South Australia, and the Alinta Wind Farm
located south of Geraldton in Western Australia’s Mid-West region.
COzero costs an additional 4.84 cents for each unit of GreenPower
used to offset your carbon energy emissions.
Green Electricity Watch rating: rrr
COzero
1300 BE NEUTRA • www.cozero.net
BASED ON PURCHASING GREENPOWER TO THE EQUIVALENT OF 100% OF A LARGE
BUSINESS USING MORE THAN 160 MWH PER YEAR.
28 • f a c i l i t y perspectives
How much does green energy cost?
The average cost per unit of traditional fossil fuel generated electricity
is about 12 cents per kilowatt hour, but this varies from state to state and
from retailer to retailer. GreenPower usually costs around 5 cents extra per
unit in addition to the normal charge for electricity made by that supplier.
Some retailers set a fixed price for GreenPower, rather than charging you
according to how much you use. In this case the ‘charge per unit
GreenPower’ listed is calculated from average Australian electricity use. For
example, if a 10% GreenPower had a fixed cost, this cost has been divided
by 680 to get the unit cost for GreenPower, because 10% of average
Australian electricity use is 680 kWh.
Which is the best green energy plan for your business?
The best energy plan for your business depends on a number of
factors including overall usage and the ratio of peak to off-peak usage.
There are 119 different GreenPower accredited energy products on the
market, 37 of which are suitable for small to medium enterprises (SME’s)
and 30 for large businesses.
The various merits of these products have been evaluated by Green
Electricity Watch, an independent online ranking system funded by the
Australian Conservation Foundation, the Total Environment Centre and
WWF Australia. The website was developed to provide consumers with a
four-star rating system to evaluate the plethora of green energy products
that have flooded the market in recent years.
Now in its fourth year, the list ranks products based on how much the
product increases renewable energy in Australia; how clearly provided is
information about the product, including web, call centres, and printed
materials; how much the retailer increased the percentage uptake of
GreenPower; and, what proportion of accredited GreenPower is in the
product.
Penalties are given for practices which Green Electricity Watch
considers misleading, or which may divert people away from GreenPower.
Penalties can have a big impact on a product’s final score.
Which plans do the Green Electricity Watch recommend?
Like GreenPower, the Green Electricity Watch does not recommend
individual products or retailers, but they do suggest that consumers look for
the GreenPower logo and purchase as close to 100% GreenPower
approved energy as they can afford and have incorporated a four-star
ranking system to indicate how well each product performed against the
sites particular criteria.
Why buy GreenPower and not just any renewable energy?
There are two kinds of renewable energy forms, accredited and non-
accredited. Accredited forms of renewable energy are those certified as
coming from new renewable generators – additional to when the scheme
started in 1997 – and are contributing to greenhouse gas emission
reductions over and beyond legislated targets. The larger the sales of
accredited energy, the greater the real cuts to our greenhouse emissions.
Non-accredited forms are those that have been part of the electricity
for a long time such as hydro and bagasse (sugar cane), or other renewable
Pacific Hydro – Pacific Hydro 100%
Pacific Hydro is a global company that was founded in 1992 by three
hydro electrical engineers from Melbourne.
Pacific Hydro began with the construction of several hydro power
stations in Victoria. Later they built Australia’s first privately funded wind
farm at Codrington near Port Fairy in Victoria’s south-west. They now
produce more than 1,800 MW of energy from hydroelectric and wind
farm projects across Australia, the Asia-Pacific and Latin America.
Pacific Hydro’s 100% GreenPower is only available to medium and
large business or government bodies within Australia. The minimum
transaction is 2,000 MWh per year and is available nationally with flexible
contract terms.
Again, Pacific Hydro does not retail electricity, but is a decoupled
renewable energy provider and investor. Costs per KWh are variable,
depending on the supply negotiations between companies and Pacific
Hydro.
Green Electricity Watch rating: rrr
Pacific Hydro
(03) 8621 6000 • www.pacifichydro.com.au
RENEWABLE ENERGY BUYING GUIDE

sources that are contributing to existing MRET’s. Non-accredited renewable

energy will be fed into the national electricity grid regardless of consumer
demand.
The whole point of the GreenPower scheme is to facilitate additional
greenhouse emission cuts via demand generated by the free market
GreenPower Buyers Guide
Businesses can all the customer service numbers below or on their electricity bill and ask to join up to an accredited
GreenPower product. Remember each energy supplier will have their own name for the accredited GreenPower
product they sell, such as ‘GreenLiving’ or ‘GreenEarth’, and have different options for the percentage of GreenPower
you can purchase.

mechanism. Purchasing non-accredited renewable energy essentially makes

Provider Contact NSW VIC QLD SA WA TAS ACT NT
very little impact on our emission output, which is ultimately what the
global community must achieve if we are to divert the worst effects of
human-assisted climate change. 13 13 58

(03) 9682 4200

How do I know that the energy I am purchasing is GreenPower
approved? 13 12 45

All GreenPower accredited products carry the GreenPower tick of

approval, and will clearly display the percentage of GreenPower they 1300 13 2045

contain.
1300 CLIMATE

What kind of green energy plans are available?

Retailer’s structure and charge for GreenPower in several different ways. 13 23 56

Some retailers charge per unit of GreenPower that you use. If you buy
10% GreenPower, you will be charged this extra cost on 10% of your 1300 BE NEUTRAL

electricity consumption.
With other GreenPower products, you purchase a fixed amount of 13 88 08

GreenPower based on a set number of units per year or per day, which are
13 10 46
then charged at a fixed rate. Under this kind of plan, you can determine the
cost of your GreenPower in advance. Sometimes these are sold as different
13 14 93
size blocks. However, the proportion of GreenPower in those blocks can
vary depending on how much electricity you use. For example, the more
(03) 9822 6335
electricity you use over and above the average calculation, the smaller the
percentage of GreenPower energy you are likely to receive. Likewise, the 13 10 02
less energy you use, the greater the percentage of GreenPower covering
your usage. 1300 662 778
In some other cases, retailers will charge a fixed amount but give you a
variable amount of GreenPower equivalent to a percentage of your 13 GREEN
electricity use. For example, your energy company commits to feed 10%,
or 50%, or 100% of your energy consumption as GreenPower into the grid, (03) 9620 4400

but charge you a fixed amount regardless of the total amount of energy
that you use. 1300 307 966

Finally, there are some products that offer more than 100%
GreenPower. Under these kinds of plans, energy retailers are purchasing 1300 360 294

more GreenPower on your behalf than you actually use. Essentially this
product allows the consumer to offset the non-renewable or non-accredited 13 13 53

renewable energy consumption of other energy users.

For more information about GreenPower and to find out which 13 34 66

energy retailers are GreenPower accredited visit

www.greenpower.gov.au. For a ranking guide on particular GreenPower 1300 136 749

energy plans and products, visit www.greenelectricitywatch.org.au.

(02) 9518 3121
1 Only crops grown on land cleared prior to 1990 are eligible under the GreenPower program.
2 Only wood waste sourced from existing sustainably managed forestry plantations and clearing
of specified noxious weeds are eligible. Use of any materials from high conservation-value forests
is not eligible. Organisations in these states allow you to remain with your
current electricity retailer but purchase GreenPower credits
3 Hydro-electric power projects must have adequate environmental flows. Projects that involve from them as well.
construction of new dams or diversion of rivers are not acceptable under GreenPower criteria.

GreenSwitch – Green Switch Ark Climate – Ark Climate Business

GreenSwitch is a business unit of the not-for-profit Global Green Plan
environmental organization.
The GreenSwitch model allows you to quickly and simply buy back
your greenhouse energy emissions online by entering the amount of
your energy usage from your electricity bill, then choosing what mix of
wind, solar, hydro and biomass renewable energy sources you wish to
purchase. The amount you pay will depend on the amount and mix of
energy sources you choose.
An online account will be created for you that records your previous
purchases and allows you to view and re-print yourGreenPower
certificate.
Like most GreenPower traders, GreenSwitch also allows you to off-
set emissions from particular events, conferences or seminars that you
might conduct, allowing you to display the GreenPower logo on
collateral related to the event.
Green Electricity Watch rating: rr
GreenSwitch
(03) 9822 6335 • www.greenswitch.com.au
Ark Climate provides “decoupled” products which allow consumers
to switch to government accredited renewable energy without changing
electricity retailer.
As with other GreenPower products the consumer’s money is paid to
a renewable energy generator to replace the energy that the consumer
has drawn from the national grid. Without this payment the energy
would automatically be supplied from non renewable sources.
Ark Climate is the online carbon trading arm of the privately owned
Australian CO2 Exchange (ACX). ACX has over 15 years experience in
the fields of environmental sustainability and energy efficiency, and offer
a complete Carbon Management Program that covers everything from
real time energy and resource monitoring to analysis and solutions
implementation.
Current clients purchasing Green Power carbon credits via Ark
Climate include the Environment Protection Authority Victoria (EPA), City
of Melbourne, Colonial First State Investments and Minter Ellison.
Green Electricity Watch rating: rr
Ark Climate
(03) 9682 4200 • www.arkclimate.com or www.co2ex.com.au

30 • f a c i l i t y perspectives
ADVERTORIAL

Urinals – The water waster!

Urinal flushing is one of the worst offenders when it comes to excess water consumption.

I
t is extraordinary to think that just
one urinal with a nine litre cistern
flushing every 15 minutes uses over
315,000 litres of water per year.
Not only is this excess water usage a
cost to businesses but we are wasting
one of earth’s increasingly precious
resources that we can no longer ignore.
By investing in water saving urinal
technology you can do your part to
help the environment and your budget.
Dave Smith, General Manager for Pink
Hygiene Solutions says, ‘By simply
controlling the amount of water being
flushed though the urinal, your business
could save up to 90% on urinal water
consumption.’
It is important to note that a “waterless
urinal” is a concept and in actual
fact they do need some water to be
completely effective. The December
2007 publication of Asia Cleaning
Journal states that ‘the issue with
waterless urinals is that the eventual
build-up of uric scale will cause
problematic odours sooner or later…’
and could lead to problems in the
drains that require expensive specialist
repairs.
Not only does water saving urinal
technology help save on water usage
but it can also stop odours, prevent
blockages and improve hygiene. All this
makes a trip to the washroom much
more pleasant for your visitors and
keeps your reputation intact.
Reference: Asia Cleaning Journal,
December 2007

Urinals can waste large amounts of water every year

but you can help to reduce water consumption by investing in
the eco-Pink water saving solution. eco-Pink protects the environment because
it dramatically reduces urinal water usage and eliminates the need for harmful chemicals.
 MANAGING AN ICON

Heart of the City – managing

a Brisbane Landmark
Brisbane City Hall serves as one of the most prestigious venues on offer in Queensland’s
capital. Covering almost two hectares of land in the heart of the city, the 80-year-old iconic
structure is one of Brisbane’s finest examples of architecture. The city’s beloved building is
certainly one that belongs to the people, from weddings to dance classes for senior
citizens, hundreds of memorable events pass through the doors of the City Hall each year.
Melanie Drummond spoke to Brisbane City Hall’s Facilities Manager Stephen Page about
the challenges involved with managing a heritage building that rarely ever closes.

f a c i l i t y perspectives • 33
MANAGING AN ICON
F
or Stephen Page, Brisbane City Hall’s Facilities Manager, having a
sense of humour is just one way to keep smiling while managing one
of the city’s busiest facilities.
“Well I’ve got no hair left! I think to a degree your stress levels go up
and down depending on what’s happening and you tend to learn to live
with it to a degree. I try as best as possible to separate my home life from
my work life.”
An electrician by trade, Steve stepped into the hectic role of sole facility
manager for the City Hall just 18 months ago.
“The Brisbane City Council was starting up their own Facilities
Management department in 2000 and they appointed an externally sourced
Facilities Manager to start things moving. I worked with the original Facility
Manager for a few years and learnt quite a lot about what was expected, he
unfortunately left Council and moved onto the State Government. The
group evolved to provide Facility Management services across more of the
council buildings and after gaining valuable experience at a number of sites
I have ended up at Brisbane City Hall.”
Since the City Hall was opened by the Governor of Queensland Sir
John Goodwin on April 8, 1930, it has remained a popular spot for various
events and visiting tourists.
“Just to give you an idea of how busy we are here, in the last 12
months we’ve held: 34 exhibitions, 35 gala events, 265 meetings, 120
performances, 58 receptions, 9 school events, 10 weddings and 55 other
events including sales, church services and memorials etc. We also house a
seniors club that operates in various function areas of city hall, they conduct
dance classes and Play Bridge, cards and have art classes - we held 854 of
those events last year.
“We also have a childcare facility here which has about 100 children on
site right through to kindergarten age. The childcare facilities here have
been operating since the early 1940s and the facilities are open to the
public, numbers permitting of course. The children have internal and
external play areas plus the full range of facilities you’d expect from a
normal childcare centre. Most of the children come and go from the one lift
in the building and unless you were there at the busy times you wouldn’t
know they were here at all.”
As well as playing host to Brisbane City Council meetings and events,
the City Hall has another esteemed tenant - the Museum of Brisbane, which
is also located on site and comprises four gallery spaces that cover an area
of 600sqm.
Luckily, the formidable building has more than enough room to
comfortably deliver the multitude of events and functions it hosts each year
“There are 300 rooms in the building all up, ranging in size. The largest
room is the Grand Ballroom or the Main Auditorium as we call it. The room
dimensions are 37.7 metres in diameter and it has a total area of 849 square
metres. It has the capacity to fit 1230 people on the ground floor plus
another 214 in the gallery. If we want to have a banquet style arrangement
we can house 800 patrons. The main auditorium houses a magnificent Pipe
Organ which is absolutely fantastic to listen to on those occasions when we
have an organ recital. There are 5 other glorious function rooms of various
sizes and themes that are available for hire.”
Steve says keeping on top of interior presentation, maintenance, and
hygiene standards is essential for a building that has such a widespread
public profile.
“We’re constantly painting the place because it’s an old building and it’s
often getting damaged with things coming and going. There are all the
timber finishes, tiled floors, parquetry floors, concrete floors and walls and
solid plaster that need to be maintained - there’s a lot of plaster in the place
which is easily damaged. There’s also general building maintenance - the
building is air conditioned, originally it wasn’t and a lot of the equipment
was put into the available spaces. In some instances it’s no longer practical
to maintain this equipment and it needs relocating to a more suitable spot.
Some of it isn’t exactly pretty either and we need to take this all into account
when we plan any improvements. A lot of the services have been installed
over a period of time and a lot of them have been updated over the years
as they’re quite old.”
Aside from dealing with the everyday nuances that an 80-year-old
building can deliver, part of Steve’s role involves adhering to strict heritage
building requirements when undergoing any maintenance or developments
at the City Hall.
“There is always a lot to learn especially when you are dealing with
building methods from the 1930s. Trying to deal with heritage related issues
like timber floors is also an issue we face and subsequently try to make
good on when they’re damaged. We’ve got a conservation plan that we
established in 1992 and that is essentially our working bible, we work from
34 • f a c i l i t y perspectives
that to ensure we tread lightly in relation to areas of heritage significance.
We also have to consider the requirements of the tenants and the hirers with
any of our intended activities – this is often the biggest hurdle, with a lot of
work being performed outside of hours.”
To guarantee money is spent effective and efficiently at the City Hall, it
is crucial that Steve deals with contractors who have experience working on
heritage sites. Locating sufficiently skilled contractors and building materials
that keep in line with heritage requirements has in the past created
challenges for keeping to anticipated timeframes for upgrades and repairs.
“We have our own heritage architects working with council and they
can make a fairly decent decision on the spot and smooth things out to a
degree with the state and federal government requirements. One thing
which can cause a problem at times is sourcing materials. For example, most
of the doors and timber finishes are Maple or Silky Oak and the timber sizes
used are now pretty difficult to duplicate, so preservation is a necessity.
Wear and tear from events do take a toll on the original building materials
and in some instances we have to rebuild items to original specifications as
they can fail. It could come down to something as simple as a doorknob”.
“As you can imagine we do also sometimes need to be able to source
specialists on occasion such as stone masons, parquetry flooring contractors,
Pipe Organ tuners and so forth. These trades are far from common now and
the good ones are in great demand, so you get them when they are
available and sometimes there is a delay. Trying to source people who can
provide that level of service can often be difficult.”
The City Hall also employs a standard array of contractors such as fire,
lifts, and HVAC and enlists the services of engineering specialists and
heritage consultants as required.
“We have a small internal trades group including electricians, plumbers,
carpenters, painters and telecommunication technicians, which I share with
the rest of the Council sites.
This group affords me a timely response to urgent issues, however they
often subsidise their resources with sub-contractors to meet our needs. The
catering is contracted out as are the majority of the audio visual event
requirements. The cleaning staff works for the operations team and its blend
of internal and external providers which is fairly easy to deal with. The in-
house cleaners do have a love for the building, and a lot of them have been
here for quite a few years so they know what the requirements are, which is
great.
“We’re very lucky we’ve also got an in-house electrician who takes a
great deal of care with the building and is always coming up with innovative
ways to improve the maintenance factor and energy efficiency for lighting.
More recently he has been doing some experimentation with light emitting
diodes (LEDs), to see if it would be more sensible to do some retrofitting
with those.”
Steve has found it vital to have access to up-to-date information relating
to the site when addressing heritage requirements – an objective which
often proves the most demanding facet of working for the City Hall.
“The biggest challenge for this site is obtaining up-to-date information
relating to the building, there have been so many changes over the years
with not as much attention paid to the information. Some of the areas have
been refurbished a multitude of times and yet some other areas are
extremely original. Unfortunately some of the original infrastructure is hidden
behind walls or other structures and that can impede access. We’re
addressing this as we undertake a series of audits within the building. Just to
give you an idea, if we go to paint a wall we can’t just paint it. We have to
do scrapings on the wall to see what the original colours were and see if we
can return it back to the original colour.”
As part of a 10-year-plan to restore the building to its original state, a
series of audits on the entire structure are already underway. Steve’s long-
term strategy also includes developing and maintaining one repository for
records relating to the physical structure of City Hall.

“That is my ultimate goal and it will make it a much easier place to manage.
At various times they’ve had cleanups here and not realised just what has
been thrown away.
Another aspect which has impacted on that is that the site has been
used for a number of different purposes, years ago it housed a great deal of
council office staff and a lot of those moved out in the 1980s to an office
tower that was built for them. Those rooms were subsequently returned to
function rooms. As you can imagine at those times when they’re moving
people around, records can get lost.”
“I take a lot of ownership with regards to the building and believe that
my input into the delivery of maintenance and capital works will bring the
site forward to a much higher level than without my involvement. I also see
myself as the “compliance policeman” for the site and since I started the
levels of compliance has been raised a few notches.”
Risk Management is also top of this busy facility manager’s priority list.
“City Council has its own corporate risk management area and it deals
with the general policies which apply to council and as a venue we have to
fit into that. Brisbane City Council has embraced zero harm for workplace
health and safety some years ago and that means no harm to anyone at
anytime. The intention is to bring your workplace health and safety injury
rate right down to zero by addressing all known risks and changing work
practises accordingly. It’s been a steep learning curve particularly for FMs at
council as we were typically inundated with requests to improve the health
and safety of our sites.
“As you can imagine with an old building like this with great big marble
staircases which don’t have handrails you can get your hand around to hold
on to, you come up against problems. This is when it is good to have your
own Heritage Architects available.”
Whether it’s the latest in health and safety requirements or discussing
the latest in record- keeping essentials, Steve says knowledge sharing with
colleagues in the Facilities Management industry is crucial factor in keeping
on top of the latest developments.
MANAGING AN ICON
“The industry as a whole is evolving rapidly and as every FM in the
industry knows, a facility manager has to wear many guises. It’s important to
stay on top of developments and technology advancements in FM - there is
a public requirement for us to do that. There is an expectation of people in
this role to at least have a basic understanding of what is required in areas
such as sustainability, so they are able to source an answer or a design to
meet the requirements.”
Steve keeps in regular contact with previous Facility Mangers from the
Council and has found maintaining networks in the industry a valuable
support network when problem solving.
“Networking is vital, like anything if you can make a phone call and talk
to somebody and get their ideas on a problem, you can get your answer
fairly promptly. Being the only FM, you can be isolated from the rest of the
workgroup to a degree so it is good to touch base with people who
understand what you’re going though and what your role entails. The role is
pretty demanding and it can be easy to isolate yourself through immersing
yourself in the workload, however it is still a good idea to nurture those
relationships from time to time to ensure you have an effective network of
support.”
While other Facility Managers might be daunted by the many
challenges of facility managing one of Brisbane’s most adored landmarks,
Stephen Page enjoys the responsibility of his diverse and demanding role.
“It’s a varied role, you never know from one day to the next where
you’re going to be taken. There is a lot of responsibility and the buck
definitely stops with this position. Often a decision has to be made and
sometimes they’re hard decisions, you have to live with them right or wrong.
Sometimes you’re literally thinking on your feet. The best thing here is the
people, everyone here puts in an enormous effort to deliver the best and
that’s from the very bottom to the very top. There is a level of understanding
that it’s the home of the Brisbane City Council and it deserves that little bit
of extra effort from all. There’s definitely pride among people working here.”
f a c i l i t y perspectives • 35
WORLD NEWS AND IN BRIEF

British Facility Managers

rise to the challenge
Beginning on the 18th of March 2008, the British Institute of Facility Management (BIFM)
will hold their 2008 annual conference. Conducted over two days among the hallowed red
brick buildings of Keble College, Oxford, this years topic is Sustainable FM – Meeting the
Challenge. Facility Perspectives’ Bianca Frost spoke to Ian Fielder, founding member and
current CEO of BIFM, to discuss the conference and find out what issues, trends and
challenges are currently facing the British FM industry.

KEBLE COLLEGE, OXFORD

FP: Why was the theme of sustainability chose for this year’s
annual BIFM conference?
IF: We chose sustainability because it’s is a very topical issue and when
we looked at our conference in 2007, we felt that the underlying themes
of sustainability and environmental issues were prevalent in many of the
subjects covered and many of the 2007 delegates that we spoke to also
requested that we cover sustainability in full for our 2008 conference.
FP: What are the main topics that will be addressed in the
conference?
IF: Most of the talks will be linked to sustainability – not necessarily
just from an environmental point-of-view, but also from one of longevity.
Our speakers – who come from a range of client and supplier
organizations – can choose topics related to sustainability and link them to
either environmental issues, sustainability issues or simply talk about issues
facing facilities management in the long term.
FP: Who are your keynote speakers?
IF: We’ve got a number of keynote speakers from a number of
backgrounds, taking quite a wide range of different approaches to the
theme of sustainability.
For example, we’ve got the Chief Executive of Oxfam who’s going to
link sustainability - not so much to environmental issues - but within the
context of providing services within the not-for-profit and charity sector
whose key focus is in securing human beings the basic essentials of life.
We’ve also engaged a key forecaster who’s going to be linking
sustainability issues particularly with relation to the government agenda.
His name is James Woodhouse. He is a professor and futurist who’s a very,
very keen supporter of the targets that government is arguing industry
should be adopting regarding sustainability.
Beyond that, we’ve got a whole wide range of case studies that client
organisations and suppliers have linked together which talk about very
specific sustainability projects like energy sustainability, to demonstrate the
outcomes partnerships and good governance can achieve in relation to
sustainability.
FP: How many delegates are you expecting at the conference?
IF: Last year we had delegates from over 22 countries and this year
we are looking for around 400 delegates to attend the conference.
What we have found is that, while this is really designed to be BIFM’s
UK-based conference, there are still a large number of interested people
who visit from overseas – people from as close as Europe and Ireland, and
as far away as the Russia’s, the Middle-East and Africa.
This year we are also expecting delegates from FM associations in the
US and Australia.
FP: What professional backgrounds will your delegates have?
IF: We expect people from five different streams to attend: end-users
from client organisations looking for best practice and networking
opportunities who will come from wide-ranging backgrounds in both the
public and private sectors; management providers in FM working at high
strategic and tactical levels and very often providing services to the client
organisations such as management advice and guidance; service providers
from the catering, cleaning, security, front-of-house, concierge services,
mechanical, electrical sectors; consultant service providers and other
various product providers.
FP: What other events will be held during the conference?
IF: There will be a whole range of side events that will compete
alongside the main events of the conference and deal with some very
eclectic subjects.
For the first time, we are hosting a Boardroom Challenge and inviting
young people in the FM industry to come in and present an initiative or a

36 • f a c i l i t y perspectives
 WORLD NEWS AND IN BRIEF

project to some quite esteemed VIP’s who will act as a board and will
critique the young FM’s ideas.
We have also organised events like, ‘how to network in FM’.
Networking is a particularly valuable skill in FM and having someone who
is a good networker on your team can deliver some really good results. A
lot of people in FM either don’t like networking or are not natural
networkers, so this event is designed to give them very useful and
practical tips on networking within the FM environment.
FP: What are BIFM’s aims for the conference?
IF: We have two main aims. Firstly, we are aiming to provide an
important networking event that brings people together and can assist
them in their professions just by meeting other people who also work in
FM. Secondly, and most importantly, the main aim of the conference is
knowledge exchange, about bringing people together so they can both
gain and exchange knowledge.
FP: What direction or general trends is the FM industry following
in the UK?
IF: The direction of FM is expanding – in particular, the core areas of
FM are changing as clients demand more and more from the scope of FM.
One of the key trends here in FM is how our scope seems to be
travelling into the business areas of the industry.
For example, a lot of FM people, whether engaged in-house or as
suppliers, are now being contracted out by client organizations to manage
their finance or HR requirements.
The reason for this is that client organizations are increasingly finding
that the FM community are the best people to manage contracted
activities. So while FM traditionally provided the hard and soft services that
were very close to the built environment, areas such as travel, invoice data
and other business areas like payroll, are coming under the scope of
facilities management.
The other thing we are seeing more and more, is the convergence of
real estate and FM.
Where FM once ran parallel to real estate, we are now seeing a
convergence between the two responsibilities with many more senior
facilities managers in the UK now managing the real estate responsibilities
of their facilities as well.
FP: What are the main issues or challenges facing the FM industry
in the UK?
IF: Environmental and sustainability issues are really dominating the
FM landscape in the UK at the moment. Related to that are compliance
issues. In fact, compliance is a huge issue due to ongoing changes in
European legislation.
More and more emphasis is now being placed on employers – and in
turn, the FM industry - to demonstrate that they are complying to
legislation, whereas ten years ago, there was more emphasis on
government officials coming in to check that organizations were complying
to that legislation.
In other words, facility managers don’t just have to comply with
legislation, they have to actively demonstrate that compliance and if they
fail to do so, they could very easily find either themselves or their
employers in court for non-compliance.
This is a really big issue here because every facility manager is striving
to comply with legislation and good practice, yet sometimes they are
finding it very difficult to understand what that good practice is.
The other big issue in UK FM are training and education.
Tertiary training for FM in the UK only really starts at the post-graduate
level but there is also a need for potential facility managers to determine
their career at entry point. So, the need to assist young people at a lower,
on-the-job training level in FM is a big issue here and is another topic that
will be discussed at the 2008 conference.
FP: What kind of government regulations are in place with regards
to facility management in the UK?
IF: There are a number of initiatives active in the UK - both mandatory
and advisory.
There is a big emphasis on renewable’s, and new buildings must
comply and demonstrate that they have included new renewable energy
in their design.
Building restrictions are very strict in the UK but there is a lot help
available from the government in managing carbon emissions and making
energy savings as well.
FP: What impacts will recent European Union resolutions on
carbon emissions have on FM practice in the UK?
IF: It is difficult to tell what effect on the ground the recent EU carbon
emissions targets will have on the FM industry.

f a c i l i t y perspectives • 37
WORLD NEWS AND IN BRIEF

Recent UE resolutions are more expressive of an intent than of any

particular action. What is having more impact in the UK is the effect of
corporate social responsibility models which mean that large organisations
are keen to demonstrate that they are good corporate citizens by
publishing their environmental initiatives in their annual reviews and
reports.
I would suggest that rather than looking at the European initiatives,
employers and organizations are more keen to demonstrate that they are
buying their energy efficiently, that they are using their energy efficiently,
reducing their carbon footprint, introducing positive recycling schemes and
moving their personal greenhouse gas emission targets up form 50% to a
higher percentage of energy recycling and looking at renewable energy
sourcing rather than just relying on straight energy use.
There are a lot of things happening in organisational energy
management because people see it not just as an aspect of good
practice, but also because their shareholders are demanding it.
FP: Can you sum up or describe the mood of the FM industry in
the UK?
IF: Very, very positive.
FM’s are always good at beating themselves up, but if you actually
take a step back and look at what’s happening around the world – the
action agenda in FM is very inspiring – the government in the UK has
recognized FM as an industry, we have 25 separate skills councils that are
looking at training and education. Only this week a letter has gone out to
the Prime Minister about energy savings signed by the chairmen of
institutes and associations including BIFM, and it’s the first time we’ve
started to see terms like the built environment and facilities management
used in those letters when traditionally we would’ve seen construction and
engineering being used as a focus.
FM’s are becoming more and more recognised and although there is
still some way to go, we are seeing national occupational standards
produced by the government for FM – which are going to be published
early in 2008 – and that will see the introduction of increased on-the-job
training programs.
Effectively this means that people coming into FM - perhaps from
catering, security and cleaning, for example - will be able to complete
entry level qualifications that will start to contribute towards specific FM
qualifications.
So, to sum up, the mood is very positive. There are still a few mergers
and acquisitions going on within the industry, but from a commercial view,
FM is really a very exciting industry to be involved with.
FP: What can you tell us about the location for the BIFM
conference?
IF: Keble College is about 35 miles from London and has direct routes
by rail and road. We only move our conference venue once every three or
four years, so this is our third year at Oxford. We have previously held
conferences in Cambridge. We quite like the academic feel that the old
red brick universities lend to a conference of this nature. Keble College is a
very Victorian college which we believe reinforces the academic feel of the
conference.
FP: Can BIFM assist delegates travelling from Australia with
accommodation and transportation requirements?
IF: Obviously there are a range of accommodation options in Oxford –
it’s a splendid place to stay and the communication links are excellent.
Because the conference is being held at one of Oxford’s student
colleges, the cheapest option is to take out accommodation at the college
itself. The rooms are quite basic but each has its own ensuite and are
perfectly comfortable.
Our event organisers would be happy to assist anyone requiring
accommodation or transportation information and assistance.
FP: What would you say to any Australian FM professionals
considering whether to attend the conference or not?
IF: You’ll gain a fantastic insight into the UK view of facilities
management. Although there are a lot of commonalities, it is still quite
different from the Australian view.
You’ll also have the opportunity to wander among the spires of Oxford
- which is an experience that just can’t be gained anywhere else - and
meet with very high level people within the industry at senior manager and
director level, and experience the latest thinking in FM best practice from
a UK perspective while enjoying the hospitality of BIFM.

For booking, accommodation and other queries related to BIFM’s 2008

annual conference, please contact Rebecca Montwill by email at
bookings@bifmconference2008.com or visit www.bifmconference.com

38 • f a c i l i t y perspectives
 HOSPITALS & HEALTHCARE

Critical Maintenance –
Facility Management in
today’s Hospitals
For those Facility Managers who spend their working days behind the scenes at our public
and private hospitals, maintenance can become a life or death situation. To ensure patient
and visitor safety, is it critical that all equipment is running reliably and at optimum
performance, 24 hours a day. Facility Perspectives’ Melanie Drummond talked to James
Smith, Facility Manager at Mount Private Hospital in Perth, about the issues facing Facility
Managers in the HealthCare system and discusses why it is vital that hospital maintenance
makes the move from a reactive to a more proactive environment.

f a c i l i t y perspectives • 39
HOSPITALS & HEALTHCARE
M
ount Private Hospital is a leader in the provision of private
hospital services in Western Australia. Located at the base of
Kings Park on Mounts Bay Road, Perth, the hospital provides
access to the State’s leading surgeons and hospital equipment.
Mount offers the only Level 3 private Intensive Care Unit in WA and
a range of other specialised services that make it the first choice for
many seeking private health care in our Western State:
3 220 beds
3 2 x state of the art Cardiac and Vascular Catheter Labs
3 A Coronary Care Unit
3 9 specialised theatres
3 Day and Endoscopy Unit
3 Onsite Medical Centres for Specialists
3 Onsite pharmacy, pathology, radiology and physiotherapy
3 The Mount Cancer and Research Service Centre
3 Specialised acute medical ward
3 Oncology clinic
Facility Perspectives spoke to Facility Manager
James Smith, about what goes on behind the scenes at
one of Perth’s leading private hospitals.
FP: What is your background in facilities
management?
JS: My background is in Reliability Engineering and
RCA.
FP: How big is the facilities department at Mount Hospital?
JS: The facilities department is made up of: 3 people in
maintenance, 5 people in the carpark and 1 person responsible for
gardening.
FP: What facility management needs are unique to running a
hospital?
JS: There’s much more variety of equipment and the criticality of
equipment failing is much greater, it’s an acute environment. Equipment
such as the air compressors, vacuum systems and fire panels are much
more critical in this environment. If the air conditioning develops
problems in the theatres then they may have to stop operating. We’ve
also got emergency generators which we run up once a month to make
sure they’re all working and everything is functioning correctly in case we
have a power outage. Even though we’re in the CBD we’ve experienced
power surges and phase dropouts causing us to use our generator sets.
Surgeons can’t operate if we are using generators because of a power
interruption.
FP: To what extent are contractors employed by the hospital?
JS: We employ a variety of contractors who take care of fire safety,
air conditioning, vacuum systems, medical air compressors, boilers,
sterilisers etc. Most are specialty contractors and highly competent in
their core business.
FP: How many contractors come through the hospital in a week?
JS: It varies from day to day. But we try to spread the load over the
week because our supervisory capacity is limited. There is one or two per
day at least. We also have a redevelopment going on at the moment
and we’re looking at more inductions, permit etc than normal whilst the
peripheral work going on.
FP: How do you manage them all effectively?
JS: They’re usually regulars so when they arrive they know where
they’re going and they sign their keys in and out. We don’t have a need
to directly supervise them. If we have a contractor that’s not inducted or
we haven’t seen before, we make sure they have a full understanding of
what the job is about and we put them through the induction process.
Including writing JSA’S and the permit system.
FP: As far as the contractors meeting health and safety
requirements, how do you monitor the work they’ve been doing?
JS: Generally whenever a contractor comes on site, they meet with
us and discuss what the job is going to be, there haven’t been any major
issues and I would attribute this to our rigid job start packages. We
ensure that we discuss the job and any safety concerns before the job
begins and inspect the works after the job is completed. Commissioning
and handing the equipment or rooms back to operational staff is also
crucial.
FP: How much of a back up do you need for power?
JS: There’s about 45 to 50 hours of back up power available from
the emergency generators. We also have a UPS system for back-up
emergency lighting in the theatres etc should the generators fail.
FP: How important are health and safety issues?
JS: Health and Safety is placed very high on the agenda. We have a
40 • f a c i l i t y perspectives
full time OSH manager and have regular infection control meetings that
cover the health and safety of the workers, patients and everybody on
site to look at what we can do to reduce risk of injury and infection.
FP: What do you do to reduce risk of injury and infection?
JS: We have an infection control officer; it’s her job to make sure we
reduce infection by keeping up with the latest standards from the health
department. In my area it is about our equipment, making sure we don’t
have any dead legs in our plumbing to prevent legionella developing.
We need to make sure our dosing and heating of our hot water is done
and checked every week. We do regular testing and audit the testing
regime to make sure our water towers are cleaned regularly and there’s
no legionella evident. We make sure that our guys that come on board
know the task they need to perform, that they have their JSA’s filled out
and know what the risks involved are for everyone in the workplace.
FP: Clearly the fallout from not keeping on top of maintenance is
serious, how do you cope with that responsibility?
JS: I guess you mature into these jobs and develop the knowledge
of what you need to in the short term to fix the problem and to prevent
it reoccurring. Hospitals are very reactive so you’re constantly changing
gears. We have a preventative maintenance system that is a work in
progress, improving the system will increase our reliability which will
reduce the reactive nature of what we do. Every day is challenging, and
requires re-prioritising what needs to be done and what may affect
patient safety and comfort.
FP: Are there are other forms of emergency management in
place to address other situations that might occur in the hospital?
JS: Apart from clinical, there are fire evacuation plans, bomb threat
procedures, and security and access systems in place.
FP: What are the KPIs the Facilities Management department
work towards?
JS: We have KPIs for labor hours, another is our responsiveness. We
also have a monthly budget to meet.
FP: How is your responsiveness measured?
JS: At the moment we’re gauging that. Everybody’s idea of when
things need to be done is different, most people want things done
yesterday! Obviously we’re trying to be responsive and we look at every
job. What I’m finding is that when we’re talking through the jobs, we’re
realising that it’s not always maintenance that needs to attend to the job.
We’re putting some of the responsibility back on people who are making
that supposed ‘critical’ call. It’s often things that people might do at
home, like change a reading light bulb. but when they come to the
workplace they don’t think it’s their job to have to do it. It’s putting it
back on people and saying that, ‘Yes you can do that’. We’re not asking
anybody to do anything they don’t feel comfortable with doing.
FP: How much involvement do you have with the public and
responding to their feedback on the hospital?
JS: Generally we don’t have any direct contact with the public unless
we’re fixing something in a room. As far as feedback goes, we
occasionally have negative feedback regarding things that haven’t been
fixed in a room, but in those situations we use this opportunity to
improve.
FP: Obviously sustainability is a big topic in FM these days, how
has the issue affected your role at the hospital?
JS: If I had more time I would work more on the pet projects I get
excited about, one of them is saving water. I would also like to do more
work on a life cycle management plan.
FP: Have you managed to implement any water saving
measures?
JS: What I’m currently doing is measuring how much water we are
using and trying to identify where the largest usage is by way of a driver
tree. Installing an RO unit has saved about 16 cubes per day.
FP: What is the biggest user of water there?
JS: Without a doubt it’s patient showers and the cooling towers at
the peak of summer. Other large consumers of water are our equipment;
we went through a cycle last year where we were manually dumping 20
tonnes a day of treated water down the drain. This was from our boilers
to maintain quality steam to our sterilisers. What we were trying to do
was to lower our total dissolve solids (TDS) to our sterilisers. We
purchased a Reverse Osmosis system to reduce the TDS and hence
we’re not wasting all that water. Unfortunately as a trade off we do have
to dump 30 percent of the RO system water down the drain because of
the high TDS it produces. But this is reduced to only 2 tonnes per day.
The intention for future water savings will be to put all of our waste water
from the cooling towers through our RO system. And to use the high

TDS water from the RO unit for
the toilet cisterns.
FP: Do you have
somebody from facilities on
site 24 hours a day?
JS: What we do have is
somebody on call 24 hours a
day, presently there are just two
of us that do that and
unfortunately it can be very
draining. At the moment we’re
really focusing on trying to drill
down and finding out what the
problem is when you get a call
and working out if we don’t
actually need to come in for the
job. We have sometimes had 2
or 3 calls a night and then still
had to come back to the
hospital in the morning. It can
be tiring, thus we are employing
a third person. Were also
following through on the need
for the call out to reduce the re
occurrences
FP: So part of the process
is about re-educating staff at
the hospital to take a more
responsibility for the smaller
jobs?
JS: Part of the process is identifying whether the job really is a
maintenance job in the first instance. Then it’s prioritising when the job
could be completed.
FP: What are the most difficult challenges you face at the
hospital?
JS: The most difficult aspect of the job I’ve faced so far was learning
about the sterilisers and getting the sterilisers to pass a stringent quality
test. Last year a new challenge device was initiated into the sterilising
process which indicated that the steam circuit needed to be upgraded.
The hospital had commissioned several surveys on the steam system in
the past but none of the recommendations were actioned, partly
because they were too busy. When the new test device was installed we
realised that we were no longer able to sterilise so we had to come up
with a solution, and quickly, otherwise our business in healthcare can’t
continue.
FP: What solution did you use to address the problem?
JS: I visited other hospitals that were using the same test devices in
their sterilisers. The story doing the rounds was that the steam problems
was due to “high TDS” but on visiting the other hospitals I realised that
high TDS didn’t seem to be the problem. From visiting other healthcare
providers it became evident that it was more likely to be the ‘Feedwater’
tank temperatures. Other hospitals were using de-aerators, we didn’t
have a de-aerator but we could increase our tank temperature to the
temperature level of a de-aerator which was what we did. Effectively it
was a quick, cheap fix until we could obtain some of the infrastructure
that most other hospitals had in place. We determined that the
equipment we needed to purchase was a Reverse Osmosis (desalination)
Unit. We installed the RO unit and it has improved the steam circuit
quality and operation greatly. This has been a great success for the
hospital.
FP: What issues you think the hospital might be dealing with in
the next 5 years?
JS: Ageing equipment, ageing assets coming to the end of their
lifecycle, the hospital adding new theatres and putting more demand on
that old equipment. In particular I’m talking about elevators, medical air
compressors and some of our air conditioning units. What the hospital is
also doing, as part of health regulations, is refurbishing all the rooms –
that’s the mediducts and bathrooms to bring them up to the latest health
regulations. In the near future the Mount is going to build another
sterilisation department because the existing one is too small and further
on from that they’re going to add two more theatres.
FP: Will that add to your workload?
JS: The redevelopment side has added to our workload, I’m also
trying to put some of the controls on to some of the contractors rather
HOSPITALS & HEALTHCARE
than on to engineering or maintenance.
FP: What changes do you think need to occur in facilities
management of hospitals?
JS: I don’t think that hospitals have ever really grasped a planned
regime for maintenance and I think it’s just coming around now. The
challenge is to be more pro active than re active.
What’s happened is that the hospitals can change ownership,
perhaps pay too much so they (the owners) have to do a slash and burn
in different areas and usually the easy targets are always in numbers, now
whether that’s in maintenance and or other areas it usually happens. In
private hospitals they’re operating on minimum manning (manning to the
plan), that’s fine if you have a plan but it doesn’t work if the maintenance
is very reactive.
What needs to happen to get out of that cycle is to build a more
planned approach; hospitals need to be building a maintenance strategy
for all of their equipment. From having been around a number of
hospitals recently, both public and private, all I have heard is the same
story. The problem stems from the people working in the hospitals that
don’t have the background in planned maintenance and are so used to
reacting – they haven’t seen how a planned maintenance strategy can
work, Those FM’s can get stuck in a vicious cycle of not having enough
staff and having to call in contractors all the time – essentially they never
get to deal with the root cause of the problems.
FP: With maintenance being so crucial to health and safety, why
do you think hospitals are under-staffing their maintenance
departments?
JS: The decisions about staffing are made by corporate who
benchmark across 45 hospitals and not by the guy running the
maintenance team. Corporate will often point to other hospitals stating
that is how they do it. The problem is that it’s all relative to that hospital.
FP: What do you think needs to happen to change the situation?
JS: At the moment what I’m doing is training one of my facilities
techs to be a maintenance planner rather than just a reactive worker, so
I’m getting him to take on the planned maintenance and making sure it
gets done. In the background I’m working on a strategy and looking at
the root causes of problems and building a proper planned maintenance
system. I see that as being the way hospitals need to head into the
future, we need to get people trained up in asset strategy planning.
Jim Smith’s strategy for a more proactive and strategic approach to
maintenance should ultimately lead to a better understanding of plant
and equipment life-cycle issues, and provide the basis for the forward
maintenance and budgetary planning needed to ensure facilities
management receives it’s fair share of the operational and capital
expenditure cake. We wish him and his team all success.
f a c i l i t y perspectives • 41
 !#

!#

!#

!#

!#

!#

>Li]Ê

Ü>ÞÃÊ>ۘ>Ê̈ˆ“i°
!0

>Ü>ÞÃʜ
7E!LSO2ENT
s0ACKAGE5NITS s&ANS"LOWERS
s'ENERATORS s$UST&UME%X
s$EHUMIDIFIERS s-UCH-ORE !0


WWW!CTIVE!IRCOMAU

Becoming carbon neutral –
the future is now
BY STEPHEN HENNESSY, DIRECTOR OF SUSTAINABILITY STRATEGISTS FOR THE BUILT
ENVIRONMENT, STEENSEN VARMING.
T
here is a lot of discussion in the corporate world at present about
carbon neutrality in the built environment. Unfortunately, there is
very little understanding of the issue and this applies across most
sectors of business. Such a state of affairs needs to change rapidly, given
what we now know about how human activity is driving climate change.
So what does being carbon neutral mean? Unfortunately, many
people share the muddied view that ‘carbon neutral’ equates to ‘carbon
offsets’. This is a fallacy. Carbon offsets are just one strategy to help
negate the impact of greenhouse gas emissions. Being carbon neutral
requires a structured program where a number of strategies help deliver
the broader goal of being truly carbon neutral. A carbon neutral building,
for example, can be defined as one that produces no net contribution to
carbon emissions. Such a goal, even if it is achievable, is difficult and
requires significant long-term planning and, in the short term, it may
involve significant expenditure.
Accepting the sustainability challenge
The immediate temptation may be to put this challenge into the ‘too
hard’ basket but, other than the moral and even life-preserving
arguments for working towards carbon neutrality, there is a very strong
marketing imperative. You should be taking this seriously because an
ever-growing proportion of your competitors are, or soon will be,
adopting a vision and a program to operate in a carbon-restrained
future.
To effectively manage and reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and
therefore move toward a sustainable future, one should approach the
challenge in stages. The fundamental step is to do all you reasonably can
to reduce carbon pollution of the atmosphere as a result of the daily
operation of your business, through easily accessible measures. If you are
not prepared to do this, than the entire issue of offsets and carbon
neutrality is to some extent irrelevant.
This initial activity might involve relatively straightforward initiatives
such as more efficient power usage by turning off lights more often
and/or replacing traditional light bulbs with the new energy efficient
variety, and perhaps also travelling less, teleconferencing more and
encouraging staff to use public transport. It might include relatively
simple engineering actions such as changing the temperature set points
on the air-conditioning a degree or two higher in summer and a degree
or two lower in winter. Once you have begun the process in this way, it is
SUSTAINABILITY FORUM
then time to consider choices for approaching carbon neutrality.
Here are three such choices:
3 Assuming you have reduced your direct and indirect energy use to a
minimum, carbon neutrality can appear to have been reached, at
least in terms of electricity usage, by purchasing 100% accredited
Greenpower (renewable energy sourced from sun, wind, water and
waste).
3 In addition to pursuing carbon neutrality in your operations, you can
also influence the decisions of stakeholders, including employees,
clients, tenants and suppliers. This is a more difficult target, requiring
close engagement with these stakeholders to understand their
power consumption patterns and to assist them in reducing that
consumption. In the case of a commercial building owner, for
example, there would then be a need to help the tenants to reduce
consumption and even to generate or purchase carbon credits on
their behalf.
3 An aspirational goal is to be carbon negative. This would involve the
capture/offset of more carbon than is produced in business
operations by a particular date.
Of course, the higher you aspire, the higher the immediate cost, but
the whole issue of sustainability is now developing so quickly that
judgements are more likely to be made according to non-monetary
values. At the very minimum, the danger for those who don’t invest is a
loss of market share.
Options in a carbon neutral strategy
The concrete steps in this journey toward greater sustainability and
the achievement of carbon neutrality are now quite well-documented but
any individual program will by necessity, in the short term at least, most
likely involve participants adopting a selection of initiatives and taking a
staged approach. It is critical to carefully consider the options available
for a particular business location and implement them within a
determined strategy. Here are some options to consider.
Green power
There are various ‘green power’ schemes on offer and this option is a
government accredited clean, renewable form of energy from solar,
wind, hydro or waste. It is important to check that the green power is
supplied from a certified 100% renewable source.
Cogeneration/Trigeneration:
SUSTAINABILITY FORUM
Co-generation is an attractive option if the opportunity to generate
electricity on-site is available as it can be very efficient in reducing
greenhouse gas emissions. It involves using the recovered heat from in-
house electricity generation to provide heat for the building.
Trigeneration takes this process one step further and converts the waste
heat to help cool the building interior via an absorption chiller. These
systems are particularly useful in areas where the power infrastructure is
heavily loaded, and they can negate the need to install diesel back-up
generators.
Renewable power generation
Wind and solar energy can be used to reduce the demand on
electricity from the grid but of course they are dependent on the wind
and solar radiation available at a particular site. The wind source of
energy may be some years off for many sites and even centralised wind
farms still are relatively uncommon. It is interesting to note, however, that
the new Bahrain Trade Centre has been built with three integrated 29-
metre wind turbine generators that supply up to 15% of the building’s
power needs. Solar power is a more likely option at this stage in Australia
and it has the additional benefit of making a highly visible statement of
the involvement in renewable energy harvesting. In addition, solar yield
peaks at the same time as the maximum energy demand.
Biosequestration
This option involves CO2 harvesting through the use of vegetation,
typically where trees are grown to help offset the carbon emissions of a
business operation, and are themselves a renewable resource. This is one
of the lowest cost options but there are some doubts as to its sustainable
credentials. Research in New Zealand indicates most of the trees take 25
years to mature and that the subsequent generation, following harvest,
can take 75 years to mature. In addition, the process of capturing the
carbon is also removing nutrients from the ground during the harvest.
Green-lease development
Whenever existing commercial leases are up for renewal, or new
contracts are being drawn up, general sustainability and energy efficiency
initiatives can be included in the rental agreements as part of the tenant’s
responsibility in maintaining the premises. Other than the long term
NEW SOUTH WALES
645 King Street, (Cnr Goodsell Street), St Peters
T 1300 559 275 • F (02) 9557 3013
E sales@krost.com.au • www.krost.com.au
VICTORIA
260 City Road, South Melbourne
T 1300 559 275 • F (03) 9682 8281
E info@klein.com.au • www.klein.com.au
vast range
44 • f a c i l i t y perspectives
benefits offered by sustainable practices, such leases also provide
financial benefit in the short term due to reduced maintenance and
running costs.
Waste minimisation
Although waste recycling is a measure that helps reduce the
quantum being sent into landfills, any sort of recycling is an energy
intensive affair, and more often than not water intensive as well. Thus,
minimising of waste produced at source is more effective at reducing the
impacts of waste on the environment. If any hazardous wastes are
produced on site, ensuring proper disposal and closed loop recycling
ensures that any toxins involved are contained and not released into the
surrounds.
Site ecology renewal project
In appropriate locations, various measures such as bio and
phytoremediation, in the creation of wetlands and drainage swales, allow
wastewater to be treated naturally by organisms in the soil and re-used.
Wherever sufficient land is available, this often can tie in with capture and
re-use of water.
Indoor air quality/productivity improvement
Research has shown that the use of hybrid air treatment systems can
improve occupant health and productivity, and often boosts the energy
efficiency ratings, thereby reducing carbon. Hybrid systems include
mixed-mode ventilation, which is the combination of both natural and
mechanical ventilation. Appropriate indoor air quality can be achieved by
natural ventilation or cross ventilation with the strategic positioning of
open-able windows. These measures ensure an oxygen rich air supply for
occupants with a reduction in the demand on traditional HVAC systems,
which reduces emissions.
Cradle to cradle building regeneration
Throughout the industrialised age, most products have been
designed for the short term and modelled on a linear cradle-to-grave
approach; that is, creation, use and disposal. Along with recycling and
waste reduction, most new products being selected can be chosen with
their future behaviour in mind; namely a cradle to cradle approach, so
that when it has served its useful life, the product can either be re-used

for other purposes or sent back into the material flow to re-enter the
loop for a fresh cycle of use.
Water capture and reuse
While not directly a carbon issue, water conservation is a key
element in achieving an effective level of sustainability. Harvesting of
water is achievable in properties with large roofs or indirectly through the
use of green roofs featuring vegetation. The water can be used for toilet
flushing, car washing and other low quality (or grey) water usage. Other
options include recycling treated grey and black water and these systems
can be incorporated into the existing on-site wastewater management, in
conjunction with the rainwater collection.
Education programs
Raising the awareness and understanding of the issue of carbon
emissions is arguably one the most significant steps that can be taken.
Businesses that are serious about sustainability should be pulling
employees, clients, suppliers and contractors into the carbon neutral
‘loop’. Building occupant behaviour, for example, has a significant
influence on energy efficiency regardless of any advanced technologies
implemented in the building.
As an example, at Steensen Varming’s offices in Sydney, which is
already occupied by highly energy conscious engineers, a new energy
reduction program has recently delivered a measured additional saving
of more than 20 per cent, without any new technology being installed.
Planning for the rapidly approaching future
As noted earlier, the application of any of these options must be
framed within a pre-determined strategy that seeks to achieve solid but
realisable goals.
The first step is to determine where your organisation currently
stands in terms of its carbon footprint and then to establish what you
want to achieve.
In planning this strategy, you will:
3 examine carefully the organisation’s culture and most likely have to
change it;
3 educate your staff based on the best information available;
3 realise the predominance of lifecycle issues over first cost;
Keep everyone in the loop with ARCHIBUS Move Management
Sydney Office Melbourne Office Brisbane Office
Suite 1503c Level 15 Suite 4 Level 10 Level 24
33 Bligh Street 55 Swanston Street 10 Eagle Street
Sydney NSW 2000 Melbourne VIC 3000 Brisbane QLD 4000
Australia Australia Australia
t +61 2 9222 1144 t +61 3 9662 3144 t +61 7 3503 9270
f +61 2 8915 1322 f +61 3 9445 9227 f +61 7 3503 9269
archibus@asc-a.com | www.asc-a.com | +61 2 8323 4333
SUSTAINABILITY FORUM
3 ensure you have a strictly administered budget to realise the
changes you have selected;
3 communicate your new focus to all service providers and make it
clear that they must satisfy your new sustainability requirements;
3 test the new regime for improvement and benchmark your
performance against Best Practice, which may be an energy rating
scheme for buildings such as the Australian Building Greenhouse
Rating scheme (ABGR) or the new National Australian Built
Environment Ratings System (NABERS), when it is fully developed.
But remember, you need to take the first step. Realistically, you
might move forward with some easy but ideally highly visible ‘wins’ in
emissions reduction. This is often the key to achieving buy-in from all
parties.
Finally, and of signal importance, you need a driver to push this
newfound agenda – perhaps a Sustainability Champion, and that person
must be committed, have sufficient time and resources, and the
delegated authority to act.
The time has arrived for strong leadership not only at the
government level but also at individual industry level, to drive policy
change, realign values and take responsibility for action that will
safeguard future generations.
About the Author
Stephen Hennessy is a Director of sustainability
strategists for the built environment, Steensen
Varming.
Steensen Varming are building services engineers
with a reputation for high quality and innovation (the
first chilled ceiling installation in Australia was
designed by Steensen Varming in 1974). They came to
Australia in 1953 to undertake the mechanical services design for the
Sydney Opera House, and have since gone on to provide engineering
design and management services in many of Australia’s significant
cultural and iconic buildings.
Streamline the entire process from day to
day churn to major relocations.
At ARCHIBUS Solution Centers - Australia, we understand that
managing moves is a complex business activity and reducing
downtime saves you money and improves team satisfaction.
ARCHIBUS has specialist modules that include:
• Room Reservations
• Project Management
• Capital Budgeting
• Space Management
• Asset Management and Maintenance
• Emergency Preparedness
• Environmental Sustainability Assessment
• Condition Assessment
• Lease Management
The #1 Solution for Total
Infrastructure and Facilities
Management in the World...
Over 3 Million users
managing 1.6 Billion
square metres prove it daily!
f a c i l i t y perspectives • 45
8dbZVcYhZZ
CZmjhG;
YZbdchigViZY
Vii]Z>YZVXi^dc
h]dldci]Z
<daY8dVhi
 ESSENTIAL SAFETY MEASURES

Building Update
About the Hendry Group
Derek Hendry is the Managing Director of the Hendry Group of consultancy companies,
including Essential Property Services. Derek pioneered the ‘private certification’ system of
building approvals in Australia , and his nationally based consultancy offices assist clients in
all facets of building control and essential safety measure audits. The Hendry Group publish
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 illustrations explaining and
interpreting the BCA as it applies to your building.

Aust Wide: Fire Lines Discontinued
Telstra has advised that a number of its fixed line customers will be
disconnected by 31 December 2009. These Dedicated Lines are
extensively used by various organisations for monitored fire alarm systems
in all states, wherever fire alarm systems are connected and monitored
directly by the fire brigade (NSW regional, VIC, QLD, NT, SA and WA).
Check to see if you are affected (source FPAA: www.fpa.com.au).
NSW: Know Your Accredited Certifier
It is important for Facility Managers to know the Accredited Certifier
they are using for fitouts / alterations and understand the regulatory
framework for private certification in NSW, within which the Accredited
Certifier must work.
The Building Professionals Act 2005 was proclaimed on the 25
January 2007 and allowed the newly formed NSW Building Professionals
Board (BPB) to commence accrediting applicants as accredited certifiers,
hear complaints against accredited certifiers, and carry out investigations
into the work and activities of certifying authorities from the 1 March 2007
onwards.
Accredited certifiers, dependant upon the accreditation type and level
held, act as certifying authorities, in addition to local council’s which are
also certifying authorities, to issue complying development certificates,
construction certificates, subdivision/ strata certificates and final
occupation certificates. Many engineers are also accredited to issue
compliance certificates for works within their field of expertise. In recent
years, private certifying authorities were responsible for up to 30% of all
construction and occupation certificates and almost 50% of all complying
development certificates.
In their first year, the BPB has converted 450 existing accredited
certifiers into one accreditation scheme, determined 47 complaints against
accredited certifiers, including issuing fines, published a disciplinary
register on their website and referred 15 additional matters to the
Administrative Decisions Tribunal.
As a Facility Manager, it is important for you to know the Accredited
Certifier. Seek recommendations, check references, and contact the BPB to
providing a safe and liveable building.
Moving into a recently built or partly built building before sign off is
issued is an offence in many states. Occupants need to ensure they have
the necessary approval to occupy the building. It is in the best interests of
the owner, builder and facility manager that building work has been
satisfactorily completed and that final sign off has been issued. A sign off is
imperative because:
3 Where the building work is found to not comply with approval and
legislation the contractor can rectify while still on site and no
additional interruptions later will be experienced.
3 Generally where a statutory approval is required for the building, it is
an offence for a person to occupy the building unless the formal sign
off has been issued.
3 When an owner wishes to sell a property, prospective purchasers may
want to know that any building permit issued in relation to the
property has been formally finalised.
3 Some liability periods are triggered by the date of issue of the final
sign off. This period maybe extended beyond the time necessary
through delaying the obtaining of the final sign off.
3 Owners of commercial buildings have a legal responsibility to ensure
that maintenance of essential safety measures is carried out and in
some states that an annual essential safety measures report is
completed.
For more information call the Hendry Group on (03) 8417 6500.
the real-time energy management solution
HVAC Tenants ABGR Rating
Target
Current


confirm their type, level, accreditation status and history, and any 
limitations that may exist on their accreditation. EOY Forecast
Lighting 

QLD: Fire Safety Maintenance Requirements

Queensland adopted AS1851-2005 in September 2005 as the 9 On-line information 9 Benchmarking and forecasting
minimum maintenance standard for most fire safety installations. An often management 9 CO2 emission reports
overlooked requirement by facility managers in the standard is undertaking 9 Live tenant input capability 9 No data access licence fees
annual integrated systems testing. An example of types of fire safety
9 Energy & water management 9 Tenant access for after hours
installations normally interfaced and subject to a combined test are:
3 Detection Systems/Stair Pressurisation/Door Release/Plant 9 Real-time web access and billing
Shutdown/Smoke Spill Mode/ EWIS; and /or all 9 ABGR, NABERS and Green Star 9 Building dashboard
3 Sprinkler System/ HVAC Shutdown/ Fire Pump/ Damper Closure/ rating estimates
Elevator Override/Roof Vents
Considerable planning by the facility manager is required to achieve For more information visit
accurate test results and system compliance. Larger buildings with multiple
systems would normally require a number of specialist maintenance www.alerton.com.au
contractors and consultants to test simultaneously. 
 



AUST: Final Call
For many buildings office tenancy fitouts occur on a regular basis 
without formal sign off at the end of the construction. This leaves the
property owner’s, tenants and facility manager’s exposed to non compliant
works, unsafe buildings and future compliance/upgrade costs to be borne
by the owner and/or tenant.
Melbourne ΠSydney ΠCanberra ΠAdelaide ΠPerth ΠBrisbane ΠHobart
Where statutory permits or approvals are issued in relation to building
work with an existing building, generally a form of completion certificate
or permit is to be issued for evidence that the works have been carried

f a c i l i t y perspectives • 47
Protect your property and all occupants in your building, while fulfilling your legal obligations and
maintaining compliance. Specialists On Safety can provide a total solution tailored to your specific
requirements – office buildings, factories, shopping centres, universities, health facilities, retail outlets.

x EMERGENCY RESPONSE PROCEDURES x OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH & SAFETY

x EVACUATION PLANS x BUSINESS CONTINUITY
x EMERGENCY RESPONSE TRAINING x EMERGENCY RECOVERY
x EVACUATION EXERCISES x SAFETY EQUIPMENT

Specialists On Safety provide service to all Australian states, including

regional centres, and can provide a program to suit your requirements

For more information or to discuss your requirements, please

contact us at info@sosaustralia.com.au or telephone (03) 9761 6959

Specialists On Safety
Specialists On Safety provide expert advice and service
for all your safety, risk and emergency management
requirements. SOS is accredited through the Fire
Protection Association (FPA) to develop procedures and
deliver training in Workplace Emergency Response.
At SOS, we believe in service. We assist you to fulfil
your compliance and due diligence requirements by
providing annual programs to your staff, occupants,
contractors and wardens.
To ensure you receive the maximum benefit from our
knowledge and experience, we use equipment that
enables practical fire extinguisher training, even in CBD
buildings. SOS provides handouts for all training, and
occupants to ensure an appropriate level of knowledge
issues certificates to participants who attend. Reports
and awareness. This training is tailored to the site, and
are provided for all Evacuation Exercises and minutes are
completed for all meetings. includes site specific information to ensure compliance
with relevant standards. Checklists are also available to
An online database is available to maintain contact ensure wardens complete inspections of their area, and
information for the Emergency Control Organisation for maintain compliance with AS1851 – email reminders are
your site. Reports and attendance records are provided in sent until the checklist is completed.
a secure, password protected environment. This will
enable you to access reports at the click of a button.
To access our expertise and receive exceptional
Our online systems have expanded to include service, please contact Chris Tasic by email at
training, which can be accessed by all staff or building chris@sosaustralia.com.au or telephone 0401 018 696.
 SUSTAINABILITY FORUM

Sustainability in
the workplace:
How green is green?
BY MARK PHILLIPS, FREELANCE JOURNALIST

The widely held belief is that the commercial and public sectors are at the vanguard of the
charge to address climate change. But are they really doing as much as they say? Many
organisations are, but is sustainability still a largely ‘aspirational’ goal for others and are
some merely ‘greenwashing’? Mark Phillips reports.

f a c i l i t y perspectives • 49
SUSTAINABILITY FORUM
B
eing ‘green’ is now a socially acceptable norm, with guilt about
harming the environment the main driver for consumers adopting a
more environmentally friendly lifestyle.
This is the finding of a residential survey titled 2007 Attitudes and
Behaviour Toward the Environment, carried out by the British Market Research
Bureau, in which half the respondents said they never leave lights on and 72
percent said they have invested in energy-saving light bulbs over the last five
years.
Upon its release in November 2007, UK Environment Minister Joan
Ruddock enthused: “The most encouraging finding in this survey is the
majority of people believing that it is up to individuals to accept responsibility
by making lifestyle changes.”
This, of course, is all very well, but what about the commercial sector?
After all, the majority of commercial properties cannot meet the minimum
rating system developed by the Green Building Council of Australia. Is there a
similarly tectonic shift in the attitudes of business leaders toward the
environment – something reflected in the introduction of real and measurable
sustainability programs in facilities? And if not, why not?
Based on the findings of two new international studies, the answer seems
to depend on the credence you place on corporate rhetoric as opposed to its
day-to-day execution.
Building and maintaining a green office tower may require extra time and
effort, but corporate respondents to one survey say they are prepared to
overcome the obstacles and embrace sustainable practices with open arms.
Unfortunately, another reveals a significant gulf between aspirations and
actions.
CoreNet Global, an international association of workplace and corporate
real estate executives, together with real estate provider Jones Lang LaSalle,
queried more than 2300 attendees of CoreNet Global Summits on four
continents in recent months. They found that a large majority of companies
around the world say they view sustainability as critical to their business and
are willing to pay a premium to help their companies become more
sustainable. Indeed, for an overwhelming 79 percent of respondents,
sustainability is claimed to be a near-term business issue that is important
today, or will be in the next one to two years.
According to the survey, most companies are willing to pay for
sustainable real estate solutions, even though many do not realise that the
cost has come down.
Although studies indicate that designing sustainable buildings is about
one to five percent more expensive than conventional construction, 52
percent of respondents expected premiums to be five percent or more, while
22 percent believed green buildings would cost 10 percent more than
conventional structures. They also named obstacles to sustainability that have
hindered widespread adoption:
3 Only 17 percent said there is good, or widely available, sustainable real
estate solutions in markets where their companies need to locate offices;
3 Forty-two percent reported patchiness and said the supply chain is good
in some markets but not others; and
3 Forty-one percent view overall availability as limited or minimal.
While sustainable building appears to be recognised as becoming more
critical the world over, its intensity varies from continent to continent.
According to the results:
3 Sixty-one percent of respondents in Europe feel sustainability is a critical
business issue right now; while
3 Fifty-three percent feel that way in Australia.
Given the above, there seems little reason to question the widely held
belief that the commercial and public sectors are at the vanguard of the
charge to address climate change. But are they really doing as much as they
say? Certainly many organisations are, but is sustainability still a largely
‘aspirational’ goal for others and are some merely ‘greenwashing’?
A major new international study from BT Global Services, completed in
partnership with the Economist Intelligence Unit, which surveyed over 1000
senior executives across the world, including 48 in Australia, makes sobering
reading. On a local note, key findings from the research, titled Actions or
Aspirations? Sustainability in the workplace, include the following:
3 Just one in three (34 percent) of executives based in Australia have been
given specific sustainability goals to achieve
3 Fifty-two percent of Australians surveyed said the most prominent
sustainability activity in their organisation was environmental guidelines,
but only 15 percent of organisations produce a sustainability report
3 Eighty-one percent of Australians said a company’s reputation for
sustainability was important when considering new roles, however not as
important as scope of the role, pay, locations and working atmosphere
3 In 53 percent of instances the CEO is responsible for managing
50 • f a c i l i t y perspectives
sustainability within an organisation, while 17 percent of firms have no
one responsible for the function.
According to the study, the bottom line is that organisations are failing to
realise business benefits from sustainability programs. While sustainability may
be firmly on the boardroom agenda as companies compete for a
‘responsible’ reputation, it seems executives have yet to find a way to harness
it as a commercial force. Indeed, one third (33 percent) of global respondents
conceded that their company only makes sustainability efforts in markets
where it is perceived to have an impact on customers’ perceptions of the firm,
and a similar proportion (31 percent) actually admitted that their company’s
sustainability efforts mostly centre on communication, rather than actual
change.
James Watson, senior editor at the Economist Intelligence Unit, says that
although many companies are moving away from mere rhetoric towards real
business initiatives, a gap remains between what they claim they are achieving
in terms of managing their social and environmental impacts and the extent
to which their executives feel involved in these activities.
“Companies need to devise strategies that do more to engage staff in
sustainability through their day-to-day activities,” he maintains.
The research goes on to identify that sustainability programs are missing
out on board level leadership. Even where there is a person responsible for
such matters, in two out of five organisations (40 percent) that person does
not report directly to the board.
Comments BT Global Services CEO, Francois Barrault: “The link between
sustainability and commercial success is, without doubt, becoming clearer all
the time. The key to helping sustainability programs benefit society, the
environment and the bottom line is leadership. All organisations, BT included,
are at the start of this journey, but now is the time for CEOs, CFOs and the
managers of facilities to lead from the front.”
On a positive note, it seems that people are bringing measures they
practice at home into the workplace, with nearly one quarter of respondents
(24 percent) agreeing that their organisation’s sustainability efforts are primarily
driven by staff at the grassroots rather than senior management. Other global
findings include:
3 ‘Commitment to sustainable practices’ is rated the least important
consideration when deciding to partner or collaborate with a third party
company
3 Sustainability practices are most firmly embedded in companies’
investor/public relations activity (32 percent) and HR functions (29
percent)
3 More than one third (34 percent) say their company’s commitment to
sustainable practices is not embedded in downstream suppliers and their
supply chains.
There is absolutely no question that the debate over climate change has
contributed to environmental law in Australia becoming one of the fastest
growing areas of law both in terms of scope and complexity. NSW, the most
prolific regulator, has passed no less than 68 Acts relating to the environment
since 1986, almost equal to the other states combined (84 Acts) and
surpassing new commonwealth legislation (19 Acts).
And yet according to the latest available figures from the Federal
Government’s National Greenhouse Office, as of 2005 Australia’s CO2
emissions were 102 percent above 1990 levels. Significantly, Australia’s built
environment contributes eight percent of this and if upstream emissions from
heat and electricity are included in the equation, emissions from buildings
total 20 percent of global greenhouse gases.
Commenting recently on what has been dubbed the exponential growth
of ‘green tape’, NSW Business Chamber CEO, Kevin MacDonald, said: “We
have seen in the area of climate change all areas of government rushing to
introduce changes, often under the guise of being seen to ‘do something’,
with those decisions impacting on everything from the establishment of new
coal mines to the types of light bulbs used in family homes.
‘The danger is that this uncoordinated and ill considered approach across
all levels of regulation will create major costs for Australian businesses and
consumers with little real idea of the benefits provided by such regulation.”
As Francois Barrault emphasised, what better time than now for the
commercial sector to truly lead by example?
About the Author
Mark Phillips is a freelance journalist who has written for and edited
business publications such as Company Director, Australasian Risk
Management, Franchising and Marketing. He also has a long-standing
involvement in covering FM-related issues. He can be reached on 0407
437289 or writestuffink@bigpond.com.
Knowledge
Our knowledge leads our clients
to better property outcomes.

> Portfolio risk and condition assessment to enable:

> Greening strategies for existing buildings
> Capital planning
> Highest and best use studies
> Tax and replacement valuations
> Due diligence for acquisition and disposal
> Life cycle planning
> Capital works planning and delivery
> Procurement and auditing of facilities management
> Project management
> BCA compliance and essential services auditing

www.davislangdon.com
FM AROUND THE GLOBE

Facebooking up to the future

BY CAMILLA BERENS, FREELANCE BUSINESS JOURNALIST
Article first published in FM World, the fortnightly magazine for the British Institute of Facilities Management.

The recent development of more interactive websites, known as Web.2, has meant that the
popularity of on-line social networking has gone stratospheric. The global business
community is also waking up to the potential of e-networking for recruitment,
recommendations and technical knowledge-sharing, and the FM sector has been no
exception.

T
o research this feature, I had to fight against my Luddite no exception. In response to the media coverage, the marketing team at
tendencies and sign up to some social networking sites to see Drivers Jonas (a commercial property consulting and advisory firm) made
what all the fuss is about. The results were disappointing. After a point of setting up a ‘group’ presence for employees on Facebook.
hours of searching one site, I could only find a handful “One of the company’s core values is openness and
of people I knew – and all of whom I’d gladly lost sharing and we wanted to show that we’re a
touch with years ago. After two weeks on the forward-looking, progressive company,” says
second site, only three people had asked PR and communications associate Sue
me to be their friend. The first person Gibson. Drivers Jonas’ group site is an
looked like Satan; the second like the open forum for existing and past
pink hippo from Rainbow and the employees but it also acts as a
third appeared to have a bottom showcase for the company itself.
where their head should have “We thought it would be
been. Evidently I have some particularly attractive to
way to go but it seems that potential graduate
the more techno-savvy (and employees,” Gibson
less intolerant) have not only continues. “The company
mastered the social niceties organises a lot of team
of e-networking but are activities and Facebook is a
beginning to bring it into good way of showing that
their business lives as well. there’s a lighter side to
working for the company.”
The recent Drivers Jonas it not
development of more alone. These days, you’re
interactive websites, just as likely to come
known as Web.2, has across an FM firm on
meant that the popularity Facebook as a friend or
of on-line social business contact. While
networking has gone sites like MySpace may still
stratospheric. According attract a mainly teenage,
to Wikipedia, there are now music-orientated community,
more than 100 social and Facebook’s thirty-something
special-interest sites around user-base has become an ideal
the world covering everything platform for companies to show
from clubbing, dating, they’ve got their finger is on the
Christianity and genealogy. electronic pulse. Some groups
There’s even an invitation-only are more active than others but
site for the European jet-set. In you’ll find everyone from Johnson
the US, sites specifically designed Controls with 243 members and
to cater for the business Rentokil Initial with 124 members to
community have been appearing Dalkia with 95 members and
over the past five years and word has Carillion (a leading infrastructure,
gradually been spreading to Europe building and business services
and the Far East. One of the most company) with just 3. The Young
popular, LinkedIn, now claims to have 16 Managers’ Forum has also established a
million users covering 150 industries and 400 presence on Facebook to broaden its reach
economic regions. Other sites like XING and and attracted 10 new members in the first few
Ziggs are not far behind. With a total of nine months. “We’re aiming at young FMs in the
different business networking sites now on offer, industry who want to get involved and we wanted
the global business community is waking up to the to come across as accessible and not stuffy,” says
potential of e-networking for recruitment, the Forum’s Facebook group manager, Maryanna
recommendations and technical knowledge-sharing. Camillieri.
Last summer’s flurry of news stories about companies Initially a marketing tool, Camillieri believes the YMF
barring employee access to social networking sites appears to group’s presence on sites like Facebook could also provide a
have heightened UK interest considerably. The FM sector has been useful platform for job-hunters. “Forum members already circulate

52 • f a c i l i t y perspectives

CVs to each other so our Facebook group could be an extension of
this,” she says. The YMF is now planning to go one step further and set
up a presence on LinkedIn and Plaxo (more of a self-updating address
book than a networking site). Camillieri also points out that individuals
could use on-line FM networks for recommendations and knowledge
sharing. “Although you’d have to bear in mind that this might attract
negative comments as well,” she adds. This is a good point. Companies
using networking sites for PR purposes need to be prepared to take the
rough with the smooth. One disgruntled customer has already set up a
Facebook group called, “We Hate Carillion”. In this particular case, e-
democracy seems to have presented a pretty balanced response. The
site has only attracted comments from two people, one who offered a
scornful (and rather racist) comment about Carillion employees and the
other, from a bid administrator, who said he ‘couldn’t have asked to meet
a nicer bunch of people’.
It’s not only the younger FMs who are getting connected either. Even
fifty-somethings like FM consultant Martin Pickard (Fellow and former
Council Member of the BIFM) are e-networking. Pickard recently made a
bid to raise the profile of the FM sector with a Facebook group called
‘I’m a Facilities Manager and I’m proud.’ Pickard points out that there are
an estimated 177,000 FMs in the UK and most don’t belong to any type
of FM organisation. “The role of the FM can be a lonely one,” he
explains. “Often, if they’re working for a medium-sized company, they’ll
be the only FM manager in the business,” he continues. “For them to
meet and network with other FMs is really important for everything from
swapping phone numbers, to finding out who’s a good cleaning
contractor or just to have a grumble about the fact that your finance
director doesn’t understand you.” Within three weeks, the group had 58
members. But Pickard speaks volumes when he says that although the
group has attracted interest from as far away as Australia and Trinidad,
nobody’s quite sure what to do with it.
This seems to be the current state of play. Most business-based
networking groups are simply being used as a PR tool for companies or
for employees of large firms to keep in touch with colleagues in other
offices or regions. Even in these groups, the conversation rarely extends
beyond general social banter or an opportunity to share photos.
Constructive knowledge-sharing is still thin on the ground. However
there seems to be more business-focussed activity by individuals working
in the FM sector. According to Simon Ball, a business development
manager with Interserve (a business support organisation offering
facilities, industrial, project and equipment services plus public finance
initiative (PFI or PPP) investments) , interest in the business networking
site LinkedIn has snowballed in recent months. “I first joined LinkedIn in
2004 but only found a few people and didn’t use it again,” he explains.
“I started to get more individual contacts recently and it’s really starting
to pick up.”
LinkedIn in now an essential part of Ball’s communications kit. “Sales
and marketing is especially important in the FM sector and LinkedIn is a
useful tool for me,” he explains. “People move jobs quite a lot so it’s a
useful way of keeping track of my contacts.” LinkedIn’s format essentially
allows users to create their own on-line CV. This makes it a great terrain
for headhunters. “I’m already being headhunted once or twice a week
because there’s such a small pool of talent,” Ball continues. “It’s hard to
tell what will happen next in terms of business networking sites but
there’s a lot of potential for recruitment, sales and consultants. They
facilities management specialists in facilities management &
infrastructure solutions for all commercial,
infrastructure management
industrial & critical environments.
Contact us to find out more ...
assurance services
Level 1 S 100 Dorcas Street S South Melbourne S Victoria 3205
consulting services ph: 61 3 9686 4999 fx: 61 3 9686 7999 web: www.tungstengroup.com
FM AROUND THE GLOBE
could claim it and shape it. It’s the users who create the content.”
It may still be early days but e-networkers are already facing several
dilemmas. The merging of social activity with business life on-line has
thrown up the problem of how to avoid professionally embarrassing
situations. FM consultant Lucy Jeynes checks her Facebook page every
morning to make sure her friends haven’t posted anything that might be
deemed ‘unprofessional’. “LinkedIn is a great site because it has a clear
market position,” she says. “But there’s nothing to stop a client checking
me out on Facebook as well. There’s now a big question over where you
draw the line between your personal and professional identity,” she
continues. “I think sites will evolve to differentiate personal and
professional information in the same way as in the work environment
where there are only a certain number of people you’d want to bring
back to your house.”
The amount of detailed personal information being shared on social
networking sites also makes them a possible target for ID theft. Some
sites ask users to display key personal data such as home address,
contact numbers and date of birth (often used to confirm a person’s
identity). Last August, IT consultancy Sophos published research showing
that 41% of Facebookers divulged personal information to a complete
stranger – in this case a small plastic frog called Freddie Staur. Martin
Pickard points out that a lot of personal details can already be found on
company websites, particularly if you’re a consultant. “There’s no point in
being paranoid but it’s a public place, so you have to think of it in that
way,” he adds. However in general Pickard is optimistic about the future
of e-networking. “It’s at the chaotic phase while it works out where it’s all
going,” he says. “Just look at the internet. It was started by a few geeks
and freaks and now everyone does their shopping on it.” If Pickard is
right, the Luddites amongst us won’t be able to sit on the fence much
longer: everyone will have to join the e-networking revolution if they
want to keep up with the competition.
FM quick facts
3 UK adults spend more time on social networking sites than their
European neighbours with 4 in ten UK adults saying they e-network
regularly.
3 In 2007, the Capital became the biggest city on Facebook with
almost 2 million Londoners using the site.
TOP 10 BUSINESS NETWORKING SITES
3 LinkedIn – Becoming popular with FM e-networkers
3 Ecademy – Running since 1998 and claims to have 170,000
members worldwide
3 Viadeo – European business network claiming to have almost
2million members
3 XING – Claims to have 4 million users in 190 countries
3 Ziggs – Provides personal internet branding
3 Ryze – Mainly for business entrepreneurs
3 Yahoo! Kickstart – Matches US college students with employers
3 Salesconx – Exclusively for sales professionals and small business
owners
3 Visible Path – Creates bespoke networking sites using algorithms
3 Doostang – Invitation-only career community
The first in a series of reciprocal articles courtesy FM World, this article was edited with
explanatory additions for Australian readers.
f a c i l i t y perspectives • 53
ESD & THE ENVIRONMENT

Renewable energy at
the edge of the world
Photography: Doug McVeigh

Hidden beneath the ice in Antarctica is one of the world’s most valuable repositories for
information on past climate and atmospheric change. Every year, scientists and support
staff brave its harsh climatic conditions in the pursuit for information on the future impacts
of global warming. While the critical nature of the research being conducted in Antarctica is
undisputed, its isolated location makes the staffing and operation of scientific programs
both problematic and costly. The exorbitant cost of transporting fuel to the remote location
has incurred a rigorous overhaul of energy usage across its four key stations and the
necessary implementation of new renewable energy sources. Melanie Drummond
interviewed Australian Antarctic Division Engineers Jeremy Bonnice and Peter Magill about
their involvement with Antarctica’s energy projects and the processes required to deliver
renewable energy systems to the edge of the world.

“The continent has become a symbol of our time. The test of man’s willingness to pull back from the
destruction of the Antarctic wilderness is the test also of his willingness to avert destruction globally.
If he cannot succeed in the Antarctica he has little chance of success elsewhere.” Edwin Mickleburgh0

54 • f a c i l i t y perspectives

A
t the southern end of the Earth’s axis sits the coldest,
windiest, most desolate continent on earth.1 At 14.4 million
square kilometres, Antarctica is also the fifth largest continent
in the world – 1.4 times bigger than the United States of America2.
With no permanent human residents, only cold-adapted plants
and animals endure what is undoubtedly one of the planet’s harshest
climates. Receiving only a little more rainfall than the Sahara desert3,
Antarctica is technically the Earth’s largest desert despite accounting
for the lowest ever recorded temperature of minus 82.2 degrees in
1983.
As the world attempts to understand the future implications of
global warming, Antarctica’s unique ecology offers scientists the
opportunity to observe vital information on past climate and
atmospheric changes stored in the ice. Since the 1950s Australia has
joined scientists from around the globe in conducting research at the
world’s southernmost continent4. Today, Australian’s research team
takes a strong focus on high-latitude climate studies and Southern
Ocean sustainability, providing valuable insight into the effects of ice
formation on ocean circulation around the globe and the significance
of sea-ice extent and duration to the support of marine food webs.
Support staff play a critical role in ensuring research in Antarctica
ESD & THE ENVIRONMENT
continues. Some 29 nations operate 47 research stations across the
continent, with a total numbers of scientists and support staff
operating in Antarctica and on nearby islands ranging from anwhere
between 1,000 in Winter to 4,000 in Summer. A plethora of skilled
practitioners are required to ensure scientists continue making
breakthroughs: plumbers, carpenters, electricians, mechanics,
technicians, chefs, clerical staff and doctors are among the many.
At the four Australian Antarctic Stations : Casey, Davis, Mawson
and Macquarie Island, the population of scientists and support staff
can range from anywhere between 60 over winter to 250 in summer,
with an average of 12 support staff per 4 scientists during the Winter
Season. Over the summer period more trade and construction staff
are also employed to undertake maintenance of buildings and
facilities and to assist in the construction of any necessary
developments.
By its very nature and isolated location, providing livable and
workable conditions for scientists and support staff across Australia’s
four stations is a costly and complicated process. The extreme
conditions dictate stations are heavily reliant on fuel to operate life-
saving essentials such as heating, lighting and water treatment
systems, using almost 2 million litres of fuel a year for operation.
f a c i l i t y perspectives • 55
ESD & THE ENVIRONMENT
Shipping fuel to the remote location also brings with it markedly
high levels of carbon emissions. In 2001 carbon emission figures
represented as tonnes per capita for each Australian station were as
follows: Casey: 63.84, Davis: 49.50, Mawson: 42.50, Macquarie Island:
21.85. The largest amount came from the re-supply ship Aurora Australia
which is responsible for 310.49 tonnes of CO2 per capita.
Compared to the rest of the world, the figures are significantly high. In
2001 the United States tonnes of CO2 per capita figured at 5.51,
Australia: 5.08, Western Europe: 2.12, Japan: 2.48, China: 0.65 and
Ethiopia: 0.01.
Reducing Antarctica’s carbon emission levels and cutting back on
fuel costs by reducing energy requirements has been an ongoing project
for the Australian Antarctic Division (AAD), the Government organisation
which leads Australia’s Antarctic program and plays a vital role in the
successful operation of the four stations.
For Jeremy Bonnice, Infrastructure Engineer for the AAD, his first trip
to Antarctica marked the beginning of the new millenium and a passion
for working towards a more sustainable Antarctica.
“I was working in Kakadu at Ranger mine in the Northern Territory,
and at the same time as there was a downturn in Uranium price, a job
was advertised in Antarctica for an instrument and control engineer to
run a project that would automate the Antarctic Stations. There was an
existing control system that wasn’t Y2K compliant and the AAD were
replacing it with a new system. I thought it sounded like a fantastic job,
so I applied for it and within three weeks I’d gone from Kakadu down to
Antarctica.”
Following his first 6 week trip to Antarctica, Jeremy returned to
conduct an energy audit at Davis Station.
“Once we collected all the data from Davis Station we realised that
our largest user of energy was the summer accommodation block,
second to that was our workshop building and third was our power
house. Another high user was our heating of pipes; we found that most
of our thermostats needed calibration.
“We looked at what all of the loads were in the workshop building
and one of those main loads was lighting. The building was 20 years old
at that stage and as there had been lighting advances in that time we
were able to achieve a significant reduction. Firstly we put in place a
controls system which enabled the lights to be turned off at night and it
also allowed users to choose the right amount of light for what they were
doing. If they were just progressing through the building we put
movement sensors in so the lights would turn on and off again.”
Adjustments were also made to heating – installing a controls system
meant the building no longer had to operate 24 hours a day.
“We didn’t just turn it off a specific time, the heat was controlled
depending on whether people were using the space or not – it was all
done through the lighting system.”
Assessing speed drives on equipment at the four stations was
56 • f a c i l i t y perspectives
Photography: Doug McVeigh
another important aspect of the energy audit.
“Using variable speed drives on fans and motors throughout the
stations also assisted in the control of energy usage. Some systems we
can’t turn off, but on a lot of our systems we can throttle the speed right
back and therefore use a lot less energy. For some people it’s a well
known fact that if pumps are running flat out, then they’re not at their
most efficient – they’re more efficient at about 80 per cent. So what we
did was actually oversize our pumps and just run them at 80 percent of
their full load and then you get the most efficiency out of them.”
The audit and subsequent changes were a success, resulting in a 56
per cent saving in energy which was largely attributed to the change in
lighting control systems. Over the next three years Jeremy continued
work on the remaining stations, automating the heating, lighting and
ventilation systems.
“Certainly cost was a factor in improving the energy operations at
the stations, it’s very expensive for us to ship fuel to Antarctica and so we
knew we’d get a return from implementing energy efficiencies.
Sustainability was also a key reason for reducing our reliance on fossil
fuels.”
Due to the extreme physical and social conditions experienced while
working and living in Antarctica, scientists and support staff must return
home after 15 months for reintegration into society.
“There’s a big difference between living in Antarctica in summer and
winter. In summer there’s a lot more people and a lot more going on, the
sun’s up and it’s a lot more motivating as you get out and do a lot more
things. In winter you’re stuck with 16-18 people and during the height of
winter the sun goes down and you don’t see it for a few weeks – you’ll
just have a twilight which doesn’t come above the horizon. Small issues
can become big issues because they’re the only issues you have. It is
been quite interesting with shows like Big Brother and seeing the issues
between people that are experienced in those isolating situations;
they’re quite similar to things that can happen in Antarctica.”
Tolerance and good communication skills are essential to
maintaining healthy social interactions while at work and play in
Antarctica.
“The AAD put people through a selection process that lasts a couple
of days, where we assess their personal qualities and whether they’d fit
into the environment. The sort of things we look for is tolerance in other
people’s ideas and views. Putting into the community is a big thing as
well, you can’t be too much of a recluse because that would affect the
others you stay with who may want to try and get you involved. It’s a
scenario-based selection centre.”
Asked whether he found it hard adjusting to the isolation of living
and working in Antarctica, Jeremy shared his passion for a place that few
people on Earth have been lucky enough to experience.
“We describe working in Antarctica as one of the most selfish things
you will ever do. For people who have families, you leave your loved
ones behind in a life without you and all the while you’re having the most

fantastic time you’ve ever had, having all these great experiences.
Antarctica is such a beautiful and magic place. The work you get to do is
excellent as well and you’re in a community that is different to anything
you would have experienced in Australia. You bond well with people and
make friendships that you’ll keep for years to come.”
As well as improving energy efficiency at each of the stations, the
AAD’s long-term strategy included the development of medium-scale
renewable energy solutions. In 2001, approval was given to deliver a
wind turbine project at Mawson Station – one of the windiest places on
earth.
Melanie Drummond spoke to AAD’s Innovation and Development
Engineer Peter Magill about the challenges, planning and processes
involved with successfully installing the 300KW Enercon turbines at
Mawson Station.
FP: What does your role as Innovation and Development
Engineer for the AAD involve?
PM: My role involves looking to the future to see what systems we
may need in order to operate under varying circumstances, i.e. high fuel
costs and the subsequent development of renewable energy projects
that have both fuel savings and environmental benefits. It involves
looking across a broad spectrum of new technologies which might be
anything like insulation, glazing, wind turbines, or solar panels. I’ve been
in this particular role full-time for about 7 years, but part-time while doing
other jobs for about 15 years.
FP: Did the role become full-time when the issues of climate
change came to the fore of public attention?
PM: No, it was more about saving energy which was being driven by
cutting costs. The unspoken driver is always environmental reasons but
it’s not the actual operational reasoning behind a project. Even when we
installed the wind turbines at Mawson‘s in 2003, the only way we could
justify it was by working out how much money it would save us by
reducing fuel usage.
FP: What forms of renewable energy have previously been
operated in Antarctica?
PM: Solar power does work fine in Antarctica over summer. At Davis
Station we have a standard, off-the-shelf solar hot water system which
supplies all the hot water for the showers, ablutions and laundry for the
summer accommodation (which operates for about a 4 month period.)
We have also used small scale solar panels and wind generators
which operated remote radio repeaters on mountain tops. In the mid
1990s we also went up a step,installing larger wind turbines of 10
kilowatts or so, basically to get a handle on what the issues would be in
installing large scale commercial turbines. From what we learnt, we were
able to crank up the Mawson’s project using 300kw Enercon wind
turbines on 34m towers.
FP: Have you looked into tidal power solutions?
PM: We have looked into tidal power because there’s a couple of
sites near Davis where there is a very strong tidal flow and it looked to be
a possible solution. What we did find however was that during spring
when the ice breaks up and melts there is a large flow of ice-floes
backwards and forwards in the fjord, so any generation system could be
wiped out by the ice movement. The only way it could work is if you
spent millions of dollars on really strong mechanical structures to keep
away the ice and it just wouldn’t be worth the trouble.
FP: Can you tell us about the planning involved in the Mawson’s
wind turbine project?
PM: The big issue is that the re-supply ship visits only once per year
in January, so if you want to build something over the summer you have
to ship everything in the previous summer. As you can imagine that
involves a lot of planning because if you forget something you can’t just
get it on a plane, you have to wait 12 months for the next ship visit.
From the time we submitted the project business case to when the
first wind turbine was commissioned would have taken about three years.
The first foundations were constructed in 2002 and then the turbines
were installed in 2003.
FP: What challenges does shipping equipment and crew to the
site bring?
PM: One of the major issues is a high risk of the ship being trapped
in ice on the way to Antarctica. In fact, this did occur with the wind
turbine project. The construction crew traveling to Mawson to start work
on the turbine foundations in the 2002 summer were stuck in the ice for
about six weeks. It meant they had less time to construct the
foundations, which involved pouring around 80 cubic metres of concrete
per foundation and containing several tones of steel. For 3 turbine
ESD & THE ENVIRONMENT
foundations construction would normally need 2 or 3 months to
undertake but in Antarctica there is only about 6 weeks in summer when
the temperature can be above zero and concrete can be poured – so it’s
a very narrow window. The loss of construction time meant that we were
able to install only two of the three turbines we had intended to.
FP: Was the size of the project limited by what plant equipment
you can ship down there?
PM: The biggest crane we could ship to Mawson was a 100 tonne
machine. We had to buy the machine outright because you can’t really
lease or rent cranes due to the high risk of it being stuck in Antarctica – it
would end up costing you more to rent than the value of the crane. The
100 tonne crane then limited the maximum size of the wind turbine that
we could install – 300 KW turbines on 34 metre towers.
But because the winds are high and consistent at Mawson, the
shorter towers was not an issue. The average wind speed is 12m a
second at a height of 10 metres and there is almost nowhere else on the
planet that has such a high annual average wind speed. The turbines are
on 34 metre towers and the blade diameter is 30 metres – normally
these turbines would be on a 45 to 50 metre tower.
FP: Does the remote location of Antarctica significantly affect the
total cost of a project?
PM: We tend to buy all of our plant equipment which means the
overall cost of the project is also significantly more than it would be in
Australia. The cost of labour also is much higher.
The total cost of the wind turbine project can be broken down to
the following:
3 Turbines – 25%
3 Foundations and Infrastructure – 20%
3 Plant & Equipment – 20%
3 Transport – 10%
3 Project Management – 9%
3 Powerhouse Control – 8%
3 Installation and Commissioning – 5%
3 Spares – 3%
FP: What unique issues do you face when implementing a
renewable energy project such as the wind turbines installed at
Mawson’s?
PM: I guess it’s mostly the cold temperatures and high winds that
need to be considered. You’ve got to use different materials, different
steels (low temperature steels), which are not commonly available in
Australia. You’ve also got to have more insulation in the wind turbines
and make sure the electronics will work in cold temperatures and that the
grease and lubrication in the bearings and the electronics are capable of
enduring low temperatures.
We’ve been operating in Antarctica for a long while so we have a
fairly reasonable collection of knowledge about operating in such an
environment. We’re probably the experts on cold climate in Australia.
FP: Is equipment damaged by the harsh external operating
conditions?
PM: We generally have to store large items of plant equipment and
spares outside because there are no indoor spaces available. The rubber
tires on the vehicles and the rubber in the oils seals become very hard
and tend to crack in the cold . After a couple of years oil leaks tend to
appear on plant and equipment which, while not damaging to the
machinery, does increase maintenance loads and of course the risk of
environmental damage. The damage to the oil seals and the tires is really
one of the big issues – it means for instance if the hydraulics leak then
the crane won’t work. At the beginning of each summer we have to take
the crane into the workshop, thaw it out for a week and then check all
the seals before it can be used. This is the same with all the plant and
equipment and this adds to the work load, even before any project work
can commence
And of course the vehicles can fill up with snow if care is not taken
and this causes further work delays – but at least you can just blow or
melt the snow out.
FP: What do the wind turbines require in respect of
maintenance?
PM: Regular greasing of the bearings is done every 6 months but
aside from that, the maintenance checks are minimal. The turbines have
sophisticated monitoring systems built in which alert the staff if there are
any problems – so it’s all fairly straight forward. The anemometer which is
on the top of the turbine nacelle feeds the computer which decides if the
wind is too strong and the turbines need to be shut down. Once the
wind reaches about 25 metres per second the output is ramped down
f a c i l i t y perspectives • 57
ESD & THE ENVIRONMENT

and by the time it reaches 33 metres a second, it is zero – the turbines

are then turned out of the wind so there are no forces on the blades that
could cause problems.
FP: What energy savings have resulted from installing the
turbines?
PM: The turbines produce about a third of the station’s energy
needs.
FP: What have been the financial benefits?
PM: That’s really hard to determine because it depends what you
think the actual cost of fuel is. If it is based on the cost of the fuel at the
pump here in Hobart then it’s totally different to what we think the real
cost is, landed at Mawson. Shipping, handling and storage should be
added to the real cost.
The bottom line is that we save about 200,000 litres of fuel a year.
And so the payback period depends on what we use as a cost basis
for the fuel. Based on what we think the real cost of fuel is, it is probably
around 4 or 5 years. But based on what we pay for the fuel at the pump
in Hobart (51 cents per litre in 2002), it will take about 12 years to pay
back, if the fuel prices don’t go up!.
FP: Are you likely to install more wind turbines at other stations?
PM: The fuel savings we could achieve at the other stations would
not be as great because of the lower wind regime at those stations and
so we would require more turbines – maybe 4 or 5. Overall the cost
would be greater and so the savings wouldn’t be as great as what they
are at Mawson. However despite the lower savings it is still a worthwhile
undertaking and hopefully we can soon get started on wind turbine
projects at both Davis and Casey. This will be of even greater
importance, given the rising fuel prices and the threat of global climate
change.
FP: Do you have to follow environmental policies when installing
new energy efficiency projects?
PM: There were minimal environmental policies when the renewable the kitchen and medical waste. On top of that we recycle and bring back
energy and energy efficiency projects were being planned – cost savings to Australia all plastics, glass and steel for commercial recycling.
were the driving factor. However now, we have a whole range of targets FP: What energy efficiency developments are in store for the
that we have to report on every year in respect to fuel savings and stations at Antarctica?
carbon dioxide emissions etc. Now, apart from the cost saving aspects, PM: Well we hope to get approval to go ahead with the wind
our on-going aim is to reduce our carbon emissions and reduce the turbines at Casey and Davis and to upgrade the powerhouses at all
occurrences of oil spills. stations to fit fly-wheels into the system. Fly-wheels are an energy
It is difficult to accurately assess our emission reduction levels storage system that enables you to store excess energy from the wind so
because they are very dependent on the intensity of ship voyages to if the wind drops suddenly, they carry the station load for 30 seconds or
Antarctica – ship usage of fuel dominates the overall fuel usage of the so, giving time to start a diesel generator. They’re an effective method
Australian Antarctic Division. For instance, if there’s a big marine science for short-term energy storage which allows a higher wind penetration of
program in a particular year then the overall fuel usage and hence the station energy load leading to higher fuel savings and fewer black-
emissions may increase. And the new air transport system will only add outs.
to the emission levels. Three years ago we received funding from the Greenhouse Office to
FP: In some respects has Antarctica, due its reliance on fossil demonstrate how the excess wind generated from Mawson’s wind
fuels, been ahead of the rest of the world in energy conservation? turbines could be used to generate hydrogen which in turn could run a
PM: I think we have been by a long shot. In the early to mid 90s small fuel-cell. Although this is on a small scale at the moment, we hope
when we first stared running courses on simple energy management (like to demonstrate that it’s possible to use large-scale fuel cells in the future
turning off unnecessry lights and computers etc) for people heading to to power the Antarctic stations on little or no fossil fuels.
Antarctica, few understood why were so concerned about it. Whereas in FP: How does the hydrogen process work?
the last three or four years, we have all but phased out these courses PM: Basically you use power to electrolise water into oxygen and
because now, people are very aware of these issues and they do care hydrogen and you compress the hydrogen and store it at high pressure
about energy usage. for use later in whatever appliance or vehicle you need to. Hydrogen is
FP: Is water conversation an issue in Antarctica? either used like LPG in a stove, in a fuel-cell vehicle or for an internal
PM: We keep a very tight check on water usage because even combustion engine. You can run hydrogen similar to running LPG in a car
though we’re on the edge of the world’s largest supply of fresh water, it and it requires a fairly minimal conversion of the engine.
takes a lot of energy to get it out of that ice and use it. We have very The hydrogen production process is set up so it only produces
tight controls on water – in the past it was so precious that we would hydrogen when we have excess wind power available; we aren’t using
allow expeditioners only two showers a week although now, one shower fossil fuels to generate the hydrogen – it’s totally renewable. We plan to
a day is normal. For some years we have been using the normal shower present a paper on our hydrogen project at the World Hydrogen
restrictors used in most Australians homes. But in general we have been Conference in Brisbane this year.
using waste heat from the powerhouses (or wind turbines at Mawson)
more efficiently to melt the ice and provide a more generous water To keep informed of the AAD’s latest scientific developments and
supply. advancements in energy efficiency visit their website: www.aad.gov.au.
At Davis Station we have a reverse osmosis plant which we are about The website also provides a careers section for positions available in
to replace with a newer, bigger unit. At the other stations we use the infrastructure and mechanical trades.
waste heat to create a large underground cavern of melted ice which we Facility Perspectives thank the staff at The Australian Antarctic Division for their help in
pump into tanks for usage. To a large extent water production is now putting this article together.
automated and a relatively straight forward process. 0 http://www.70south.com/art/plonearticle.2005-12-28.0634789998
FP: What recycling systems are in place at the four stations? 1 http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761565002/Antarctica.htmlBy
PM: There’s a lot of recycling, each station has a waste treatment 2 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antarctica
plant where we treat the black and grey water to stage two levels before 3 http://www.extremescience.com/coldestplace.htm
it’s pumped into the sea. We also have on-site incinerators for burning 4 http://www.aad.gov.au

58 • f a c i l i t y perspectives
 YOUR VISION. OUR TECHNOLOGY.
THE CONVENIENT, SAFE
AND EFFECTIVE WAY UP.

1300 655 525

www.roofaccesssolutions.com.au

RENT
Air Conditioning & Heating
Reverse Cycle
Portable & Temporary

In the event of: AUSTRALIA

• Breakdowns • Planned Maintenance
• Additional Capacity • Seasonal Requirements WIDE 24 HRSS
We can supply: 7 DAYS
• Spot Coolers • Package Units • Fans • Fume
Extraction • Chillers • Generators & Accessories
To locations such as:
• Offices • Data Centres • Computer/Comms 1800 626 996 ®

Rooms • Commercial/Industrial www.aircon.com.au

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

FMA Australia Accreditation

– leading the industry forward

60 • f a c i l i t y perspectives
 PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Facility Management Association of Australia’s Facility Management Accreditation System

(FM AS) has been designed to provide facility professionals with industry recognition of
their skills, experience and knowledge.
Candidates work under the guidance of a mentor (assigned by FMA Australia) to compile a
portfolio of evidence against the FMAS competency standards. The portfolio is then
submitted for independent assessment and the successful candidates join a growing group
of Australia’s leading facility professionals who have achieved Accredited Facility Manager
(AFM) status.
To cater for the depth of skill in the facility management industry, the FMAS recognises
three levels of Accredited Facility Manager (AFM). These levels are: AFM1 (Practice), AFM2
(Manage) and AFM3 (Lead).
Benefits to those accredited under the FMAS include:
3 increased status and industry recognition
3 increased self-confidence from analysis of past career accomplishment
3 a better understanding of which skill areas require further professional development
3 improved employment opportunities
Facility Perspectives’ Melanie Drummond spoke to AFM1 accredited Edward Japutra and
his mentor Michael Rowlands about the process of accreditation and mentoring.
CONTINUED ON PAGE 63

f a c i l i t y perspectives • 61
 Don’t Leave Your Projects To Chance!
PMPartners Education, Consulting & Delivery Solutions
Poorly executed projects cost organisations
millions of dollars each year. With today’s rapid
pace constraining already stretched resources
and the need to continually do more with less it
has never been more critical to deliver focused
and well executed projects.
A recent survey showed that 76% of ‘C level’
executives across the globe attribute successful
change initiatives to effective project
management. These organisations clearly
understand that they cannot stay in business if
they cannot manage their projects.
Successful results require precise, well managed
project execution. PMPartners helps
organisations achieve results by developing their
own capabilities or by providing a delivery
capability on a temporary basis.
PMPartners provides:
• The broadest range of business analysis,
project & programme management
education solutions
• Management of client projects
• Consulting to enhance capabilities,
processes and systems
• Methodologies, programme management,
portfolio management & PMO
• Project management contracting and
recruitment
The PMPartners Group have a team of over 60
experienced consultants, project managers and
facilitators who work with organisations
throughout Australia, Asia and Europe.
PMPartners manage over 300 client
engagements and projects in various industry
sectors each year with a customer list that
contains some of the most prestigious corporate
and government organisations.
For more information:
Website: www.pmpartners.com.au
Email: info@pmpartners.com.au
Phone: 02 9267 2267
 PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 61

ACCREDITATION environmental controls within the Built Environment Services

Edward Japutra
Edward Japutra, Facilities Systems Officer at Chisholm Institute of
TAFE, achieved his AFM1 accreditation in September 2007. It is not an
easy award to come by; the accreditation system is rigorous and sets
very high standards of achievement. Candidates need to demonstrate
they have the required competencies for an accreditation level and have
six months to prepare an evidence portfolio based on their work
experience, all under the guidance of a trained mentor appointed by
FMA Australia. Edward’s portfolio was of such a high standard that it is
now being used as the basis for an exemplar for new candidates
FMA Australia AFM1
Accredited Edward Japutra,
Facility Systems Officer at
Chisholm Institute of TAFE.
FP: Tell us about your current role?
EJ: I have worked at Chisholm Institute of TAFE for more than three
years and am responsible for the implementation and ongoing
improvement of the Department’s Assets Management System. The role
also extends to the implementation and maintenance of building
management systems in the areas of building access, security and
Department. I also provide analytical reports on the Built Environment
Services Department including space utilisation, works planning on
backlog maintenance, cyclic maintenance, responsive maintenance, and
so forth.
FP: What led to you undertaking the AFM1 accreditation
process?
EJ: As part of my professional development I wanted some form of
recognition in the industry.
FP: What has been your background in facilities management?
EJ: I haven’t specifically come from a background in facilities
management but I have the experience in managing and integrating
complex data from various systems, so I’m now applying those skills into
the Asset Management System at Chisholm Institute. In my previous
experience, I worked as a Client Services Officer in a university. In that
position, I had been involved in managing all data of the university’s
international student records including student’s academic reports,
academic payments, visa, overseas health cover and so forth.
FP: What did you find the most difficult about the accreditation
process?
EJ: I found the most challenging part of the process was compiling
all the evidence to demonstrate my competencies in specific areas. As
the scope of Facilities Management is very broad and the assessors may
come from a number of different industries within my field, I had to make
sure the list reference to competences and evidences could easily be
followed by the any assessor.
FP: Can you provide an example of a competency and the
evidence you put forward in your portfolio to show you’d achieved
that level of proficiency?
EJ: An example of a competency that I put forward in my portfolio
was an Asset Management Systems project that I have managed since I
commenced employment at Chisholm. This Asset Management System
includes Aperture and WSM – Work Schedule Module as the
Department’s Asset Management system, and FMIST – Facilities
Management Information Systems for TAFE as OTTE’s Asset

One cockroach can produce

25,000 offspring
in one year and they can
carry Salmonella.

DON’T RISK IT!

Dial 1300 RENTOKIL
www.rentokilpestcontrol.com.au

And help protect your

business from cockroach
and other pest damage.

C O M M E R C I A L • R E S I D E N T I A L

DON’T RISK IT. DIAL 1300 RENTOKIL.

f a c i l i t y perspectives • 63
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Management Systems web based software to monitor the Institutes’
performance.
I initiated collecting various data in the Facilities Department
including an electronic floor plan from AutoCAD, group assets from
Hardcat (institute’s asset database), lighting, floor covering, etc and
upload all the information to the Asset Management Systems. Then I
developed various reports that were generated from the recorded data.
Arranging, implementing and on-going enhancement in Aperture and
WSM as a new facilities Asset Management System in the Department
has demonstrated my competency to manage a project and deliver the
outcome as required at the agreed time.
FP: How did your mentor, Michael Rowlands, assist you through
the accreditation process?
EJ: He gave me the governance required to be successful in the
accreditation process. He covered all of the competencies with me that I
would need to show in my portfolio with the units and elements. He
really helped me to create a portfolio that could be easily followed by an
assessor. We probably met four times throughout the process and he
would check in with me on the progress of my portfolio. I would show
him and ask his advice, during the consultation he would give me his
feedback which enabled me to readjust anything that needed to be
changed to more accurately reflect how my skills and experience were in
line with competencies.
MENTORING
Michael Rowlands
A Mechanical Engineer by profession, Mike Rowlands has been
working in the FM industry since 1988. Currently employed with
Melbourne’s Monash University in the position of Manager –
Maintenance and Minor Works, Mike oversees Facilities Management
operations at the Caulfield and Parkville Campuses and the University
occupied hospital sites of The Alfred, Box Hill and Monash Bentleigh. In
the year 2000, Mike made the esteemed achievement of attaining AFM3
through the FMA Australia accreditation process. He now serves as a
mentor for facility managers going through the FMA Australia
accreditation process.
FMA Australia AFM3 and
mentor, Mike Rowlands
FP: Why did you get involved as a mentor in the accreditation
process?
MR: It was to give something back to the FM Industry and to help
people gain accreditation and be recognised for their achievements and
competencies.
FP: Having achieved AFM3 through the accreditation process,
how did you find the accreditation process yourself?
MR: I found it very daunting. I was one of the first participants, and
when I received the information pack I really found that the most difficult
aspect was figuring out how to start. Back then we had the name of a
mentor but they were really there only if you got into trouble. Now you
are appointed a mentor by FMA Australia and must have face to face
contact with the candidate as part of the process.
FP: As Edward’s background has not been in traditional FM, he
said it was challenging to provide evidence from his role to suit the
competencies, how did you help him through that?
MR: When you really look at what a Facility Manager is, you can see
they come from a number of different backgrounds – not just building
trades, but interior design, architecture, engineering etc. Essentially
though, we’re all in FM. For example, one aspect of an FM’s role is doing
64 • f a c i l i t y perspectives
FMA Australia VICBranch Chair Kristiana Greenwood presenting Edward
Japutra with his AFM1 Accreditation Certificate.
space management which is a function of Edward’s role. We needed to
stand back and look at what Edward was doing and then extract and
identify those FM components and supply the required evidence.
FP: What did you find to be the most challenging part of the
mentoring process?
MR: I find it interesting to see what other people are doing and how
they’re doing it, so it’s a process I enjoy. Often when I first meet with a
person going through accreditation, I remind them that the people
assessing their portfolios will be volunteers who don’t have that much
time available to search out information.
Most candidates think that the people who are assessing their work
know the industry they work in, but they don’t. What you think is pretty
grass roots information might be totally alien to somebody else. So it’s
really important to get through to people to gather all their evidence,
write a little forward about how it ties together and what the process is
they are trying to give the evidence for, then go through and divide it up
into different sections of evidence. Then you need to make sure you
detail on each page what that piece of evidence relates to, everything
needs to be cross-referenced.
FP: Can you tell us a bit more about an accreditation portfolio?
MR: They are a lot of work, it always takes longer than you’d expect.
Throughout the process everyone I’ve mentored has realised how
inadequate their filing system has been maintained, it’s all filed
somewhere but you’ve got to find it all to photocopy and submit it as
evidence. After the process, your record keeping does improve and it’s a
good exercise to go back on things and to review. During the process a
lot of people are also frightened to acknowledge they have actually
managed something – there’s a degree of humility in all of us but in this
instance you really have to beat your own drum and use the words I, me,
managed the process/ project etc.
FP: Do you think the current accreditation competencies
accurately reflect the work of today’s Facilities Managers?
MR: I am currently a member of the Victorian FMA Committee and
also on a subcommittee for the Education and Training Group and we’re
currently reviewing the accreditation competencies. I think the current
competencies that were set up back in 1999 are still fairly accurate in
terms of what people do. There’s a bit of a cross over now into things like
Property Management with a lot more organisations leasing buildings.
The role of the Facilities Manager is continuing to become broader and
the expectations of management are also becoming greater and greater.
The edges were once defined and now they’re becoming blurred and as
a result your skill level and training has really got to go up. You can’t just
say you look after maintenance anymore.
FP: Any advice to anybody thinking about undertaking
accreditation?
MR: Do it! Rely on your mentor. I think obtaining FMA Australia
accreditation can help you get a job as it shows you are keeping your
competencies and your knowledge base up to date. I feel it also boosts
your self confidence and your standing amongst your peers. Getting
accredited is something you’ve achieved yourself; it’s something you can
show your peers that you have done, and it demonstrates your
competency in the industry.
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:
: Building Supervisors / Managers : Senior Facilities Managers
: Operations Managers / Retail Operations Managers : Contract Managers
: Maintenance Managers : Engineering Managers
: Facilities Administrators / Co-ordinators / Managers : Fire Service Technicians
: Building Services Managers / Building Services Technicians : Controls Technicians
: Electronic Security Service Technicians : Team Leaders
: Building Automation Technicians : HVAC / BMS Technicians & Engineers
: Commissioning & Site Engineers : Field Service & Installation Technicians
: Project Managers / Compliance Managers : Electrical / Mechanical Engineers

: EXECUTIVE

: PROPERTY

: ARCHITECTURE

: CONSTRUCTION & CIVIL

: FACILITIES MANAGEMENT

: RESOURCES, MINING & POWER

: PROJECT MANAGEMENT & DEVELOPMENT

For specialist recruitment expertise contact :

Marc Owen on 0434 989 810 or email marc@dmrecruitment.com.au

Russell Hopkins on 0406 131 185 or email russell@dmrecruitment.com.au

Dean Dewhirst on 0405 182 156 or email dean@dmrecruitment.com.au

www.dmgroup.com.au

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
FM ACTION AGENDA
FM Action Agenda:
greener pastures
STEPHEN BALLESTY
FMA AUSTRALIA’S IMMEDIATE PAST CHAIRMAN; FM ACTION AGENDA’S DEPUTY CHAIRMAN;
AND MANAGING DIRECTOR | ADVISORY, RIDER LEVETT BUCKNALL
JON MCCORMICK
FM ACTION AGENDA BOARD MEMBER CHAIRING THE RECOGNITION WORKING GROUP FOR
SUSTAINABILITY AND MANAGING DIRECTOR, MULTIPLEX FACILITIES MANAGEMENT.
The Facilities Management (FM) Action Agenda was established by the Department of
Industry, Tourism & Resources and produced its strategic plan entitled ‘Managing the Built
Environment’ in 2005. The plan set out a 20 point Action plan to improve the recognition
of FM as a contributor to a more productive and sustainable Built Environment through
improved innovation, education and regulatory reform. This is being championed across
four Recognition Working Groups covering Innovation, Education & Training, Regulatory
Reform and Sustainability.
N
ow officially in the third and concluding year of its
implementation phase the FM Action Agenda has made
significant progress across a wide range of initiatives. The FM
Action Agenda charts the course for a continuing journey towards best
practice which FMA Australia with others is committed too. This article
provides an insight into the activities of the Recognition Working Group
for Sustainability under the leadership of Jon McCormick (2005-08) and
Michael Silman (2005-07).
The Sustainability Challenge
The Sustainability Working Group is responsible for implementation
of Actions 14 – 17 namely;
Action 14 – Promote the role of facilities management in responding
to increased demand for corporate accountability associated with
sustainability performance.
Action 15 – Promote the role of the facilities management industry
in key industry and government forums addressing sustainability.
Action 16 – Use the data web portal proposed in Action 4 to
disseminate sustainability information.
Action 17 – Develop a ‘business case’ model that highlights the
costs and benefits of embracing ‘sustainable’ practices in the use and
management of materials, energy, water waste, and indoor
environmental quality with a particular focus on workplace productivity.
Sustainability is now a mainstream issue. This is being acknowledged
by individuals realising that their actions have consequences,
governments in their policy platforms and organisations recognising the
environmental, social and financial benefits of creating and maintaining
Green Buildings.
The FM Action Agenda team’s Sustainability effort has focused on
the improved utilisation of existing knowledge and the development of
tools and opportunities to improve the environmental performance of
facilities. This has involved us in consultation regarding FM’s contribution
to resolving a range of environmental challenges has been pursued with
a range of industry groups such as the Australian Sustainable Built
Environment Council (ASBEC), the Green Building Council of Australia
(GBCA), the Department of Energy, Utilities and Sustainability (DEUS),
Tertiary Education Facilities Management Association (TEFMA) and the
Property Council of Australia (PCA).
Specifically input has been provided to the Warren Centre’s Low
Energy High Rise project, the CRC for Construction Innovation’s ‘Your
Building’ project and the Department of the Environment and Climate
Change’s ‘ESD Operations Guide for Commercial and Public Buildings’.
These actions will promote industry wide understanding and
collaboration enhancing the quality and quantity of FM resources in the
66 • f a c i l i t y perspectives
future. This recognition and rigor will add focus to issues impacting on
the ‘Managing the Built Environment’ for the benefit of industry
stakeholders, the national economy and ultimately the community.
Sustainable Operations Guidelines for Facilities Managers
A key deliverable of the FM Action Agenda in 2008 will be the
“Sustainable Operations Guidelines for Facilities Managers”. The Guide
will not only demonstrate the inextricable link between the FM and a
sustainable Built Environment, but will focus on mitigating the estimated
environmental impacts. It is estimated that worldwide, buildings
consume 32% of the world’s resources, including 12% of water,
contributing 40% of the world’s landfill and 40% of global air emissions
(OECD 2003). There is huge potential to make improvements to the
environmental performance through the enhanced management of
existing facilities. Facility Managers will play a crucial role in achieving the
efficiencies required to make a positive difference.
A sustainable Built Environment will be necessary to meet ‘... the
needs of future generations without compromising the ability of future
generations to meet their own needs’ (Brundtland Report 1987). In order
to be sustainable we must consider the ‘triple bottom line’
interdependence of economic, environmental and social elements. The
Guide will make practical recommendations to reduce this environmental
burden presented by the Built Environment.
The practical framework of the Guide will start many Facility
Managers on the path to sustainability, and ‘Greener Pastures’ for all. The
Guide will be to bridge the perceived knowledge gap that exists in how
to operate facilities in the most environmentally efficient way, to perform
beyond compliance. The focus will be on simple management solutions
rather than technological or construction based solutions requiring major
capital expenditure commitment. The Guide is also intended to be a
living document, updated periodically to respond to changing demands
and opportunities to address sustainability.
Currently the major drivers for Facility Managers to implement
changed practices and sustainability initiatives come from requirements
in:
3 Regulatory compliance;
3 Corporate social responsibility standards;
3 Environmental performance metrics, benchmarking and tools; and
3 Whole of life planning and management principles.
The Guide will address issues of:
3 Sustainable materials selection
3 Energy efficiency
3 Water efficiency
3 Waste management
 FM ACTION AGENDA

3 Indoor Air Quality (IAQ)

However, Facility Managers face a number of barriers to
implementing sustainable management practices, including:
3 Disconnect between design, construction and operational phases of
the facilities life cycle;
3 Knowledge and skills gaps in the delivery of sustainability outcomes;
3 Lack of support from senior and executive management;
3 Lack of understanding, and agreed industry standards and metrics;
3 Lack of adequate metering and monitoring of performance over
time;
3 Short term criteria rather than long term objectives;
3 Poor historic and habitual management practices;
3 Tenant behaviour, particularly in terms waste streams and energy
consumption; and
Urban Maintenance Systems is a
3 Absence of effective incentives / penalties to facilitate behavioural specialist provider of Facilities and
change. Infrastructure Maintenance Services
A “Sustainable Operations Guidelines for Facilities Managers” will to Private and Government sectors
empower those responsible for the management of the Built
Environment to realise the true extent of FM’s contribution. It will combat throughout Australia.
the perception that sustainability represents a cost rather than an
opportunity. UMS Facilities Services specialises
in the following:
Getting the Message Out • Essential service compliance management
There have been important changes within the property –
• Programmed & reactive building maintenance
construction – facilities industry in terms of initiatives, regulations and
technologies as we move towards the role the Built Environment must • Building condition auditing & life cycle costing
play in any sustainable future. Promotion and education regarding FM’s • Trade services – carpentry, plumbing, electrical,
contribution is a vital activity. On 11 February in Sydney Jon McCormick painting, gutter cleaning, mechanical plant
presented “Post Occupancy: the Green Building FM Challenge” at the maintenance
Green Building Council of Australia and the Property Council of
• Capital improvement works planning & delivery
Australia’s Green Cities 08: What’s Possible Now?
Other opportunities to promote this important message have been • 24 /7 emergency response contact centre
identified for 2008 as the CRC for Construction Innovation’s Clients • Modern/functional information management
Driving Innovation conference (March 12-13) on the Gold Coast, BIFM’s system
Annual Conference (March 18-19 Keble College) in Oxford, FMA
Australia’s ideaction 2008 Conference (May 7-9) on the Gold Coast, Urban Maintenance Systems
EFMC’08 (European Facility Management Conference, June 10-11) in 352 Ferntree Gully Road Notting Hill VIC 3168
Manchester, the World Sustainable Building (SB08) tri-annual Conference Phone: (03) 9265 5811 Fax: (03) 9265 5899
(September 21-25) in Melbourne and IFMA’s World Workplace Email: info@ums.com.au Web: www.ums.com.au
Conference (October 15-17) in Dallas. PROVIDING SERVICES NATIONALLY
On 14 May in Sacramento Stephen Ballesty will be presenting the
keynote address on the Australian FM Action Agenda at IFMA’s Enduring Partnerships Driven by Service Excellence
Californian Sustainability Mayday Conference. This event will benefit the
IFMA Foundation and will be another example of industry and
government working together to achieve a more ‘productive and
sustainable Built Environment’ for the community.

Moving Forward

Should you wish to become involved in the FM Action

Agenda www.fmactionagenda.org or directly support its
initiatives please do not hesitate to contact Stephen
Ballesty on +612 9922 2277 or at
stephen.ballesty@au.rlb.com

Jon McCormick
FM Action Agenda board member chairing the
Recognition Working Group for Sustainability and
Managing Director, Multiplex Facilities Management.

f a c i l i t y perspectives • 67
ESD & THE ENVIRONMENT

Workplace 6 – Sydney’s
Green Star Success
Workplace 6 is the new luminary on Sydney’s foreshore, achieving the city’s first ever 6 Star
Green Star Rating for a commercial office building. A joint development by the GPT Group
and Citta Property Group, construction of Workplace 6 is already well underway at its
prime Waterfront Site, with completion date anticipated for late 2008. Among the
innovative design features which contributed to the building’s success are: black water
(sewer) recycling, tri-generation energy systems, titanium plate heat exchangers and
harbour water heat rejection, advanced lighting controls including daylight compensation
and dimming, solar hot water and other energy and water efficiency measures. Facility
Perspectives spoke to engineering consultants Waterman AHW about the decisive impact
the building’s leading edge engineering systems had on the building reducing its carbon
emissions and achieving the coveted Green Star Rating.

A projected image of the South West Entrance to Workplace 6.

68 • f a c i l i t y perspectives

B
y employing world best practice in its design and construction,
Workplace 6 has created a new benchmark in office
development. The building’s innovative approach to water
management is anticipated to save approximately 20 million litres a
year, alongside energy efficiency measures expected to reduce
electricity usage by a staggering 80 per cent.
As well as enjoying the knowledge their building has a greenhouse
gas reduction of 50 percent over a standard building, future tenants of
Workplace 6 will also benefit from natural light penetration across
internal work spaces via an atrium, exceptional harbour views,
operable windows for natural ventilation and improved air quality,
premium amenities such as showers and change rooms with lockers
plus the availability of 135 secure car spaces and 120 bicycle racks.
The development will provide approximately 18,000 square metres
of office space over six storeys and will offer potential tenants some of
the largest commercial floor plates on offer in Sydney. Expected to be
developed at a total cost of $130 million, Workplace 6 looks to deliver
a yield of over 7% when fully leased.
Facility Perspectives’ Melanie Drummond
spoke to Scott Brown, Associate Director and
division manager of mechanical services and
sustainability of Waterman AHW – a multi-
discipline consulting company, about the
groundbreaking engineering that played a vital in
the success of the Workplace 6 design.
FP: How did Waterman AHW come to be involved in the
Workplace 6 project?
SB: We were approached by Buildcorp (the builder) back in
September 2006 at the bid stage and we went in with their
consortium:
3 Client: GPT
3 Developer: Citta Property Group
3 Builder: Buildcorp
3 Architect: Nettleton Tribe
3 MEP Engineers: Waterman AHW
3 ABGR and Services Green Star Initiatives: Waterman AHW
FP: Why did Waterman AHW want to be involved with the
project?
SB: A couple of reasons, one was that we hadn’t worked for
Buildcorp before. Another was that it was a building striving for a very
high green rating which was something we always like to be involved
in.
FP: What’s particularly unique about Workplace 6?
SB: From Sydney’s perspective it’s quite unique in that it’s NSW’s
first 6 star Green Star Building.
FP: Can you tell us about the leading edge engineering
features of Workplace 6?
SB: One thing that is unique is the combination of systems that it
has, for example it has chilled beams (which is becoming more
common in Australia) and it will also have a tri-generation power plant
in place which is a step up from co-generation.
FP: What is the difference between co-generation and tri-
generation systems?
SB: Co-generation is generating power and using the waste heat
from the generator for another purpose (hence the ‘co’ in co-
generation meaning the two purposes of electricity and heat). In the
case of Workplace 6, the ‘tri’ in tri-generation relates to three purposes
- using a gas generator on site to meet part of the buildings power
whilst recovering waste heat using heat exchangers for use in two
distinct purposes. One is to provide cooling using what’s called
absorption chillers that use heat going into the chiller to run the
refrigeration process – negating the need to run refrigeration
compressors which use virtually all the power that a chiller uses. That
means you’re basically able to run a chiller using hot water – you still
have a bit of power in there but the main use of power has been taken
out of the equation. The other use we’re applying the waste heat to is
hot water heating in winter.
FP: Is this the first time a tri-generation system has been used?
SB: I do know there is some co-generation systems in Australia but
there’s not many in commercial buildings, there may be some other tri-
generation systems but I don’t believe there’d be any in commercial
buildings – there are likely be some tri-generation systems in large
ESD & THE ENVIRONMENT
factories. As far as this side of the industry goes, I don’t believe there’s
any. The other thing that’s unique about it is in most other commercial
buildings where co-generation has been used, it is only used on a
small scale for a small percentage of the building’s electrical demand.
What we’re using at Workplace 6 is over 25% of the base building
peak load.
FP: Why do you think it’s only been used on a smaller scale
prior to you taking it on?
SB: Those buildings had other systems they were using to get their
green points; they were using different technologies as well. After
consideration of the options available, we decided that we would
prefer to have a larger tri-generation system to get our Green Star and
our ABGR rating.
FP: What led to it being the best solution?
SB: We’d done some research and visited a few buildings and
sites; one in Melbourne, a few in Sydney and from that we made our
own decisions on what would be the best way to go.
FP: In Workplace 6 a titanium plate cooling system has been
used, can you tell us more about that?
SB: In a standard building you use cooling towers to reject heat
from your air conditioning system, because air conditioning is basically
a matter of grabbing heat that’s inside a building and pushing it out.
Instead of using cooling towers we’re using a harbour water heat
exchange. In Sydney it’s not particularly unique as there are at least half
a dozen buildings that do it.
FP: How does the harbour water heat exchange process work?
SB: We draw in water from the harbour via some filtration to
minimise marine life and anything else that may get through, then the
water is pumped through titanium heat exchangers. One downside is
that Titanium is a very expensive metal that is unfortunately in a world-
wide shortage. We had about a 12 month wait time on the heat
exchangers because of the material. After the heat exchangers have
operated, the water gets put back into the harbour at about two
degrees warmer and that’s where we reject the heat from inside the
building. On the other side of the heat exchangers there’s a
conventional condenser water system, which is used by the chillers and
tenant condenser water. We’re using ABS plastic piping on the harbour
water side so that we don’t get corrosion.
FP: As it’s such an expensive metal, what made titanium the
only choice for the project?
SB: As one of the few people in Sydney that has worked on
several harbour water heat exchange projects, I’m well aware of the
problems that have come about if you don’t use the right material.
You can, for example, use very high-grade stainless steel but it will
still corrode, probably within 12 months and you’d have to replace it.
There are also a couple of non-ferrous metals such as Hastelloy,
but even they may only last up to 5-10 years with no guarantees.
Titanium basically doesn’t corrode with seawater so in theory it could
last 20-30 years. Apart from corrosion, the biggest issue with harbour
water is marine growth, essentially you get mussels growing inside
your heat exchangers and blocking them, so you have to pull them
apart clean them – that needs to be done once a year and in between
there is also some chemical dose systems to keep the marine growth
to a minimum.
The chemical dosing is usually made up of a chlorine based
solution, which although it sounds nasty it’s actually not too bad for the
environment, once it enters the harbour, it breaks down quickly.
FP: Why is the harbour water heat exchange so effective in
green buildings?
SB: There are a couple of environmental reasons why using
harbour water for air conditioning heat rejection is a good choice. This
is reflected in the Green Star rating system, where the use of cooling
towers penalises you quite a lot for a number of reasons. One is the
possible risk of Legionella which is an emissions point in the rating
system. Basically it means that if you don’t have cooling towers then
you have no risk of putting Legionella into the air, as opposed to
controlling it with chemicals which is how it is usually done.
When a cooling tower system is designed correctly and
monitoring, chemical control and cleaning are done properly you won’t
get Legionella outbreaks. But invariably, for one reason or another,
some cooling tower systems are not designed or maintained properly,
and with the hundreds of buildings in our capital cities, once or twice a
year an outbreak of Legionella does happen.
Not having cooling towers also helps you with the water side of
f a c i l i t y perspectives • 69
ESD & THE ENVIRONMENT
Drawings of the Heat Exchangers operating in Workplace 6, a key component of its 6 Star Green Star Rating.
your Green Star rating, in Workplace 6 by not having cooling towers
we’re saving 8 million litres of water a year in the building, which is also
a cost saving as well. Cooling towers work by evaporation so you’re
constantly evaporating water and you constantly have to put more
water in. The main reasons we’re using the titanium heat exchange is
for the emissions and saving water.
FP: What about the energy required to operate the titanium
pipe system?
SB: The energy in theory is less than operating cooling towers
although we have not done a direct energy comparison yet. In theory
there’s a couple of reasons as to why it’s less, one is that water is about
three times more effective at moving heat around so per kilowatt of
energy you put in you’re able to move about three times as much
around.
The other thing is that by using harbour water you’re always able
to get a lower water temperature whereas with cooling towers when
the outdoor temperature gets quite high they’re not as efficient.
Another reason for going with the heat exchange was the
architectural impact. We don’t have big cooling towers sitting on the
roof which certainly allowed us to have a lot more lettable area on the
top floor. We did have a restricted building envelope and we couldn’t
just stick towers on the roof – it wasn’t going to be allowed by the
Sydney Harbour Foreshore Authority.
FP: Is the heat exchange system all underground?
SB: We’ve just got a plant room in the basement which contain
the pumps and titanium heat exchangers, and when you look at that it
is smaller than the size of plant required for cooling towers, so it’s a net
saving in building area.
FP: What is involved with the maintenance and monitoring of
the system?
SB: Generally we’ve specified automatic cleaning filters so they
automatically clean the system and we’ve got plastic pipework which is
not that easy for the marine growth to latch on to. Marine growth will
latch on over time but it does mean you’ve got a reasonable period in
between before you have to do any cleaning.
Generally the main cleanout is just annual and that includes one at
a time pulling apart heat exchangers and cleaning those and water
blasting pipe work and that sort of thing. Other than that there’s just
the chemical dosing and once you set that up it’s all automated. Being
that it’s a salt water system as well, once you’ve set it up you do have
to check things aren’t rusting.
As long as you keep your eye on the system and look after it, it’s
not a huge imposition because what you’re comparing it against is
cooling towers which have also got a very high maintenance regime. In
cooling towers you have to guard against Legionella – that requires
cleaning and testing/lab testing on a regular basis which is quite costly.
We haven’t done a direct comparison, but anecdotally our opinion is
that system maintenance required for the heat exchange after hours
would be relatively similar to cooling towers, provided you keep up
your general maintenance throughout the rest of the year as well.
FP: What operating system does the heat exchange use?
SB: Basically we’re just using our building’s BMS (Building
Management System), our control system and we’ve got variable
speed pumps so we’re ramping those up and down with the load
requirements, so we’re only using as much power as we need to.
It’s no different to an ordinary system. Once it’s set up and
operating it’s similar to how you would work with a cooling tower
system. There are always some teething issues in getting everything
working properly and controlling properly. Really the controls are just
70 • f a c i l i t y perspectives
simple, they’re really temperature based or pressure based - just
slightly different methods than what you’d use with cooling towers. It’s
all fairly standard stuff.
FP: So it’s not substantially more difficult to operate a heat
exchange system than cooling towers?
SB: Once you’ve set it up it runs on its own. There will also be
alarms to indicate when temperatures or pressures get too high in
certain areas. It doesn’t necessitate a full-time facilities manager on
site.
FP: How long have heat exchange systems been operating in
Sydney?
SB: The earlier ones weren’t using titanium and they’d last about
10 or 15 years and then they’d replace the heat exchange equipment.
They were based on systems that had been used in ships for years.
Examples are the old AMP building in Sydney which was built in the
50s which I think was the first one to have it, the Opera House also has
it and another old one is the PowerHouse Museum in Sydney. Other
than that, in the past 10 years a few have sprung up with the titanium
heat exchangers. A lot along King Street Wharf in Sydney have them
as well.
FP: Is the initial cost of implementing heat exchangers
significantly greater than incorporating cooling towers?
SB: It is a capital cost increase so you’re up for a significant
increase. Generically speaking you’re probably looking at 3-4 times the
price. Putting that in perspective however, cooling towers usually aren’t
that expensive. It does become a major cost component of the air
conditioning cost.
FP: How long is the payback period?
SB: Well with the current water prices it doesn’t offer much saving
in that sense, it’s not huge water saving and we do believe there is
energy saving but I haven’t actually run the numbers yet. The main
benefits are really the environmental benefits.
FP: Will it offer benefits regarding the calibre of tenants
looking to occupy a building that has such a system in place?
SB: It is one key part of an overall green building design that
combine to make the building very attractive to tenants. The tenants
they are looking at getting in for Workplace 6 are very well known.
FP: What lighting systems will be used in Workplace 6?
SB: We included energy efficient lamps that are dimmable and
around the perimeter we’ve got daylight sensors so when enough
daylight is coming in we can dim the perimeter lights to save power. If
you’re sitting at your desk window and there’s enough daylight coming
in, the lights above you will actually dim, therefore using a lot less
power.
FP: Can you tell us about the black water recycling that will be
in place in Workplace 6?
SB: Part of our requirement by the Sydney Harbour Foreshore
Authority was to recycle water and to provide water to some adjacent
parks. We went through different methods first to establish if there was
enough rain water and then realised the parks were a reasonable size
so there was nowhere near enough rain water.
We ended up designing a blackwater treatment plant using the
building’s sewer but we soon realised there wasn’t enough sewer
coming from our building so we actually had to tap into the sewer
main in the street, doing what is called ‘sewer mining’. It involves
taking in sewerage from the mains through our black water treatment
plant and producing what is drinkable quality water, although the
regulations are not in place to allow us to use if for that purpose.
FP: How does the black water recycling plant operate?

SB: In general terms, the black water recycling plant comprises:
3 All building soil stacks gravitate back to the black water plant raw
sewage tanks.
3 There is a connection from the large sewer main in the street
where sewer gravitates to the black water plant raw sewage tanks.
3 The blackwater treatment plant uses several stages comprising a
system known as a membrane bioreactor (MBR). Included are UV,
ozone and chlorine treatment stages. The system is being supplied
by General Electric (GE).
3 After the plant there is a clean water holding tank, from which
water is pumped to the various uses including to adjacent parks
for irrigation, on-site irrigation and toilet flushing.
3 The plant has various overflows, water supplies and cleaning
points.
3 The concentrated sewer remaining, known as waste activated
sludge, gravitates back to the sewer main in the street (pending
Sydney Water approval). The fall-back solution is to temporarily
store this waste and truck it out at time intervals as required.
FP: What are some of the other engineering features that
Waterman has designed for Workplace 6?
SB: By far the most significant other ESD feature designed for
Workplace 6 is the use of cogeneration. This includes a gas fired
generator which provides approximately 30% of the peak base
building power requirements. The waste heat from the generator
engine cooling plus some from the exhaust flue is recovered, using
water to water and air to water heat exchangers respectively, providing
hot water for use by the mechanical services systems.
The mechanical services primarily use this hot water to run an
absorption chiller, providing “free cooling” to the building. The
absorption chiller refrigeration process uses hot water instead of a
large electric compressor to provide chilled water for air conditioning
purposes. It only has a relatively small water pump – hence electric
power consumed is only a fraction of an electric chiller.
If during winter the absorption chiller does not require all of the
hot water then it can be used for space heating. There is also a gas
ESD & THE ENVIRONMENT
fired boiler system as a back up to the heat from the gas generator to
ensure that the chiller and space heating can occur if the generator is
out of service.
Other systems included in the engineering design include chilled
beams for cooling and swirl type air diffusers for fresh air. Both passive
chilled beam and active chilled beam technologies are utilised, serving
centre zone and perimeter zone areas respectively. Heating is provided
via the perimeter zone active chilled beams.
With this combination of building “smarts”, Workplace 6 sets the
benchmark in World’s Best Practice Green Building technology, and
while there is no doubt that there will still be challenges ahead in the
commissioning and fine tuning of these systems, the knowledge and
experience gained from these leading edge projects will form the basis
of Green technology design and maintenance practice for the
foreseeable future.
About Waterman AHW
Waterman AHW are a multi-discipline consulting company,
offering expertise in mechanical, electrical, hydraulic, fire protection,
and lifts, structural, civil, ESD and facilities management. Waterman
AHW have three offices in Australia including Sydney, Melbourne and
Brisbane. Waterman AHW’s engineering staff have expertise in offering
innovative, integrated, sustainable and cost effective client focused
solutions in all building sectors (commercial, institutional, health,
education, residential, hotels, retail, industrial and more). As a part of
the Waterman Group, a public listed company on the London Stock
exchange with a total of 1800+ consulting engineers, scientists and
technical staff in Europe, the Middle East, Asia and the Pacific,
Waterman AHW has a vast resource of high calibre staff with varied
experience to draw upon. The Australian offices are considered to be
the “international design centre of excellence” for Waterman Group.
Projects designed in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane has included
both local work and international projects such as recent major (multi
billion dollar) projects in Europe and the Middle East.
Why names you
know rely on us...
We provide them with
innovative records
management solutions
Whether you are planning
a move, upgrading existing
premises, want to improve
productivity or save floor space,
you can rely on Codafile to
provide you with an innovative
records management solution.
Call Codafile toll free today on
1800 263 234 (Australia) or
0800 263 234 (New Zealand) or
visit www.codafile.com
QRECORDS MANAGEMENT CONSULTING
QFILETRAK SOFTWARE
QCODAPRINT LABEL SOFTWARE
QCABINETS
QCODAFILE LATERAL FILES
QCUSTOMISED FILES
QFILING STORAGE PACKAGES
f a c i l i t y perspectives • 71
SOFTWARE CASE STUDY

The business challenge

in managing essential
safety measures
F
aced with escalating
complexities involved in the
routine inspection and
maintenance of Essential Safety
Measures in accordance with Building
Regulations, Australian Essential
Services Maintenance (AESM) decided
to embrace the efficiencies and
accuracy that leading-edge technology
and the Pervidi suite of dedicated
software had to offer.
AESM assists building owners,
managers and tenants in meeting their
ongoing compliance obligations for
the upkeep of buildings’ essential
safety measures, to ensure the safety
of the occupants and the buildings.
Proudly committed to maintaining
the solid reputation they have built
over many years of providing quality-
driven, friendly and professional
service within the building services
industry, AESM would receive calls
from facility managers for inspection
and work order requests.
These requests would be
recorded through a paper based work
order system, and depending on the
urgency of the request, AESM
administration staff would notify the
designated inspector via phone, and
that inspector would fill out their own
work order and run sheet while away
from the office. With scheduled
essential service maintenance, run
sheets would be created for
maintenance technicians on a weekly
basis.
The need to measure and manage
work performance, and thereby
increase efficiencies however, exposed
the problems that existed with the use
of paper-based systems, including the following: AESM manager and owner Mario Apela stated: “We needed a
3 Inaccurate recording of inspection results and data. system which would improve our operational efficiency and effectiveness
3 Inability to accurately analyse technician Key Performance Indicators and allow us to grow to maintain our competitive edge in the Building
(KPIs) such as Hours spent on site and actual attendance on site. Maintenance industry. Since AESM highly value customer service and
3 Double Data entry – Inspectors would record results and findings on satisfaction, we wanted to provide our customers with the best service –
job sheets and hand them back to AESM administration staff to re- service provided through real-time accurate information. We knew that
enter into another basic template sheet. our significant growth could not have been achieved had we persisted
3 Quoting and invoicing times were inhibited by paper-based delays, with our previous paper based system and therefore a fully automated
costing potential new customers and delaying payment from existing and integrated system was needed for our field force.
customers. “We invested a significant amount of time and resources into finding
3 Follow-up procedures and corrective actions for failed inspections the right solution for our needs. We needed a system that would not
were also delayed since AESM administration staff needed to merge only incorporate electronic and field force automation but also be
multiple forms to create the follow-up Work Order. flexible enough to allow us to customise and match our business
3 Customer and Site management was also disadvantaged through processes and practices. We came across Pervidi CMMS (Computer
the lack of readily available real-time information. Maintenance Management System) developed by Techs4biz and knew
3 Since reporting methods were very basic, only basic work order and straight away that it would cater for our current needs while allowing us
inspection reports could be created from the system. to grow and expand”, Mario said.
3 Lack of connectivity with technicians out on the road. The implementation of the Techs4biz Pervidi CMMS system enabled

72 • f a c i l i t y perspectives
 SOFTWARE CASE STUDY

AESM to provide their inspectors with a PDA (personal digital assistant), and the central Database will be automatically updated when the data is
which held all their previously and current paper-based work orders sent back.
electronically. The PDA’s removed the need to print copious numbers of AESM’s continued embracement of new technology such as Pervidi
job sheets, provided more information about the job to the technician, Desktop, Pervidi PDA and Pervidi Web Portal has enabled them to gain
greatly assisted in securing the data captured, and allowed more depth a greater market share through the competitive advantage gained over
in their accuracy of data input, such as the ability to set a maximum and their rivals, who are still utilising basic and inefficient paper based
minimum score and if a result was not in range to alert the technician. systems. “We are continually looking for efficiency gains and currently we
The PDA also allowed technicians to create work orders whilst on site, are bar-coding all of our equipment and areas, enabling our technicians
add new locations, assets and/or equipment into the database, move to scan the barcode and automatically bring up the work that needs to
assets/equipment that currently exist in the database and access in depth be done for it. We are also looking at expanding into the Pervidi wireless
site information, safety notes and comments. model, which will enable real-time interaction with our technicians and
From an administration perspective, Pervidi has enabled AESM allow us to move into other states and potential new markets” said
administrative staff to log incoming calls and to create new work orders Mario.
and job requests utilising the Customer Call centre of Pervidi Desktop. At the same time, Techs4biz is committed to enhancing the Pervidi
Pervidi Desktop allows the user to view all customer sites in an easy-to- CMMS solution, and incorporating newer and better features that result
read user interface, which serves as a handy quick-reference tool for use in a software suite that is unrivalled by others.
with customers who call to request a work history of a particular site, or
an individual asset. AESM’s paper-based reports were fairly limited and
simplistic, whereas Pervidi provides over 150 dynamic and adjustable
reports. Pervidi allows AESM to create a variety of work order, staff,
facilities, assets and client information reports, including customised
Asset management
reports that match their business processes.
AESM customers are also able to submit job requests through the made easy using graphics
Pervidi WebPortal which is accessible via AESM’s website. Customers Grazer provides an intuitive software application using
simply log in and add their particular request without having to graphics. Retrieval of technical manuals and drawings
telephone. The web portal allows customers to view the status of their
for all building assets has never been easier!
requests, while offering AESM administrative and technical staff the
controls to manage the information that is available and accessible to
their customers.
The Pervidi CMMS suite has enabled AESM to improve their
operational effectiveness, minimise paper work, eliminate unnecessary or
redundant administrative tasks, and maximise customer satisfaction.
These productivity benchmarks have been achieved through
provision of the following benefits:
3 Increased amount of information available to technicians while
reducing the cumbersome amounts of paperwork taken to each site.
3 Increased data input accuracy and minimisation of human error.
3 The ability to better manage their technician’s time and resources
and create efficiency gains.
3 Pervidi’s ability to invoice completed jobs, allowing administrative
staff to email invoicing reports directly to the desired recipient.
3 The ability to deal with work orders with failed items promptly,
utilising the Follow-Up Notice and Corrective actions features in
Pervidi. UÊ“«ÀœÛiÃÊޜÕÀÊLœÌ̜“ʏˆ˜i
Automatic rollover of Repetitive tasks (for example: A monthly
Inspection of a particular piece of equipment) ensures that AESM staff do UÊÕ}iÊivwVˆi˜VÞÊ}>ˆ˜Ã
not need to remember to reschedule these jobs manually. UÊ,i`ÕViÃÊ
œ““iÀVˆ>Ê,ˆÃŽ
Queries received from customers regarding their buildings can be
efficiently dealt with on the spot with various site reports, Work Order UÊ >ÃÞÊ̜Ê>VViÃÃÊ`À>܈˜}Ã
Reports and Asset Reports available on demand.
and technical manuals
The ability for technicians to add new work orders on their PDA,
saving time and effort, and removing the need to return to their office or Australia wide support
fill out paper work orders on site. If a particular piece of equipment has Australia wide support
*\Ê­än®ÊnÎx£Ê™ää{ÊÊÊÊ \ÊÃ>iÃJ}À>âiÀ°Vœ“°>Õ
changed locations, the technician can make the correction on the PDA, www.grazer.com.au

f a c i l i t y perspectives • 73
PROPERTY FOCUS

Supporting business
objectives through
effective CRE
BY KERRY LODGE AND ROB MORRIS, CORPORATE REAL ESTATE SERVICES, SAVILLS

Most Facility Managers (FM) understand the role of an outsourced Corporate Real Estate
(CRE) team and the benefits that their decisions can bring. These include supporting
corporate strategy by leveraging locations, layouts, and leases to reduce costs, increase
flexibility and improve productivity. But an organisation’s corporate real estate decisions
will only be effective if such outcomes support the overall business objectives and
continually focus on minimising costs while maximising flexibility.
Savills Corporate Real Estate Services’ Kerry Lodge and Bob Morris examine the mindset
shift of CRE and FM professionals from a reactive to a proactive approach to partnering.

P
roactive management of the corporate real estate assets demands Corporate
Corpor Model
rate Real Estate Needs Mod
del

clear strategic direction from senior management and clear

measurable deliverables from FM. Therefore it is critical that FM &
CRE teams are involved in the strategic planning within the client
organisation.

Corporate Real Estate Needs Model

This shift in mindset on the fundamental role of CRE is being driven
by organisational culture, technological change and global
competitiveness.
How many companies actually know what they have invested in their
CRE assets? How many companies in reality actually buy into the
‘partnering’ process with a free flow of ideas, planning and strategies
between the respective FM and CRE teams?
Many FMs in Australia have no say or no choice on their CRE
partners, due to global agreements and alliances sewn up in offices in
New York or London and therefore view the local relationship with some
cynicism.
Below is a summary of the main drivers for change, and their impact
on real estate provision and facilities support services management.
Trends in Corporate Real Estate Management
3 Growing awareness of the need to manage physical resources – the
“mix & fit “ evaluation
3 Concerns with rising occupancy costs
3 Longer term asset ownership and liabilities
3 The need to align CRE resource to strategic direction
3 Environmental concerns such as site and internal configuration, and
employee productivity
Impact on Corporate Real Estate Provision
3 CRE portfolio profile (level of ownership and/or lease liabilities)
3 Optimising location advantages (rationalisation and disposal)
3 Space utilisation (innovations)
3 Layout configurations (functional / process)
Trends in Facilities Management
3 Becoming generalist e.g. master of all trades (Commercial, Industrial,
retail, engineering etc)
3 In search of economy
3 Trend towards outsourcing
3 Partnering and Alliances
3 Service orientation
Impact on Facilities Management
Flexibility in:
3 Accommodating changes in technology, such as in IT,
telecommunication and, electronic mail
3 Alternative procurement strategies
3 Contract and Service management
The desired outcome from an organisation’s CRE assets in a physical
form is an appropriate portfolio structure that is aligned with the
organisation’s business operational requirements. Buildings and land, as
physical assets, are static products.
Effective matching of demand and supply of accommodation and
associated support services to meet the operational requirements of a
dynamic and competitive business environment demands the
management of the real estate assets as a dynamic integrated process.
Achieving an integrated approach requires formal planning sessions
involving the corporation’s management executives, CRE and FM teams,
who provide the collective input of the cultural, procedural and existing
knowledge base of the organisation concerned.
For the CRE/FM relationship to provide optimal returns, facility
managers need to fully utilise the range and scope of services offered by
an outsourced provider, including the following:
3 Industry experts with detailed property and market knowledge both
nationally and internationally
3 The latest industry research on specific market sectors to support
decisions and strategies
3 Occupancy cost reductions through the development of short,
medium and long term strategies aligned with corporate objectives
3 Delivery of property services through a single service provider,
including, advisory, lease management, project management,
valuations, leasing and sales.
CRE dedicated client managers who share a detailed knowledge of
the business of the corporate and an understanding of the impact of
property decisions.

74 • f a c i l i t y perspectives
 PROPERTY FOCUS

When fully utilised, the facility manager can make strategic decisions
related to the property portfolio and leverage these services to improve
bottom line costs and accommodation efficiencies and add maximum
value to the whole FM process.
The corporation will need to anticipate industry factors that may
impact on its performance objectives and the role of the FM/CRE
relationship is to demonstrate agility and planning to adapt to these
changes.
Typical factors may be:
3 Changing corporate direction and priorities
3 Growing and expanding operations
3 Downsizing or consolidating operations
3 Responding to pressure to reduce operating expenses
3 Managing the impact of job migration and demographic shifts on
current locations
3 Changes in demographic profiles e.g. Victorian Governments “Flex
in the City” program*
* A Victorian Government initiative involving the staggering of the
times at which people in the CBD start work, to avoid travel and traffic
congestion.
In terms of their impact on a corporation’s bottom line, much of what
the facility manager does in terms of the running of properties and the
management of day to day costs is largely incremental when compared
to the substantial savings that can be made in occupancy costs. These
savings can be made either through the implementation of improved
office efficiencies or through the development and implementation of
strategic negotiations which can be measured, and therefore placing a
real value on the FM/CRE relationship over a period of time can be
readily demonstrated and quantifiable.
There are numerous case studies that express the value of this model
and there would be little argument from any FM that there is a clear
benefit in utilising an outsourced CRE provider.
There is a constant need for businesses to gain a competitive
advantage within their market whilst demonstrating success, innovation
and value to their shareholders. The facility manager is at the heart of the
delivery of the property strategy to support this, and only by recognising
and developing a close alliance with a CRE provider can this competitive
edge be maintained.
In summary, there is an emerging new realism in the practice of
Corporate Real Estate within organisations that is characterised by an
acknowledgment of the following features:
CRE and associated facilities services are a supporting resource to
the achievement of corporate objectives. Maintaining alignment to the
corporate business plans is a strategic objective in the ongoing
management of the corporate real estate resource.
Managing the availability of affordable facilities is the key driver in
the role of facilities provision.
Managing customers’ expectations and affordability are the key
drivers for the delivery of facilities support services within the corporate
real estate portfolio.
In managing CRE assets, value and service considerations are central
in the development of performance measures.
Management and measurement procedures must shift from a focus
on tasks and transactions, to a thorough understanding of processes that
add value to the core businesses of the business units. This is only
attainable by having a clear understanding of the nature of the core
business drivers and how these are translated in facilities dimensions or
measures that affect the overall performance of the core business results.
The quality of interface between FM and CRE is clearly a vital
element in the shift from a reactive to a proactive real estate
management approach.
About Savills
Savills is a global, publicly listed property solutions company with
over 180 offices and associates worldwide, with 10 offices servicing the
Australian market. Their national team of corporate real estate specialists
bring together a broad range of property expertise with extensive global
and local knowledge and experience. They provide a balance between
tactical opportunities and strategic corporate objectives and provide
services to a diverse range of clients.

MELBOURNE t TORONTO t LONDON t GLASGOW Facilities & Property Management Software from Service Works Global

Optimise your performance with QFM Software

QFM from Service Works Global is advanced, modular software that maximises the operational
efficiency of your assets, buildings and service delivery. QFM provides enterprise-wide visibility
of critical data that improves service quality and responsiveness, aids compliance and generates
sustainable reductions in operational costs.

Australia’s only integrated PPP software solution

QFM PayMech is a fully customisable PPP concession management application which
complements QFM’s suite of facilities applications to:

t


Integrate complex contractual KPI t


Deliver real-time performance

regimes into day-to-day operations information and reporting

t


Provide early opportunities for t


Enable testing of operational scenarios

management intervention on potential allowing accurate & informed pricing
service failures of risk

For more information or a QFM demonstration, please contact us on: (T) +61 3 9836 7880

Service Works Global, Suite 8, 333 Canterbury Road, Canterbury, VIC 3126 T +61 3 9836 7880 E info@swg.com W www.serviceworksglobal.com.au

f a c i l i t y perspectives • 75
FM EVENTS

The power of three

BY MARK PHILLIPS, FREELANCE JOURNALIST

At a recent forum three top-flight researchers unveiled the findings of a comprehensive

study that for the first time ever reveals the views of Australian building users on ‘green’
buildings. Although the report card was generally positive, the findings are likely to raise
the bar on what is required to make future developments truly user-friendly. Mark Phillips
attended the launch and files this report.

76 • f a c i l i t y perspectives

T
here may not be many of them, but the number of so-called
‘green’ buildings is growing, and as more of the workforce
decamps from conventional structures to what may be the future of
the built environment, some key questions have emerged. From the
occupants’ point of view, are green buildings really any better than
conventional buildings, and what do they like and dislike about them?
This was the theme of the last AIRAH Forum for 2007, held in
November at Melbourne’s Treasury Theatre. The speakers were UK-
based Adrian Leaman, who specialises in the management and
application of feedback from building occupants about their needs and
requirements, Leena Thomas, senior lecturer architecture at the University
of Technology in Sydney, and Monica Vandenberg, principal of
Encompass Sustainability. The three had gathered to overview the
findings of their ground-breaking new study, ‘Green’ Buildings; What
Australian Building Users Are Saying.
“The built environment sector has a huge opportunity to reduce
greenhouse emissions and narrow our environmental footprint,”
Vandenberg began. “So where to from here and how are we going to
track how we’re getting there?”
It is of course no secret that many buildings are completed in
double-quick time, with the ongoing focus of developers always the next
project. The result, Vandenberg said, is that too rarely there is
opportunity to reflect, evaluate and determine whether or not the work
being done is appreciated by building occupants. Enter post occupancy
evaluation (POE).
“POE enables us to track how we are performing in the workplace. It
enables us to highlight key issues of concern and, importantly, feed this
information into the design process.”
Notably, Vandenberg, Thomas and Leaman are not going around
measuring things like temperature or indoor air quality. Their focus is
from the occupancy’s perspective, and the tool they use to do this is the
Building Use Studies survey method (BUS), which has the capacity to
provide feedback for over 60 variables covering aspects of overall
comfort, temperature, air movement and quality, lighting, noise, health,
design, image, workplace needs and productivity.
According to Vandenberg, buildings influence up to 20 percent of
workplace performance.
FM EVENTS
“If we are managing complexity in this environment in the
knowledge economy we really need to be looking at this 20 percent
alongside the other 80 percent as well,” she said. “Understandably, we
need to focus on the building but we also need to look at it in context,
as there is no one solution to each of the issues.”
Regardless, the BUS methodology and questionnaire has provided
an insight into the areas that, from a building perspective, affect
workplace performance. Across the buildings studied, the researchers
identified significant associations between perceived productivity and
overall comfort (lighting, ventilation, thermal comfort, and noise) and
between perceived productivity and thermal comfort in particular. On
average, perceived productivity scores for the green buildings in the
Australian dataset are marginally lower than conventional buildings.
So which organisations are undertaking POE?
“CH2, and in the last couple of years CH1. There has been 121
Exhibition Street, Bendigo Bank Docklands, 40 Albert Road, 60 L,
Queenscliffe Marine Centre and many others across Victoria, South
Australia, Queensland and New South Wales,” Vandenberg revealed. “At
this point there are up to 50 in the Australian database that have been
benchmarked.”
Taking the podium as well as taking up the same point, Leena
Thomas noted: “When POE is done for individual buildings we obviously
have a rich source of information on what works and what doesn’t.
However, in a majority of instances the findings are not available in the
public domain, and so earlier this year we thought it would be useful to
look across the range of buildings that have been studied in Australia to
see if we could find out how green buildings were performing and
whether they were working from a building user’s perspective.”
The findings derive from 22 ‘green’ buildings and 23 ‘conventional’
buildings, with ‘green’ defined as those created with an explicit intent to
include environmentally sustainable design (ESD). The term
‘conventional’ refers to those buildings in the dataset where attention to
ESD was not part of the design intent.
Setting out to capture some of the headline findings, Thomas
revealed that on average green buildings are performing better for
perceived health, image, design, overall lighting and for meeting
workplace needs. She emphasised, however, that despite intent to
f a c i l i t y perspectives • 77
FM EVENTS
incorporate green features and principles, not all achieved positive
outcomes in terms of energy and water use and other measurables.
“The good performance of green buildings in what some engineers
might call the ‘soft’ variables is not surprising,” she stated. “Firstly, green
buildings include aspects that occupants like in terms of access to views,
more daylighting, often natural ventilation, and shallower floor plates.
There is also greater attention being paid to satisfy user needs in the
design process – that is, more careful briefing and targeting and
involvement of users in the decision-making process, or at the least a
user responsive manner in which decision were made, and an increased
monitoring and feedback process.
“A small number of green buildings performed brilliantly on all the
variables and, again, another important factor in this was that they
require and get higher levels of onsite management and after-care fine-
tuning. They are also usually occupied by organisations that have a
vested interest in making them work properly.
“However, in our dataset we also had some green buildings that
returned very disappointing performance – perhaps what could be called
‘heroic failures’ – with respect to temperature, particularly in summer, and
issues to do with glare, noise and overall comfort.”
As Thomas noted, implicit in this is the fact that green buildings can
be risky.
“Yes, the top end outperform conventional buildings, but it is
important to understand that there is much greater variation in green
buildings,” she said. “When looking at why certain buildings were not
performing properly, often the reason was that they were not only
technologically complex, but also under resourced in terms of ongoing
management and in some instances there was too much emphasis
placed on iconic design gestures but very little attention to the basics of
good design, resulting in poor usability.
“Our experience with green buildings that rated poorly on thermal
comfort, for example, was that despite the best design intentions they
had inherent problems with poorly configured controls, partial
understanding of how users might interact with the controls and,
importantly, an inability to rectify problems quickly. In some situations,
the design concepts simply did not work in reality.”
CURRIE & BROWN
PROVIDING
CONSTRUCTIVE SOLUTIONS
G Property & Facilities Management consulting services
G Development of Infrastructure & FM Teams
G FM Procurement Implementation
G Technical Advisory Services on PPP projects
Operating in all states of Australia
www.curriebrown.com
Tel: 02 9415 1600
Email: sydney@curriebrown.com.au
78 • f a c i l i t y perspectives
Although green buildings performed well on issues such as overall
lighting and daylighting, Thomas said that significant problems in some
in terms of ratings for glare suggested there is still some way to go in
respect of the control of daylighting.
“Similarly, green buildings on average were noisier, but some of this
was to be expected as because of the highly reflective surfaces there was
a tendency to exacerbate internal noise.”
Despite this, Thomas said that regardless of their shade of green,
users who rated a building as being good in terms of overall comfort
generally also rated it as good in terms of perceived productivity.
“This reinforces to me the view that buildings that work well for users
are of very high strategic importance and that it is important to recognise
the human side of how buildings are used,” she concluded.
Rounding out proceedings, Building Use Studies principal, Adrian
Leaman, addressed POE in what he described as the “so what?”
context.
“I call it ‘so what’ because when you do this research, designers say
‘so what?’ They want to know what the consequences are, and in plain
English we can tell them. Environmental research is about consequences
and we are at the scary end of it. We get the data off these studies and it
scares the life out of us. I get scared because despite all the effort that
has gone into these buildings, some have just not worked. They may be
innovative, but they haven’t worked for a whole series of reasons, and it’s
scary,” he said.
“Getting the comfort level right might be boring, but boring is cool
as far as we’re concerned. Forget the sexy stuff. If buildings are
comfortable and have enough space, the occupancy will be apple-
cheeked.
“Buildings that are very comfortable we call ‘virtuous buildings’,
because once people like them they tend to rank everything as good.
They will tolerate things that are not particularly fantastic because they
like the building. But some buildings go vicious, as once a building has a
reputation it is incredibly hard to turn that around.”
Leaman too acknowledged that green buildings are riskier.
“It is much, much harder to deliver good ones, and green buildings
also tend to be smaller,” he said. “It is a very big ask indeed to deliver a
CBD building like CH2 with big floor plates, and there has been nothing
like this as far as we know anywhere in the world. It takes a lot of
commissioning, a lot of management and a lot of effort to get them to
work.
“The reason developers tend to go for conventional buildings, is that
they are less risky, and although there are developers that are not risk
averse, most are. It is the public sector that has been taking the risk with
green buildings, which it shouldn’t because the theory is that the private
operators take all the risks – but not with green buildings they don’t.”
Significantly, the public sector is also far less reticent about
publishing the results from its green building projects, essentially
meaning that when it comes to ‘greening’ the built environment, the
private sector can, as Leaman put it, “ride on the back of the public”.
About the Author
Mark Phillips is a freelance journalist who has written for and edited
business publications such as Company Director, Australasian Risk
Management, Franchising and Marketing. He also has a long-standing
involvement in covering FM-related issues. He can be reached on 0407
437289 or writestuffink@bigpond.com.
 FM EVENTS

Real Buildings, Real Results

Building Performance Evaluation a Highlight at
ARBS 2008
Ensuring a building and its services continue to operate as they were designed to is an
ongoing issue for facility managers. Ongoing testing, diagnostics and evaluation is a
perennial challenge – and one that will be addressed at ARBS 2008 when it is staged at the
Melbourne Exhibition Centre from 21-23 April.

A comprehensive seminar series will run alongside the exhibition, providing facility managers with a
unique opportunity to hear from leading Australian and international speakers, and see the latest
products, services and technologies for the air conditioning, refrigeration and building services industry
from 230 exhibitors, all under the one roof.
Dr Mark Luther, Director of Deakin University’s Built Environment Research Group, will outline the
MABEL concept — the Mobile Architecture and Built Environment Laboratory. It is an energy-comfort-
behaviour framework that assesses whether and to what extent a building is meeting its goals in terms of
resource consumption and occupant satisfaction.
In his ARBS presentation, Luther will explain how this versatile and comprehensive in-situ testing
facility is an essential element in determining green building metrics.
“MABEL is a diagnostic toolkit that provides multi-dimensional testing of the key performance
criteria of power, light, sound, thermal comfort and indoor air quality,” he said.
Luther has found that testing often reveals a range of issues, from recycled return air rather than fresh
air being circulated throughout a building, to poor acoustic performance.

Facility managers who register to attend ARBS 2008 can attend this – and a number of additional
seminars – when they visit the exhibition. For further information on ARBS 2008 and the accompanying
seminar program, visit www.arbs.com.au.

A R B S
2 0 0 8 '&"'(6EG>A
BZaWdjgcZ:m]^W^i^dc8ZcigZ

7_h9edZ_j_ed_d]"H[\h_][hWj_ed8k_bZ_d]I[hl_Y[i;n^_X_j_ed$$$fbkickY^ceh[
™K^ZlVh]dlXVhZd[hjhiV^cVWaZhdaji^dch[dgi]Z[jijgZ# ™CZildg`l^i]XdaaZV\jZh!^cYjhignZmeZgihVcY
iZX]c^XVa\jgjh#
™CVk^\ViZi]ZbVoZd[^cYjhignhiVcYVgYh!gVi^c\iddah
VcYWj^aY^c\XdYZh# ™BZZi^ciZgcVi^dcVaheZX^Va^hihVcYViiZcYegZhZciVi^dch
dc^c^i^Vi^kZhVagZVYn^ceaVXZVgdjcYi]Z\adWZ#
™9^hXdkZg[jijgZbVg`ZiZmeZXiVi^dchVcYcZliZX]cdad\^Zh
i]Vil^aaYg^kZndjgejgX]VhZYZX^h^dchd[idbdggdl# ™>ckZhi^ci]Z[jijgZ½jeYViZndjg`cdlaZY\Zcdl

9DCÉIB>HH>I
MDG 15753 12.07 FP

GZ\^hiZgdca^cZcdlVi/mmm$WhXi$Yec$Wk

f a c i l i t y perspectives • 79
FM EVENTS

BSM Ausclean Expo - national cleaning and

maintenance exhibition
FMA Australia officially announces its support of the BSM Ausclean Carolyn Journeaux from
Expo, 14-16 September 2008 at the Melbourne Exhibition Centre. FMA Australia said “We are
BSM Ausclean started as the national cleaning and maintenance pleased to support BSM
exhibition, now in its fourteenth biennial year. The scope of the trade promoting the work of the
exhibition was expanded into FM and building services in 2006 to FM industry and we hope
meet the needs of the many thousands of high profile visitors. Key many of our members take
decision makers from major organisations attended, who actually up the BSM offer and will be
organised quotes/appointments or purchased on-site from more than exhibiting with us on the
120 exhibitors. day.”
We encourage suppliers with FM or building services and
maintenance solutions to exhibit, and FM practitioners or For more information visit www.bsmexpo.com.au, phone Mark Walsh
building/property managers to attend (free trade entry). FMA Australia on 03 8420 5411 or email markwalsh@dmgworldmedia.com
will have an exhibition stand and participate in the supporting free
seminar programs.

2008 Australian Water Summits

No drought of ideas…
No one has been immune to Australia’s nationwide drought the Sydney Convention and Exhibition Centre. With over 40 speakers
conditions over the last few years. and more than 250 senior executives expected to attend, organizers
Extended drought periods have not only devastated rural claim that it is a flagship forum for Australia’s $90 billion water industry.
Australians, reduced rainfall, extended heat waves and increased Speakers have been sourced from Australia, New Zealand, South-
unpredictable weather patterns are now effecting Australia’s East Asia, Europe and North America to present topics including
metropolitan populations. investment for water infrastructure projects, the management of urban
With most of the country on level 3 or higher water restrictions, and regional water use, planning for drought and climate change and
business, government and the water industry have been investigating the cost-efficiency of reuse and recycling programs.
solutions to address the chronic water shortages now facing many parts Over 20 case studies will be presented at the Summit, and there
of the worlds’ driest continent. will be opportunities to attend workshops, a technology showcase, site
Building and developing an effective water strategy to meet the visits and various networking opportunities.
challenges of supplying the water needs of a growing nation and its
expanding economy is the focus of two national events happening in To find out more about the Melbourne Summit, visit
March. www.australianwatersummit.com.au, and for Sydney,
The first is the 6th Annual Australian Water Summit being in held in www.acevents.com.au/water2008.
Melbourne from the 5th to the 7th of March at the RACV Club in the
city centre.
Featuring key note addresses
from the CEO’s and MD’s of
Australia’s peak water bodies, and
private corporations, the Summit also
promises to deliver international
viewpoints on water management via
workshops and presentations.
Topics to be covered at the
Summit include National and State
policies for continued water reform;
comprehensive updates from senior
executives of urban and rural water
companies; the latest on water
infrastructure project developments
including dams, desalination, piping
and recycling schemes; a discussion
of water pricing, trade initiatives, and
the role of governance in water
management; the effect of restrictions
on water demand management,
planning and project delivery and
other technological advances in the
water market.
The second event – by the same
name, but not to be confused as the
same event - is the 4th Australian
Water Summit 2008, to be held in
Sydney on April 29, 30 and May 1, at

80 • f a c i l i t y perspectives
 Enjoy every sunrise – Let us
help you find your dream job

Hays Facilities Management provides specialist recruitment services to the facilities market.
We continue to ensure a total commitment in our specialist approach, to the promotion and support
of the facilities management market and the provision of experienced facilities professionals to leading
organisations. Our strength is our solid understanding of the facilities management industry, our
candidates' needs and the local market trends.

We specialise in:
• Facilities Managers • Facilities Coordinators
• Maintenance Managers • Building Managers
• Project Managers • Service Managers
• Soft Service Managers • Maintenance Electricians
• Refrigeration Mechanics • Security Technicians
• Fire Technicians

Please contact Hays Facilities Management

Adelaide T 08 8212 5242 E cp.adelaide@hays.com.au

Brisbane T 07 3243 3002 E fm.brisbane@hays.com.au
Canberra T 02 6230 5142 E fm.canberra@hays.com.au
Hobart T 03 6234 9554 E fm.hobart@hays.com.au
Perth T 08 9486 9553 E fm.perth@hays.com.au
Melbourne T 03 8616 8400 E fm.melbourne@hays.com.au
Sydney T 02 9249 2222 E fm.sydney@hays.com.au

Specialist Recruitment hays.com.au choose from 14000 specialist jobs

 tailor+made

Ferntree Business Park, Notting Hill, Victoria

lease+ Goodman can provide purpose-built office and hi-tech warehouse solutions designed for your
business and lifestyle. Planned facilities for Ferntree Business Park include a café, child care
centre, multi-level car park and landscaped environment. Benefit also from the proximity to the
Monash Freeway.
www.goodman.com

Andrew Stewart Rob Joyes

0418 248 717 0418 137 277
Grant Tinker Lynton Williams
0413 945 853 0413 455 266