We published an ebook today on an exciting and emerging new industry, social procurement in construction. Most of our readers would know that’s about investing a small portion of big government infrastructure contracts in people and businesses who need the support.
The notion itself is not new – the concept of helping people worse off than ourselves is as old as charity itself. But this is not charity – it’s about providing a proper job and a structure so that people who are excluded from regular social and economic activities have a chance to take part.
But it’s not easy. The work of professionals in the field and academics such as Martin Loosemore and his colleague Suhair Alkinlani from the University of Technology Sydney is mapping progress and barriers to find the patterns that can be replicated for success.
It’s a mammoth task. Imagine a young person whose family has never had a job learning the discipline of early rising to be on site before the sun gets up in winter, or self care and the management of money.
It’s already very difficult to change the habits of a lifetime, before peer group pressure kicks in.
In one of the sessions we spent with Loosemore, Alkilani and members of their growing community of practice to pick up on the work underway, we heard about the extraordinary effort that some organisations have put in to ensure success on projects such as the Rozelle Interchange. The key is fairly significant support and flexibility.
In Melbourne, the state government there offers opportunities for refugees – who may have years of professional experience as engineers, for instance –to incorporate formal qualifications so that the benefits produced are amplified after the construction project ends.
The publication is a mini ebook, and we think a milestone that marks an emerging new industry.
Standing on the shoulders of giants
We’ve also been busy on a load of interviews with people who are innovative, positive and inspiring, like so many in this incredible industry.
Each has shared generously what they’ve learnt, hoping others pick up the thread and push the envelope for the rest of us.
The following are some snippets and highlights:
Published today is a podcast with John King of JG King Homes in Ballarat, about two hours west of Melbourne.
This was a bit of a gift we tried to push to the bottom of the stack since we had so much on our plate. But thanks to the media comms guy who pushed back ever so politely to show what we were missing, we got an excellent story.
King ended up being one of those interviews that has kept The Fifth Estate hopping and fully engaged for 16 years now (Amazing, huh?)
And what surprised us most?
Innovation, and the open mind that goes with it.
That’s the unique thing that sets these winners – and this industry – apart.
King’s business is to build homes. He has a staff of about 350 to help him, and together they cover most of Victoria.
But King’s business uses steel frames, which is very unusual in housing on the East Coast. He gets quite a bit of “nudging” from the timber people to come across to their side, but he has his reasons for sticking with steel. It’s lighter, it’s Australian-made, and it already includes 30 per cent recycled content, he notes. The material is measured to fine detail to fit the design, but if there is any waste, it “goes straight back into the furnace”.
Even better is how he’s tackled the new energy mandates for the National Construction Code. While other members of the mass housing market whinge and whine about how hard and how expensive it is to go to 7-star NatHERS, King routinely builds to 8 Stars. It’s actually very close to the 100 point “home” score that would mean no bills for owners, he says.
While other builders remove the number of windows and reduce the size of windows to reach the target, given that these account for about half of heat loss and heat gain, King does no such thing.
He gives his customers the grand windows they mostly all like. They’re more expensive, but he compensates for this by subtracting some of the over insulation that was needed to keep houses comfortable previously. And a few other tweaks. In the end, the price comes out to be on par with the previous iteration.
King also loves tech and AI and is using as much as he can. He has cameras on site that can instantly alert the head office when new materials have been delivered or if there’s a safety or security issue on site. It can also take care of boring menial jobs.
Other interviews and videos we’ve posted lately include one we did on our quick sojourn to Berlin. It’s with Carsten Hein from Arup.
He’s their lead timber designer and a font of knowledge on all thing’s timber. He loves it, of course, and he and his team keep innovating to iron out the issues that still challenge the industry, such as acoustics, fire and structural challenges.
Spoiler alert: this one gets technical. Check it out.
Other long form video/podcasts still in production include with Kaushik Chakraborty, APAC boss, Bentley Systems, who’s deeply involved in tech, AI and all things infrastructure. Very illuminating.
Also coming up is the absolutely inspiring Alf Wheeler of Zeoform, who won the Spanish Inquisition at Circular Disruption with his pitch-perfect… pitch. Wheeler managed to allow himself to reveal some of the secrets to the incredible product he produces, made out of paper and water, yet strong enough in table form to take the weight of an elephant.
There’s also an update coming on Cundall’s Green List profile and a new profile for Novon Lighting, who were sponsors at Circular Disruption.
So, it’s a busy run-up to Christmas indeed for us.
We need your Christmas spirit to kick in early
Finally, as we all turn our thoughts to kindly acts, here’s a shout out to us for our publication. As you know, it’s diabolically tough to keep a media outfit going – even one as thinly resourced as ours.
If you value what we do, please consider becoming a member or a corporate member. You can choose your level of support, but we would not say no to the one-off investment of $500,000 that would kick us over the line into proper and serious sustainable business.
Just sayin’!
After 16 amazing years, it would be about time we got sustainable in the other sense of the word!
We’ve also got five copies of the book Drawing the City by David Holm from Cox Architecture, published by Ventura Press, with distributor Simon & Schuster, to give away to NEW members.
Get in touch if you want to chat, tina@thefifthestate.com.au.