Michael Green

Writer and producer

Book review: The Best Australian Political Writing 2009, edited by Eric Beecher

In The Big Issue on

Two and a half stars

We’re already drowning in news. That’s what makes this collection of political articles curious: why would anyone read last year’s fish-and-chip wrappers? Then again, as editor Eric Beecher observes, 2008 was an extraordinary year. From Rudd’s debut and apology to the stolen generations, through to the global financial crisis and the election of Barack Obama, last year was nothing if not newsworthy.

Beecher sources his material from a very narrow range: the serious newspapers – mainly the Australian – with cameos from the Monthly, Griffith Review and (his own) Crikey. The content is generally unsurprising but occasionally thought provoking, with the collection on Indigenous affairs (as well as the full text of Rudd’s apology) by far the standout. Here, the writers (including Marcia Langton, Paul Toohey and Don Watson) challenge our assumptions, hearts and minds.

But this section also betrays the book’s limitations: while it’s interesting to read Noel Pearson’s nuanced analysis from the day before the apology, what did he think after it? And what does he think now? This is a book for newshounds and political animals. 

To the lighthouse

In Architecture and building, The Age on

First published in The Sunday Age, M Magazine

A naturally light-filled home means daylight saving all year round. Michael Green visits an illuminating Malvern renovation.

Andrea Arendsen and husband Matthew used to live in a dark and dreary Malvern house. “It was gloomy because there was no light,” she says. “No light could get in because there were no windows.”

Arendsen is sitting at a neat wooden dining table, in a large, bright, living and kitchen area – it’s hard to believe this radiant Victorian cottage is the same home. Her summery blonde bob is bathed in natural light and her young son Christian rests on her knee. Four glass doors concertina open to a small, sunny courtyard.

In 2007, after eight years in their dark house, the couple decided to renovate. They engaged Albert Mo and his firm Architects EAT, and asked for more space and light. “We couldn’t have people over because it was just too small,” Arendsen explains. “But we didn’t want an extension which was a square box on the back of the house.”

Mo is sitting at the table, too, leaning back in his chair and gossiping with his client like an old friend. His concept was for a factory-style sawtooth roof, low over the kitchen section and angling up either side, with highlight windows gleaming down from the ‘teeth’.

The unusual roofline illuminates the extension. “Ceilings are normally just flat, white ceilings, but this one has got a profile almost like a wing that wants to take off. It gives a lighter feel to the house,” Mo says.

As well as the living area, the renovation added a study nook, a laundry and an ethereal bathroom. Tiled only in white, with a bright skylight flooding the shower, it sparkles like a bleach marketer’s paradise.

Mo says that for his firm, natural light is a priority in every residential project. And that’s not just at the extremities, where windows normally shed light, but also throughout the house.

The advantages are stark. “From a practical and sustainable point of view, you don’t need to use artificial lighting throughout the day,” Mo says. “In summertime, you can have plenty of daylight coming in until eight o’clock, if you’ve got good skylights.” He believes there’s another, less tangible benefit too. “It’s kind of a weird thing, but you just feel healthier when you have natural light.”

The Evandale Road home presented a few problems. It’s on a long, narrow block, very close to the neighbours on either side. Heritage overlay frontages meant that any renovation couldn’t be visible from the street.

Initially, the Arendsens wanted to build a second storey, but Mo talked them out of it – the upstairs space would be very small, after setting back from the street and from the houses on either side. “Part of the architects job is to educate the client, through discussion, meetings and site visits,” Mo says.

The couple agreed with his advice and built the sawtooth roof. “I love being able to see the sky so much,” Arendsen says, as her toddler Christian generously offers Mo biscuits from his bowl. “It’s a bit deceptive because from the front you could be in another small Victorian [cottage] and then you get a surprise when it’s so light and open down this end.”

Albert Mo, Architects EAT

In 2000, just after graduation, Thomas Pai rang fellow Melbourne University architecture students Albert Mo and Eid K. Goh. Did they want to do something before they all got jobs? Yes, they said, and Architects EAT began.

Mo, now 32, was born in Hong Kong and later lived in Singapore, before coming to Melbourne to study in 1992. In those crowded, mixed cities he first dreamt of designing more liveable urban spaces.

It was a good idea – years on, his practice has been a big success. In 2007, the firm’s Windsor Loft project won the Belle Apartment of the Year and this year, their design for the Maedaya Bar in Richmond won the Interior Design Award for Hospitality.

Mo says that Architects EAT are interested in the phenomenology of design – the way we experience the building materials through touch, sound and sight, as well as through the mix of natural light and shadow.

He recently renovated his Richmond house with his wife, also an architect. Is it well lit? “I have to practise what I preach,” he says, laughing. “We do have skylights. They are something I definitely cannot do without.”

Let there be skylight

Skylights can let in more than three times the light of a same-sized vertical window, according to yourhome.gov.au. They save energy, make life easier for your eyes and come in all kinds, sizes and prices – from a few hundred to thousands of dollars.

Plastic dome skylights are opaque bulges that set into your roof. They have shafts that lead to a diffuser panel in the ceiling, giving soft, even light. Tubular skylights are similar, but smaller. The tube’s reflective silver lining directs the sunlight downwards and into the room.

Roof windows – panes of glass punched through the roof – are a more expensive option. They’re most popular in attic rooms, but also work with a shaft on flat ceilings. Some models can open to let heat out on hot days.

Custom glass roofs are even more stylish, and yet more expensive. Architects will design these in any shape or size. Highlight windows can also be placed high up on walls – like in the Evandale house – to beam in natural light.

From blue to green

In Architecture and building, Environment, The Age on

First published in The Sunday Age, Domain

Eco-worries and generous rebates mean tradespeople are learning important new skills. But what does it mean for householders?

Victorian tradies are leading Australia’s green skills revolution, making up more than half the workers accredited under two leading national training schemes, Green Plumbers and EcoSmart Electricians.

 That puts the state on the front line of a huge practical transformation among Australia’s skilled workers. “Demand for the ‘green collar’ trades is quite extraordinary,” says Tony Arnel, Victoria’s Building and Plumbing Industry Commissioner and Green Building Council of Australia Chair. He estimates that in the last year alone, interest in sustainable plumbing has risen by about one-fifth.

 But this surge in interest doesn’t translate to easier decision-making for consumers. With so many eco choices and products, it’s hard to be sure you’re getting the right advice. Besides, what exactly does a ‘green’ tradie do differently? And what sort of training have they completed? 

Mr Arnel believes that tradespeople play a crucial role in translating sustainability issues into in-the-home solutions. Essentially, they can become environmental advocates. “Tradies are at the coalface. More than anybody else in the domestic sector, they’re in a position to influence the choice of consumers. They play a critical role.”

An expert green tradie will have thorough knowledge of the products available and the most efficient options for the client’s situation.

Plumbers and electricians, in particular, can help existing householders make the most immediate improvements. Their expertise relates directly to water and electricity efficiency, from rainwater tanks and low-flow toilets to solar power and low-energy lighting.

But sustainability is a factor in every household job. Bart Scheen is a manager in the Building Industry Training Centre at Holmesglen TAFE. He says that eco-training is a now a standard part of every apprenticeship course. “When students are working with products they really need to understand the impact of those products on the environment.”

According to Mr Scheen, that includes embodied energy (energy used in making the product) and the leftovers from the job. “There has been a common practice to calculate materials and allow for a 10 percent wastage,” he says. “What we’re trying to get into apprentices is that they have to take much more care in working out the quantities.”

The apprentices are proving enthusiastic about his message. Research group Dusseldorp Skills Forum (DSF) surveyed young tradies last year and found that nearly 90 per cent of respondents were interested in green skills. “Unfortunately they’re being held back by older tradespeople,” says DSF’s Judy Turnbull. “They are really keen to provide green skills and knowledge to their clients but they’re not being encouraged to do so by their employers.”

In the long term, the attitudes of younger tradies will make for a fundamental shift in the building industry. In the meantime, although many established tradespeople aren’t convinced that the public is sufficiently interested in sustainability, others have taken the enviro-plunge and been well rewarded.

“Some ‘early adopters’ have decided it’s a point of difference to provide green painting or building or carpentry,” Ms Turnbull says. “They’ve seen the future and when they’ve added a green bunch of skills they find themselves in great demand.”

To help build eco-awareness among construction workers, DSF will soon launch a new website, Trade Secrets, where green tradies will be able to share their stories, tips and successes. To begin with, the organisation has posted over a dozen videos of different green tradespeople on YouTube.

The current training gap is also concern for the commissioner, Mr Arnel. “There needs to be a lot more work going into the training of tradespeople,” he says. “Also, from a consumer point of view, these green credentials need to be verifiable. If you pick up the phone book and you’ve got green electricians and green plumbers, what does that mean? I describe it as the ‘green veneer’ – basically anybody can use the term. Consumers need to know whether or not there is any substance in a person’s claim.”

He says that the industry training programs like GreenPlumbers, run by the Master Plumbers and Mechanical Services Association, are a good start. “They saw sustainability in buildings becoming a major challenge and opportunity. Now we need to take the next step (in training) because we’ve got to think about the way all the trades operate.”

For plumbers, the next step will be the Plumbing Industry Climate Action Centre, which is under construction in Brunswick. The centre, jointly funded by the state government and industry bodies and unions, will offer extensive training across all aspects of sustainable plumbing. It scheduled to open next month.

While greenwash – or the green veneer – hasn’t become a severe problem in the construction industry, the state consumer watchdog, Consumer Affairs Victoria, has received over 10 complaints and about 45 enquiries about traders offering to install solar panels and water tanks.

Some dodgy tradespeople are spruiking door-to-door, then demanding large payments up front, while delaying installation. In some cases, the tradies also tried to increase the cost of solar power systems after consumers had signed the contracts. 

“The best way for consumers to protect themselves from itinerant tradespeople is to deal with reputable, registered businesses in their area,” says Consumer Affairs spokesperson Emma Neal.

As with any building work, consumers should ask lots of questions, check with the relevant industry association and do as much research as they can. No matter what your green issue is, there’s a wealth of information on the Internet. It’s also wise to take simple precautions. “Never pay for anything upfront in cash,” Ms Neal recommends. “Ask for a quote and a warranty in writing and ask to see references or ask friends or family if they’ve dealt with the company.” 

Plumbing the heights of a new industry

Warren Perrett’s team of Melbourne plumbers installed an average of three solar hot water systems a day last year. “It keeps them busy,” he says, smiling wryly as he sits in his Ferntree Gully office.  By the look of his desk, lined with rows of documents, it keeps him busy too.

Mr Perrett won the Green Plumber of the Year award from the Master Plumbers and Mechanical Services Association last year.

In 2001, prompted by questions he’d had from a few clients, he took part in the association’s first eco-skills training course. It has transformed his business. “Eight years ago, (green plumbing) was just a thought in someone’s mind,” he says. Now, thanks to an extended drought, tough water restrictions and rising awareness of climate change, water efficiency has become a day-to-day concern for householders.

But with a dazzling array of water products and options, it can be hard for the average consumer to know where to begin.

Mr Perrett’s business, AquaBlock, is a licensed green plumber through the plumbers’ association – all its plumbers complete the association’s full accreditation program. The company offers home audits and pre-building advice, as well as all the usual services. “My job is to try and give the client every bit of information they need to make the right decision,” Mr Perrett says. “It may be slightly more expensive but the end result is going to be cost savings, whether it be water or power or gas.”

“If you’re designing your house, you’d be mad if you didn’t get a green plumber to advise you at the start, because you’ve got to know the pros and cons of what you’re discussing with the builder.”

While the economic downturn means that some people are delaying unnecessary spending, Mr Perrett hopes that extra government rebates and regulations will keep the green trades going strong.

As for his award, Mr Perrett says the Brownlow-style ceremony took him by surprise. “I was a bit flabbergasted, actually. It got shown on Channel Ten with the weather guy, and I looked a bit stunned.”

And though he’s glad that his team’s hard work has been recognised, when the time comes, he’ll be happy to hand over to the next winner. “It’s an acknowledgement that you’re doing the right thing. But at the end of the day, I only want to win it once,” Mr Perrett says. “I want to know that other people are doing it too.”

 

 

Rubbish to riches

In Environment, The Age on

First published in The Age

Tough economic times and eco-awareness are a perfect match. The time is ripe to build it, bake it or fix it. Michael Green reports.

 

SAMUEL Alexander is living the simple life. Last year, he built a rough shelter, two metres by three metres, in the backyard of a Melbourne home. Now he lives in it.

A self-confessed “bookish lawyer”, the 29-year-old doctoral student and building novice constructed his modest hut entirely from materials he found or bought from op shops. “If people put their minds to things like waste and reuse, whole avenues open up that aren’t on offer when you just go to the shop,” he says.

Hut-building might not be for everyone, but with economic doom and gloom here for the duration, what better time for recrafting old goods into new? Cutting your costs goes hammer-in-hand with DIY know-how.

Reuse isn’t only penny-pinching. It was a prominent theme at the recent Sustainable Living Festival, held in Federation Square, where more than 130,000 people showed up.

Speaker Paul Wildman has spent years studying and working with bush mechanics, calling them “our greatest national secret and treasure”. Dr Wildman says bush mechanics are fixers and tinkerers, people with practical skills that “provide joined-up solutions in complex situations”.

The tradition comes from both indigenous cultures and European settlers who had to solve their problems with whatever was available. “Bushies are into reuse, repair and refocus,” he says. Activities need not be limited to plumbing or machinery. It can also mean things like keeping chooks, building a bench or sewing a dress.

Dr Wildman laments that such “hand knowledge” is disappearing over successive generations, thanks to our apparent material plenty and too much focus on the academic side of education. Aside from losing skills, he says we’re also missing out on a way of learning that combines doing and thinking. “Einstein was a bush mechanic. There are half a dozen Nobel Prize winners who were hobby scientists.

“The best thing is for people to do something tonight with their hands. It might be cooking a meal, planting a window pot or fixing something with wire. But actually start bringing those practical things into their lives and celebrating it.”

Just as important, he argues, is sharing your newfound knowledge with family and friends, and encouraging kids to pursue hands-on learning. It’s all a crucial part of the bigger picture. “Reusing and repairing also links into saving the environment and (dealing with) the global economic problem.”

And the world’s current problems might be propelling bush skills back into the mainstream. At the University of Melbourne this summer, architecture students took Trash + Treasure, a one-month intensive course requiring them to transform waste into furniture. Using cast-offs such as scrap metal, soft drink bottles or old plastic garden pots, the students designed and built lights, seats, workbenches and shelters.

Co-ordinator Peter Raisbeck says the time is right for such an innovative course. “We’re focusing more and more on issues of sustainability and what we may need to do as architects in the future,” Dr Raisbeck says. “It’s very important (for the students) to think about these issues … it does get them to radically rethink our consumer culture, by engaging with waste and trash.”

The results were surprising for student Tim Cameron. The 22-year-old had to assess the waste produced by his own lifestyle. “It was shocking, seeing … all the different sorts of waste that you don’t really think about,” he says.

He was also surprised by the inventiveness of his classmates and the pleasure of putting his ideas into practice. “You get to the end of the day and you’re sweating and dirty from all the sawdust. I’ve learnt a lot. It’s got me thinking about how I’ll take on projects in the future.”

Such thrifty reuse of resources fits perfectly for Samuel Alexander, the lawyer-cum-hut builder. He has just edited a collection of writing about voluntary simplicity, the idea that very little is needed in order to live well. “Perhaps there are times when we get richer and it actually decreases our quality of life,” he suggests, citing stress and long working hours as evidence.

As economic troubles force us to reassess our spending habits, he argues that getting by with less can mean more time and energy to pursue what really inspires us.

“Abundance is a state of mind,” he says, “not a quantity of consumer goods.”

Reuse resources

Thanks to the Internet, there’s no need to wait for your dream hammock to materialise in the neighbour’s hard rubbish collection. The step-by-step instructions are all online and you can make it on the cheap.

Try US websites ReadyMade, Instructables or Crafting a Green World. You’ll find everything from reupholstering old dining chairs and repurposing derelict computers, to building Hungarian shelves and crafting a stylish clock using chopsticks and a paper plate.

www.readymade.com, www.instructables.com, www.craftingagreenworld.com

www.slf.org.au, www.simplicitycollective.com

The old and the new

In Architecture and building, Environment, The Age on

First published in The Sunday Age, M Magazine

With the spotlight on five-star renovations, it pays to use as much of your existing home as possible.

WHEN architect Matt Gibson and his wife, Annabel Talbot, decided to fix up their South Yarra home, they took a thrifty tack. “We wanted to recycle as much of the existing structure as possible,” Gibson says, “re-utilise anything we could and use old materials from other buildings.”

With careful planning, a renovation goes hand-in-hand with the other three R’s: reduce, reuse and recycle. And Gibson is adamant that it doesn’t mean flower-power design. “You can have a contemporary space by reusing the structure and using eco-friendly principles, without having a shag-pile or stained-glass look.”

The 36-year-old is standing at the front of his narrow terrace home, looking smart and rumpled in jeans and a blue shirt. As he speaks, his 10-month-old daughter, Matilda, crawls to the courtyard at the red front door. “She loves it out here,” he says, picking her up.

She’s a wise judge. The small home feels spacious, thanks to clever use of natural light and mirrors. It also features a serene internal courtyard with an outdoor shower, opening from the master bedroom and bluestone bathroom.

The old house, built almost 100 years ago, had a hotchpotch layout born of two previous extensions. The kitchen was hidden away and the toilet was stuck in the lounge room. Despite the inconvenience, the couple lived in the home for two years before beginning their overhaul. When they did, salvaging the best of the existing structure seemed the natural thing to do.

“For me, I like keeping the old elements,” Talbot says, sitting on the couch in the airy living room. She’s from Britain, and her parents’ house was built in 1642. “I don’t understand having to pull everything down. In England you just don’t have the space to do that, and the planning rules don’t allow you to. We’re quite used to reusing whatever we’ve got.”

Although there were no heritage rules preventing demolition, the couple decided to keep the existing period front and the bedrooms intact, along with the entire roof and all the walls. “There’s a lot less embodied energy in revitalising the existing structure than in bulldozing it and starting again,” Gibson says. They reshuffled the back part of the house by moving the bathroom to the middle of the home and creating an open kitchen and living area facing the back courtyard.

It’s not just an environmental plus – the other big benefit is cost. The project outlays totalled $200 000. Gibson estimates that they saved about $100 000 by keeping the structure in place, and up to $20 000 more by using recycled materials.

They redesigned their old glass roof to become a contemporary skylight and re-employed three large bronzed mirrors – formerly wardrobe doors – in the rear courtyard. The floorboards were reclaimed from a demolished factory in Richmond and the long concrete bench was poured in place using aggregate gathered onsite.

Where possible, the couple also used natural or local products, such as sisal carpets, tree bark blinds, concrete tiles made in Brighton, and stones, for the chimney, sourced from Portsea.

Finding these salvaged and unusual materials proved the easy part of the six-month renovation. Amateur owner-builders can take comfort: working on your own house is hard going, even for architects.

“It was stressful,” says Gibson. “It was very stressful,” Talbot adds, laughing. Each of them was working a busy full-time job. They were staying with friends and labouring at the house in every spare moment.

Now that it’s finished, they’re pleased with the comfort and style of their home, and glad they stuck to the recycling theme. “It’s very poignant right now with the credit crunch because people are having to rethink they way they live their lives,” Talbot says. “And one person’s rubbish is another’s treasure, isn’t it?”

Gibson says that demand for salvaged building materials is growing fast. “There’s really nothing that can’t be recycled if you really want to.”

Should it stay or should it go?

Up to 40 percent of our landfill waste comes from building, according to yourhome.gov.au, and much of it could be reused. Recycling not only cuts demand for new resources, but also cuts your costs.

A renovation always means recycling, but just how much depends on the design. If you want to be green, save as much of the existing structure as you can and chose your materials carefully. Make sure your designer and builder understand your goals.

Doors, windows and cabinets are ideal for reuse, and look for bits and pieces with character – like Matt Gibson’s bronzed mirrors – that could be re-employed.

Material-wise almost everything can be reclaimed, from plasterboard, timber and glass, to metals like steel, aluminium and copper. Even concrete, carpet, plastics, bricks and tiles are good to go around again – if not for you, then somewhere else.

It’s easy to find second hand suppliers or trade materials online. Try sites such as eBay, Trading Post, or Construction Connect Australia.

Matt Gibson Architecture + Design

When Matt Gibson was just a kid, he chanced upon an architectural blueprint. “I saw it and just thought it was so beautifully drawn,” he says. “Once I saw that, I wanted to do architecture.”

He started his own practice, MGA+D, in 2003 following stints working for other architectural firms in both Melbourne and London. In 2005, Gibson’s firm won Australia’s Best Emerging Practice.

It has since expanded to include five staff. They work on new, retail and commercial projects, but specialise in existing residential buildings. Gibson says he is fascinated by the play between old and new, and storytelling through design features that recur through a home. “There’s a trend running through our work, which is about utilisation of light, continuity of forms and patterns of movement.” 

www.yourhome.gov.au, www.arrnetwork.com.au