ENGINEERING
GREEN GOALS REAP REWARDS Norman Disney & Young’s skill in refurbishments has been recognised with one of their projects scoring the highest award in the 2013 NZ Property Council awards. Precinct Properties ANZ Centre in Auckland was awarded the 2013 Rider Levett Bucknall Supreme Award as the finest NZ development, and the Hays Commercial Office Property Award. The judging panel acknowledged the project required “very detailed and innovative planning to facilitate the work being completed without disruption to the day-to-day operation of the building for the existing tenants”. “The challenges of working within an existing building / structure meant that a high level of co-ordination was required between all disciplines on the project,” says
ANZ Centre, Auckland
NDY senior electrical engineer Nigel Ashby. “The design team collaborated closely throughout all phases of the project from the concept design stage throughout building construction to ensure that a streamlined outcome was achieved.” NDY was engaged to provide design for the mechanical, electrical, hydraulics, fire protection and acoustic services design, and the innovative design aspects they formulated have made a substantial impact on the building’s efficiency. NDY provides integrated and comprehensive engineering design advice for refurbishments through the company’s MPlus division. MPlus provides a range of services ranging from management of the technical facilities in property through to the replacement of major plant components such as chillers, Automation systems, main switchboards, fire indicator panels, and other engineered systems. The engineers of the MPlus division have hands-on experience in building services, ensuring a fully-informed approach to providing expertise for projects including cost effective plant upgrades; strategic planning for refurbishments; NABERS assessments and improving energy and water efficiency; Green Star; and system troubleshooting, maintenance and solutions.
PURE GENIUS AT GHD Better ways to treat wastewater is a key part of ensuring sustainability, and GHD have consolidated their reputation as leaders in the field with recent innovations in the advanced application of water-related membrane technologies. This is enabling them to deliver advanced capabilities in the field of water treatment and reuse including optimising membrane bioreactor (MBR) systems, increasing the success of osmosis reuse treatment plants, and minimising the environmental impact of wastewater treatment.
The 7th International Water Association (IWA) Specialised Membrane Technology Conference and Exhibition for Water and Wastewater Treatment and Reuse in Toronto included a presentation on Pre-treatment for Microor Ultra-Filtration/Reverse Osmosis Reuse: Experience from Australia by David Solley from GHD’s Brisbane office. The presentation was based on his experience from six micro or ultra-filtration/reverse osmosis reuse treatment plants in Australia, and discussed the impact of pre-treatment on membrane performance.
NORTHERN HIGHLIGHTS Leading projects firm Sinclair Knight Merz (SKM) has been recognised at the 2013 Engineers Australia Northern Division Engineering Excellence Awards with awards including the Overall Engineering Excellence Award for the Cullen Bay Seawall Rectification project; and Joint winner of the Reports, Procedures & Systems category for the
Ichthys Project Road Transport Management Plan (RTMP). Commenting on the Ichthys RTMP project the Awards judges said, “The work, the detail and the presentation excellence in both submissions are probably the best that have ever been submitted in the Northern Territory.”
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ENGINEERING
Megan Motto Chief Executive Officer Consult Australia
Abbott Government: A fresh opportunity Consult Australia is seizing the fresh opportunity with the new federal Government, to pursue a number of legislative and public policy changes for our members. Recently introduced Labour Market Testing provisions for 457 visas that specifically affect employers of engineers is one of the first items we hope to address. Through the infrastructure portfolio we will continue to advocate for securing stable and consistent pipelines of work, improved cities governance and a sustainable investment base. Workforce productivity is a strong theme for the coming years and will include the promotion of our proposal for an Engineering Education and Training Incentive and sensible reform of selfeducation tax deductions. Giving employers a voice in child care policy debate is a relatively new topic for us; but critical as we consider it essential for building staff productivity. Action to achieve a nationally uniform position against contracting out of proportionate liability remains a high priority, as is improving government procurement practices and their use of contract terms and conditions. An emerging issue is the potential unintended consequences of the Australian Consumer Law provisions for misleading and deceptive conduct as they are applied to business-tobusiness transactions post contract. National harmonisation of workplace health and safety laws still requires fine-tuning and we will work with Safe Work Australia to ensure that the Codes of Practice are effective and easy to use. Within the resources portfolio, our attention will be on ‘green tape’ and its sensible elimination, and promoting level-headed development of mining, oil and gas policy to foster investment confidence.
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