Michael Green

Writer and producer

Does buy local mean bye local?

In Community development on

First published on ABC Unleashed

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd may have been lampooned for his Strine, but last week, in its budget, the NSW government fair dinkum went and put it into policy.

Under Local Jobs First, when state agencies and corporations buy their wares, they’ll factor in a 20 per cent discount on Australian manufacturers’ tenders.

Unions liked it. Trade experts, the European Union and the US government did not. The Age‘s diplomatic editor, Daniel Flitton, viewed the measure through the dark and troubling prism of nationalism.

The morning after the NSW budget, bright and early, Federal Trade Minister Simon Crean denounced the policy on Sky News. It would cost jobs, he warned, not save them, and could draw similar moves from other countries. It would threaten trade.

But must trade always be the last word?

Less than an hour after Crean spoke so unequivocally on Sky News, American economist and writer Michael Shuman spelt out a different kind of economic development on Radio National.

“Locally owned businesses that are focussed first and foremost on local markets,” he told Life Matters presenter Richard Aedy, “contribute substantially more to economic development than … schemes to attract or retain non-local businesses.”

Shuman’s two most recent books are Going Local: creating self-reliant communities in a global age, and The Small-Mart Revolution: how local businesses are beating the global competition. You get the idea.

On tour in Australia, he’s spruiking the myriad benefits to be had from boosting our local businesses – from better labour and environmental standards to stronger long-term wealth creation and higher, more resilient employment rates.

The crux of Shuman’s argument, in economic terms, is about the flow-on effect of our spending choices. “When you spend money locally you contribute to what economists call the economic multiplier,” he said on Radio National. “That is, when I spend a dollar, say at a local pharmacy, that pharmacist pays people, they then take their dollar to a local grocery store … you have a dollar that is circulating in the economy. The more times that dollar circulates and the faster that dollar circulates without leakage, the more income, wealth and jobs [it creates]. And it turns out that local businesses do this much better.”

He points to a 2003 study in Austin, Texas, where economists analysed the impact of a proposed Borders bookstore against two local bookstores. They found that $100 spent at Borders would circulate $13 in the local community, while $100 at the local stores would circulate $45.

Shuman draws a distinction between local and non-local ownership, not between domestic and foreign. In The Small-Mart Revolution, the economist criticises promotion of “America First-ism” at a cost to others. Instead, he envisages a future of growing trade and global engagement, albeit “in goods and services less and less vital to day-to-day today survival”.

So where does the buy-Aussie policy fit in?

Despite the fuss, it’s neither a breakthrough nor a break down, and it won’t start a trade war. The rule already existed – NSW just expanded its application. Other countries, state governments and local councils also have guidelines favouring local procurement. And, despite Crean’s protestations, the Australian Labor Party’s current platform includes an almost identical policy.

That’s not to say it will work. According to the localisation theory, an ideal government purchasing system wouldn’t target Australian-made. It would target the tenders that boast the highest multiplier – probably goods made and owned nearby, not nationally.

www.small-mart.org

Petite force: container housing is on its way

In Architecture and building, The Age on

Has the ship finally come in for container housing? Visit a metal model home.

In 1964, Geoff Fulton installed a collapsible caravan into the roof of a Mercedes Benz in Germany and began travelling the world. By the time Russian authorities confiscated the vehicle three-and-a-half years later, the young man had learnt a lesson in scale. “I proved to myself that you don’t need a lot of space to live in.”

Now, four decades on, Mr Fulton and his partner Carla Salomon-Kerkering want to pass that message onto the public at large. Sitting in the lounge of their ‘Small is Smart’ display house – a pint-sized but fully equipped dwelling built from a single recycled shipping container – the couple is adamant that bigger doesn’t mean better. “Why do we need more?” Mr Fulton asks. “The main reason is because we’re used to it, or because we don’t want people to think that we’re living in a little house.”

At just 12 metres long, 2.4 metres wide and 2.7 metres high, the home can be easily packed onto a truck. And as befits its modest dimensions, it is super cheap and eco-friendly – both traits in high demand thanks to global eco and economic woes. “If it’s owner built, we anticipate it will cost about $30,000,” Mr Fulton says. A fully pre-made, basic model is likely to come in at about $50,000.

“Our aim is to show people that living in a container isn’t slum dwelling. Nor does it have to look like an ugly tin box,” he says, nodding towards the sleek interior fit-out. The prototype is complete with a lounge room, kitchen, bathroom, double fold-out bed and space for a washing machine and dryer. Given its size and form, the biggest drawbacks appear to be lack of storage space and natural light.

Ms Salomon-Kerkering – a garrulous German interior architect who first met Mr Fulton on his epic voyage in the 60s – says that with attention to detail and deft use of colour, small can seem spacious. The interior walls, ceiling and floor of the Small is Smart house are all dark grey. “Everything in life is about illusions,” she says. “When you have the same colour all the way around, you lose your dimensions. If you had a different coloured floor it would look narrow because you see exactly where the wall starts.”

Carefully placed mirrors in the lounge area and bathroom also help maintain the deception. “If I’m sitting here and I have the illusion that the room is double the size, I’m happy,” she says. Among other clever design elements, the dwelling has an all-white kitchen to enhance light gain, as well as varied ceiling heights to de-box the interior.

There are over seventeen million shipping containers around the globe and, although still structurally sound, most fall into disuse after their stint at sea. According to Mr Fulton, salvaging this resource slashes the carbon footprint of the Small is Smart home. “The main structure has already been recycled and at the end of its life, can be recycled again.”

Also, by combining effective insulation and shading with a smart ventilation system that prevents heat exchange and humidity, Ms Salomon-Kerkering believes that the freight container home won’t need artificial cooling. “Air conditioning is the past, not the future. It is not necessary,” she says.

The designers, from Torquay, envisage all manner of uses for the Small is Smart house, including holiday homes, granny flats, student accommodation and retirement villages, as well as worker, social and emergency housing.

“It’s ideal for bush holiday facilities. You can leave the big steel doors on and shut them. If a fire goes through, there’s not much risk of it going up,” Mr Fulton says. “First home buyers could also get in for next to nothing and then expand the house as they need more space, without having to move out. They can just add containers.”

Although the petite prototype was only recently completed, Mr Fulton says it has generated a lot of interest. “We’ve had Toorak ladies say ‘I could live in this. In fact, if I can’t get the kids out of my house, I’ll put one of these in the backyard and I’ll live in it,’” he says. “What better recommendation could you ask for?”

Home steel home: cheap and solid

“There’s no doubt that modular and container housing will catch on big time,” says Brian Haratsis, managing director of property industry consultants MacroPlan. “There are a growing number of people looking for a low-cost housing alternative. A lot of people these days would rather spend their money on travel; they’re mobile contractors or Internet bloggers or whoever they are, and they just want somewhere that they can afford.”

Mr Haratsis predicts that the initial demand for low-cost housing will come from retirees who find themselves short on superannuation and decide to sell their family homes. “The peak year for the number of retiring baby boomers is 2015. With the global financial crisis impacts on super, between now and 2025 will be the crunch years for housing in Australia.”

With those downsizing baby boomers in mind, Geoff Fulton has begun planning a large ‘Small is Smart’ retirement village at Leopold, just outside Geelong. But he’s not the only one getting ship shape. Architect Matthew Grace recently designed ‘resPOD’, a series of plans for container homes.

Using between one and six crates, resPODs range in cost from about $70,000 to $185,000, depending on size. “The concept was about taking the architectural level of detail into a small package and making it affordable for the majority of people,” Mr Grace says. “(Using shipping containers) was a way of utilising an existing waste resource and trying to minimise the environmental impact from the ground up. There’s been lots and lots of interest.”

The outlook for shipping crates as disaster relief is not so promising. In 1999, prominent Melbourne architect Sean Godsell designed ‘Future Shack’, a prototype for emergency housing made from a recycled shipping container, but despite worldwide acclaim, it hasn’t gone into widespread use.

Founding Director of Architects Without Frontiers and RMIT design lecturer, Dr Esther Charlesworth says that while container housing may be a good idea for a bush-block weekender, a granny flat or an extension, it’s unlikely to provide appropriate relief or social housing. “Architects quite often assume that they can produce the universal solution. I’d argue that with social housing, container homes can become problematic in terms of social stigmatisation of the occupants but also because of the harsh climatic conditions in monsoonal or arid zones.”

In any case, Dr Charlesworth says that in many disaster situations, such as post-tsunami Sri Lanka, locals can build homes at a much lower cost than imported options. “And once you start to literally ship in an object, you’re losing a whole lot of local future employment and training opportunities that come through housing construction.”

Close encounters: why medium-density living is the way of the future

In Architecture and building, Environment, The Age on

With a fast-growing population, we need more homes on the block. Michael Green finds out what makes medium density housing work.

Melbourne’s got density on the mind. The state government’s high-profile plans, Melbourne 2030 and Melbourne @ 5 Million, both aim for a more compact city. And even though our suburban boundaries continue to spread, haphazard change is underway.

Medium density housing grew seven-fold in the decade following the 1990s recession, according to planning expert Michael Buxton, and it’s been booming ever since.

Medium density means more homes in less space. It means townhouses, units and flats, where each home is attached to the place next door. Traditional suburbs have about 8 to 15 dwellings per hectare, whereas medium density ranges from 20 to 80. High density – residential development above about four levels – is yet more again.

“People said we wouldn’t embrace apartment living, but we have,” says Dr Buxton, from RMIT’s Environment and Planning unit. “There’s no doubt that Melbourne will continue to intensify its development. The real issue is what form it will take.”

So when it comes to medium density housing, what separates the good, the bad and the inconvenient?

DESIGN

Clare McAllister, from McAllister Alcock Architects, says that with careful design, flats can offer comfort as well as convenience. “If you get it right, a compact dwelling can feel a lot more spacious than its footprint would suggest.”

Ms McAllister is the jury chair for the Australian Institute of Architects award for multi-residential development in Victoria. Among other criteria, the panel considers the level of ‘amenity’ each dwelling affords: “the things that improve the quality of day-to-day living,” she says.

Those things include adequate storage and well-resolved layouts. “You’ve got to look for plans that have no wasted space and no tortuous little access ways,” she says. The design should allow for privacy without inducing claustrophobia, and outdoor spaces must be usable.

Environmentally sustainable design has also become an important yardstick. Ms McAllister evaluates passive solar design techniques, such as good orientation (to catch sun in winter and block it out in summer) as well as insulation and cross-ventilation. “We look for projects where the developer has taken that extra step [in eco-design] without being forced by legislation,” Ms McAllister says.

The jury also mulls over what each development adds to the local community. In the inner city, that might mean cutting edge architecture, or in leafy suburbs, generous gardens. “Often, there’s a lot of angst when you put something new into a neighbourhood, but if it’s well-designed it can make a positive contribution,” Ms McAllister says. “Good medium density housing does give something back.”

PLANNING

Shrewd building design isn’t all that’s needed for urban consolidation to work. As with all real estate, location is crucial. In this case, according to Dr Buxton, it’s all about proximity to public transport. “Increasing density on sites far from public transport isn’t doing any good, because it just leads to increased car use.” Well-located developments also link into existing infrastructure such as schools, healthcare facilities and parks.

Dr Buxton says medium density development in the inner- and middle-ring suburbs is in demand for the access it gives to activities. “Its popularity is related to the perceived social advantages, where people can walk to public transport, shopping and cafes.”

But he says it’s not enough for developments to sponge off the existing range of activities in the area. “We should be aiming for a mix of uses – residential, as well as retail and other employment-generating uses – even in individual developments.”

Other planning measures, such as height limits on development, can improve environmental performance. Dr Buxton says that medium density homes cause the least CO2 emissions, thanks to their modest size, shared walls and low heating and cooling needs. In contrast, high-rise apartment buildings fare the worst. “They tend to be very poor performers, because of the glass construction. They also have lifts, and big foyers and other spaces that have to be heated.”

VALUE

Adrian Jones, President of the Real Estate Institute of Victoria, says medium density units are popular with the younger generations and with retiring baby boomers. Despite the recession, interest remains strong. Mr Jones expects prices will continue to rise in the long term. “There’s keen demand for units because they’re more attractively priced. It’s a good entry-level way to get into the market.”

He says prices range from about $200,000 for a one-bedroom flat in a middle suburb, up to about $550,000 for a well-appointed two-bedroom apartment with a lock-up garage and small garden.

“People look for a little extra amenity space,” he says, “a pocket-handkerchief garden, or at least a balcony. They also want a garage or a car space. Anything without a car space is a disaster.”

Mr Jones says that while some buyers are wary of living too close to their neighbours and of the lack of soundproofing in newer apartments, higher density living is inevitable – and not only to curb urban sprawl. “As our younger generations get more money, a lot of them will want to live in apartments,” he says. “It gives them more flexibility: low maintenance is a great attraction.”

Close to shops, transport, icons

At 30 The Esplanade, architect Michael Bialek knew his firm, SJB Architects, had a unique design opportunity.

“The site occupies a prominent position in an iconic location,” he says. “It’s got some very different neighbours: The Palais and Luna Park opposite, and heritage terrace and the McDonalds car park [either side]. I think the building fits into that chaotic framework and breathes on its own. It pays homage to the things around it without deferring to copying them.”

The striking, voluptuous 12-apartment building won the 2009 South East Design award for outstanding medium density housing development and is nominated for the Australian Institute of Architects’ multiple housing award for Victoria.

The design includes rectangular, terrace-style apartments and curved, irregular residences, as well as a green, fishnet-patterned, glass façade. The penthouse roof gardens boast million-dollar views over the bay and beachside icons.

“We felt that the building should reflect the vibrant character of St Kilda – the interest in art and form-making,” Mr Bialek says. “The graphic [on the building] is a tongue-in-cheek recognition of the fishnets of the fishermen and of the hookers’ stockings.” 

As well as it’s sculptural form, the building has space for two restaurants at ground level. “Once they open, it will be in the European style where you walk past on the street and you won’t even realise what the building is,” Mr Bialek says.

Book review: The Red Highway, by Nicolas Rothwell

In The Big Issue on

Four stars

After a year reporting from the Middle East, journalist Nicolas Rothwell returned, ill at ease, to his job as northern correspondent for the Australian newspaper. In The Red Highway he chronicles the meanderings and fixations of his quest to re-discover his sense of place.

It’s an uncommon book – a wistful, portentous mix of travel and historical anecdotes, beginning with an essay tracing the work of Czech artist and Aboriginal art collector Karel Kupka (first published in the Monthly).

Like a gentler, more respectful Bruce Chatwin (The Songlines), Rothwell drifts from one expedition to the next, guided by wise, enigmatic friends who intuit his innermost conflicts and slowly reveal the Top End’s secrets. He delves into spiritual landscapes and the lives of forgotten adventurers, seeing omens and patterns everywhere he goes.

Beyond his vague sense of dislocation, however, Rothwell gives away little of himself. He has crafted a collection of well-researched, compellingly told vignettes. Together, they form a distant, dream-like sweep, rich with unresolved meaning. Like a dream, the book’s mesmerising tone will linger – even if you don’t know quite what happened.

Vegetable Power

In Community development, Environment, The Age on

Joining an organic produce co-op can get you not only cheaper and better vegies but an introduction to like-minded neighbours.

IT’S 7.30am on a Friday. A dozen people, mostly young mothers, crowd a corrugated-iron back garage in Footscray, sorting fruit and vegetables. They’re hunched over two long rows of waxed grocer’s boxes, sharing out lettuce, leeks, beans, beetroot and much more.

The Seddon Organic Collective is holding its first sorting day. The members, and their toddlers, are making friends. The SOC is made up of 25 local residents. From now on, every week, they’ll buy cheap organic produce from the Melbourne Wholesale Market on Footscray Road, split it up, and dine in on the benefits.

Ken Johnson, the clean-cut president, is puzzling over paperwork, trying to tally the boxes, the money and the orders. He believes organic produce is both healthier and better for the environment. “This is a way to access organic food more cheaply,” he says.

The key to cheap supply is bulk buying from the wholesale market, and for that, the group must be incorporated.

In less than 15 minutes all the boxes are sorted. Each is bursting with more than a dozen kinds of fruit and vegies. While Johnson keeps pondering his lists, the other members chat and sip tea.

Leah Avene is thrilled to be a part of the new co-op. “I’m from Tuvalu, in the Pacific. It’s sinking due to global warming so I made a decision a year ago to try to live more sustainably. The first thing that we did was go vegetarian and start eating organic.”

The 23-year-old journeyed to the wholesale market at 6am to buy the produce from the wholesalers, Biodynamic Marketing. “For $20, it’s amazing value. I used to get a seasonal box from a local place, which cost me $45 a week and it was probably a bit smaller.”Big savings aren’t the only plus. “There’s a real community buzz growing among us, which is really lovely,” she says. “When we established the group it wasn’t just about organic eating. We also wanted to build friendships with like-minded people.”

The Seddon group is following a model begun by the Western Organic Collective in 2001. The WOC, based in Footscray, usually has an extended waiting list.

Long-term member Nick Ray says the group formed out of a desire to buy good organic food cheaply and without too much trouble.

“The quality of the stuff is extreme. None of that wrinkled-up organic produce that some people say isn’t quite up to speed. It’s a feast.”

As well as the weekly veggie box, WOC members buy bread from Pure Bread and run quarterly bulk dry-goods purchases. They also meet socially for “Seasonal Celebrations”. “Once a quarter we have a meal together,” Ray says. “People bring food along, we share news and we often have a theme. We talked about food miles at the last one.”

By 8.15am contented SOC members are leaving the garage, lugging boxes for themselves and others for delivery. The co-op has only just begun and there are still some kinks to iron out — they made three boxes too many today. But already there’s someone on the waiting list. Cheap organic produce is in demand, says Johnson. “It would be great if this model could spread around the city.”

How does it work?

EVERY Friday morning, two people buy the fruit and vegies from the Melbourne Wholesale Market. They drop the produce off at a designated house, where four people sort it, then deliver a box to each house. Voila!

Every member must contribute to the running of the collective. The work is done by roster: sorters must help out for a couple of hours every four to six weeks. Other people take on committee roles or organise the money, rosters and buying.

“It’s not a system that would work for everyone,” warns Nick Ray, from the Western Organic Collective. “You can only forget (to show up) so many times before you’re blacklisted!”

From experience, the collective has found that about 25 members is the right number. Any higher and the quantity of food required becomes too large to manage.

To make sorting and delivery as easy as possible, it’s best if members live close to one another.

First published in The Age, Epicure

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