Industrial Safety News | Asia Pacific Infrastructure | Property & Build: Yearbook 2021

October - January 2020 - 2021

INNOVATION, ISSUES AND OPPORTUNITY BLUEPRINT FOR A NEW NORMAL

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October - January 2020 - 2021

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he Year of the Ox will require the characteristic determination, strength and dependability as a nation and as individuals, to maintain momentum towards achieving our unique quality of life.

A critical lesson to date has been to follow the science, the latest iteration being the efficacy of the vaccines now reaching ‘front line’ workers. It will be some time before the results of millions of vaccinations are confirmed, particularly where emerging strains are involved.

It will be important for governments to decide whether vaccination becomes compulsory, at least for workers, or remains a personal choice.

Covid-19 has focused public and media attention to the exclusion of almost all issues of national importance. The unexpectedly resilient economy, our relatively modest Covid infection levels and a Summer heatwave, together with the now traditional practice of releasing major reports on Christmas Eve, encourage the perception all is well.

There are however, flashing warning lights signalling pitfalls ahead.

The falling standards for maths and science should be particularly alarming in the Covid era. The need for scientists to successfully address an ever-increasing array of threats to our wellbeing and environment has been apparent for years, yet a solution continues to evade us as key contributors fail to collaborate in a coherent, well-resourced strategy.

Sound science has produced several Covid vaccines in a remarkably short time. These will continue to be refined and improved, as Covid mutates

Yearbook 2021

Science is the true infrastructure As Covid-weary Kiwis put a tumultuous 2020 behind us and return from Summer holidays in circumstances infinitely better than expected, 2021 is equally challenging and new strains emerge.

The effective collaboration between pharmaceutical companies, academics and public health experts vividly demonstrates the merit of a non-partisan advisory capability to observe, monitor, evaluate and report on national strategies and performance.

Science is required to enable us to provide better solutions to international and local climate change challenges, such as enabling the switch to exciting new technologies replacing fossil fuels and enable affordable renewable energy solutions. Where is the backup for hydro, solar and wind generation when the rains don’t come and the winds don’t blow? Will Hydrogen leapfrog electric powered vehicles and if so, where will it come from?

How will New Zealand compensate for the loss of export earnings if we reduce our production of high quality food?

For example, the housing shortage requires innovation and technology to resolve. If the increasing deployment of robotics for modular house building replaces manual workers, retraining in technical trades will offer school leavers and many unemployed a meaningful career.

As the pandemic death toll approaches a horrendous 2.5m, science continues to provide solutions.

Meanwhile, the prospect of a speedy return to the qual-

ity of life we all aspire to requires an agreed national strategy and a long-term implementation plan, together with the necessary, committed resources to ensure steady progress. A five year, rolling, non-partisan update would survive intermittent interruption, while keeping the focus on the long term goal.

Singapore is an excellent case study: started with nothing and a relatively short 50 years later, it is the richest and much envied ASEAN partner.

Highlights include: • World class education system producing highly skilled scientists, engineers and IT professionals.

• Research facilities producing high quality research and pharmaceuticals.

• Housing for all who require it.

• Modern infrastructure including safe potable water and an efficient mass transit system using electricity from a world class ‘waste to energy’ plant.

• Government funding for scientific research.

• Planned development within a rolling, five year development plan.

All of these notable achievements are within reach by New Zealand, should we choose to imple-

ment a similar strategy.

The alternative is to continue our piecemeal approach to key national development issues, which continue to fall short of expectations. For example, there is now overwhelming demand for trade training, perhaps inspired by the government picking up the fees. Why not the same incentive for our best science students? Instead, universities are downgrading science teaching and laying off tutors. While admitting sportspeople and entertainers, we continue preventing the return of many overseas students. Given the continuing demands of not only a pandemic but increasing demands on our health system, increasing our medical research capability seems both logical and overdue.

We can do so much better, evidenced by our collective response to the threat of Covid-19. Importantly, we need world leading research projects to satisfy our talented people eager to invest and expand their scientific expertise or we will continue to export our best and brightest.

Yes, we have daunting infrastructure deficiency challenges. How about we start with producing the next generation of world leading scientists?

The views expressed by Content Partner, Responsible Care Chief Executive Barry Dyer, may not necessarily be those of Responsible Care NZ safetynews.co.nz

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Yearbook 2021

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Yearbook 2021 3

Science is the true infrastructure

52 Komatsu's new standards in performance

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Ten focus areas for building better

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Six infrastructure priorities

58 Cancer-causing dust released by earthworks

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Plenty of scope for Auckland’s Light Rail to come off the tracks

59 Who gets what from the $2.6b shovel-ready fund 69 The best facilities management

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Unlearning misguided muscle memory

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Training doesn't have to be ‘on the job’ to be hands-on

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Chemical industry leads by example

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Red Cross Blended Learning

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New Zealand to become a medicinal cannabis centre of excellence

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New Zealand not on track for net zero by 2050

88 A major step in fatigue management

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Products that work hard from the foundations to the roof

90 New benchmarks in the global drive for well communities

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The age of consent is about to be dramatically lowered

92 Touchless security upgrade showcases the way of the future

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The good life without owning a property

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Tricky times ahead for construction

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Why building low-cost houses is unattractive

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Entire house 3D printed in three weeks

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More of the same in 2021 for rising housing market

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108 Report: Delivering Infrastructure 120 Regional Freight Hub unveiled 122 Green trends emerge for commercial property investment

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Yearbook 2021

POLICY

Ten focus areas for building a better New Zealand Simpson Grierson explores what further reform is needed to support New Zealand’s recovery – both from the economic impact of Covid-19 and the country’s longstanding infrastructure deficit

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ew Zealand, like the rest of the world, still has much to do to combat the ongoing impacts of Covid-19. The significance and scale of the challenge should not be underestimated.

Despite this, we should not lose sight of the next challenge – building towards a better New Zealand, with accelerated infrastructure reform and investment as a cornerstone of the recovery.

This is not a time for timid policies, and there is perhaps no better time than now to execute bold plans.

As the saying goes, ‘never waste a good crisis’.

With that in mind, we have highlighted ten focus areas for the new Government.

Covid-19 Recovery (FastTrack Consenting) Act 2020.

Invest now Maximise the impact of the stimulus by enlarging the Covid-19 Response and Recovery Fund and extending the timeframe of the

Test new tools Road-test the Infrastructure Levy Model on greenfields housing projects, but work on its application to more challenging

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Offer direction Provide a special legislative case for major infrastructure within planning frameworks. Articulate when and how infrastructure may be provided for in more sensitive environments through national direction.

Act with urgency Progress RMA reform as a priority, but acknowledge that new legislation will not be a silver-bullet.

Through informed, nonpartisan, debate we must recognise the importance of environmental resilience, and be willing to pay for climate-friendly outcomes.

brownfields projects where it may provide the most utility.

for private investment to help bridge the infrastructure deficit.

Build resilience Promote a fair, efficient and equitable contracting environment that will provide greater resilience in the contracting sector.

Embrace Opportunity Don’t miss the Three Waters opportunity – engage meaningfully to identify a solution that will deliver the benefits of aggregation while recognising the New Zealand context and the benefits of local representation.

Be bold Continue to explore new channels to fund the infrastructure deficit – learning from value capture techniques used abroad.

Be resourceful Review revenue policy settings to ensure we are optimising the potential

Think ahead Further develop industry guidance on contract amendments – addressing Covid-19 issues and reflecting Construction Sector Accord principles.

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POLICY

Yearbook 2021

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ew Zealand’s infrastructure dilemma continues to be one of the most significant issues facing the country today.

Infrastructure supports much of our daily lives – it provides the water we drink, the roads and rail we travel on, and the local services we depend upon.

It provides the bedrock on which our economy is built.

Yet decades of underinvestment and inconsistent policy at central and local government levels, combined with significant population growth in recent years, has left New Zealand with a significant infrastructure deficit that must now be addressed in order to maintain our quality of life and economic competitiveness at a global level.

Our problems have been well traversed. They include legislation that is poorly integrated and not designed to deliver outcomes that support a growing population, constraints on the workable funding and financing options, institu-

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Infrastructure reform in perspective Major infrastructure delivery depends on a sound supporting regulatory and policy framework across a range of disciplines, says Simpson Grierson tions that lack critical mass and which are not appropriately incentivised to deliver outcomes that benefit regions and New Zealand as a whole, and a construction sector under pressure.

These problems have manifested in a lack of affordable housing, inefficient transport networks in our largest cities and environmental degradation.

Fortunately, the current Government has recognised the urgency of the situation and given considerable attention to resolving these issues – including

under its centrepiece infrastructure policy framework – the Urban Growth Agenda (UGA). The UGA aims to remove barriers to the supply of infrastructure and make room for our cities to grow up and out.

Several initiatives are now at various stages of development to address the five pillars of the UGA – infrastructure funding and financing, urban planning, spatial planning, transport pricing, and legislative reform.

Over the past three years, in addition to major policy

announcements such as the New Zealand Upgrade Programme and Covid-19 Response and Recovery Fund, the Government has made significant headway in improving the regulatory framework that underpins infrastructure delivery. The Regulatory Radar diagram locates each item of reform activity based on its progression, impact, and area(s) affected.

While much work remains to be done, the radar shows the extent, and relevance, of recent reforms.

While the Covid-19

Yearbook 2021 Key focus areas include planning and consenting, funding and financing, and contracting – but strong frameworks in those disciplines will not yield benefits unless the right structures and institutions are in place to navigate them.

REGULATORY RADAR: INFRASTRUCTURE DELIVERY REFORM The Regulatory Radar locates reform activity from the past three years that will have an appreciable impact on infrastructure delivery, based on progression, impact and area(s) affected.

POLICY

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COVID-19 Recovery (Fasttrack Consenting) Act 2020

Taxation (Annual Rates for 2020–21, Feasibility Expenditure, and Remedial Matters) Bill – deductibility of ‘black hole’ feasibility expenditure

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Infrastructure Funding and Financing Act 2020

National Policy Statement for Freshwater Management 2020

Tax Policy Work Programme – incentives for nationally significant infrastructure

National Policy Statement on Urban Development 2020 Urban Development Act 2020

Climate Change Response (Zero Carbon) Amendment Act 2019

Government Procurement Rules

New Zealand Infrastructure Commission/Te Waihanga Act 2019

Construction Procurement Guidelines

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Kāinga Ora–Homes and Communities Act 2019

Proposed NZS3910 Amendments

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RMA review

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Three Waters Reform Programme

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Construction Sector Accord

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Govt review of retentions regime

KEY: LIKELY IMPACT OF REFORM pandemic has severely interrupted life as we know it in New Zealand and rightly diverted attention to more pressing and urgent matters in the short term, the aftermath of the health

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High Impact

crisis also presents an opportunity.

With our country faring better than many others around the globe, both in terms of public health and economic activity, we can

Medium Impact

shift our focus to the future and allow government and business to build towards a better New Zealand – this time with accelerated infrastructure reform and investment as a corner-

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stone of the recovery.

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Read the full report on delivering infrastructure on page 108 to explore the issues, reform measures, and work yet to be done in each area. safetynews.co.nz

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Infrastructure Priorities for the 2020-2023 Government COVID-19 combined with historic underinvestment and record population growth has created a perfect storm for New Zealand infrastructure. This is what the 2020-2023 Government needs to do to address long-standing issues and achieve public outcomes:

1.

Publish a National Vision, comprising key outcomes and with clear objectives for New Zealand to achieve in 30 years There is broad agreement that New Zealand has not successfully promoted outcomes. The new Government needs to define the national strategic outcomes and supporting objectives it wants to achieve to guide and inform public and private decision making.

Outline a National Vision that that brings the country together Determine the National Strategic Outcomes to be prioritised Set objectives, goals and targets to maintain direction

A measurable and defined National Vision will provide the direction that the infrastructure sector, local government and communities need to support Government direction.

2.

Agree the Infrastructure Strategy to achieve the National Vision To achieve outcomes, the Government is going to need a strategy to get there.

Current projects, plans and initiatives merely contribute to the general direction of priorities rather than comprise a coordinated programme to realise a National Vision.

Long-term infrastructure planning and investment integrates public services and institutions and will provide the pathway to get from where we are today to where we want to be tomorrow. The New Zealand Infrastructure Commission – Te Waihanga has been charged with developing a 30-Year Infrastructure Strategy which will align and coordinate long-term planning and investment.

This strategy should provide the platform to enable National Strategic Outcomes and realise the National Vision.

The Strategy will give officials, citizens and businesses the confidence to plan and invest in New Zealand’s future and participate in driving our National Vision forward.

Focus the 30-Year Infrastructure Strategy on achieving the National Vision Support and deliver the Infrastructure Strategy

3.

Incorporate the Infrastructure Strategy into the revised Planning System A new Planning and Development Act is required to give statutory weight to the Infrastructure Strategy and National Strategic Outcomes via aligned strategic, spatial and land use planning. The existing planning system focuses on effects, misaligns strategic and land use planning and neither protects the environment nor promotes wider societal outcomes.

Clear government direction supported by agreed regional spatial plans will give confidence to public agencies and the private sector to invest in opportunities which support national outcomes. A separate Environment Act is needed to establish and enforce bottom lines. Clearer guidance as to what is not permitted will reduce confusion and legal complexity.

Replace the Resource Management Act with separate planning and environmental protection statute Create an Environment Act to establish bottom lines to protect the natural and built environment Create a Planning and Development Act to empower the 30-Year Infrastructure Strategy, support long-term regional spatial plans and ensure land use plans promote infrastructure-enabled development within environmental limits

Integrating strategic and land use planning will align investment and development, making New Zealand more responsive to growth while a dedicated Environment Act protects the environment.

4.

Develop the skills and human capital to deliver the Plans Projects and other initiatives which feature in the Strategy, regional spatial plans and other documents will need people with the right skills to deliver them. In the wake of COVID-19, New Zealanders are looking for work and we can no longer rely on international labour to fill gaps in the workforce.

Tertiary institutions, employers and government need to know what skills are required to deliver plans. Fit for purpose education and training will be necessary to ensure the workforce of the future is ready.

Develop the pipeline of projects necessary to implement plans Identify the skills needed to deliver the projects and programmes Publish a National Skills Strategy to align tertiary institutions, contractors and government

Training and educational programmes will provide employment opportunities to workers across the country and support implementation of national, regional and local priorities.

5.

Fund and finance the Plans To achieve priorities set out in the National Vision, Infrastructure Strategy and regional spatial plans, funding is going to need to follow agreed plans. Current resourcing decisions prioritise short-term annual spending allocations over outcomes, resulting in funding and financing shortfalls for critical services even when there is willingness to pay.

All funding tools and financial resources should be leveraged to ensure that projects and programmes which promote strategic priorities are delivered and the costs of investment are fairly and efficiently allocated.

Fund water services through volumetric pricing Implement dynamic road pricing to optimise traffic movement and offset improving vehicle efficiency Reorient taxes to capture land value changes and discourage property speculation Make private capital the default option to finance infrastructure investment Fund infrastructure with indirect benefits from the consolidated account Use transfers and grants from central to local government to incentivise and encourage alignment with national direction

Fair and efficient pricing for infrastructure will encourage infrastructure providers to deliver services which achieve strategic priorities and ensure the costs and benefits of investments are evenly distributed.

6.

Reform governance to enable implementation Projects and plans necessary to support strategic priorities must be implemented. Many existing institutions are too small to plan and invest strategically, procure critical services and operate complex networks. Others are too broad to represent the needs of their customers and constituents, and are challenged by competing responsibilities in delivery and oversight.

Monitoring of overall system performance and delivery of services with nationallevel impacts needs to be performed by central government bodies. Services with regional-level impacts need to be provided by regional authorities with the capacity and capability to deliver. Services with local-level impacts need to be provided by local councils with the ability to engage and represent their communities.

Spatial planning, transport and development to enable housing performed by strengthened and reoriented regional authorities Local councils refocused on community representation and engagement, local services, community projects, and placemaking Three waters provision regionalised and corporatised so it is publicly owned but does not sit on council balance sheets Infracom, Taumata Arowai (the Water Regulator), the Climate Change Commission and related entities strengthened to monitor outcomes and performance

Governance reform will ensure local projects and plans have local support, that regional activities support dynamic and competitive regional economies, and will strengthen national oversight to ensure National Strategic Outcomes are met.

Infrastructure New Zealand Phone: +64 9 377 5570 Email: info@infrastructure.org.nz PO Box 7244, Victoria St West, Auckland, 1141, New Zealand infrastructure.org.nz

Yearbook 2021

Plenty of scope for Auckland’s Light Rail to come off the tracks TRANSPORT

Auckland’s Light Rail has the potential to revolutionise the city’s public transport network – but only if it is done right says Anderson Lloyd Partner, Anton Trixl

L

ight Rail is one of the most ambitious projects for the Auckland region and looks set to transform the public transport network.

It is vital to get it right for future generations, but most importantly, local businesses and residents who will be directly impacted by the ongoing construction.

Auckland’s Light Rail has the potential to create a more connected city, but it comes with heavy responsibilities to keep what is the largest infrastructure project in New Zealand’s history on track after a patchy start.

The former Transport Minister's claim that Auckland Light Rail will be one of the most complex infrastructure projects in decades was correct.

Already the project has been caught in an internal battle between the previous government's coalition partners over their different visions for the project.

The Labour party majority government should provide a second chance at getting the Auckland Light Rail project focused and moving steadily forward.

While the potential ben-

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efits are enticing, light rail projects are notoriously complex to plan and pull off.

We only need to look at Australia to see the major problems plaguing the Sydney Light Rail project.

It is an unfortunate showcase of the risks of urban light rail development - cost blowouts, lengthy delays to construction, legal battles and prolonged disruption to businesses and residents.

That project is a key source of learning to understand the importance of rigorous planning to pull off a successful light rail project for the first time in New Zealand.

From our own experience with complex public-private infrastructure projects, here are Anderson Lloyd’s recommended focus areas to progress Auckland Light Rail and to achieve the best possible outcome for Auckland and New Zealand Inc. First focus area With huge investments on the line and long periods of disruption for commuters and small businesses, airtight planning is essential to keep work schedules on track and budgets under control.

Major cost and time

overruns are the obvious concerns. These can be prevented through development of a comprehensive project scoping plan that addresses all known and unknown risks, building them into the project and ensuring the project is not rushed into delivery if the issues have not been resolved.

Second focus area Use centralised political power to mobilise and drive alignment between central government, state owned enterprises, council-controlled organisations and agencies to develop a unified front.

Major projects in New Zealand have suffered where government agencies' incentives weren't aligned to the project's success, so identifying these issues early and developing a plan for forging that alignment will be integral to the success of the Auckland Light Rail project.

Third focus area Understand the risk averse New Zealand contractor market and recognise the reluctance of contractors to take significant risk on fixed-price contracts. The

Government will need to drive a procurement package that will achieve a sustainable outcome.

Fourth focus area Understand which underground utilities will be affected, who owns them and how work to move them will be done before any ground is broken.

Fifth focus area Plan for the impact on local businesses and residents on the route. These businesses shouldn’t be the victims of the project.

They are likely to suffer the most inconvenience from the construction, which

TRANSPORT

Yearbook 2021

could have a disastrous impact on trading on top of the impacts from Covid-19.

Appointing a local representative for businesses will provide a platform to voice concerns, and in turn will ensure the Government are keeping this key stakeholder group close and informed.

Unlocking opportunities for New Zealand’s future If all goes to plan, there’s no denying the Auckland Light Rail will bring a plethora of benefits to residents living and working in Auckland. With the city projected to have a population of 1.844 million by 2025,

totalling 37 per cent of the country's total population, a revitalised public transport network is imperative to enhancing Auckland as a thriving city.

Over time, Auckland Light Rail will be a game changer for commuters. Cyclists and public transport fans are looking forward to the light rail providing predictable and convenient journeys into the city and challeng-

ing the core Auckland belief that you can’t get around the city without a car. Importantly, light rail provides a sustainable method of transport and will play a significant role in reducing carbon emissions as it hopefully becomes the transport method of choice for the thousands of commuters travelling into the city each day.

The positive impacts from

light rail can also ripple to wider New Zealand. Auckland is the engine of our economy and unlocking this potential will bolster economic recovery in the long term.

If managed and executed successfully, the Auckland Light Rail project will play an important role in providing efficient public transport to areas that are currently under-served.

Anton Trixl is a specialist in the energy, natural resources and infrastructure sectors. Since 2004 he has been advising clients in more than 30 countries, on project development and project financing, public private partnerships, mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, construction, and a wide variety of commercial contracts. safetynews.co.nz

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Yearbook 2021

The great unlearning Safety News and AsiaPacific Infrastucture publisher Mike Bishara accepts an invitation from Optimum Training to join a four-hour safety training session

TRAINING

I

harboured a fervent hope that 25 years of development and refinement of Wayne Milicich’s injury prevention model might contain a few surprises.

The prospect of four hours in what I suspected could be a moralising lecture about how to lift a box was not enthralling. I could see, as we shuffled into the training centre, that the rest of the class felt the same, with a range of resigned, bored and cynical faces.

We were wrong. Boy, were we wrong. Participants soon learned “it was all about them” and their individual quality of life. And how 30 seconds after the training would break the harmful muscle memory that had taken over the way we did things.

“The programme is about unlearning what we learned between the ages of about eight to 13 years old and restoring all the movement patterns that we learned naturally during the first five to eight years of our life,” says Milicich.

For example, children all demonstrate best balance, unlike most adults. About 80 percent of the adult population “half breathe” from the apical area of the lungs as opposed to the diaphragm and lower lobes of the lungs, according to Milicich. “Children all naturally breathe from their belly, diaphragm, unless they are stressed.”

The most hardened cynics in our group quickly became engaged in the programme through a series of 18

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Optimum Training manager Dwane Stewart with an eager team of learners practical truths, illustrated by a range of interactions, sometimes with a workmate.

We emerged half a working day later wondering who to sue for the preventable harm I have inflicted by following instructions. Life quality did not require lifetime dedication, just a reordering of basic instincts and tossing out a few myths.

For our group, the quality of life had become anchored forever around balance and the 70/30 weight split between heels and toes.

We were converts to breathing out like weightlifters, sticking out our butts and letting tummies and abdominals do their thing - we discarded posture misinformation and stress and replaced it with comfort, a safe and secure back and no pain.

Optimum’s programme is of suggested solutions, not imperatives. “When we do this training, it is to benefit the individual. The company

clips the ticket and gets a benefit only when the individual benefits.”

“You cannot stand on a platform and tell people they are wrong. When a person’s belief is challenged, they will do anything to defend that truth as it is what they believe and know and have lived by. The only way to expose the false belief is to lead someone to find the truth for themselves.

In most cases following instilled poor habits is akin to

tapping yourself lightly on the head with a hammer for years. Do it enough times and you will end up permanently damaged.

You cannot separate work safety and whanau safety – they are two sides of the same coin, according to Milicich. Health and safety at home and work are just a component of our life quality. Not something that is separated out with its own rules to be applied at specific times and locations.

To a person, we emerged

70/30 balance is at the core of a quality of life

ready to retrain our misguided muscle memory with the 30-secondsa-day-worth of drills to reprogramme our muscle memory that had taken us just four hours to master.

“The training empowers people to work out the truth for themselves and trust themselves. You are the only person who can determine what works best for you. Trust yourself to make a good call,” says Milicich.

With no pen, paper or tables in the room, this programme is “pure adult facilitation of kinesthetic learning followed by cognitive understanding. It is simple to restore what was once in the muscle memory when we were five to eight years old. The original neural pathways just open up again,” he says. We learned and now retain what we learned.

“Stress is recognized as a major cause of MSD and auto-immune disease. We help people understand how their body manifests stress and equip them with the understanding and tools to manage themselves during stressful times,” says Milicich.

Optimum’s facilitation process has four specific steps.

When applied correctly to the session, most often the learner has no idea of what

has happened, but they do recognise that their life has changed for the better.

Our session began with participation exercises which showed the overriding importance of balance.

The 70/30 rationale was enough to consign to the bin, along with a flurry of other medical myths, the long-held and totally wrong “bend your knees and keep your back straight” doctrine.

It soon became apparent why Optimum’s quality of life programme is used by many of the country’s most astute corporations in an age where time “off the floor” is critical to the bottom line and many companies look only to tick the boxes of compliance.

The benefits are equally cost effective, available and absorbed by SMEs. My class had only nine other participants so having a cast of thousands is not essential – or even recommended.

“Move Smart Think Smart is about addressing the underlying causes of muscle and joint pain that occur as we interact with inert objects both at work and at home. Home injuries affect the workplace. Workplace injuries affect the home and family,” says Milicich.

“Either way the quality

of life of a person is compromised. The traditional medical model calls the problem ‘nonspecific back pain and occupational overuse’. In fact, the pain is about inadvertent personal misuse of the body -- it is very specific.”

The bio-medical model reckons back pain is normal. “No, it is not normal,” says Milicich. “It is common, and the medical model is unwittingly part of the problem.

“Good posture” is nothing more than an old wives’ tale based on the military model of control and it is still believed today. A teacher tells children to sit up straight as a means of controlling the class. It is now portrayed as good posture.

“The medical field is littered with information and advice that was eventually proven wrong and retracted. Some of our western cultural beliefs are based in nothing more than decades or centuries old beliefs and mores.

The sad thing is that more than 80 percent of MSD's are inadvertently and unwittingly self-inflicted. People hurt themselves as they interact with inert objects, and they don't even realise it, says Milicich.

“The only way a box can hurt someone is if it is flying

through the air and strikes them. Or if it is moving on a conveyor and they put their hand where they should not.

A spade and the ground are both inert. To suffer pain while digging a hole is the person hurting themselves as they interact with the spade and ground.

The pain is a direct result of poor skills and technique of movement -- self-inflicted pain.

Most people blame something or someone for this self-inflicted injury. At that point, only the symptom can be addressed with drugs and therapy.

The problem returns as they repeat their old thinking and poor technique once the symptom has eased.

“No one deliberately hurts themselves. Given the opportunity, everyone makes the right choice,” says Milicich.

To a person, everyone was engaged for the full duration of training, always relevant, interesting, practical and beneficial to each person. We felt equipped and empowered to take back responsibility for ourselves. I personally still muse over and apply the learnings. My years of knee pain has gone.

30-second daily drills to re-programme muscle memory

Wayne Milicich 07 8583040 027 291 1829 www.otl.nz Representatives NZ wide safetynews.co.nz

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TRAINING

Yearbook 2021

Yearbook 2021

Training doesn't have to be ‘on the job’ to be hands-on

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The Lesson - Be Susan. Don’t be Peter.

Peter approaches the training room and sees expectant faces look his way through the glass. Legs jiggle. Eyes dart around the room. Some of the trainees sit with slumped shoulders.

Everyone knows the next several hours are going to be tedious.

“I have to resist the urge to groan outwardly on these days,” Peter tells us.

It’s Monday, the busiest day of the week on-site for Peter and his team, and this Monday, they’ve got the added pressure of a site safety induction to get through.

Peter acknowledges that these sessions are important.

“Crucial really,” says Peter. “But they’re also boring for everyone involved. They take far too long and there’s too much paperwork and I wonder how much of it they retain as they listen to me drone on and on for hours.”

Not as much as they should, Peter admits to us, explaining that costly mistakes still happen. Accidents still happen.

“There’s just too much down time with the whole process,” says Peter.

Contrast Peter’s experience with Susan’s. Susan has a busy day ahead of her

too and a site to keep running. But she’s not concerned about her safety induction session.

She’ll spend 30 minutes outlining how the site induction will be done and showing them how to use their Virtual Training Experience equipment.

“They’ll work through the induction modules on their own – experiencing simulated working conditions as they do,” says Susan.

Virtual Reality Training does an excellent job of simulating the work environment and Susan’s noticed a sharp increase in the retention of knowledge since the company started inducting people to the site this way.

“I’ll pop in and out during the hours it will take them to complete the induction to check on their progress and then have lunch delivered so we can go over their results and any questions they have together,” explains Susan.

But the Virtual Reality Experience will also show the inductees where they went wrong as they complete the simulated exercises. Susan says she’ll have the new recruits prepared for working on site in no time and, she says, “I’m confident they’ll be doing so safely.”

Yearbook 2021

CHEMICALS

W

hile 130,000 businesses are reportedly captured by the Hazardous Substances and Major Hazard Facilities regulations, the official mantra of “600-900 persons seriously harmed each year by unwanted exposure to chemicals in their workplace” presumably applies to all of the country’s 530,000 workplaces.

Downgrading the flawed but effective HSNO Certified Handler requirement has inadvertently undermined an invaluable capability.

The action deprived businesses, particularly SMEs, of an immediate and recognisable source of workplace chemical safety and compliance advice -- a safe chemical handling capability and emergency response knowledge – critical when a chemical incident occurs.

PCBUs and SMEs must now devise their own solutions to ensure employees are competent to safely handle the chemicals with which they work.

So where to from here?

Responsible Care is a global voluntary chemical industry initiative developed autonomously by the chemical industry for the chemical industry.

Chemical suppliers continue to help customers achieve workplace chemical safety aspirations through product stewardship initiatives.

To help solve the in-house chemical compliance dilemma in New Zealand, Responsible Care NZ (www. responsiblecarenz.com) delivers specialist and cost-effective Certified Handler standard training, complete with a certificate.

Internationally, chemical industry leaders are moving away from relying on 22

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Chemical industry leads by example

Sponsored Article

The chemical industry continues to lead by example, helping to ensure essential chemicals encountered at work and at home are safely managed - safeguarding employees, communities and our environment lagging indicators of safety performance in favour of identifying safer work practices and workplaces, by responding to workers’ suggestions about improvements.

WorkSafe NZ has warned against business operators falling victim to uninformed and always expensive ‘consultants’.

Responsible Care NZ site compliance assessments are non-threatening, effectively capturing and assessing chemical safety performance in a variety of workplaces.

Conscientious business operators can add value by sourcing accurate, cost-effective workplace chemical safety advice and compliance tools from their suppliers, industry partners and Responsible Care NZ. The core problem Hundreds of business operators turned out for a free Responsible Care NZ compliance workshop, eager for accurate and practical advice, indicating an unsatisfied demand for assistance and education.

Attendance highlighted the need to provide SMEs and others with the ability to access, correctly interpret and successfully implement complex regulations with clear and concise compliance advice.

Inviting enquirers to “read the regulations” is falling

well short of the industry educational expectations arising from WorkSafe’s Statement of Intent 2016-2020.

A proven strategy is government agencies collaborating with proactive industry associations to best achieve workplace safety aspirations.

The problem is that SMEs rarely join associations.

However they all obtain their chemical requirements from suppliers and can benefit from product stewardship advice and cost-effective industry compliance initiatives.

Responsible Care NZ extols less regulation in favour of enabling business operators to be increasingly self-sufficient, using cost-effective products and services such as site compliance assessments and specialist training.

The focus is keeping people safe around the chemicals we encounter every day, by once again adding value to businesses.

Proven, collaborative and cost-effective initiatives to raise awareness and improve workplace chemical safety performance include: • Joint agency and industry-focused local compliance workshops at times convenient to SME operators.

• WorkSafe NZ inspectors distributing free copies of user-friendly ‘compliance

tools’ such as the Storage of Hazardous Substances HSNO Approved Code of Practice and posters explaining GHS pictogrammes • Supporting industry initiatives such as product stewardship • Referencing industry ‘compliance tools’ • Upskilling workplace inspectors in chemical safety.

• Encouraging ‘no blame’ reporting of incidents • Acknowledging successful, proactive industry compliance initiatives • Restoring the status of Approved Industry Codes of Practice A refreshed and energized government strategy for improving workplace chemical safety is both welcome and essential if we are to significantly improve sub-standard performance and learn from our successes and shortfalls.

Expanding mutually beneficial government- industry partnerships helping business operators ‘do the right thing’ with minimal fuss and expense should be ‘a no brainer’.

Chemical suppliers are ‘Impatient optimists’. They know we can all collectively do better through continuous improvement. +64 4 499 4311 info@responsiblecarenz.com www.responsiblecarenz.com

Yearbook 2021

WALK AND

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Yearbook 2021

Blended learning Save time with the Red Cross blended pre-course learning approach

TRAINING

T

he NZ Red Cross First Aid App now provides you with pre-course learning, which goes towards successful completion of an NZQA accredited first aid certificate.

With guided interactive learning, including videos and animations, use the app to learn and understand the basics of first aid.

Complete the app learning by fully reading the ‘Learn’ section and successfully completing the app tests.

Unlock badges along the way to record your achievements. Learn at a time and location that is convenient for you and reduce time spent away from work.

Once you have completed

your pre-course learning, book your skills workshop to complete your training.

Face-to-face workshops Attend the practical skills workshop with a NZ Red Cross instructor to gain your certification.

- Learn how to apply DRSABCD - Practise CPR on adult, child and infant manikins - Hands-on scenarios - Learn how to use an AED - Practical assessments E-learning options All the app badges must be unlocked prior to attending the skills workshop.

Bring your phone or tablet to verify your achievement.

• Unit Standards 6402,

6401 and 6400 (equivalent to comprehensive first aid) Workplace First Aid app pre course learning + 8 hours skills workshop • Unit Standards 6402 and 6401 (equivalent to essential first aid) Practical First Aid app pre course learning + 4 hours skills workshop • First aid revalidation: Workplace Revalidation app pre course learning + 4 hours skills workshop

What is E-learning?

E-learning enables learners to gain knowledge across several learning platforms. Some of the content and interactions are accessed on mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets. E-learners can then use this technology in their own time and place and at their own speed – anywhere and anytime.

Is E-learning a recognised learning pathway?

Yes it is. Research shows that people use mobile devices more frequently today than personal computers, using their devices to access the internet for information as and

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when required. Mobile devices using apps often do not require access to the internet as the learning content is stored within the device.

There are numerous published papers that support the view that learning within this mobile environment is well controlled, ensuring the learner has access to accurate information.

There is also evidence that the learner feels more confident in their own environment working at their own pace.

The app provides emergency information in a succinct and easy-to-use format as well as being a useful first aid learning tool.

Available Courses • App - Essential First Aid: Complete your precourse learning using the First Aid and Emergency App followed by a 4-hour classroom session • Online - Essential First Aid: Complete your online pre-course learning followed by a 4-hour classroom session.

• App - Comprehensive First Aid: Complete your pre-course learning using the First Aid and Emergency App followed by an 8-hour classroom session.

• Online - Comprehensive First Aid: Complete your online pre-course learning followed by an 8-hour classroom session.

• App - First Aid Revalidation: Complete your precourse learning using the First Aid and Emergency App followed by a 4-hour classroom session • Online - First Aid Revalidation: Complete your online pre-course learning followed by a 4-hour classroom session. redcross.org.nz/ corporate-bookings/ blended_learning

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Yearbook 2021

New Zealand to become a medicinal cannabis centre of excellence Unlocking the potential of medicinal cannabis is fundamentally a biotechnology challenge says BioTechNZ executive director Dr Zahra Champion

HEALTH

N

ew Zealand’s bio-economy is built on more than a century of world-class biological research based around a strong agricultural past and an economy built on primary production.

The strength of our medical science, research and development and biotech ecosystems provide the perfect base from which to grow this new sector.

The country’s Medicinal Cannabis Scheme came into effect in April 2020, enabling the commercial cultivation of cannabis for medicinal use and the manufacture and supply of cannabis-based ingredients, starting material and medicinal cannabis products.

Now the tech sector is poised to add considerable value to the emerging medicinal cannabis industry, enabling it to deliver better products more efficiently, quickly and cost effectively.

Successful medicinal cannabis production will need to leverage medical and technical knowhow including biotechnology and the latest digital production processes.

Consumers demand safe natural products. People want to know that the product contains exactly what it says it contains, the dosage is accurate, backed by science and can be taken it in different forms.

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The BioTechNZ focus on cannabis is solely medicinal. We are only interested in the therapeutic properties of medicinal cannabis treatments for a range of health conditions.

A membership-funded organisation, the diverse range of members targets ways bio-technology can help address many of the world’s agricultural, environmental and health problems New Zealand is well placed to play a key role in the fast-growing global

medicinal cannabis industry which is forecast to be worth US$55 billion by 2025.

The country’s many and varied medicinal cannabis stakeholders are gearing up to produce and distribute New Zealand’s first locally made products.

The local sector will deliver high-quality products backed by science, technology and clinical trials, which will help to reduce the cost and improve accessibility for Kiwi patients.

The future of medici-

nal cannabis presents a huge opportunity for New Zealand in this new Covid world and the subsequent economic changes that brings.

We believe there is an opening for New Zealand to become a medicinal cannabis research centre of excellence. The task now is how to best manage the horticultural, manufacturing and global market aspects of the industry.

If done correctly, trade could prove to be extremely lucrative with more than 60

Yearbook 2021

First for New Zealand

HEALTH

The first New Zealand medicinal cannabis summit, MedCan 2020, took place in November at Auckland’s Aotea Centre.

Hosted by BioTechNZ, the event brought together hundreds of scientists, medical experts, clinicians, entrepreneurs, investors, policy makers, patient advocates and officials.

The two-day summit saw more than 30 international and local experts sharing the latest information and offering first-hand insights on this new frontier of care.

BioTechNZ has garnered enough continuing support from sponsors such as Helius Therapeutics to make sure the MedCan Summit remains an annual event.

As well as maximising the economic and export opportunities, MedCan will help ensure there is a solid foundation for greater scientific understanding of cannabis.

In turn this will advance public policy and the nation's overall public health.

Significant surveys show healthcare professionals are highly supportive of greater access and affordability around medicinal cannabis.

However, as the gatekeepers they need to also know more, particularly given growing public anticipation and patient enquiries.

The MedCan Summit aims to provide these assurances. www.medcansummit.co.nz countries legalising medicinal cannabis.

“Going niche” is where New Zealand can succeed in medicinal cannabis globally - as we do so successfully with manuka honey and our wine industry. Medicinal cannabis companies need to establish their point of difference.

We cannot compete on the world stage as commodity sellers, churning out raw product at scale.

We can, however, develop and deliver high-quality products backed by science, technology and clinical trials.

The key to this emerging industry’s success will be understanding New Zealand’s natural, unique plant

genetic varieties, leveraging its highly regarded research expertise and scientific collaboration, as well as our country’s positive brand.

There’s some really exciting work to be done examining the different plant variations, as well as understanding the effects of THC and CBD and other compounds on different clinical conditions.

It is estimated that one in six New Zealand adults suffers from chronic pain, and unrelieved chronic pain may produce functional impairment, social isolation and emotional distress.

The good news is medicinal cannabis can be incorporated as an adjunct for chronic pain therapy,

positively impacting on patients’ health and quality of life.

Medicinal cannabis is not a panacea or a cure for disease. However, patients report symptomatic benefit for the likes of anxiety, multiple sclerosis, nausea, vomiting, appetite stimulation, epilepsy and chronic pain.

The government’s Medicinal Cannabis Scheme sets quality standards for medicinal cannabis products which will enable medical practitioners to prescribe them with confidence.

The overall intent of the scheme was always to increase supply and patient access to products. It is great then that the Ministry

of Health has listened, ensuring GPs alone can make the call, removing a key barrier to patient access.

However, considerable barriers to entry do remain – primarily cost based. It’s a very capital heavy business Those contemplating producing medicinal cannabis face licence fees and significant production set-up costs, not to mention relentless operational ones.

While the Government’s requirement for Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) standards is welcomed, it means considerable cost to construct or lease a GMP-compliant facility. www.biotechnz.org.nz safetynews.co.nz

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Yearbook 2021

ENVIRONMENT

C

ommission Chair Dr Rod Carr says the advice is ambitious but realistic and makes a clear case for taking immediate and decisive action on climate change.

“As a country we need transformational and lasting change to meet our targets and ensure a thriving Aotearoa for future generations.

“The good news is that our analysis shows there are technically achievable, economically affordable and socially acceptable paths for Aotearoa to take,” he says.

“But the Government must move faster – and support business, agriculture and community to do the same.

“The Commission has spent the last year working on what is now the most comprehensive strategy Aotearoa has for reducing its emissions and impact on the climate.

“There are a few actions that are critical to meeting our targets: electric vehicles, accelerated renewable energy generation, climate friendly farming practices and more permanent forests, predominantly natives,” Carr says.

“Our engagements to date have helped us understand the size of our task.

We have been incredibly impressed at the level of expertise, the passion and the ambition that exists in Aotearoa.

“The Commission is clear that this is draft advice and is committed to true consultation. Through consultation we are sure we will receive more valuable feedback and are prepared to make changes in light of what we hear”.

The Commission’s advice includes: – The proposed first three emissions budgets for

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New Zealand not on track for net zero by 2050 The independent Climate Change Commission has released its draft package of advice to Government on the steps Aotearoa must take to drastically reduce greenhouse gas emissions and address climate change

Aotearoa.

– Recommendations on the direction of the country’s first emissions reduction plan, which provides policy guidance to Government on how the emissions budgets could be met.

– A review that finds the

first Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) for Aotearoa is not compatible with the country’s responsibilities under the Paris Agreement to contribute to global efforts to limit warming to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels.

– A consideration of what potential reductions in biogenic methane might be needed by 2100. The result is biogenic methane will need to continue to fall in the second half of this century. This work does not review current targets.

ENVIRONMENT

Yearbook 2021

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ENVIRONMENT

Yearbook 2021

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ENVIRONMENT

Yearbook 2021

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ENVIRONMENT

Yearbook 2021

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ENVIRONMENT

Yearbook 2021

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ENVIRONMENT

Yearbook 2021

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Yearbook 2021

Closed Loop Recycling A care and responsibility for the environment has led EXPOL to the development of a closed loop full circle recycling process. Nationwide EXPOL has recycling units in each of its 7 manufacturing facilities.

Which NZ company has products that work hard from the foundations to the roof?

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EXPOL have been delivering solid insulation and lightweight polystyrene construction solutions to the New Zealand building industry for over 40 years CONSTRUCTION

E

XPOL has the right solid insulation and lightweight polystyrene solution for every part of your project.

Our solutions work from the ground up and include GeoFoam, Tuff Pod, XPS, StyroDrain, Quickdrain, ThermaSlab, Platnium Board, Emperor Panel, UnderFloor and Garage Door Insulation.

Product development Product development teams are constantly working on developing new products which use recycled polystyrene.

Recent products that have entered the marketplace are QuickDrain the no scoria drainage solution and StyroDrain which is made up of 100% recycled polystyrene and used to protect the waterproofing membrane on retaining walls whilst acting as a medium to improve drainage.

Recycling For residential or household polystyrene recycling EXPOL has introduced the EXPOL Polystyrene Residential Recycling Cube initiative where consumers can drop off their residential polystyrene waste in selected hardware stores nationwide. EXPOL also run a recycling programme for building or commercial polystyrene waste.

All it takes is a call to 0800 86 33 73 to discuss how they can help safetynews.co.nz

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HOUSING

Yearbook 2021

The age of consent is about to be dramatically lowered In many countries 80 percent of new homes are prefabricated offsite - in New Zealand it is about 10 percent

C

ommon sense may be about to prevail when amendments to the 2004 Building Act come into force later this year, ushering in a specialist framework for offsite manufacturing and prefabrication.

The construction sector is being freed up to allow more homes to be built more quickly as the government cuts through some of the red tape of the Act. There is little doubt the current Act makes building houses slow and expensive and runs counter to the Government’s imperative in tackling housing issues.

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sights is to speed up the consenting process. Current consenting processes are geared to traditional construction methods and create barriers, duplication and delays for more innovative products and methods.

The variation in how consent authorities throughout New Zealand apply the building code to Modern Methods of Construction (MMC) when checking for compliance is also to be addressed.

Uncertainty over consenting requirements has led to uncertainty for the building sector and extra costs for homeowners. Delays are estimated to cost home-

owners around $1000 a week.

They will now benefit from more building choices and reduced building times and costs and be assured of quality construction in a controlled environment.

There are expectations of a shorter building consent process of 10 working days if the structure is a single modular component.

The industry is well ahead of the game and already can deliver innovative and affordable housing efficiently, using techniques such as prefabrication and off-site manufacturing.

Concision off-site manufacturing in partnership

with Versatile recently completed a four-bedroom, two bathroom, brand new family home in just 10 weeks, start to finish.

The home’s 43 panels were manufactured in Concision’s Rolleston factory in just two days. They were then delivered to site and installed in a single day.

“In general, we can turn around the panels for a standard 150m2 home in about four hours and have capacity to build 1000 homes a year.

Concision panels have recently been put to use in an apartment block in Wellington, schools in Canterbury and Auckland and state

housing units in Napier.

Fletcher Building through its Clever Core brand has a hi-tech facility up-and-running in Wiri to “accelerate the manufacture of quality homes at scale by producing the core structural components of a home in a factory environment, in as little as a day.”

This reduces onsite build times by 60 percent, or from 22 weeks to around 6-10 weeks, the company says.

Clever Core use ‘Design for Manufacture and Assembly’ principles to streamline the design, consenting and manufacturing process. This not only significantly speeds up build times, but also enables greater quality control and significantly reduces building waste, by as much as 80 per cent per home.

The production has been supporting Fletcher Living developments for the last 12 months, but the company is now looking to extend the offering to group home builders and retirement home operators.

According to General Manager Craig Champness, the consenting issue is not a problem for Clever Core, given the involvement of Auckland Council through the whole design process.

“We are in a good position already with our QA & Inspections with Council that are aligned with the changes. We do however welcome the ability to have our off-site manufacture system recognised as an engineered structural core, and that the design once approved doesn’t require reapproval every time we apply for a consent.

Under the amendments to the Bill, the government says manufacturers who prove their systems and processes are compliant

HOUSING

Yearbook 2021

will benefit from a new streamlined nationwide consenting process for prefabricated buildings that will: * Enable the mass factory production of high-quality buildings * Halve the number of building inspections for factory produced buildings * Ensure only the location where a prefab house is installed requires a building consent, removing the possible need for two separate consents The bill also sets out to introduce minimum information requirements about building products to “support better and more efficient decision-making and strengthen the prod-

uct certification framework (CodeMark) to improve trust and confidence in the scheme.”

This new bill allows the introduction of a new voluntary manufacturer certification scheme for MMC. This works by certifying manufacturers to produce consistently safe and reliable building components and modules.

The end-to-end process from design (where relevant), manufacture, assembly, and right through to transportation and installation on-site, are assessed with ongoing checks and balances to ensure construction meets the requirements of the building code.

Once certified, third party

inspections, audits and post-certification surveillance will provide confidence of quality construction.

Consenting authorities can focus on on-site building work not covered by the MMC certification such as site works, foundations, plumbing and electrical connections or connections to utilities such as sewerage and storm water.

The Bill gives Cabinet the power to make regulations and the Chief Executive of MBIE the power to make detailed rules for the scheme. concision.co.nz clevercore.nz safetynews.co.nz

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Yearbook 2021

The good life without owning a property Build to Rent is a growing and increasingly viable tool to put Kiwis into homes long-term and sooner rather than later, says Mike Bishara

PROPERTY

I

t is the next logical step to add more diversity into our narrow housing market says a recent report by property leader JLL. “With proven success internationally, it could bring the region the volume and quality of the product that it needs.”

The report says the obvious interest in multi-unit stock in New Zealand is evidenced through rapidly increasing consent numbers, as well as the clear need for housing.

“For international investors, Living Sector investments are continuing to form a significant component of their strategy due to their diversified income profile, counter-cyclical nature of returns and most importantly, providing a needs-based residential offering on flexible contract

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terms.

“People always need somewhere to live. The challenges of 2020 have, if anything, fuelled international appetite for the sector across Australasia, largely driven by its resilience in more mature global markets and the investment performance of operational assets.”

The JLL report says all the signs indicate an exciting future for this emerging asset class in Australia and New Zealand that could be key to helping solve the housing crisis and provide investors with predictable long-term returns in the process.

“BTR is a positive move away from rental supply being driven by Mum and Dad individual investors which creates a lottery of good and bad landlords and

housing – towards a more professional, consistent and high-quality offer that can also provide greater security of tenure.”

There are a few Build to Rent (BTR) success stories already in the country. A joint venture between New Ground Living, Ngai Tahu Property and NZ Super Fund retained 47 homes in a 208-home development for long-term rental and has 49 long-term rental homes tenanted with New Zealand Defence Force families.

“At the same time, we are introducing an altogether better rental model for New Zealand renting households, based on the best features of the most successful rental markets around the world, the company says.

“These long-term rental homes will provide our clients with security of tenure, enabling young families (in particular) to enjoy stability of schooling for their children, and allowing all of our clients to make our houses their homes.”

New Ground currently has almost 500 new dwellings underway in Auckland and Queenstown and more of a third them are designated as long-term rentals.

It is about building a community says head of Real iQ David Faulkner, who thinks that BTR is best suited ultimately to cater for a situation in New Zealand where 30-40 percent of our resident population is permanently in rental accom-

modation owned mainly by a phalanx of small investors.

“BTR looks like a perfect fit for places such as Auckland and in particular Wellington, which is a city bursting at the seams,” he says.

“Owning your own home will be out of reach for many Kiwis due to high prices and the inability to save due to so much of their income going on rent.

“Millenials no longer see value in owning their own property and when you look at how society is evolving, you can see the logic to their thinking.”

As a tenant, you no longer have the burden of paying rates, maintenance, insurance on the property and interest on mortgage payments, freeing up capital for other investment forms less demanding of a lifetime commitment.

“BTR will have an overall positive effect. The concept may be able to be taken out of the cities into some of our provincial centres such as New Plymouth, Tauranga and Nelson, however, developers will need to do their research before undertaking such projects.”

Faulkner says we have “never had a problem with the amount of property – we have just built the wrong type of property” He suggests we may need to look at combining some smaller inner-city apartment into two or three bedroom units to meet the need of long-term renters

Yearbook 2021 What industry leaders should be promoting

“Our ‘vision’ for the initial phase of Institutional grade BTR in Australia and New Zealand would typically be at a scale of 150 to 450 units (depending on location and typologies of apartments or houses).

Schemes are expected to have onsite management, substantial commitment to customer service and the inclusion of proportional amenities for residents.

“Larger schemes may work if they can be strategically delivered in phases; likewise, smaller schemes in high-value locations are also a possibility.

We see schemes adopting BTR principles that are less than 100 units as a step in the right direction societally.

Du Val, which is currently raising funds for its latest BTR project, says the sector “represents a fantastic opportunity for investors to maximise their return, by consolidating their residential portfolio into large scale projects in high growth, in demand locations.

“Unlike investing in commercial property, where an investor’s rental income is reliant on the financial performance of one or two commercial tenants, BTR provides you with the security of multiple residential tenants,” the company says.

Government support to

help kickstart the sector is essential and the signs are looking more positive, the JLL report suggests. “Ministers in both Australia and New Zealand are increasingly prepared to consider what this emerging asset class could offer.

“They are particularly interested in its potential role in being a major contributor to the economic recovery following the COVID-19 global pandemic.

The development of BTR is not always straightforward and products are developed, invested, and managed differently to other residential stock, says the report.

BTR necessitates its own bespoke valuation methodology to reflect the aims, objectives and investment strategies of active investors.

Faulkner says the infrastructure has to be right as well. “Sufficient roads with places to park your vehicles, as well as proximity to major transport hubs, are all key components that have to be taken into account.

Other key factors that need to be right as well are things such as schooling, daycare centres, shops and entertainment.

In the latest Real iQ report, he highlights the need to overhaul the Tenancy Tribunal as a key compo-

nent to housing recovery.

“Wait times could easily be reduced if rent arrears only cases were removed from the Tribunal. So much of the Tribunal’s time is taken up on cases where there actually isn’t a dispute. If someone simply hasn’t paid their rent, then it is more a matter of fact than a dispute between a landlord and tenant.”

The JLL report suggests Density Accommodation will typically comprise at least 50 self-contained dwellings or a concentration of a similar number of dwellings, says the JLL report.

“Management and oversight will be under a single entity, potentially with an onsite presence. The dwellings will be separately let but held in unified ownership. The building(s) may be specifically designed or adapted for rent and may include some amenity. “ That said the report suggests there are larger scale projects resulting in more than 1750 apartments in Auckland alone operating or intended to operate as long-term rentals.

Still, the report says, BTR funds in immature markets like Australia and New Zealand are unlikely to attract substantial large-scale institutional interest in the next few years. safetynews.co.nz

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PROPERTY

looking to raise a family, something which will also provide stability an already unstable sector.

Co-author of the JLL report Paul Winstanley heads up the group’s BTR strategy for Australia and New Zealand.

He has extensive experience with BTR in the UK and told a pre-covid BTR conference more than a year ago that the development of BTR involves changing investors’ perceptions of tenants.

He told delegates that “you need to remove the word tenant and call them customers. This is their home and you have to respect this. Property management becomes a concierge service for the occupants.

He said tenants in BTR accommodation will be living in a superior product, paying a set rent that increases usually in line with inflation and they do not have to worry about dealing with landlords who refuse or who cannot afford to maintain the property.

BTR properties are also pet-friendly and the tenants are free to make minor modifications as well.

Faulkner suggests BTR is large real estate developments specifically built as long-term rental accommodation, although the JLL report suggests the UK shorthold model is preferred by large scale investors, at least in the initial stages of the sector development.

“Although there is certainly a need in both Australia and New Zealand for an improved standard of rental product and resident experience, JLL believes that discussions surrounding BTR need to focus on the institutional sector in order to achieve scale.

Yearbook 2021

National Construction Pip to 2025

This is a summary of the key findings from the annual National Construction Pipeline Report The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) commissioned BRANZ and Pacifecon to provide a six-year forward view of national building and construction activity.

The report aims to give a clear pipeline of construction-related work to support:

CONSTRUCTION

What is the forward view of national building and construction activity for the next six years Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the forecast is for a decline in the total value of construction through to 2023, after which recovery is expected.

New Zealand’s total construction value increased by 7.5% in 2019 to $43.2b

Residential building activity is likely to be hit hardest by the COVID-19 pandemic

Non-residential building work is forecast to have peaked

Infrastructu is forecast t trending u

The total construction value is forecast to dropoff to $29.7b in 2023

The value of residential construction is expected to fall from $23.7b in 2019 to $13.4b in 2023

A drop in non-residential building work is forecast from $10b in 2019 to $5.8b in 2022 before recovering to $7.4b in 2025

Infrastructu is forecast throughout period to $1

$29.7b 2023

Residential buildings are the largest contributor to national construction.

44% 2025

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$13.4b

$5.8b

Auckland is forecast to continue to grow to represent 46% of total national construction value and 47% of dwelling unit consents in 2025

$7.4b

2023

47% 2025

2022

2025

$10.

Growth in infr expected to b strong in Au Waikato/Ba

to 2025 peline Projections Yearbook 2021

planning in the sector

t.

scheduling investment in skills development and capital equipment

This is a summary of the key The Ministry of Business, In Pacifecon to provide a six-y coordinating construction procurement The report aims to give a cle (particularly central and local government), which can lead to better scheduling of construction projects

The full 2020 Pipeline Report can be found at www.mbie.govt.nz. It is the eighth annual edition and provides a forecast through to the end of 2025.

The forecast is currently surrounded by significant uncertainty as a result of the COVID-19 What is thepandemic. forwardThe view of forecasts presented have taken some lessons from the Global Financial Crisis but also recognise that the Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic is a very different shock and we are operating in a very different environment. The ramifications which recovery is expected. of the pandemic are expected to be felt for several years.

Between 2019 and 2025 CONSTRUCTION

s?

Res is li th

New Zealand’s total construction value increased by 7.5% in 2019 to $43.2b

ure activity to continue upwards.

All dwelling consents

ure activity to increase the forecast 10.1b in 2025

Dwelling consents (detached and multi-units) are forecast to drop from the high of over 37,000 new dwelling consents in 2019, to 26,000 in 2025.

.1b 2025

rastructure is be particularly uckland and ay of Plenty.

Multi-unit dwelling consents

T co to

The total construction value is forecast to dropoff to $29.7b in 2023

26k 2025

Multi-unit dwellings are anticipated to be hardest hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly apartments, and their 2023 proportions in all dwellings are forecast to decrease to 32% in 2022, before recovering to 39% in 2025.

$29.7b

A c r n va u

Residential buildings are the largest contributor to national construction.

39% 2025

The forecast is now for 161,000 new dwellings to be consented over the next six years, an average of about 26,800 per year.

161k

44% 2025

to 2025

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Yearbook 2021

Tricky times ahead for the construction sector A MBIE construction pipeline report forecasts a fall of more than 40 percent in residential dwelling consents by 2022 and a 42 percent fall in overall construction value in the same period

MINISTRY OF BUSINESS, INNOVATION AND EMPLOYMENT

NATIONAL CONSTRUCTION PIPELINE REPORT 2020

CONSTRUCTION

3. National forecast This section includes national forecasts for each activity type as well as: › a breakdown of non-residential building and infrastructure research data by type and initiator › regional comparisons.

3.1 National construction, by value New Zealand’s total construction value increased by 7.5% in 2019 to $43.2b. This year’s forecast is for a sharp drop-off in the value of construction to $29.7b in 2023. This reduction would bring the value of construction down to similar levels as following the Global Financial Crisis.

Figure 3.1.1 All construction nationally, by value National construction, by value

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T

he Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) National Construction Pipeline Report to 2025 warns of a sharp drop off in the value of construction from a 2019 level of $43.2 billion to $20.7 billion by 2023, similar to levels which followed the Global Financial Crisis.

It also says that non-residential activity has likely peaked with infrastructure the only bright spot in a forecast reminiscent of the Global Financial Crisis.

In 2019, 10 percent of Kiwis were employed by the construction industry and the sector contributed 20 percent of the country’s GDP. “The recent building boom has largely been because of strong demand for new

in 2019 to $13.4b in 2023. Last year, non-residential construction value was forecast to peak in 2021.

WeMINISTRY now anticipate the peak to have been reached and activity to drop by 42% between 2019 and Yearbook OF BUSINESS, INNOVATION AND EMPLOYMENT NATIONAL CONSTRUCTION PIPELINE REPORT 2020 2022. Infrastructure activity is forecast to moderately increase throughout the forecast period2021 to $10.1b in 2025.

Figure 3.2.1 Allconstruction, construction nationally, National by activityby activity

5

3

2.4 Significant uncertainty surrounds the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic MINISTRY OF BUSINESS, INNOVATION AND EMPLOYMENT NATIONAL CONSTRUCTION PIPELINE REPORT 2020 The forecast is currently surrounded by significant uncertainty. Not only is there uncertainty regarding how construction may be impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, but also how our input variables into the modelling are likely to be impacted. The forecast relies on the accuracy of our input variables, and to illustrate how changes in the input variables may change the forecast, we present the figure below. It shows how our forecast of new dwelling consents would be impacted by an increase of 20,000 new migrants each year and a 1% improvement in economic growth each year (over current assumptions) in the optimistic scenario. The pessimistic scenario shows a decrease of 20,000 new migrants each year and a 1% decrease in economic growth (over current assumptions) each year.

2. Key findings

Figure 2.4.1 New dwelling consents based on optimistic and pessimistic scenarios

Source: BRANZ New dwelling

consents based on optimistic and pessimistic scenarios

›

Residential activity is likely to be hit hardest by the COVID-19 pandemic.

›

Non-residential activity is forecast to have peaked.

›

Infrastructure activity is forecast to continue trending upwards.

›

Significant uncertainty surrounds the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic

CONSTRUCTION

This section discusses the major findings in the report:

2.1 Residential activity is likely to be hardest hit by the COVID-19 pandemic Historically, residential activity is the most volatile to changing economic conditions. The recent building boom has largely been because of strong demand for new dwellings, which led to over 37,000 dwelling consents in 2019. However, as a result of the worsening economic conditions currently anticipated due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we forecast that new dwelling consents are likely to drop off from the current high to 22,000 dwellings in 2022. We are not forecasting new dwelling consents to drop to the same levels as were seen during the Global Financial Crisis, but there is still likely to be a significant drop-off in consenting numbers through to the end of 2022.

Dwelling units consented nationally Figure 2.1.1 Dwelling units consented nationally dwellings which led to 37,000 consents in 2019,” the report says.

It predicts around 36,000 residential dwelling consents for the 2020 year, falling to 22,000 by 2022 and then rising to around 26,000 by 2025.

Predictions in an earlier 2019 report, also produced

by BRANZ and Pacifecon for MBIE, had expected consent levels to remain steady at between 37,000 and 38,000.

Even then, the current report warns that “a lot of uncertainty remains throughout the sector, and the ramifications of the pandemic on construction activity are likely to be felt for several years.”

Residential buildings are the largest contributor to

national construction, contributing more than half of the total construction value in 2019. The 2019 value of $ 23.7 billion 2019 is expected to fall to just 13.4 billion in 2023.

Overall about 161,000 dwelling consents are expected in the next six years, an average of 26,800 a year.

Multi-unit dwellings

accounted for 41 percent of dwelling consents in 2019 and are forecasted to fall to just 32 percent by 2022.

The high level of uncertainly of the future led the report authors to include an optimistic forecast based on 20,000 new migrants each year and a one percent improvement in economic growth over current

assumptions, the polar opposite to the pessimistic forecast. (see chart) Non residential building Non residential building value peaked in 2019 at $10 billion. This was two years earlier than previously forecast, largely as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. the sector is expected to drop safetynews.co.nz

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Yearbook 2021

MINISTRY OF BUSINESS, INNOVATION AND EMPLOYMENT

NATIONAL CONSTRUCTION PIPELINE REPORT 2020

to just $5.8 billion by 2022 percent of the total number construction projects being before recovering to $7.4 of project and half the total delayed. billion in 2025. value.

Education accounts for 31 Commercial building domThis is lower in both percent of the total number inate the non-residentialactivity number and value to than that peaked of projects but accounts for 2.2 Non-residential is forecast have building work expected to published in the 2019 report only 15 percent of the total The 2019 National Construction Pipeline Report forecast the peak in non-residential activity to occur start in the year to Decemdue to many of the planned value. in 2021. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we now forecast the peak to have occurred slightly earlier in ber 2020, contributing 42 visitor and office building 2019. We forecast a drop from $10b in 2019 to $5.8b in 2022 before recovering to $7.4b in 2025.

CONSTRUCTION

Figure 2.2.1 Non-residential building activity nationally Non-residential building activity nationally

Infrastructure trends upward Infrastructure is the only sector expected to have an increase in activity over the next couple of years. Previously announced government spending in the sector as well as significant longer term projects that are continuing or planned to start soon suggest strong activity in the forecast period.

Local government is the main initiator of infrastructure intentions, contributing 38 percent of projects initiated over the forecast period. This is a reduction nine percent on the 2019 report.

Central government has increased by seven percent

2.3 Guiding Infrastructure is forecast to continue trending upwards theactivity industry recovery

The infrastructure sector is the only sector that we are forecasting to have an increase in activity over the next couple of years. Previously announced government spending in the sector as well as “COVID-19 has been a game wage subsidy and “apprenticeship “Residential building makes up the significant longer-term projects that are continuing or planned to start soon suggest strong activity changer and a lot remains uncerboost” package so that they took bulk of construction activity and is throughout the forecast period.

tain, but we know construction is expected to help lift New Zealand out of our economic situation and be at the forefront of recovery,” says Dean Kimpton, Construction Sector Accord Transformation Director.

The Construction Sector Accord is a partnership between industry and government that is working to address many of the issues and challenges facing the construction sector.

Through its three-year Transformation Plan, the Accord is driving behaviour change to lift overall performance and achieve a safer, better skilled and more productive industry and to share good practice across the sector.

The Accord supported and launched a range of initiatives in response to the pandemic, each with the aim of protecting and supporting the sector.

These include: - Developing health and safety protocols to enable the sector to get back to work under Alert Levels 2 and 3 - Support for initiatives like the

Figure 2.3.1 Infrastructure activity nationally

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industry needs into account - Issuing contract variation guidance which set up a consistent government position for contractors facing additional costs created by the lockdown - The Rapid Mobilisation Playbook to support agencies to procure construction work speedily and safely - The Contract Partnering Agreement to set the groundwork for greater collaboration between contractual parties “The Construction Sector Accord principles are now more important than ever,” says Dean Kimpton, the Accord’s Transformation Director.

“The [construction pipeline] report is based on the sector’s own forecasts and indicates national construction value could take a 31 per cent hit by 2023.

“However, the forecasts in the report are surrounded by significant uncertainty as the full impact of COVID-19 remains unknown.

“It’s important to acknowledge that the report also shows promising signs for the future and that is where the industry should be focused.”

typically the hardest hit by changing economic conditions. The report estimates residential activity could drop 43 per cent over the next three years – although recent data from Stats NZ indicates a 46-year high for new home consents.

“The sector has come out of COVID-19 in a better position than expected, but this report serves as a reminder that we need to continue to plan and prepare for whatever comes our way,” he says.

“The Accord has brought construction leaders and government together so that throughout this pandemic we could protect and support our sector and our workers.

“We are now focused on enabling a united and resilient sector to support all New Zealanders in our recovery,” Kimpton says.

It is the time to be investing in apprenticeships, in training and upskilling our people so that we grow great people and protect what expertise we have, according to Bill Newson, the Accord’s People Development Workstream co-lead.

The infrastructure sector is the only sector that we are forecasting to have an increase in activity over the next couple of years. Previously announced government spending in the sector as well as Yearbook significant longer-term projects that are continuing or planned to start soon suggest strong activity 2021 throughout the forecast period.

Figure 2.3.1 Infrastructure activity nationally to 35 percent with mostly Infrastructure activity nationally transport projects, as has the private sector (two percent to 27 percent) with mostly subdivisions.

Private sector-initiated 3.5 Types of non-residential building projects subdivisions are dependent on other infrastructure Commercial buildings dominate non-residential building work expected to start in the year to developments such as contributing 42% of the total number of projects and 50% of total value. This is a December 2020, transport, water and power, lower proportion by both number and value than we saw in the 2019 report due to many planned particularly for greenfield visitor accommodation and office building projects being delayed. Education has many projects (31% sites. (see reports with of the total number of projects) but only accounts for 15% of the total value.

AsiaPacific Infrastructure in thisFigure issue) 3.5.1 Non-residential building types anticipated to year ending 2020,4 by number and

total projectbuilding value types anticipated to year ending 2020 by number and total project value Non-residential Number

Value ($b) NATIONAL CONSTRUCTION PIPELINE REPORT 2020

MINISTRY OF BUSINESS, INNOVATION AND EMPLOYMENT

NATIONAL CONSTRUCTION PIPELINE REPORT 2020

CONSTRUCTION

MINISTRY OF BUSINESS, INNOVATION AND EMPLOYMENT

3.8 Types of infrastructure construction Transport, water subdivision projects will dominate new infrastructure activity in 2020, 3.8 Types ofand infrastructure construction

contributing 85% of the projects and 88% of the total value, very similar to the 2019 report. As Transport, water and subdivision projects will dominate new infrastructure activity in 2020, with last year, transport intentions stand out, with high-value projects contributing a much higher contributing 85% of the projects and 88% of the total value, very similar to the 2019 report. As proportion of value (47%) than the number of projects (37%). with last year, transport intentions stand out, with high-value projects contributing a much higher proportion value (47%) than the number projects (37%).

Figure 3.8.1ofInfrastructure project types of anticipated to start in 2020,7 by number and total 8 project valueInfrastructure project types anticipated to start in 2020,7 by number and total Figure 3.8.1

project value8

Number to start in 2020, by number and total project value Value ($b) Infrastructure project types anticipated Source: Pacifecon

Number

Value ($b)

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HOUSING

Yearbook 2021

Why building low-cost houses is unattractive Financialisaton of the market is driving the exponential increases in house prices with housing stock now seen as a commodity

I

t is not land costs that determine whether houses are built or not, it is what people can sell those houses for on the open market and a profit margin that is attractive to banks and equity lenders, says Building Better Homes, Towns and Cities National Science Challenge (BBHTC).

When this occurs in the absence of strong policy direction, housing becomes a vehicle for investment and financialisation is normalised. It delivers often untaxed, windfall gains only for some sectors of the market - property investors, speculators and owner-occupiers.

“Our evidence shows this financialisation is fuelled by, and fuels, heated housing prices, cycles of liquidity

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and constraint and reduction of access to owner occupation,” says Challenge Director Ruth Berry.

“We see this play out in the report released by Statistics New Zealand that shows our home ownership rates are the lowest they have been in 70 years.”

Housing in Aotearoa report reveals a sobering picture – only 64.5 percent of kiwis own their own homes and house prices have been rising at a faster rate than wages over the past five years.

For Māori and Pacific, home ownership rate statistics are much worse with fewer than 50 percent of Māori and fewer than 40 percent of Pacific people owning their own homes.

In Auckland median house sales price in mid-

2020 come in at about 11.5 times the median household income.

The evidence shows the flow-on effect is that market forces influence what is being built and bought.

As a result, it becomes unprofitable to build lower quartile value housing because it only suits a certain sector of the market.

“Without intervention or support the market will not deliver homes in the lower quartile of value, our most needed,” says Berry.

A report presented in 2018 by Kay Saville Smith funded by MBIE on revitalising the production of lower value homes concluded that the early findings on government capital assistance provided insights into the conditions under which affordable housing produc-

tion thrives.

“In New Zealand the construction of public housing was an important platform for the building industry’s involvement with lower-value housing production suitable to low- and low middle-income households,” the report says.

“Important, too, was government capital assistance to the community sector to provide housing to groups marginal to the housing market.

“In the New Zealand context, however, it was the capital assistance to households delivered through capitalisation of family benefits and the provision of mortgage assistance which appears to have been the primary mechanisms by which the New Zealand building industry

Yearbook 2021 delivery of affordable housing and gives people an opportunity to use and enjoy secure housing at every level of society, our evidence shows house prices will remain at levels that are unaffordable for many,” says Berry.

Tactics, such as a capital gains tax, the brightline test and the IRD intention test (designed to determine whether activity is speculatory) may in time support a change in the market but the evidence proves such tactics won’t be quick enough.

According to research done for BBHTC by Univer-

sity of Waikato’s Iain White and Graham Squires, one of the multiple answers required lies in systemic changes to housing policies, both in New Zealand and internationally.

Successive policy to ensure economic resilience has privileged stability and recovery (return to normality) over economic adaptation and transformation, the research suggests.

“To create more resilience and to achieve real change, policies that favour economic resilience through adaptation and transformation need to be considered alongside pol-

icies that favour stability,” says Berry.

In the 1960s more than 35 percent of new builds were in the lowest quartile of value. This had fallen to just eight percent by 2003 with more than 40 percent of new builds in the upper quartile.

Building Better Homes, Towns and Cities (BBHTC) is one of 11 National Science Challenges, funded by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Enterprise (MBIE). BBHTC undertakes research to shape New Zealand’s built environment and strengthen communities.

HOUSING

was attracted to producing dwellings in lower quartiles of value.

“As that capital assistance withered so the building industry ‘followed the money’ to the upper quartiles of value, over-supplying the wealthy and tempting some middle-income families into risky indebtedness in dwellings larger than needed or desired.

“This leads to the type of environment that we are seeing now with runaway house prices and a lack of low cost, new and affordable housing being available to low- and modest income people,” says Berry.

BBHTC researchers looked at the availability of financing for developers to understand how the housing market has slowly become financialised.

What the evidence shows is banks do not accept risk, rather they require developers to make substantial margins and limit their exposure by imposing minimum equity requirements.

Developers must provide equity through their own capital or by using equity finance which is expensive.

Financier practices ensure that the commodity value of the house remains, and their investment is not at risk. What gets built is often determined by how attractive the deal is to financiers.

Research by BBHTC into Special Housing Areas (SHAs) in Tauranga has revealed that even in markets where there is high demand and residual demand with people moving from Auckland, still developers may or may not build, depending on the perceived financial gains.

“Until we have a housing system where there is clear policy about price points, mechanisms to support

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Yearbook 2021

Entire house 3D printed in three weeks A world first, a whole two-storey house was printed in one piece using the largest 3D concrete printer in Europe

T

HOUSING

he two-storey house is located on the premises of Kamp C in Westerlo, Belgium. It is eight metres tall and has a floor area of 90 square metres, the average size of a terraced house in this region.

“What makes this house so unique, is that we printed it with a fixed 3D concrete printer”, says Emiel Ascione, the project manager at Kamp C. “Other houses that were printed around the world only have one floor. In many cases, the components were printed in a factory and were assembled on-site. We, however, printed the entire building envelope in one piece onsite.”

The house was printed as part of the European C3PO with financing from ERDF (the European Regional Development Fund). With this feat, the project partners

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hope to raise interest in the building industry about the use of 3D concrete printing as a building technique.

Kathleen Helsen, the Provincial Deputy for Housing and the President of Kamp C says the building industry has expressed plenty of interest.

“3D printing in construction is experiencing an uptick around the world. Several possibilities, including the printing of provisional housing and even complete apartments, are already being implemented, but this technology is still very novel in Flanders.”

“At the same time, the construction industry is facing unprecedented challenges: we must reduce our consumption of materials and energy, reduce CO2 emissions and the waste stream, the demand for high-quality and affordable housing is on the rise, and so on.

“At Kamp C, we believe that new technologies, such as 3D concrete printing, can help provide a response.

That is why we created this unique location on our site, where construction companies can experiment with 3D printing, together with research and education institutions.”

The printed house is three times sturdier than a house built with quick build bricks.

“The material’s compressive strength is three times greater than that of the conventional quick build brick”, Marijke Aerts, the

HOUSING

Yearbook 2021

project manager at Kamp C, explains. This first house is a test. The researchers will now check whether solidity is retained over time.

Besides the fibres in the concrete, the amount of wire-mesh reinforcement used is extremely limited.

As a result of the printing technology used, formwork was redundant, saving an estimated sixty percent on material, time, and budget. In the future, an entire house could be printed in just under two days. If you add up all the days, it took just three weeks to print the house at Kamp C. The model home was designed to showcase the technology and the potential of 3D printing. “We printed an overhang, it has heavily curved walls, different types of walls… We also incorporated solutions to the traditional thermal

bridge, eliminating cold bridges altogether”, says Ascione. “We developed a low-energy house, with all the mod cons, including floor and ceiling heating, special façade solar panels and a heat pump, and we will also be adding a green roof.”

“When we started to build it, we had no idea which use the building would have. Our aim was to print the floor area, height, and shape of an average contemporary home, in the form of a model home with multipurpose options.

This is a principle of circular building. The building can be used as a house, a meeting space, an office, or an exhibition space. People can visit the house from September after making an appointment”, says Piet Wielemans, who is an architect at Kamp C. safetynews.co.nz

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Yearbook 2021

More of the same G in 2021 for rising housing market

RESIDENTIAL

2020 has been a crazy year for the economy and the housing market, but what might 2021 have in store?

Chart 1: Annual historical sales volumes and 2020-21 forecast

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iven that property listings are likely to remain tight into 2021, and that low interest rates are both encouraging borrowing and reducing the incentive to hold cash in the bank, the direction of travel for the housing market will probably remain upwards for at least the first half of next year (assuming no COVID shocks). This means property will stay firmly at the forefront of our political landscape – especially since mortgaged investors’ share of purchases has now hit a four-year high.

After it appeared in April/ May that sales volumes might fall by perhaps 2025% for the calendar year, the remarkable turnaround since then means we’re on track for another total of around 90,000 sales, similar to last year.

Given the prospect of continued low mortgage rates in 2021 and scope for GDP to start to expand again, our projection is that sales could hit a similar figure again next year (see Chart 1). That might seem ‘boring’, but some sort of stability is probably pretty welcome right now!

Related to that, if the supply of available listings on the market wasn’t so low, it’s conceivable that sales activity would be higher still. In addition, the lack of listings is one of the factors that has been pushing property values up sharply in the past few months (see Chart 3).

It’s hard to see much of this turning around anytime soon. Indeed, with first home buyers (by definition) not selling anything before they enter the market and few investors selling any properties at the moment either, the pressure on the supply/demand balance could well remain strong

Yearbook 2021

RESIDENTIAL

Chart 2: Share of purchases

into 2021, putting further upwards pressure on property values.

That said, the 30% deposit requirement looks likely to be reimposed on investors from 1st March next year (although it’s effectively already back now due to the early action taken the banks themselves), which will hinder some wouldbe buyers. But if there’s no let-up in the RBNZ’s financial stability concerns, a 40% deposit requirement next year couldn’t be ruled out – and when this last happened in 2016, investors’ market share certainly dropped (see Chart 2).

The ‘headwinds’ such as losing out on our normal Summer tourism spike need to be kept in mind, but other pressures are easing.

For example, unemployment now looks set to peak much lower than previously thought, and more than 80% of mortgage payment deferrals have already

Chart 3: Annual change in property values

ended (well ahead of 31st March deadline).

No doubt it’ll be another fascinating year for the property market in 2021.

With further value growth looking likely, property will certainly remain a political feature, and we’ll be watching to see what happens with any potential policy measures – a possible extension to the Brightline Test seems to be first up.

Kelvin Davidson Senior Research Analyst CoreLogic 027 355 3813 kelvin.davidson@corelogic.co.nz corelogic.co.nz safetynews.co.nz

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Yearbook 2021

Greymouth miner gears up for new challenge

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five-truck convoy carrying the 115-tonne machine, broken down into transportable capsules, made the 500km journey from Lyttleton to its new base at Rimu.

Komatsu positioned technicians at Whyte Gold's purpose-built hard stand to assist with the final construction of the massive machine.

"It was fully built up and tested in Japan before it was shipped to New Zealand, Len Higgins, Territory Sales Manager, West Coast/Marlborough/Nelson says.

"We had to semi-knock it down at Lyttleton in order to be able to transport it across Arthur's Pass.

The rebuild commenced within hours of the 75 tonne main frame arriving at Whyte Gold on one low loader accompanied by another four trucks of essential components.

The machine marks the start of a new phase in the development of the veteran gold mining company on a long-established site, until recently believed to have been worked out.

Company principal Iain Whyte conducted tests which have convinced him that there is plentiful new material lying deeper into the substructure.

Whyte believes the claim can be worked for at least another eight years, using

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techniques he has developed to access the site under increasingly stringent ecological controls.

The Komatsu D475A-8 he purchased is one of the first delivered by the Japanese specialist in the Southern Hemisphere, to anchor his operations.

It is the largest in Komatsu's range with levels of emission control at the leading edge of heavy machine capability.

It is fitted with electronic controls so sophisticated that its essential operations are monitored by telemetry flowing constantly to Japan and Australia.

The new bulldozer is capable of extracting and crushing material with unmatched efficiency of time and materials which will limit and manage impact on

the land.

Operation is made easier with electronic control of the work equipment, including blade auto pitch and ripper auto return.

There's the potential for future expansion to Intelligent Machine Control, incorporating remote control and automation.

"Some say I would be better served with a smaller machine, but this bulldozer can extract substantial material with a single-pass, so it is actually in use far less than any alternative method," Whyte says.

Whyte Gold had wound back its operations on a nearby site at Dungaville to comply with directions of the Department of Conservation and the Crown Minerals act, and had sold its first D475 bulldozer, a

previous model, to a local coal mining company.

"I was left with enough to keep ticking over - but I've worked with a lot of good local people and I felt I owed it to them, and to their future, to keep prospecting," Whyte says.

"I tested a lot of claims, mainly on old workings - I figured the old guys didn't tunnel for nothing."

Whyte Gold's new site was believed to have been mined out.

"But the previous miners worked only the top level," Mr. Whyte says.. "Further down there's a wash with strong content."

Whyte Gold will use its new Komatsu to open cut between 25 and 35 metres into the site to reach the new level.

1.99% finance rate & no repayment for the first 3 months OR

2,500 Airpoints Dollars TM

OR

$2,500 Parts and Service credit

The choice is yours On selected Komatsu new excavators. Terms and conditions apply: https://bit.ly/37BjLZ0

Yearbook 2021

SPECIAL REPORT

K

omatsu’s advanced Tier 4 engine and hydraulic control technology improves operational efficiency and lowers fuel consumption by up to seven percent, according to Garth Dixon, Komatsu New Zealand’s Sales Manager.

“As with all our products, it has been designed in line with Komatsu Harmony principles, resulting in a fully integrated machine to produce an efficient, reliable system,” he says.

“Komatsu designs and manufactures all major components, including engines, pumps, valves, motors and cylinders. This optimises machine performance, and maximise production while minimising fuel consumption.”

As with others in Komatsu’s Dash 11 range, the PC210LC-11 is fitted with a number of unique features that contribute to reduced fuel consumption and allow the engine to operate at the most efficient speed.

These include: • Low speed matching, which provides higher flow output at a lower engine RPM through the use of larger displacement hydraulic pumps. This feature also provides better pick up and response to hydraulic flow demand and provides fuel savings in all duty cycles.

• Variable speed matching, an engine-pump matching control that matches engine speed to hydraulic flow requirements. It keeps engine speed high when large pump delivery is required and reduces engine speed in light duty operations to save fuel.

• Six working modes including a Fine Control mode, Breaker mode and Economy and Power modes for Attachments.

• A reduction in auto deceleration speed to low idle

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Sponsored Article

New standards in performance Komatsu has released the 23-tonne class PC210LC-11 excavator, delivering increased performance, operating efficiency and productivity, while significantly reducing fuel consumption compared with predecessor models speed.

The PC210-11’s advanced Tier 4 engine technology delivers reductions in NOx and PM emissions by up to 90 percent compared with the Tier 3 engines in the previous Dash 8 range, says Dixon.

Additional improvements that contribute to fuel efficiency – and which are standard across Komatsu’s Dash 11 excavator range – include an economy working mode for attachments, an “ECO-guidance” function which provides data and recommendations to the operator for fuel saving operations, and auto idle shutdown to reduce excessive idle time.

Safety and operator comfort have also been upgraded. “As with all our

Dash 11 excavators, it has an upgraded, fully compliant ROPS cab and includes a new high back air suspension operator seat with lumbar support,” Dixon says..

“The new cab also incorporates console mounted arm rests with a tool-less height adjustment so that operators can easily change the arm rest position in relation to both the seat and the joysticks for better ergonomics.”

Safety is further improved with the lock lever auto lock function to prevent unintentional movement. “If the operator has accidentally activated a control during start-up, the machine recognises this and automatically applies the hydraulic lock so that no uncontrolled movement occurs,” Dixon

says.

Quick hitch and hammer piping is standard on the PC210LC-11, as is an additional service valve for easy set-up of a proportionally controlled second auxiliary line.

Attachment tool management is also available through the monitor panel, enabling an operator to name and set the flows for up to 10 attachments for easy selection when changing out attachments on the jobsite.

“The PC210LC-11 also includes the latest developments in our KOMTRAX telematics-based remote monitoring system, ensuring unrivalled visibility into all critical machine and operational parameters,” Dixon says.

The Swiss army knife

Yearbook 2021

Sponsored Article

T

reescape has been at the forefront of innovation in green management in New Zealand. The Komatsu partnership, according to Whiddetts has brought exceptional efficiency to every facet of the business, to the benefit of his company, his customers and the environment.

Komatsu New Zealand's product support manager Brent Hepple has worked with Brandon for almost 20 years, to help turn his ideas into reality.

Each innovation has been made to work within Komatsu's operational guidelines to maintain product integrity and retain Treescape's machinery investment.

Komatsu has helped devise a can bus system with easily identifiable graphics which allow an operator to switch hydraulic flow from within the cockpit "It is the most extraordinary sight," Hepple says. "You can arrive on a Treescape job and find a multitude of attachments all neatly laid out waiting to be used in sequence, with minimal change-over time between them.

Whiddetts ideas include the design of a high-speed mulching head, a vertical tree grab sheer, a chain saw felling head, a high-speed hydraulic stump grinder, a hydraulic tree transplanting spade, rotating grapple with pusher bar, and a winch bucket.

He is co-founder of Treescape, a green asset management company with

branches throughout New Zealand and on the eastern coastline of Australia. He and his business partner Ed Chignell started Treescape as a teenagers almost 40 years ago.

Whiddetts has spent his working lifetime seeking out new ways of making machines work smarter in the service of his clients. "There isn't a machine built yet that is so perfect it can't be made to work better,"Whiddetts says.

His title in the 660 strong person business is CEO, but it stands for Chief Engineering Officer. He works from a small office in a workshop of 14 people whose task it is to make their equipment more efficient.

Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Treescape Ed Chignell pioneered the concept of ecologically sustainable arbo-culture more

than 35 years ago, while Whiddetts concentrated on mechanical improvements to support the concept.

Treescape uses 45 Komatsu excavators and wheel loaders across its network.

It is one of several exclusive long-term supply arrangements he has with key business partners.

"The benefits to us and our partners are intertwined - if we don't live, they don't live," he says.

"Practically, the ability to train operators on the systems of one brand has substantial benefits in terms of safety and machine servicing."

But beyond that, Brandon has sought from his business partners a shared belief in maximising productivity through improvement and innovation. "I come up with the ideas and Komatsu does the design to my

request," he says. "I'm not an engineer, just someone who thinks about practical improvements," he says.

Treescape's purchase of its first Komatsu, a PC130 excavator, more than two decades ago was unusual in the arboriculture industry which was employing manual labour, according to Hepple.

The tipping point was Brandon's innovative use of attachments which turned the excavator into a machine purpose-fit for the task.

"The attachments work so well with the machines that they are imposing minimal stress - on both machine and operator," he says.

The company has recently purchased two new Komatsu PC220 excavators and these too are performing above and beyond expectations.

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SPECIAL REPORT

Brandon Whiddetts has designed or modified 10 attachments for his Komatsu PC220 excavator, all interchangeable in the space of just five minutes

Yearbook 2021

SPECIAL REPORT

Sponsored Article

Innovative technology stabilises rock face When Fulton Hogan was awarded a contract to remediate a steep unstable rock face overlooking the Port of Otago, it faced with a number of challenges

R

eclamation of areas of the port during the 1990s had resulted in an unstable rock face at Flagstaff Hill (Observation Point) with several slips and rocks and boulders all-to-often falling to the road below.

For more than 20 years half the roadway at the foot of the face has been battered off with safety fencing to protect public roads and walkways. The unstable nature of the face meant daily inspections of the road.

Port Otago installed a shipping container wall across half of the road

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about the turn of the century, along with additional safety catch fencing to protect the public.

An adjacent log yard storage and handling area was reduced, to allow the public road to use part of the Port’s land for access.

Fulton Hogan purchased a Komatsu PC210LCi-10 intelligent Machine Control (iMC) excavator specifically for the project. iMC allows earthworks to be carried out to millimetre-level accuracy and is based around Topcon’s precision machine control capabilities, fully factory

integrated within the machines., Consulting engineers WSP Opus were awarded a design contract to assess the underlying geology and develop a design for a cut slope with benches to remove the risk of further slips and rock falls in the area.

According to Grant Sime, Fulton Hogan’s senior project delivery manager in Dunedin, the contract scope was to work at height on an unstable rock face and strip off over 47,000m3 of clay and rock, and safely remove all the material from

site.

“Before we work out where and how to start the physical work, the entire site needed to be accurately surveyed,” says Sime.

“With existing gradients of 70 percent and greater, combined with the instability of the ground, putting people on the slope face would have been extremely dangerous.

“Using our in-house surveying team, and external subcontractor Jared Reeves of Overview Surveying, we carried out a point cloud survey using a drone to understand what we were

Yearbook 2021

Fulton Hogan looked at a number of different makes when considering which excavator machine control system to use on the project, says Senior Project Delivery Manager Grant Sime “With the Komatsu system, what really impressed me was the simplicity of the cab layout. In terms of the operator interface, it’s spot on,” he says.

Operator Ray Te Huna says Komatsu iMC excavator takes a lot more people off the ground, so it’s much safer and easier not having to work around them.

“I’m probably 50-60 percent quicker doing my work because I don’t need people to check it all the time. Now we just need the surveyors to come in and check the calibration a couple of times a week.”

Fulton Hogan’s Otago-based surveyor Craig Kenneally also finds the Komatsu iMC concept makes his job much easier.

“I like the Topcon operating system because you can up against.”

The pre-start drone survey was mapped against the required finished batter of 35 percent, along with three, five-metre wide benches at the top of the slope, so that the exact quantities of material to be excavated were known.

Given the safety and operational challenges of excavating on such a steep, unstable slope, Fulton Hogan sought input from excavator operators Ray Ta Huna and Kevin Patrick, described as two of the best operators in the region.

“It’s simple,” says Ta Huna.

“When you are loading out from a digger, you sit on top of the material and load out while your mound comes down gradually.”

Sime says this response gave Fulton Hogan the basis for how to proceed, knowing the company had full engagement of its expert operators.

With the drone survey providing a highly accurate 3D overview of the existing site, and WSP Opus providing a 3D model of the required final design, making use of

an excavator fitted with precision GPS-based machine control was the solution to this challenge.

“Having integrated Machine Control on Komatsu PC210LCi-10 was magic,” says Sime.

“Not having to set out pegs using manual survey methods improved efficiency ten-fold. And because we didn’t have to have a surveyor on the ground, it was much safer.

“In that type of environ-

put your drawing files straight into it, rather than having to use third party software. That’s one less step, and it’s easier than loading up terrain models,” he says.

“We also had very good support from Komatsu’s Smart Construction crew. There’s a feature where they can log into the excavator’s system remotely and help us out where there’s any issues.

Kenneally worked closely with operator Ta Huna setting up project protocols and loading the data. “It’s really nice that it’s got that feature where I can load the data externally whenever we get a new set of plans from which to work.

“At the Port of Otago, we were using the excavator to quality assure all the time. Ray would go to a known point to check it was calibrated, and it was always consistent, always good. It was always very close to what we were getting off the drone and our other surveying systems,” says Kenneally. ment, we had no option but to start at the top and work down, and there was no going back.

“The end result was without a doubt the best batter slope I have ever been associated with,” he says. “It wasn’t just a simple slope either; it was benched at the top, then battered and curved around to follow the line of the point.”

The designs for the batter were provided to Fulton Hogan electronically, then

downloaded to the iMC excavator, so at all times it was working to the client’s designs.

“In addition, the client accepted the as-builts coming out of the machine,” says Sime.

“Then, when we completed the 47,000 m3 material removal, we were between 80 to 100m3 different compared with the original design -- it was so close.

We are very proud of how close we got."

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SPECIAL REPORT

Why Fulton Hogan chose the Komatsu iMC

Yearbook 2021

Cancer-causing dust released by earthworks Tiny needle-like fibres that can become airborne if bedrock is disturbed has the potential to cause an asbestos-type disease, scientists warn

HAZARDOUS SUBSTANCES

T

he fibres come from a mineral called erionite which originates in silica-rich volcanic rock commonly found in many parts of the world and especially throughout the Auckland region. Once disturbed – during construction projects for example – dust containing erionite can become airborne and, if inhaled, cause malignant mesothelioma, a disease more usually associated with exposure to asbestos.

Chief Science Adviser to the Prime Minister from 2009-2018, Sir Peter Gluckman reported in 2015 that erionite was a more potent carcinogen than asbestos. New Zealand’s rate of malignant mesothelioma is high by international standards but no-one knows exactly why.

In an article published in the latest edition of the New Zealand Medical Journal, researchers from the University of Auckland and Unitec Institute of Technology say international research shows erionite is an emerging occupational and public health risk.

Associate Professor Martin Brook from the University of Auckland, a co-author of the article, says New Zealand should be thinking about a standard for erionite exposure and how to test for it.

“Two million tonnes of rock was removed for the City Rail Link project and potentially at least some of that rock could contain

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Auckland City Rail Link earthworks

erionite,” he says.

“But currently there are no international or New Zealand occupational exposure limits or standard low-cost field sampling and analytical methods for erionite.”

Co-author Associate Professor Jennifer Salmond, also from the University’s School of Environment, says the effects of exposure to erionite have not been studied in New Zealand but international research shows it generally takes between 20 and 40 years from exposure to subsequent development of disease.

“This lag between dose and response makes it very difficult to know when, where or how much erionite people might have been exposed to prior to getting ill.

“In Auckland we need to know where this mineral is

and how much is present in soils and air before we can quantify the risk it presents to both occupational and public health.”

“We should do this research as a priority.”

That is particularly so given the size and number of major ground engineering and construction projects in Auckland, including the now-completed Waterview tunnel and current work on the CRL, Associate Professor Brook says.

“Most of the excavations being done for large construction projects involve the type of rock where erionite can be present, often with waste rock and soil loaded onto trucks and dumped. Earthworks for residential subdivisions may also be an issue.”

Erionite does not pose a health risk when it is

embedded in rock below ground. Studies around the world have shown that where erionite is present in bedrock which has been disturbed either by natural processes or by human activity, there are increased rates of malignant mesothelioma.

International studies have also shown that people working in the construction or quarrying industries are most at risk, Associate Professor Salmond says.

Anyone at risk from exposure should be wearing full protective gear because it’s likely erionite fibres can be carried on clothing.

Erionite is only now being seen as an emerging health risk with the International Commission on Naturally Occurring Asbestos recently establishing a working group on erionite, she says.

Yearbook 2021

Who gets what from the $2.6b shovel-ready fund Details of over 150 shovel-ready projects worth $4.6b have been released by the government's infrastructure reference group, Crown Infrastructure Partners Based on 2018 census statistics, Auckland received $436 per person.

This pales in comparison to most other regions, with both Gisborne and the West Coast coming out on top at over $2,000 invested per person. Waikato saw the least invested per person at

only $210.

Otago and Canterbury were other big winners, getting over 20 percent of the total funding between them.

Northland saw the most projects funded, however those in the housing sector would be better off in

Auckland where the bulk of these projects are located.

Community projects are the most plentiful, while the transport sector also saw some wins across multiple regions.

Crown Infrastructure Partners

506,814 population $261 per person

Wellington Project Name

Project Owner Housing Sector

Frederick St Social Housing, Hall and Public Park

Kirva Trust

Transport Sector

$132.3m funding 5.2% of total funding Project Value

Amount Funded

$33.6m

$10m

$33.6m

$10m

$32.4m

$17m

$1m

$1m

Hood Aerodrome Infrastructure Upgrade

Masterton District Council

Wairarapa Five Towns Trails Project Stage One Tauherenikau Bridge section

Wairarapa Trails Action Group and the Greytown Trails Trust

$1.4m

$1m

Eastern Bays Shared Path

Hutt City Council

$30m

$15m

$87.9m

$50.5m

$15.9m

$8.5m

Community Sector Sacred Heart Cathedral Restoration and Strengthening

Catholic Archdiocese of Wellington

Naenae Pool + Fitness New Build

Hutt City Council

$54m

$27m

Maidstone Sportshub

Upper Hutt City Council

$15m

$12m

Masterton Skatepark Revamp

Masterton District Council (MDC)

$1m

$1m

Kapiti Gateway

Kapiti District Council

$2m

$2m

$104.1m

$44m

Social Sector Wellington District Court Refurbishment

Ministry of Justice

$14.1m

$14m

New Zealand Campus of Innovation and Sport

Gillies Group / EY

$90m

$30m

$10.8m

$10.8m

$10.8m

$10.8m

$268.8m

$132.3m

Environmental Sector Climate Resilience Package

Wellington Region Councils

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T

he government has revealed which projects it will be funding or subsidising with its $2.6b shovel-ready investment announced in July.

This comes as a relief to the industry, who have been frustrated with the lack of information.

With the full list of projects now available, we can see where the money is and which areas offer the best opportunities.

More than $4.56b worth of projects have been selected, of which the government has committed over $2.56b of funding.

Auckland received the most funding. At $684.6m it makes up just over a quarter of the entire fund. With Auckland's large population, this comes as no surprise.

Yearbook 2021

1,571,718 population $436 per person

CONSTRUCTION

Auckland Project Name

$684.6m funding 26.7% of total funding

Project Owner Housing Sector

Project Value

Amount Funded

$363.5m

$263.5

Kāinga Ora Mangere Priority Wastewater Upgrades

Watercare Services Limited

$25m

$25m

Auckland Housing Programme: Tamaki stormwater & park upgrade bundle

Auckland Council – Healthy Waters

$12m

$11.3m

Northcote Development Stormwater Trunk Provision

Auckland Council – Healthy Waters

$14.3m

$13m

Auckland Housing Programme: Roskill South housing infrastructure bundle

Auckland Council

$11m

$10m

Owairaka Development Stormwater Network Provision

Auckland Council – Healthy Waters

$34.1m

$31.2m

Kāinga Ora Mt Roskill Priority Water and Wastewater Upgrades

Watercare Services Limited

$65m

$65m

Unitec Housing Development

Marutūāhu Rōpū

$169.1m

$75m

Kainga Ora Tamaki priority Wastewater Upgrades

Watercare Services Limited

$25m

$25m

$8m

$8m

$316m

$182.4

Auckland Housing 3 Water Contingency Transport Sector Ferry Basin Redevelopment - Stage 1

Auckland Transport

$110m

$50m

Northwestern Busway – early deliverables

Auckland Transport/NZTA

$100m

$50m

Puhinui Interchange (Bus-Rail)

Auckland Council/Auckland Transport

$69m

$47.1m

Te Whau Pathway

Auckland Council

$37.3m

$35.3m

$446m

$222m

Social Sector Auckland City Mission HomeGround

Auckland City Mission

$110m

$22m

Faculty of Education and Social Work

University of Auckland

$336m

$200m

$19m

$6m

$19m

$6m

$14m

$10.7m

$14m

$10.7m

$1,158.5m

$684.6m

Community Sector Te Mahurehure Expansion Projects

Te Mahurehure Marae Environmental Sector

Building Auckland’s Resource Recovery Network

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Auckland Council

599,694 population $499 per person

Canterbury Project Name

$299.4m funding 11.7% of total funding

Project Owner Social Sector

Project Value

Amount Funded

$29.7m

$13.5m

Cancer Society – Christchurch Building Project

Cancer Society of New Zealand

$17.5m

$6.5m

Medi Hotel – “ Ranui Apartments”

Bone Marrow Cancer Trust

$12.2m

$7m

$198.3m

$162.3m

$15.8m

$15.8m

Transport Sector Final Section of Christchurch Coastal Pathway – Redcliffs to Shag Rock

Christchurch Coastal Pathway Group and Christchurch City Council

Mechanical Depots - Waltham

KiwiRail Holdings Group

$75m

$39m

Chatham Islands Tuuta Airport - Longer & Stronger

Chatham Islands Airport Limited

$36m

$36m

Major cycleway routes

Christchurch City Council

$71.5m

$71.5m

$153.3m

$95.2m

Community Sector Conical Hill flyline at Hanmer Springs

Hurunui District Council

$2.1m

$2m

Kaikōura Aquatic Centre

Kaikōura District Council / Kaikōura Community Charitable Trust Board

$3.8m

$1m

New Brighton Collective Recovery Project

New Brighton Project

$7m

$7m

YMCA Christchurch Central City Development

YMCA Christchurch

$43m

$43m

Ashburton District Library and Civic Centre

Ashburton District Council

$51.6m

$20m

Youth Hub Christchurch

The Youth Hub Trust

$20m

$10m

Taylors Mistake Surf Life Saving Infrastructure Rebuild

Taylors Mistake Surf Life Saving Club

$2.8m

$0.6m

The Theatre Royal Upgrade and Heritage Facility

Timaru District Council

$23m

$11.6m

$15m

$3.9m

$15m

$3.9m

$33.8m

$24.5m

Government Sector NZDF Southern Region Maintenance (Woodbourne & Burnham)

Defence Estate and Infrastructure New Zealand Defence Force Environmental Sector

Climate Resilience Package

Canterbury Region Councils

$15.5m

$15.5m

Kaiapoi Stormwater and Flooding Improvements

Waimakariri District Council

$18m

$9m

$430.1m

$299.4m

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Yearbook 2021

Yearbook 2021

458,202 population $210 per person

Waikato Project Name

$96m funding 3.7% of total funding

Project Owner

Project Value

Housing Sector Taupo EUL Block

Penny Homes Ltd Transport Sector

$180m

$8m

$180m

$8m

$36.7m

$26.9m

Shared paths, kerb and channel and accessible paths

Taupo District Council

$10.5m

$10.5m

Te Awa Cycleway Hamilton to Cambridge section

Waipa District Council

$16.2m

$8.2m

Kōpū Marine Precinct

Thames Coromandel District Council

$10m

$8.2m

$30.7m

$25.3m

$20.6m

$20.6m

$2m

$2m

Community Sector

CONSTRUCTION

Amount Funded

Town Centre Transformation

Taupō District Council

Otorohonga Kiwihouse

Otorohonga Kiwihouse

Te Kuiti Sports Stadium

Game On Charitble Trust

$3.5m

$0.5m

Onemana Surf Life Saving Infrastructure Upgrade

Onemana Surf Life Saving Club

$0.6m

$0.3m

Sunset Beach Community Hub and Lifeguard Facility

Sunset Beach Lifeguard Trust

$2.3m

$0.5m

Paunaui Surf Life Saving Infrastructure Upgrade

Pauanui Surf Life Saving Club

$1m

$0.7m

Tairua Surf Life Saving Infrastructure Rebuild

Tairua Surf Life Saving Club

$0.7m

$0.7m

$22.5m

$12m

$8.5m

$1m

$14m

$11m

$23.8m

$23.8m

$23.8m

$23.8m

$293.7m

$96m

Social Sector Dementia (Eden Care) Unit

Beattie Community Trust Inc.

Southern Waikato Integrated Training Centre

South Waikato Investment Fund Trust

Environmental Sector Climate Resilience Package

Waikato Region Councils

97,467 population $682 per person

Southland Project Name

Project Owner Transport Sector

SH94 Homer Tunnel

NZTA Community Sector

$66.5m funding 2.6% of total funding Project Value

Amount Funded

$50m

$25m

$50m

$25m

$248.6m

$14m

$242.6m

$10m

Invercargill Inner City Redevelopment

Invercargill City Council and Invercargill Central Ltd

Gore Public Library building - major refurbishment

Gore District Council

$5m

$3m

Gore Multisports Complex Facilities Improvements

Gore District Council

$1m

$1m

$3m

$2.8m

$3m

$2.8m

$25m

$24.7m

$25m

$24.7m

$326.6m

$66.5m

Business Sector Venison and cattle processing plant

Alliance Group Limited Environmental Sector

Climate Resilience Package

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Southland Regional Councils

Yearbook 2021

AC Filter - an engineered solution protecting worker health

Sponsored Article

T

he AC Filter cabin overpressure and filtration story began more than 30 years ago in The Netherlands and it has proven its durability and value.

Fillflex manufactures, supplies and maintains AC Filter systems for any cab, on equipment of any type and size.

“Our technology has often been copied, but there is only one genuine ACFilter product range,” says Fillflex

New Zealand managing director Bill Hackshaw.

“The system optimises your equipment’s in-cab operating environment to protect both the health of the operator, and the existing heating, cooling and electronic systems in place.

AC Filter complies with standards CROW132 and NEN4444.”

Filters are certified, and available for all applications, including asbestos, respirable crystalline silica,

pollen, spores, hydrocarbon aerosols and gases that are harmful to humans.

Parts and filters are of the highest quality, carrying the European CE Quality Mark.

The system has a standard AOC (Advanced Overpressure Control) unit fitted in cab, with an optional PPM (Particles Per Million) readout function for hydrocarbons.

The system is designed to maintain a pre-set value of 120pa in the cabin.

The system operates automatically when the vehicle is started to check for the status of the filters in the unit and the quality of the air pressure.

If the pressure drops below 100pa the display will blink and an acoustic alarm will sound. www.brolube.com View the case study here

Cabin Overpressure & Filtration

We have a new brand, but the same tried and proven product with the same dedication to service

Contact: Bill Hackshaw 021 232 0088 billh@brolube.co.nz www.brolube.com safetynews.co.nz

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CONSTRUCTION

Control the risk to your machine operators and truck drivers from fine dust, hydrocarbons and other harmful airborne contaminants

Yearbook 2021

166,368 population $696 per person

Hawke's Bay Project Name

$115.8m funding 4.5% of total funding

Project Owner

Project Value

Housing Sector

$16.5m

$15.5m

Flaxmere Social Housing

Hasting District Council

$5m

$4.5m

Iona Rd

Hasting District Council

$11.5m

$11.5m

$22.7m

$22.7m

Transport Sector Napier - Whakatu Inland Port

Napier Port

$20m

$20m

Ellison St / Chambers connectivity

Napier City Council

$2.7m

$2.7m

$47.8m

$38.4m

Community Sector

CONSTRUCTION

Amount Funded

Hawke’s Bay Regional Aquatic Centre

Hawke’s Bay Fitness Centre Trust

$33.3m

$32m

Pettigrew Arena expansion

Regional Indoor Sports/Events Centre

$14.5m

$6.4m

$19.2m

$19.2m

$19.2

$19.2

$20m

$20m

$20m

$20m

$126.2m

$115.8m

Environmental Sector Climate Resilience Package

Hawke’s Bay Region Councils Business Sector

Te Mata Mushrooms

Te Mata Mushrooms

225,186 population $987 per person

Otago Project Name

Project Owner Housing Sector

Energy Hardship Alleviation – Housing and Energy

Blueskin Energy Ltd

Transport Sector

$222.2m funding 8.7% of total funding Project Value

Amount Funded

$65m

$2.5m

$65m

$2.5m

$307m

$85m

Queenstown Arterials Stage 1

Queenstown Lakes District Council

$250m

$50m

Queenstown Town Centre

Queenstown Lakes District Council

$57m

$35m

$20.7m

$9.7m

$16.9m

$7.4m

Community Sector Clutha Community Hub Charitable Trust and Clutha District Council

Clutha Community Hub Charitable Trust and Clutha District Council

Lakes District Museum, Arrowtown Seismic Strengthening and Restoration Project

Lakes District Museum Inc

$3.5m

$2m

Ophir Swimming Pool

Ophir Welfare Committee / Central Otago District Council

$0.1m

$0.1m

Ophir Peace Memorial Hall

Ophir Welfare Committee / Central Otago District Council

$0.2m

$0.2m

$31.7m

$25m

$31.7m

$25m

$100m

$100m

$100m

$100m

$524.4m

$222.2m

Social Sector Otago Polytechnic : Building & Construction Trade Training Centre

Otago Polytechnic Environmental Sector

Climate Resilience Package

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Otago Councils

Yearbook 2021

Project Name

Project Owner Transport Sector

$170m funding 6.6% of total funding Project Value

Amount Funded

$50.9m

$26.3m

Active Modes Urban Shared Paths Programme

Whangarei District Council

$40.1m

$16m

Kaiwaka footbridges

Kaipara District Council

$0.8m

$0.8m

FNDC jetties - Pukenui, Unahi, Rangitane

Far North District Council

$5m

$4.5m

Sealing Kaipara roads

Kaipara District Council

$5m

$5m

$236.9m

$115.6m

Community Sector Lindvart Park – Sportsville Kaikohe

Griffiths & Associates Limited

$9.2m

$6m

Ruakaka Recreation Centre

Griffiths & Associates Limited

$6.3m

$2.5m

Pohe Island Bike Park

Bike Northland Incorporated

$5m

$2m

Hihiaua Cultural Centre

Hihiaua Cultural Centre

$4m

$3m

Kauri Museum

Kaipara District Council

$3m

$3m

Northland Rugby

Northland Rugby Union

$2m

$1.5m

$32m

$3m

$11.8m

$11.8m

$1m

$1m

$1.8m

$1.8m

Mangawhai jetty, community and infrastructure facilities Far North District Council Mid-North Sports Package

Kaipara District Council

Animal Shelters

Far North District Council

He Korowai Trust housing infrastructure

He Korowai Trust

Te Hiku o te Ika Revitalisation - Paths and Walkway

Far North District Council

$27.9m

$7m

Paihia Waterfront Development

Far North District Council

$25m

$8m

Dargaville Racecourse development

Kaipara District Council

$0.9m

$0.9m

Ancient Kauri Trail

Kaipara District Council

$11m

$4m

Baylys Beach Lifesaving Facility Development

Baylys Beach Community Trust

$2m

$0.1m

Oruku Landing Conference & Events Centre

Northland Development Corporation

$94m

$60m

$3m

$3.1m

Social Sector Maungaturoto Dementia Care Facility

Maungaturoto Charitable Trust

$1m

$1.3m

Whangarei Boys High School

Whangarei Boys High School

$1m

$1m

Paparoa Housing

Paparoa Community Charitable Trust

$1m

$0.8m

$114.1m

$25m

Environmental Sector Climate Resilience Package

Northland Councils

$13m

$12.5m

Papakawau Estuary Resilience

NZTA

$10m

$5m

Mangonui Waterfront Enhancement and Regeneration

Far North District Council

$10.3m

$1.5m

Kaipara Stopbank Enhancement

Kaipara District Council

$74.8m

$6m

$404.9m

$170m

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CONSTRUCTION

179,076 population $949 per person

Northland

Yearbook 2021

117,561 population $826 per person

Taranaki Project Name

Project Owner Housing Sector

CONSTRUCTION

Mawhitiwhiti Kanihi Pa Build Project

Mawhitiwhiti Kanihi Pa Committee Transport Sector

Nukumaru Station Road construction

South Taranaki District Council Community Sector

$97.1m funding 3.8% of total funding Project Value

Amount Funded

$5m

$5m

$5m

$5m

$7.3m

$7m

$7.3m

$7m

$81m

$33.4m

Yarrow Stadium Redevelopment

Taranaki Regional Council

$50m

$20m

Replacement Indoor Aquatic Facility

Stratford District Council

$16m

$8m

Te Ramanui o Ruaputahanga Library, Arts and Culture Centre

South Taranaki District Council

$13m

$3.4m

$2m

$2m

$3m

$3m

$3m

$3m

$48.7m

$48.7m

$37m

$37m

$11.7m

$11.7m

$145m

$97.1m

Children’s Cycling Education Park And Basketball Court Stratford District Council Business Sector Dawson Falls Lodge Development

Te Rere o Kapuni Limited Environmental Sector

Thermal Drying Facility Replacement

New Plymouth District Council

Green School New Zealand

Green School Properties

47,517 population $2,229 per person

Gisborne Project Name

Project Owner Community Sector

$105.9m funding 4.1% of total funding Project Value

Amount Funded

$58.9m

$53.4m

$46.1m

$40.4m

Redevelopment of the Gisborne Olympic Pool

Gisborne District Council

Rugby Park grandstand rebuild

Poverty Bay Rugby Football Union

$7.6m

$8m

Midway SLSC Surf Rescue Community Hub

Midway Surf Life Saving Club (SLSC)

$5.2m

$5m

TBD

$45m

TBD

$45m

$7.5m

$7.5m

$7.5m

$7.5m

TBD

$105.9m

Transport Sector Marine Infrastructure

TBD Environmental Sector

Climate Resilience Package

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Gisborne Council

Yearbook 2021

Project Name

Project Owner Housing Sector

$127.6m funding 5% of total funding Project Value

Amount Funded

$66m

$37.5m

$4.7m

$4.7m

Papaioea Place Community Redevelopment

Palmerston North City Council

Tairaka Growth Area: Enabling Infrastructure

Horowhenua District Council

$38.1m

$25m

Social and affordable housing for Ruapehu District

Ruapehu District Council

$23.2m

$7.8m

$25.1m

$23.7m

$9.1m

$9.1m

$16m

$14.6m

$65.9m

$14.5m

$12m

$11.6m

$53.9m

$2.9m

$26.9m

$26.9m

$26.9m

$26.9m

$25m

$25m

$25m

$25m

$208.9m

$127.6m

Transport Sector Marton Rail Hub

Rangitīkei District Council

Route 52 Improvements (Central Hawkes Bay to Weber) Tararua District Council Community Sector Sarjeant Gallery

Whanganui District Council

Horowhenua Business Park Infrastructure

The Horowhenua Company Limited

Environmental Sector Climate Resilience Package

Manawatū-Whanganui Councils Social Sector

New Whanganui Police Hub

New Zealand Police

31,575 population $2,141 per person

West Coast Project Name

Project Owner Transport Sector

$67.6m funding 2.6% of total funding Project Value

Amount Funded

$29.3m

$25.4m

$13m

$13m

$7m

$6.8m

Cron Street Extension , Cron Street Footpath Extension, Westland District Council and Old Christchurch Road Seal Extension Franz Josef Developments Ltd

$4.7m

$1.2m

Moonlight Creek Bridge Replacement

Grey District Council

$2.6m

$2.6m

Tidal Creek #2 Bridge Replacement

Buller District Council

$2m

$1.8m

$3m

$3m

$3m

$3m

$39.3m

$39.2m

Slope Stability – Omoto Slip

KiwiRail Holdings Group

Port Package

Buller District Council

Community Sector Hokitika Swimming Pool Renovation

Westland District Council Environmental Sector

William Stewart Bridge Replacement

Grey District Council

$5.9m

$5.8m

Rough River (Otututu River) Bridge Replacement

Grey District Council

$5.1m

$5m

Solid waste: Fox Glacier and Butlers

Westland District Council

$3.3m

$3.3m

Hector Historic Landfill

Buller District Council

$1m

$1m

Climate Resilience Package

West Coast Councils

$24m

$24.1m

$71.6m

$67.6m

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CONSTRUCTION

238,797 population $534 per person

Manawatu-Wanganui

Yearbook 2021

Marlborough, Nelson & Tasman

150,609 population $575 per person

Project Name

$86.6m funding 3.4% of total funding

Project Owner

Project Value

Transport Sector

$54.3m

$44.8m

$19.5m

$18m

The Whale Trail

Marlborough Kaikōura Trail Trust

SH 60

NZTA

$6.8m

$6.8m

Port Tarakohe Redevelopment

Tasman District Council

$28m

$20m

$25.3m

$11m

$25.3m

$11m

$12.8m

$12.8m

$9.8m

$9.8m

$3m

$3m

$53.3m

$18m

$53.3m

$18m

$145.7m

$86.6m

Community Sector Blenheim Library/Art Gallery

Marlborough District Council Business Sector

CONSTRUCTION

Amount Funded

AIMEX: Nelson Port Slipway

Aimex Nelson Ltd

Apollo Aviation

Apollo Aviation Environmental Sector

Climate Resilience Package

Tasman District Council

308,499 population $709 per person

Bay of Plenty Project Name

$218.7m funding 8.5% of total funding

Project Owner Housing Sector

Project Value

Amount Funded

$139m

$114m

Unlocking urban land development (Wharenui Road, SH30, SH30 stage 2(a))

Rotorua Lakes Council with Ngāti Whakaue Tribal Lands and NZTA

$55m

$55m

Omokoroa Road Safety Upgrades and Urbanisation Sites

Western Bay of Plenty District Council

$14m

$14m

Te Papa Spatial Plan and integrated landuse and multi modal movement strategy package

Tauranga City Council

$70m

$45m

$57m

$38m

$57m

$38m

$35.1m

$35.1m

$11.9m

$11.9m

$23.2m

$23.2m

$11.2m

$11m

$11.2m

$11m

$34.3m

$20.6m

Business Sector Wai Ariki Hot Springs and Spa - Rotorua

Pukeroa Lakefront Holdings Limited

Environmental Sector Taheke Geothermal Power Station Enabling Works

Eastland Generation Limited

Climate Resilience Package

Bay of Plenty Councils Social Sector

St John Rotorua

St John Community Sector

Kaingaroa Community Development Project

Rotorua Lakes Council, Te Puni Kokiri

$14m

$5m

Ōpōtiki CBD

Ōpōtiki

$12m

$11.9m

Papamoa Surf Rescue Base and Mixed Use Community Facility

Papamoa Community Surf Rescue Base Trust (Charities #CC52347)

$5.4m

$0.8m

Eastern Region - Surf Lifesaving Rescue Centre

Surf Life Saving New Zealand

$2.9m

$2.9m

$276.6m

$218.7m

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Hard work gets results

Yearbook 2021

Sponsored Article

T

he team was forged by three friends working in the industry who realised that the key thing stressed building managers, business owners and landlords needed was to make a single call and get a reliable and qualified support team that would cover any aspect of facilities management.

The Rapid trio set down a business philosophy that “we will do what others can’t or won’t do “ and set

about assembling a highly trained, efficient and safety-conscious team of professionals who get the job done right, the first time.

Today that service stretches from food manufacturers’ audit cleaning, all aspects of industrial cleaning, painting, building and floor safety management to anti-microbial and moss and mould treatments to prevent surface damage to roofs, ceilings, walls, floors and specialised equipment.

Having worked in the industry for many years, three friends, Paul Schoch, Robyn Schoch and Andrew Chan realised that by combining their skills, they could create a company unlike any other

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FACILITIES MANAGEMENT

The success of Rapid Facility Services is driven by a team that combines experience, commitment and a professional skillset that covers every aspect of facilities management with personal service

Yearbook 2021

Benchmarking pay trends in our industrial and commercial sectors

Sponsored Article

Pay is a key element in any role or hiring decision, but gauging remuneration within specific industries and locations is not always straightforward

WAGES

P

ay rates are intertwined with various factors including region, age, tenure, qualifications and the size of the team, yet these variables do not automatically denote higher or lower pay across the board.

OneStaff’s comprehensive What’s My Rate?

New Zealand Industrial and Trades Wage Report 2020 (produced prior to COVID-19) analysed key trends in Construction & Infrastructure, Engineering, Manufacturing, Production & Logistics, Trades & Services and Commercial & Hospitality. The report surveyed over 7,800 participants from these core industrial and commercial sectors across the country, and revealed that: • There is very little difference in the median hourly pay for people of different generations.

• Pay tends to rise with tenure, though it plateaus after 6-10 years.

• High-level tertiary education does not necessarily equate to higher pay.

• Managing a large team is not grounds for earning more, and there is no clear trend correlating the size of the team and higher pay.

• Living in a larger, more prosperous region of New Zealand does not guarantee more pay, with Northland and Otago sharing the top 70

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median rate in the country alongside Auckland and Canterbury.

• There is still a gender pay gap in many industries, with women earning, on average, 17% less than their male counterparts.

The Impact of COVID-19 on Pay Rates COVID-19 brings a new dimension to remuneration trends in New Zealand, and as the economy shifts, it’s likely that pay rates and the correlations between them have changed as a result.

Economic conditions have temporarily impacted rates of pay and hours in businesses across the country, often alongside wage subsidy schemes. There are also likely to be chang-

es tied to restrictions on immigration that will make certain skill sets harder to find, potentially driving pay rates within these roles for the foreseeable future.

As the situation continues to evolve, it will be interesting to see how this has affected not just wage rates but the motivations of workers and sectors that have been disrupted by the economic developments.

Benchmarking Pay Rates OneStaff has created a free online tool that allows employers and workers alike to benchmark pay rates against others in their industry and region by filling out a simple survey.

Results are based on multiple factors affecting pay

rates in each location for each role type.

At the end of the survey, participants get immediate, personalised insights into hourly pay rates that they can use to inform career and business decisions.

They will also receive a free copy of OneStaff’s full What’s My Rate? report for 2021 when it is released, providing additional information around year-on-year trends based on real data from real New Zealanders. Both employees and employers working in these sectors will find a raft of valuable insights in this industry-leading report, empowering them to effectively develop their careers and implement strategic changes within their workplaces.

Yearbook 2021

WORKPLACE FIRST AID

Essential First Aid Perfect for low risk workplaces, Essential First Aid prepares your team to respond to the most common emergency situations.

Recommended for: people who work in low risk workplaces and clubs. It's a great course if you want to use first aid at home, and if you want to learn the basic essentials of first aid.

What this 8 hour course covers: The course is run over one day, and covers how to respond to common first aid scenarios. Being able to respond first, while waiting for medical professionals to arrive, is essential to helping others and saving lives. This course meets NZQA standards and requirements of the “First Aid for Workplaces – A Good Practice Guide 2011” for low risk workplaces.

You will learn: - safe scene management

- cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) - airway obstruction - control of severe bleeding - safe side positioning - common first aid conditions and how to respond to them - assessment of emergency situations - adult/child/infant resuscitation and choking (CPRL2) - bleeding, shock, fractures, sprains, burns, poisoning Choose how to complete your training - Classroom: Complete all training in the classroom - Online: Complete your pre-course learning online, reducing your classroom session by four hours - App: Complete your pre-course learning using the First Aid and Emergency App, reducing your classroom session by four hours Click here to book a course

Save a Life Perfect for low risk workplaces. Save a Life is focused on CPR skills.

Recommended for: People who want to learn CPR skills. This course will teach you the basics of CPR and put you in a better position to save someone's life.

What this 4 hour course covers: Covering first aid basics such as cardio pulmonary resuscitation (CPR), the use of an AED, airway obstruction and control of severe bleeding, this course will teach you to be prepared to act in an emergency situation.

You will learn: - safe scene management 72

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- cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) - the use of an AED - airway obstruction - control of severe bleeding - safe side positioning Choose how to complete your training - Classroom: Complete all training in the classroom - Online: Complete your pre-course learning online, reducing your classroom session by four hours - App: Complete your pre-course learning using the First Aid and Emergency App, reducing your classroom session by four hours Click here to book a course

Psychological First Aid HE WHAKARAUORA HINENGARO

for COVID-19 in Aotearoa New Zealand

Click here to read the booklet

Yearbook 2021

Comprehensive First Aid Our most popular courses keep you and your team safe in the workplace, and keep your family safe at home.

Comprehensive First Aid is a minimum requirement for most workplaces.

WORKPLACE FIRST AID

Recommended for: All workplaces including industry, sports, education centres, and construction.

What this 12 hour course covers: Comprehensive First Aid is our most popular course designed to meet the requirements of workplace first aid for many industries and a prerequisite for further advanced training. Whatever industry you are working in, such as construction, tourism or education, a Comprehensive First Aid course will help you know what to do in an emergency or at the scene of an accident.

Being able to respond first, while waiting for medical professionals to arrive, is essential to helping others and saving lives. It's a great course for first aid at home too, so you can look out for your family. This course meets NZQA standards and requirements of the “First Aid for Workplaces – A Good Practice Guide 2011” for the majority of workplaces.

You will learn: - assessing emergency situations - adult, child and infant resuscitation and choking - bleeding, shock, fractures, sprains and head injuries - hypothermia, burns and poisoning - medical emergencies, including asthma, diabetes and epilepsy - how to manage complex medical and traumatic emergency care situations.

Choose how to complete your training - Classroom: Complete all training in the classroom - Online: Complete your pre-course learning online, reducing your classroom session by four hours - App: Complete your pre-course learning using the First Aid and Emergency App, reducing your classroom session by four hours A 16-hour Comprehensive First Aid PLUS course is also available which covers all of the content from Comprehensive First Aid, with some additional extras.

Click here to book a course

Workplace First Aid Choose your NZQA accredited Workplace First Aid course relative to your workplace risk with 3 course options.

Workplace - Medium to high risk: Comprehensive First Aid is our most popular course designed to meet the requirements of workplace first aid for many industries and a prerequisite for further advanced training.

Workplace - Low risk: Essential First Aid is for people who work in low risk workplaces and clubs. It's a great course if you want to use first aid at home, and if you want to learn the basic essentials of first aid.

First Aid Revalidation: Revalidation is for people who have a first aid certificate issued by an accredited training provider, who need to revalidate their certificate.

Choose how to complete your training - Classroom: Complete all training in the classroom - Online: Complete your pre-course learning online, reducing your classroom session by four hours - App: Complete your pre-course learning using the First Aid and Emergency App, reducing your classroom session by four hours Or choose from a range of industry specific courses.

Click here to book a course 74

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Yearbook 2021

THE SAFETY KNIFE

SPECIALISTS

WORKPLACE FIRST AID

The ultimate in design and innovation. MARTOR brings you the most versatile range of safety knives on the market.

For information on the complete MARTOR range of safety knives visit or call: martoraustralia.com.au +61 3 5940 4476

KEEPING HOT HANDS COOL, DRY & PRODUCTIVE

Safety industry pioneer Safety Nets NZ has developed a fall through protection system that has been independently tested and certified by Massey University.

There is a “duty to test” placed on all PCBU’s by the HSWA (2015) to ensure that the systems that they use are without risk to their workforce.

By using our system you have the comfort of knowing that you have taken all reasonably practicable steps in regard to this obligation.

Our nationwide network of local installers are dedicated to providing exceptional, customer focussed fall arrest solutions.

ATG® MaxiFlex® Ultimate™ gloves provide the solution to improve production efficiencies through increased flexibility and precision handling.

North Island 0800 NETSNZ (638 769) South Island 0800 NETS4U (638 748)

www.safetynetsnz.co.nz

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75

Yearbook 2021

AED (Automated External Defibrillator) Training Review your action plan to deal with a heart attack with our AED training course.

Recommended for: All workplaces, communities and individuals.

WORKPLACE FIRST AID

Psychological First Aid Psychological first aid (PFA) provides initial emotional and practical support to someone who has experienced a traumatic event – either a large-scale disaster or a personal traumatic incident.

Why do Psychological first aid?

Psychological first aid (PFA) is the mental and emotional equivalent of medical first aid. It can be provided by both members of the public and professional helpers. PFA builds organisational and community resilience, and people's capacity to respond well to traumatic events.

Recommended for: Anyone who may have a role in supporting staff, colleagues, community members or whanau, in particular: - Workplace managers and supervisors - Health, safety and well-being teams - Peer supporters - Emergency management first responders - Organisations and groups with psychosocial support responsibilities under NZ Civil Defence legislation.

What this 7 hour course covers: - The scope of PFA – what it is, and what it isn’t - The 5 elements of PFA - WHO Action Framework for PFA - Look, Listen, Link - Understanding and recognising distress - Active listening and calming techniques - Referral to more specialised support - Adapting PFA to social and cultural context - Wellbeing – looking after yourself The New Zealand Red Cross Psychological First Aid Training Handout is provided as a participant manual along with additional tools and handouts. The Full Red Cross Psychological First Aid Training Manual is available for purchase at our online shop here.

What this 1-2 hour course covers: Knowing how to operate an AED could save a life. During cardiac arrest every minute defibrillation is delayed, chances of survival drop by 10%. AEDs are easy to use and some include voice prompts to guide the rescuer through every step. However nothing can replace hands-on training to increase confidence in using a defibrillator, and help you use one as quickly as possible. Choose from our 1 or 2 hour training sessions, which can be held at your workplace or another site.

You will learn: - How to recognise early symptoms of a heart attack - How to use a defibrillator and why they're important - Hands-on CPR with a qualified instructor (2 hour course only).

Click here to book a course

Outdoor Emergency Management Assess and manage an emergency care situation during an outdoor activity.

Recommended for: People who manage emergency care during an outdoor recreation activity. The course is ideal for those managing outdoor activities for extended periods, including overnight trips and events, where emergency help might be further away.

What this 8 hour course covers: Outdoor First Aid recognises that emergency situations outdoors can differ dramatically, especially when help can take a while to arrive. Being able to respond first is essential to helping others and saving lives. Gain the skills and knowledge to confidently take care of people until further assistance arrives.

Participants receive a New Zealand Red Cross PFA certificate on course completion.

You will learn: - how to provide emergency care for an extended period in an outdoor recreation environment - how to assess and manage a patient’s condition long term in an outdoor recreation environment

Click here to book a course

Click here to book a course

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Yearbook 2021

FETS (Fire and Emergency Training Solutions Ltd) is your workplace safety partner. We are in business solely to help you keep your team safe from harm through education and training.

We are flexible and can adapt quickly to your requirements.

We focus on three main areas: Avoiding accidents in the workplace and at home by educating your team in safe practices for: • Confined Space Entry

• Working at Height

• Permit to Work

• Lock Out, Tag Out

• Fire Extinguisher

• Fire / Floor Warden

• First Aid

• Hearing Conservation

• Spill Kit

• Breathing Apparatus

• Elevated Work Platform

• Emergency Response Team

Completed to unit standards or tailored to meet your needs

Be prepared

Both as a business or a team member in the workplace: • Preparedness training for your emergencies • Risk Assessment • Training material tailored to your organisation • Nationwide delivery of training • Consultancy for emergency response / evacuation plans

Take action

When the unthinkable does arise: • Consultancy in the area of rescue planning • Application of bespoke emergency plans • Emergency response training – tailored to your organisations needs

Contact us Ph: 04 939 2669 77 www.fets.co.nz safetynews.co.nz

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WORKPLACE FIRST AID

Be proactive

Yearbook 2021

Basic First Aid A short, practical first aid course that is tailored to your groups requirements and time available.

Recommended for: Community groups, clubs, sports teams. This course covers the basic skills to help in an emergency until medical professionals arrive. You could even safe someone's life.

WORKPLACE FIRST AID

What this 2-4 hour course covers: Learn the basics of CPR, choking and first aid skills with your own exclusive group course.

This practical course can be tailored to your group's requirements and is a great way to learn lifesaving skills. There are no assessments in this course, with time spent building the confidence and skills of your group.

Click here to book a course

Pre-Hospital Emergency Care Extend your first aid skills. Gain knowledge to provide immediate first aid assistance, at an advanced level.

Recommended for: People who are frequently called on to provide first aid to members of the public. This course is also ideal for people who live or work in remote locations and in risky occupations.

What this 3 day course covers: Pre-Hospital Emergency Care is an intensive training course which will you give the confidence to apply your knowledge and skills, to deliver advanced first aid.

You will learn: - providing extended first aid - using enhanced basic life support - providing oxygen therapy - carrying out shock advisory defibrillation - moving and positioning patients in preparation for transport.

Prerequisite: You must have a valid Comprehensive First Aid certificate and pre-course reading is required.

Click here to book a course

Electrical Workers Basic First Aid & CPR Ensure your team is safety compliant. This 2 hour course is required under the Electricity Regulations covered by the Rules of the Board, as per the Amended Electricity Act, 1 April 2010.

Recommended for: Electrical workers, who need to keep first aid skills up to date. This course will ensure your team and workplace is safety compliant, as required under the Electricity Regulations, covered by the Rules of the Board as per the amended Electricity Act 1 78

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April 2010.

What this 2 hour course covers: - adult CPR and choking - bleeding - burns - fractures Click here to book a course

Yearbook 2021

Take advantage of industry growth with Free Trades Training

Sponsored Article

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nfrastructure is a key component of the government’s economic recovery plan in the wake of COVID-19. With investment of more than $5 billion, the fast-tracked approval of more than 150 “shovel-ready” projects, and the creation of 20,000 new jobs across New Zealand, the industry is seeing fast-paced expansion.

To help plug the skills gap this growth is creating, the government has pledged

$320 million towards vocational training. The Targeted Training and Apprenticeship Fund (also known as Free Trades Training) makes apprenticeships and most on-job qualifications provided by Connexis, the infrastructure industry training organisation, free to employers and employees.

Free Trades Training is attracting new people into infrastructure and supporting current trainees to complete their qualifications. It also

aims to bridge the gender divide by boosting the numbers of women, who have been disproportionately impacted by the economic effects of COVID-19.

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when tendering for government contracts; increasing productivity; and ensuring quality, and health and safety standards are met.

Nurturing talent and providing learning opportunities builds a loyal crew.

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WORKPLACE FIRST AID

Companies can prepare for the boom in infrastructure projects by skilling up their workers with Free Trades Training

Yearbook 2021

WORKPLACE FIRST AID

First Aid Revalidation This one day course is a refresher of your first aid skills, keeping your knowledge up to date and relevant. First aid certificates should be revalidated every two years.

Recommended for: People who have a first aid certificate issued by an accredited training provider, who need to revalidate their certificate.

What this 6 hour course covers: Revalidate your first aid certificate every two years. Take the time to refresh your first aid skills and keep up to date with any changes to best practice, so you're ready to help in an emergency or accident. This course meets the requirements of the “First Aid for Workplaces – A Good Practice Guide 2011” to revalidate workplace first aid.

First aid certificates must be revalidated every two years, to keep them from expiring. We are able to revalidate your certificate if it is three months, or less, past the expiry of your two year certificate.

Choose how to complete your training - Classroom: Complete all training in the classroom - Online: Complete your pre-course learning online, reducing your classroom session by four hours - App: Complete your pre-course learning using the First Aid and Emergency App, reducing your classroom session by four hours Click here to book a course

Lone Workers First Aid Revalidation This one day course is a refresher of your first aid skills, keeping your knowledge up to date and relevant. First aid certificates should be revalidated every two years.

Recommended for: People who work in a rural environment, and who are often alone in medium to high risk roles. Farmers, DOC staff, rangers & rural pest control workers have benefited from this training.

What this 8 hour course covers: Farmers and other workers in the agricultural sector, or people that work alone, may not always find conventional first aid courses useful. Some courses don't cover strategies for people who work alone.

Developed in conjunction with OSPRI, the course is designed as an alternative to our First Aid Revalidation course, and is generally run for groups.

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You will learn: - Standard first aid revalidation on CPR and choking - Infection and disease control in a rural setting - Extended options for bleeding and shock - Management of soft tissue injuries and fractures when alone - Dealing with burns, poisons and allergic reactions.

Choose how to complete your training - Classroom: Complete all training in the classroom - Online: Complete your pre-course learning online, reducing your classroom session by four hours - App: Complete your pre-course learning using the First Aid and Emergency App, reducing your classroom session by four hours Click here to book a course

An old dog learning new tricks!

Sponsored Article

The saying goes that “you can’t teach and old dog new tricks”, but the team at Shigematsu (STS) have proven that this does not apply to them as they celebrate their 104th birthday in 2021

S

higematsu (STS) is Japan’s leading respiratory manufacturer. They started manufacturing in 1917 and have been going strong for over 100 years.

Along the way they have learnt many lessons and have been particularly good at developing innovative solutions to common prob-

lems.

Recently they launched their new and improved full-face respirator, the FS01 that was designed to address three common issues.

Firstly, the issue of clarity of vision: Traditional fullface respirators often have problems with visors that fog up (on the inside) or get scratched (on the outside).

To address this Shigematsu (STS) developed a visor for the FS01 that has and anti-fog inner coating and an anti-scratch outer coating for clear vision, no matter the environment.

Secondly, the issue of a lack of vision below the horizontal: Traditional respirators offer good vision when looking straight ahead but when trying to look down, to walk up stairs or work with tools and machinery, the wearer finds their vision blocked and must bend their neck excessively to see. This has been addressed on the new FS01 by extending the visor to the bottom of the mask giving one of the widest fields of vision on the market.

Thirdly, the issue of communication amongst wearers has also been addressed: Traditional fullface respirators cause the wearers voice to be muf-

fled, making it difficult to communicate instructions.

This can result in wearers removing their mask to speak in what is often a toxic environment.

Shigematsu (STS) got around this with the development of a speech diaphragm that allows the wearer to communicate easily while still ensuring toxic fumes or particulates cannot enter the mask.

The saying goes that “you can’t teach and old dog new tricks”, but the team at Shigematsu (STS) have proven that this does not apply to them, even though they will celebrate their 104th birthday in 2021.

If you want to see some of these new tricks, then call or email us to book a demonstration.

Dalton International Limited 0800 323 223 enquiries@dilnz.co.nz

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Yearbook 2021

Yearbook 2021

Overlapping duties

Some work environments have a greater risk of injury and illness due to the nature of the work. For example, workers in factories, motor vehicle workshops, and forestry operations have a high risk of injuries requiring immediate medical treatment and require different first aid arrangements than, say, workers in offices or libraries. See Appendix A for a table of common injuries.

When the work of two or more PCBUs overlaps, they must communicate, consult, cooperate and coordinate activities to meet their health and safety responsibilities to workers and others.

Information about previous injuries or near misses at your workplace, their frequency and the amount of harm caused, may also be useful in helping you decide what kind of first aid facilities or equipment you need to make available.

For example, as part of their duty to provide first aid, a group of PCBUs working in the same shopping centre complex could work together to provide trained first aiders and a first aid room for all workers in the complex.

WORKPLACE FIRST AID

Nature of the work and risks

By consulting with each other, they can avoid duplicating their efforts and prevent any gaps in managing work health and safety risks.

First aid and the risk management process

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SA

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First aid at work February 2020

Click here to read the booklet

Yearbook 2021

MaxiDry Zero ®

™

ANYTIME YOUR HANDS FEEL COLD

WORKPLACE FIRST AID

The MaxiDry® Zero™ integrates the core values of the MaxiDry® brand* and is ideal for working inside or outside in cold environments.

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*The MaxiDry® range blends comfort and grip with protection from liquids and oils providing you a controlled performance in these difficult conditions.

Find out more: www.atg-glovesolutions.com

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Yearbook 2021

EC 1935/2004 (LFGB) All kinds of food FDA 21CFR177

KEEPS YOUR HANDS SAFE AND WARM

WORKPLACE FIRST AID

NEW

The MaxiDry® Zero ™ integrates the core values of the MaxiDry® brand to bring comfort and liquid repellence together and combine them with our THERMtech® technology platform.

This technology offers thermal resistance up to -10°C/14°F inside the glove under high activity with a coating designed to remain flexible for temperature up to -30°C / -22°F. As with all our gloves MaxiDry ® Zero ™ is dermatologically accredited by the Skin Health Alliance as part of our HandCare program. They are also pre-washed prior to packaging enabling us to guarantee them “Fresh out of the pack” as certified by Oeko-Tex. MaxiDry ® Zero™ is certified according the European food standards and compliant to FDA CFR Title 21 Part 177.

MaxiDry® Zero™ 56-451

If you’re a distributor this is for you: As MaxiDry® Zero™ is a food certified glove it can be sold and marketed all year round. It can be used in direct contact with food or, for example, in chilled warehousing and refrigerated logistics. MaxiDry® Zero™ can also be sold seasonally as a winter glove. Gone are the days of being over stocked at the end of winter which makes great financial sense. So what are you waiting for? Order MaxiDry® Zero™ today.

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Yearbook 2021

First aid kits You must provide at least one first aid kit for each workplace and ensure workers know where it is.

Kits should contain basic equipment for attending to injuries, such as: - cuts, scratches, punctures, grazes and splinters - soft tissue sprains and strains - minor burns - broken bones - eye injuries, and - shock.

WORKPLACE FIRST AID

What you put in the kit should be based on the particular risks of the work carried out at your workplace. For

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example, there is likely to be a higher risk of eye injuries and a need for eye pads if your workers: - handle chemical liquids or powders in open containers - carry out spraying, hosing or abrasive blasting - are at risk of particles flying into their eyes - are at risk of being splashed or sprayed with infectious materials, or - carry out welding, cutting or machining operations.

The below image shows the suggested contents of a work first aid kit. You may also want to consider including a small notebook and pen to record things such as dates, times, observations, equipment used.

Yearbook 2021

Number and composition of workers and other people at work

Also think about: - the needs of workers with a disability or known health - concern (for example, asthma, allergies) - ensuring you have enough first aiders rostered on

each shift - ensuring all workers including those working outside - daylight hours can access first aid kits, facilities and other equipment - ensuring you have enough first aiders to cover periods of annual or sick leave - other people at work (for example, clients, visitors, couriers, casual volunteers).

Medication in first aid kits

Design of kits

If you choose to provide pain relief medication like aspirin or paracetamol in first aid kits, be aware that these can make certain people (such as pregnant women) ill.

First aid kits can be any size, shape or type, but each kit should: - be clearly labelled ‘First Aid Kit’. Most kits have a white cross on a green background - have a list of what is in the kit, and - be made of material that will protect the contents from dust, moisture and contamination.

Pain relief medicine in a work first aid kit should only be in pack sizes which are available when purchased over the counter as General Sale or Pharmacy Only medicines. Keep pain relief medicine in the manufacturer’s original pack as this will have all the relevant information about correct dose, precautions/warnings, batch number and expiry date.

This medicine can only be given by someone who is medically trained to do so, otherwise it should only be self-administered by the worker. (That is, they choose to take it themselves.)

WORKPLACE FIRST AID

Consider the maximum number of workers you could have, including contractors and volunteer workers. Generally, a large workforce needs more first aid resources.

Communication equipment For remote or isolated workers, you must provide a plan for how they will get help if injured or ill. See our Interpretive guidelines General Risk and Workplace Management – Part 2 for more information.

Location of kits, including in vehicles First aid equipment should be easy for all workers to access, ideally within minutes in an emergency or when doing work with a high risk of injuries. For example, a school with a science laboratory or carpentry workshop should have a first aid kit in each.

building) there should be a first aid kit in each area.

Where there are separate work areas (for example, more than one building on a site or more than one floor in a

Use first aid signs to clearly show the location of first aid equipment and first aid rooms.

Emergency floor plans or site maps displayed in the workplace should show where the first aid kits are located.

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Yearbook 2021

A major step in fatigue management

WORKPLACE HEALTH

As we continue to work through the COVID-19 pandemic, employers are recognising their role and responsibility for providing employees with safe and healthy working conditions

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his focus on employee well-being is particularly relevant in heavy industry, where workers routinely perform dangerous or complex tasks in high-risk environments, all while working extended shifts, often at night and in remote environments.

Fatigue management has emerged as a priority for heavy industry firms in construction, mining and a number of other vertical industries with complex operations.

They are now recognising the proven correlation between workforce fatigue and operational productivity.

Fatigue Science, which provides predictive analytics on human performance to industrial firms, elite sport teams, and the military, has launched ReadiAnalytics™, an analytics and fatigue management information system.

ReadiAnalytics delivers real-time, scientifically validated, and objective visibility into workforce fatigue levels and its underlying causes.

New data reveals that less fatigued workforces are measurably more productive and that data confirms the well-established benefits for employee health, 88

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safety, and retention.

As the incremental productivity benefits and associated return on investment are now clear, leadership teams are seeking objective, timely and quantified measures of on duty fatigue levels for each crew or team and site in their operation.

Industrial firms pursuit of objective data to support performance optimisation coincides with a larger trend -- the shift toward data-driven decision-making enabled by the Industrial Internet of Things (IIot).

While data on machine performance has grown exponentially in recent years, data on workforce performance and fatigue have long been viewed as a blind spot for otherwise data-rich organizations.

“Our customers today have operational data flowing from nearly every asset in their operation: trucks, pipes, shovels, and pumps all generate millions of data points each day,” says Andrew Morden, President and Chief Executive of Fatigue Science.

“And yet, most industrial firms lack objective measures on the performance of their most valuable asset: their workforce.”

“When it comes to the causes and extent of worker

fatigue, most management teams are essentially ‘flying blind’. Now with ReadiAnalytics , firms no longer need to guess when and where fatigue is present, or how significant it is. The validated data is right there in the dashboard, on-demand and in real-time.”

Unlike subjective methods for estimating crew fatigue ReadiAnalytics captures anonymous sleep data from a sample of crew workers and then processes it alongside a variety of circadian factors with a scientifically validated biomathematical model.

The model then quantifies which on-duty crews will be the most and least fatigued, and how that fatigue will trend over time as their shift pattern progresses.

Crucially, worker privacy is preserved, as insights are anonymised and aggregated for each crew, site, and the company.

Beyond providing fatigue data, ReadiAnalytics also reveals the underlying causes of this fatigue.

It segments the portion that is attributable to structural factors, like schedules, versus human factors, such as sleep health and habits.

These insights are instrumental in informing specific strategies to reduce fatigue

levels, and ultimately, drive concrete improvements to productivity, safety, and cost.

“So often, and particularly at this moment in history, employers are being forced to choose between their bottom line and the health and safety of their workers.

“Reducing fatigue, fortunately, is one of those rare opportunities where safeguarding workers’ health also maximizes productivity,” says Morden.

“With ReadiAnalytics, we’ve shown customers a direct correlation between workers’ fatigue levels and their hourly output.

“For example, we paired our proprietary fatigue data with telematics data from haul trucks and mine shovels,” adds Morden.

“At the same time, sleep is fundamentally important for a healthy immune system, with documented benefits for both reducing short-term absenteeism and increasing long-term employee retention.

“Reducing the hard costs from accidents, incidents, and equipment damage attributable to fatigue is also a key motivator for employers looking to use our predictive analytics to achieve a measurable reduction in fatigue,” he says.

SLUG

With your support we can continue to provide practical help, care and comfort.

Accommodation and home visits are just two of the ways we support New Zealanders affected by cancer.

Visit cancer.org.nz to find ways to make a difference by volunteering, donating or taking part in our events.

INFRASTRUCTUREBUILD.COM YEARBOOK 2018

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Yearbook 2021

CONSTRUCTION

T

he newly graduated standard is the most resilient and responsive version of the IWBI's rating system to date and serves as the foundation upon which the entire WELL ecosystem is built.

“Better buildings, vibrant communities and stronger organizations have been at the core of our mission since we launched WELL in 2014,” said IWBI chairman and chief executive Rick Fedrizzi.

“It was a long road to get here, but we’ve confirmed that WELL v2 is implacably strong, robust and resilient in the face of every challenge.

“From a global pandemic to social justice, WELL v2 has proved to be a relevant, scalable and global rating system that’s responsive, inclusive, technically robust, customer-focused and applicable for any organization or space type.”

WELL v2 is a vehicle for buildings and organisations to deliver more thoughtful and intentional spaces that contribute to improved human health and well-being.

It includes a set of strategies that aim to enhance human health through design interventions, opera-

New benchmarks in the global drive for well communities After two years of extensive development, in-use application and review, the International WELL Building Institute (IWBI) launches the latest version of the WELL Building Standard tional protocols and policies and a commitment to fostering a culture of health and well-being.

Built upon the pioneering foundation of the first version of the WELL Building Standard (WELL v1), WELL v2 draws expertise from a diverse community of WELL users, medical and design practitioners, public health professionals and building scientists around the world.

WELL v2 consolidates previous iterations and pilots into a single rating system that is designed to accommodate all project

types and sectors. The system is intended to grow in specificity and specialty over time, adapting to accommodate diverse project types and geographies and in response to new evidence and ever-evolving public health imperatives.

The standard is centred on 10 concepts – Air, Water, Nourishment, Light, Movement, Thermal Comfort, Sound, Materials, Mind and Community – that impact human health and well-being.

Every feature within these concepts is underscored

by available evidence that links design, policy and building-centric strategies to health and well-being outcomes: > third-party verified by Green Business Certification Inc. (GBCI) through documentation and/or performance testing > tested through WELL v1 and/or the WELL v2 pilot, demonstrating adoption and uptake by more than 3,300 projects from a wide range of typologies representing more than 413 million square feet across 54 countries

About the International WELL Building Institute The International WELL Building Institute (IWBI) is spearheading the global movement to transform our buildings, communities and organisations in ways that help people thrive.

It focuses exclusively on the ways that buildings and communities, and everything in them, can improve our comfort, drive better choices, and generally enhance, not compromise, our health and wellness.

WELL v2 is the most recent version of the WELL Building Standard (WELL).

The WELL Community Standard pilot is a district scale rating system that sets a new global benchmark for healthy communities.

The WELL Health-Safety Rating is an evidence-based, 90

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third-party verified rating for all facility types, focused on operational policies, maintenance protocols, emergency plans and stakeholder education to address a post-COVID-19 environment now and broader health and safety-related issues into the future.

IWBI mobilises the wellness community through management of the WELL AP credential, the pursuit of applicable research, the development of educational resources, and advocacy for policies that promote health and wellness everywhere.

IWBI is a participant of the United Nations Global Compact, the world’s largest corporate citizenship initiative, and helps companies advance the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) through the use of WELL.

CONSTRUCTION

Yearbook 2021

> includes outside input from a diverse community of health and design practitioners, subject matter experts, users and other third parties.

“As the leading tool for advancing health and well-being globally, the WELL Building Standard helps people to work, live, perform and feel their best.

“With WELL as our vehicle, IWBI helps to translate what we know into what we practice,” said IWBI President Rachel Gutter.

“We’ve channelled all that we have learned into a more accessible, adaptable and equitable rating system, which continues to be anchored by the latest scientific research and industry best practices. WELL v2 has demonstrated it is dynamic, resilient, validated and ready to change the world.

“Since the launch of the WELL v2 pilot in 2018, we’ve worked tirelessly to

incorporate feedback from thousands of members of our global community – making certain that no stone was left unturned, no strategy left unexamined and no topic left untested.

“Now, as WELL v2 has graduated from pilot stage, this moment marks the culmination of years of co-creation that will ripple throughout buildings, communities and organizations throughout the world,” Gutter says.

The WELL v2 pilot was adopted quickly by IWBI’s global community and since its release more than 3,300 projects have registered to pursue WELL Certification under the pilot.

A key element of the development process for WELL is securing input from a variety of individuals.

During the two-year pilot phase, WELL v2 underwent continuous improvement and refinement through a rigorous development

process, including a sixmonth public comment period generating hundreds of comments; the review and feedback from more than 150 WELL concept advisors; thousands more comments during the final stakeholder review; and eight published addenda to provide clarifications and strategies supporting the implementation of the WELL v2 pilot across different projects and in different locations.

In addition, the IWBI Task Force on COVID-19, comprised of 16 globally acknowledged thought leaders in the role of co-chair and nearly 600 professional and market leaders and experts from 30 countries, collectively crowd-sourced thousands more comments during a 40-day sprint to further assess ways in which WELL v2 could be further strengthened to better support prevention and preparedness, resiliency

and recovery.

From enhanced coaching support and research deep-dives to opportunities to connect and learn from peers, WELL v2 brings with it a suite of enhancements, products and services that will reset how organizations engage with WELL and the growing global community.

Through the rest of the year and beyond, IWBI will roll out new resources and tools that will transform the way individuals can engage with one another and IWBI’s digital platform. Already available, a new WELL v2 Skybridge Tool is designed to help practitioners evaluate key similarities and differences between the WELL v2 pilot and WELL v2.

Registration for new WELL v2 pilot and WELL v1 projects will close on December 31, 2020. The WELL AP exam will continue to be based on WELL v1 until the end of 2021. safetynews.co.nz

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FACILITIES MANAGEMENT

Touchless security upgrade showcases the way of the future for commercial buildings The Gateway building in Sydney’s Circular Quay is Australia’s first office tower to use fully integrated touchless fingerprint scanning to allow authorised office workers and guests into the building

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he solution had to work seamlessly to enhance the user experience and building security for tenants and visitors at the 46-storey landmark building in Sydney’s CBD, owned by Dexus Wholesale Property Fund.

“Tenants have a duty of care to protect their employees and visitors as well as valuable data and intellectual property, and they need the cooperation and support of a responsible and innovative building manager to manage secure entry into the building,” says Boon Edam Australia Managing Director Michael Fisher.

Boon Edam delivered the entrance security solution, with speedgates that are the slimmest in the market, which added to the aesthetics, and helped with design considerations within the width of the lift lobbies.

“We have tenants in Gateway who requested ground floor security, so we went out to tender to seek the best combination of sophisticated security and elegance, without being obtrusive to the building’s users,” says Dexus’ Senior Project Manager Stephen Hodge.

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The new entrance involves a complex integration of security and technology experts, including Boon Edam, Schindler Lifts, Honeywell and IDEMIA (the manufacturers of MorphoWave fingerprint scanning technology).

Gateway’s access solution begins with a sign-in system for guests, while authorised tenants will have their unique finger pattern saved. The guest pass, or your finger ID pattern, is then used on a MorphoWave fingerprint, which grants access to authorised personnel.

MorphoWave scans and verifies four fingerprints through a simple hand wave gesture, during which the sensor takes several 3D photos of the fingerprints to extract biometric data and compare with the authorised fingerprints stored in the device. If they match, the user is granted access.

This process all happens in less than one second.

Each Morphowave scanner is connected to Schindler’s PORT Technology, which then receives the user’s credential data and is cross-checked in the base building access control database. If the user is valid,

a command is sent to the Boon Edam Lifeline Speedlane to open. This interaction is surprising quick with limited latency.

A major part of the solution involves lift destination control, whereby a user’s credentials automatically assign a lift as they are verified and allowed access through the speedgate.

This seamless integration was assisted by an existing global partnership between Boon Edam and Schindler Lifts.

The partnership enables Schindler’s PORT 4 mini technology to be embedded into the speedgates at the manufacturing stage in the Boon Edam factory.

The design also incorporates a high-level interface between Schindler’s PORT Technology and Boon Edam speedstile to control the speedgates.

Using an advanced algorithm and the integrated Schindler PORT 4 mini lift destination control for visual and audio feedback, a lift is automatically assigned at the same time the gate is opening, for optimum efficiency. The security is controlled by Honeywell’s access control system, integrated with Schindler’s PORT Technology.

Honeywell has been managing the security and building management systems for the Gateway building since it was first opened in 1990.

Honeywell Asia-Pacific Solution Architect Leader Rhys Crabb says early engagement at all stages and a commitment to a collaborative approach enabled Dexus to select the best available technologies.

“With so many stakeholders, and a strong need for reliability and quality, it was important that everyone knew the goals of the

project and worked well together. I’m pleased to say that it was like a perfect jigsaw and everything came together smoothly,” say Dexus’ Hodge “What was important to Dexus is that we were pushing the boundaries to create better experiences, but we’re only doing so with proven products. Boon Edam’s speedgates have been installed globally and locally, and this gave us added confidence that they were the right product for this forward-looking project,” he says.

“Another significant help with this project was that the companies involved built a prototype, located at Schindler’s Head Office based in Sydney, so that the Dexus management and technical teams could test the solution well in advance of implementing it at Gateway.”

Fingerprint scanners were chosen to control access to secured floors and areas of the building, because it provided an extra level of privacy that was attractive to tenants.

“A computer algorithm converts each person’s unique fingerprint signature into binary code – zeroes and ones – and uses that code to grant access,” explains Hodge.

“Boon Edam speedgates have the ability to integrate facial recognition, which could be highly valuable in other projects, but the fingerprint scanners were the right fit for this building.

Boon Edam made it simple to integrate them with their speedgates, which helped us meet project deadlines,” he says.

Dexus Facility Manager, Gateway, Bill Garrett, says one of the major benefits of the new entry system is that there’s a dedicated underground entrance for tradespeople, couriers and deliveries, which removes congestion and bulky trolleys from the main lobby.

“It’s all about enhancing the user experience, and Gateway will set a new benchmark for a seamless, secure and aesthetically pleasing entry,” he says.

Garrett explains that to get tenants used to a totally new system, they adopted a staged approach. “At first, the speedgates were there, but left in the open position, then some gates were closed, so that tenants could trial entering using the new technology if they wished, in advance of the entire system being fully implemented.

“In addition to this staged approach, we met with key tenants and allowed them to trial the system in advance. The testing, combined with the staged approach, allowed for a smooth transition to the new security technology,” says Garrett.

Royal Boon Edam produces a range of revolving doors, security doors & portals, speed gates, tripod turnstiles, access gates and full height turnstiles. darren.assey@boonedam.com www.boonedam.com.au safetynews.co.nz

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Yearbook 2021

Time to N rethink our no compromise view of plastics WASTE MANAGEMENT

There is a future for plastic waste in road construction and maintenance among others

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o doubt, waste plastic is a significant contributor to Australasian waste generation with way too much of it going to landfill.

But there is good argument also for including the use of plastics and composites in our circular economy ambitions.

For example, there is growing interest in exploring the viability of using recycled plastic in roads with advantages to the environmental and the development of sustainable

Yearbook 2021 In 2018, a series of road trials took place around Australia, mainly involving two proprietary products from suppliers MacRebur and Downer EDI. The report provides details and performance testing results reported by the manufacturers of these two products.

It was found that soft plastics were the materials such as reclaimed asphalt pavement, crumb rubber, glass and crushed concrete have been increasingly used for road pavement construction.

All of the commercial products available in the Australian and New Zealand market are made from different classes of plastics and little is known about the manufacturing process.

Since the Australian trials with recycled plastic only commenced in 2018, it is important that the performance of these pavements be monitored over the longer term, the report says

predominant material used in road trials in Australia.

Soft plastics are those that can be scrunched into a ball such as plastic shopping bags, bread bags, cereal bags, bubble wrap, fruit and vegetable bags, packaging, netting.

Still, if recycled plastic can be successfully incorporated into pavements it will enhance road-building material options and lessen the reliance on virgin non-renewable resources.

There will be environmental and, potentially, commercial benefits arising from reduced landfill and the benefits associated with a consistent and reliable source of recycled materials for the road building industry.

The use of recycled plastics will improve sustainability through climate and infrastructure resilience

benefits.

The most commonly recycled plastics are PET, HDPE, LDPE and PP which comprise more than 85 percent of all reprocessed Australian plastics.

The report suggests the use of HDPE, LDPE and polyethylene terephthalate (PET) are most prevalent for binder and asphalt modification. PET also has a high potential for reuse.

Some plastics are more difficult to reprocess owing to their chemical properties, resulting in increased proportions being sent to landfill.

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road making materials.

A report late last year by Austroads, a collective of Australian and New Zealand transport agencies, found that waste plastic can act as a partial aggregate replacement in bituminous mixes and a binder extender without having any significant influence on the properties of the asphalt mix.

While there may be environmental benefits associated with the use of recycled plastic, there are concerns regarding the potential health and safety hazards, mainly relating to the workers using the material.

Not all recycled plastics are suitable for bitumen modification at high temperatures. For example, heating poly-vinyl chloride (PVC) at high temperatures can result in dangerous chloride emissions.

In addition, alternative

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New ideas with soft plastics and glass Downers launched its soft-plastic trial road using Reconophalt in Craigieburn, north of Melbourne in 2018

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owner, Hume City Council, Close the Loop, Sustainability Victoria and RED Group worked in partnership to build the first ever Australian road with soft plastics, glass and toner.

The same day, the project was the first to be funded under the A$2.5 million Resource Recovery Market Development Programme of the Australian state to support market development for recovered resources materials.

Downer’s expertise in building infrastructure and

facilities combined with the ability of recycling companies such as Close the Loop allowed for the use of materials such as glass and printer cartridge toner to manufacture asphalt, effectively keeping it out of Australia’s waste stream.

Through the REDcycle program (hosted by the RED Group), unwanted plastic shopping bags and other soft plastics such as food packaging were collected from bins placed at major supermarkets to be re-used in an environmentally responsible manner.

It is not limited to only using recently banned plastic bags. Sustainability Victoria estimates that 170,000 tonnes of soft plastic waste is created in Victoria each year, with only 17,000 tonnes or 10 percent recovered The programme is not limited to only using recently banned plastic bags.

Sustainability Victoria estimates that 170,000 tonnes of soft plastic waste is created in Victoria each year, with only 17,000 tonnes or 10 percent recovered.

Close the Loop trans-

forms the soft plastics collected by the REDcycle program along with waste toner collected through programs such as Cartridges 4 Planet Ark to develop an asphalt additive called TonerPlas.

TonerPlas is then mixed with glass and Reclaimed Asphalt Pavement (RAP) to produce the final proprietary product named Reconophalt.

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Yearbook 2021 risks and scalability in a real-world application.

There is no risk of releasing microplastics into the environment. The asphalt is made up of 95 percent aggregate and five percent bituminous binder.

The bituminous binder is the ‘glue’ that bonds and waterproofs the aggregates.

The soft plastics additive melts and becomes part of the bituminous binder.

Because of this process it is not possible for the additive to separate out creating microplastics.

This method involves returning plastic waste to its original polymer state which is used as a substitute for virgin petrochemical products which are normally mined for use in road construction.

The roads industry has used virgin polymers since the 1990s and this soft plastics initiative follows a similar vein; where asphalt manufactures modify a road construction material to improve long term performance.

The sustainable, cost-competitive road has a 65 per cent improvement in fatigue life and a superior resistance to deformation allowing it to better handle heavy vehicle traffic.

When scaled up from the Melbourne trial, every kilometre of two-lane road paved with plastic and glass modified asphalt would use about 530,000 recycled plastic bags and packaging, 170,000 recycled glass bottles, toner from 12,500 used printer cartridges, 130 tonnes of reclaimed road (asphalt) re-used with the inclusion of 20 percent RAP. It is not limited to only using recently banned plastic bags. Sustainability Victoria estimates that 170,000 tonnes of soft plastic waste is created in 98

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New Zealand Experience Fulton Hogan, in partnership with Christchurch Airport, conducted a trial with recycled plastic modified asphalt mix.

PlastiPhalt®, which was developed by Fulton Hogan and used to pave half of Christchurch Airport’s fire station.

PlastiPhalt® is made from used oil containers collected through Fulton Hogan’s Recovering Oil Saves the Environment (ROSE) scheme.

Previously, these containers could not be reused due to the residual oil left on the inner surface.

Victoria each year, with only 17,000 tonnes or 10 percent recovered.

However, it costs 2-5 percent more than standard asphalt due to the additive production and transport costs. Despite this, it was claimed that it was still 25% cheaper than PMB-modified.

In 2014, the company began its research program by shredding these plastic containers to an ideal size before incorporating them into an asphalt-grade bitumen.

PlastiPhalt® is used to modify the asphalt mix required to meet the performance requirements of any given site.

Once it is blended and ready to be used, it is sampled and laboratory tested to ensure the level of modification is achieved.

Additional plastic material can be added to fine-tune the mix, if required.

Alex Fraser has recently resurfaced two municipal streets in the City of Yarra, Victoria with its proprietary product, PolyPaveTM. The resurfacing of Stanley and Margaret Streets in Richmond was reported to contain recycled glass, asphalt and HDPE plastic (hard plastic/bottles), amounting to almost 100 tonnes of recycled waste.

The city has re-engaged Alex Fraser to repair and repave several more streets.

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Place your order now for the recycled plastic modular road

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Industrial manufacture of the PlasticRoad will start in the first quarter of 2021

In September 2018, a 30-metre-long bicycle path called PlasticRoad, composed of recycled plastics, was installed in Zwolle, Netherlands.

The innovation was the result of collaboration between three companies, an engineering firm KWS (a VolkerWessels company), Wavin (a subsidiary of the plastic piping company Mexicham), and an energy company Total.

The first pilot trial in Zwolle involved the use of 70 percent of recycled plastic, including plastic bottles, beer cups, cosmetic packaging, plastic furniture and the like.

Besides the effective use of waste plastic that would otherwise have been incinerated or dumped into landfill, the construction of the path was fast and easy.

This was because the road design incorporated prefabricated and lightweight modular pieces put together like Lego.

The path was installed in a matter of days, thus reducing of the normal down-

time and traffic obstruction often related to traditional road construction methods.

The modular design also resulted in a reduction of in the levels of greenhouse gas emissions typically associated with conventional road construction methods.

PlasticRoad is hollow. As a result, it offers many benefits, including the ability to cater for utility services such as pipelines and cables for high-speed internet, and the storage of rainwater to mitigate flooding.

It was reported that this concept offers opportunities for further innovation such as solar roads, light poles and traffic loop sensors.

A second pilot trial was established by the same partnership in November 2018 in the town of Giethoorn.

Similar to the first trial, this was also a 30-metre long bicycle track but smaller and smaller and lighter equipment was used to ‘pick and drop’ the fabricated pieces.

A

fter more than 18 months of testing, learning and continued development into a design suited for industrial production, the circular economy technology known as PlasticRoad is now ready for commercial launch.

At the time of their installation in 2018, both test roads in the Netherlands were fitted with sensors that enabled 24/7 monitoring of their use and behaviour.

It has become clear from practical tests and data that the PlasticRoad is also a match for heavier loads like garbage trucks and maintenance vehicles.

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ger than the test sections.

This makes the PlasticRoad suited at this stage for applications like parking lots, and the first pilot project for this application is underway.

The eventual realisation of the first PlasticRoad for cars and other road traffic has become more likely than ever, the project team says.

“The PlasticRoad has proven able to handle heavy loads and offers an effective solution for water management with heavy precipita-

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tion and periods of drought.

It holds up under a wide range of conditions and the group behind the PlasticRoad initiative are “exceptionally satisfied with the results of the pilot project and look forward to seeing the first PlasticRoad element roll off the production line.”

Marcel Jager and Anne Koudstaal of the PlasticRoad project team say “ we have proven that our ground-breaking circular concept – a prefab road

based on recycled plastic – is feasible in practice.

“An initiative that started in 2018 with two pilot projects is now ready for industrial production – a feat that we are incredibly proud of.”

Each pilot contained about 1000 kg of recycled plastics, the equivalent of 218,000 plastic cups.

The pilot version of the PlasticRoad has already cut carbon emissions by between some 50 percent and 70 percent compared

to conventional bike paths made from asphalt or concrete.

The group says this percentage stands to increase even further when the finalised design is taken into industrial production in 2021.

The circular characteristics of the finalised product have been optimised by further developing the road’s structural design – an achievement that has been confirmed by an independent circular audit.

Yearbook 2021 very well in practice.

“Before the two test sections were installed, both locations used to be affected by water storage problems,” the group says.

“But with PlasticRoad, even the heaviest showers proved to have a minimal impact on local storage capacity.

“The highest water level measured within the PlasticRoad was only 48 percent of the available storage capacity at one test site.

The water subsequently infiltrates the subsoil within the next two days – exactly as predicted.

The project looks certain to encounter strong interest from the market.

Based on the convincing results recorded in the pilot projects, the PlasticRoad team are taking he production line into operation.

The PlasticRoad is available for orders immediately with initial deliveries in the first quarter of 2021.

Working together with clients and contractors, PlasticRoad will be launching a variety of applications that can help make cities and towns climate-adaptive and carbon-neutral.

For example, the PlasticRoad planning includes bike paths, parking lots, pavements and schoolyards. The team will initially be focusing on clients in the Netherlands and neighbouring countries, after which they expect to scale up to markets in other parts of the world. www.plasticroad.eu

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Climate-adaptive infrastructure Extreme precipitation and heavy showers are becoming increasingly common as a consequence of climate change.

In many cases, current infrastructure struggles to accommodate all the excess water – with flooded streets as the result.

The hollow sections under the PlasticRoad’s surface are intended to quickly store this sudden precipitation and then gradually allow it to infiltrate the subsoil.

This climate-adaptive solution turns out to work

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Three products developed and tested from simple ideas in India

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n 2015, a commercial plastic waste recycling venture was released in Scotland.

The idea behind the product was inspired by practice in Southern India of retrieving waste plastic to fill up potholes.

Diesel was then poured over it and the mix set on fire until the plastic melted into the craters and formed a makeshift plastic pothole

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filler.

India has been using plastic in the construction of roads since the turn of the century, following a process developed by Rajagopalan Vasudevan, a chemistry professor at Thiagarajar College of Engineering in the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu.

Vasudevan's process involves scattering shredded plastic over hot stones

to form a thin, primer coat.

This is then added to bitumen, resulting in a strong bond.

To date, this method has been used on an estimated 100,000 kilometers of roads across India.

In late 2015, the Indian road transport ministry made it mandatory to construct roads using waste plastic in most urban areas.

MacRebur has now pro-

duced three products (MR6, MR8 and MR10) made from domestic and industrial waste plastic.

These products have a melting point lower than that of typical asphalt and binder production temperatures, enabling it to melt into the binder to extend and modify it.

These three products come in a different colours and forms:

Yearbook 2021

The proof is in the plastic Testing was undertaken to compare the behaviour of a binder that had been supplemented with the MacRebur products -- MR6, MR8 and MR10.

When 4.5 percent of MR6 was added to the C170 binder, the properties were similar to a A35P bitumen with good torsional recovery and an increased softening point to about 78 degrees celsius.

This was in line MacRebur’s claims that MR6 mimics a plastomeric polymer and MR10 an elastomeric polymer.

However, the MR10 blend was much stiffer, which contradicted the claim.

There was no significant difference in the properties when the MR8 was added to the C170 bitumen.

Six per cent (by mass of bitumen) of MR6 and MR10 was added to the C320 bitumen through a batch plant.

Another two batches of asphalt were prepared which were C320 and Multigrade M1000 control mixes.

The deformation resistance of the MR6 mix was superior to the M1000 mix.

However, the tensile strength of both the MR6 and MR10 mixes dropped drastically when the mix was exposed to moisture.

The addition of MR6 to the C320 mix resulted in an increase in stiffness similar to the M1000 mix, but very little difference with the MR10 mix.

However, the fatigue results for the MR6 were poor, suggesting no improvement to the life cycle of the asphalt. The fatigue life of the MR10 mix, on the other hand, was slightly higher but minimal compared to the results for the C320 and M1000 mixes.

It was suggested that this behaviour could be due to the poor digestion of the waste plastic material in the samples, as some pellets were still visible.

An asphalt mix containing British pen grade 40/60 bitumen (equivalent to C320) modified with 6 percent MR6, MR8 and MR10 was undertaken.

Testing was conducted according to British Standard EN 13108-5:2016 and it was found that the addition of all three products resulted in an improvement in deformation resistance and overall structural contribution.

MR10 had the highest stiffness modulus, whilst MR6 had the most significant effect on asphalt fracture resistance and deformation resistance.

This contrasted with the original intention of MR6 to exhibit plastomeric properties rather than MR10.

The tests also suggested that the addition of MR6 and MR10 resulted in improved fracture toughness and fatigue life.

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• MR6 – comes in pellet form and is intended to be incorporated directly into the asphalt production plant. It modifies the asphalt by increasing its tensile strength and the softening point. It is flexible but rigid and unbreakable.

It is reported to work well in hot conditions (like Australia) as it has a melting point of 110 °C. • MR8 – a shredded plastic. It was developed to be a more economical bitumen extender without any performance enhancement. It is a cheaper version of MR6.

• MR10 – comes in pellet form (looks similar to MR6).

It was developed to provide a more crack-resistant binder. In contrast to MR6, it is flexible in a solid form - it rebounds when flexed.

It was reported that it worked well in colder climates such as the UK, Canada and Russia.

In 2017, Cumbria County Council was the first highway authority in the UK to trial MacRebur’s plastic-based material.

An equivalent of 500,000 plastic bottles and over 800,000 one-time-use plastic bags were recycled for a 400m long by 20m wide strip of road.

MacRebur says the company aims to use a ratio of 50/50 domestic and commercial waste for local road applications.

In Australia, MacRebur performed a road trial for Brisbane in 2018.

There is limited information about this trial in the public domain although it is understood that a series of performance tests has been conducted by Brisbane City Council’s Pavement Division in association with the University of Sunshine Coast, Boral and Fulton Hogan.

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Tired of R the retired tyres problem Periodic government recommitment to environmental purity are to be welcomed, particularly those which effectively deal with hazardous waste The views expressed by Content Partner, Responsible Care Chief Executive Barry Dyer, may not necessarily be those of Responsible Care NZ

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egrettably, the latest government decision to regulate selective Product Stewardship requirements without adequate consideration of how this might best be achieved, are frustrating options for re-purposing products or removing them from the environment.

Nobody would argue the need to better manage the ever-increasing waste swamping landfills and polluting New Zealand Inc. the latest pronouncement of more money will not, in itself, resolve this long-running environmental conundrum.

Our waste disposal predicament is not new – we simply bury or export our waste, conflicting with our ‘Clean and Green’ persona, particularly plastic, electronic waste and tyres.

Most plastic and electronics were exported to countries where we assumed they were responsibly dealt with. Subsequent bans on imported waste by China and several other countries receiving our trash, highlighted the unacceptable reality of the harm our detritus was causing Renewed focus on how to address polluting stockpiles of old tyres reveals that New Zealand seems incapable of resolving our growing inventory of hazardous stockpiles throughout the country.

A massive collection of waste chemicals to be cleaned up in Northland reveals the inadequacy of both site operators and enforcement agencies.

Huge dumps of old tyres throughout the country undermine the efforts by a few companies to successfully recycle this valuable resource. Unsurprisingly, that is quite a challenge, especially in New Zealand Inc, hobbled by its plethora of regulations, local protest and inadequate infrastructure.

Substantial government funding is now available to develop product stewardship schemes, including expanding an e-waste pilot project and focusing on the recycling of old tyres.

The expectation is that we will invest in expanding onshore recycling efforts to demonstrate our commitment to the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), expressed in the ‘Circular Economy’ concept of re-purposing unwanted products or disposing of them responsibly.

Funding is not the primary issue - effective solutions are.

Closer to home, successful initiatives are led by industry colleague Plastics

NZ’s support for expanding re-purposing of products to facilitate new uses and progressively minimise waste. A recovery team collects increasing quantities of Agchem containers and the plastic baling wrap from farms, for a modest surcharge included in the product price.

Tyres are an interesting example. The world is awash with old tyres and globally, an estimated half are incinerated to provide energy. Yet tyres provide valuable reusable materials comprising oil (50 percent), carbon black (30 percent), steel (10 percent) and gas (10 percent). Recovered by pyrolysis via oxygen free heating, utilising the gas emitted during the process satisfies at least SDG targets seven, nine, 12 and 13.

Singaporean scientists are combining polymer recovered from tyres, with a gel to produce aerogels, super lightweight solids with many applications, ranging from batteries and electronics to insulation and lunar rovers.

For several years, retailers and vehicle operators, including motorists, have reportedly been paying a tyre

Why can’t we resolve this long-running environmental embarrassment?

The transition to the post-Covid 19 economy requires a transformational strategy, together with rapid investment in successfully resolving major environmental issues, particularly the implementation of pragmatic, long-term and cost-effective alternatives to landfills and illegal dumps.

A major roadblock to resolving our increasing waste issues is government regulating without first ensuring comprehensive infrastructure is in place, by learning from international role models.

We need to accept that advancing technology can provide optimum solutions. Most international solutions for waste tyres involve pyrolysis.

Opposition to modern incineration technology to convert waste to energy, frustrates attempts to implement comprehensive, national waste management solutions reflecting our commitment to UN Sustainability Goals. Meanwhile, we continue to incinerate tyres in less envicollection fee of $4-$5 to defray the cost of recycling, while at the same time the tyre mountains continue to grow across the country.

Encouraged by grants totalling $17m from the Waste Minimisation Fund, local company Waste Man-

ronmentally friendly cement kilns.

Rather than more money for pilot projects, invest in increasing the capacity of proven recycling operations such as waste management, to eliminate dangerous tyre stockpiles.

Not accepting the export of waste chemicals for incineration is both redundant and hypocritical. More enlightened European and Asian countries with the world’s toughest environmental controls, incinerate waste, including tyres, as an alternate energy source. Economy of scale is important, often putting the recycling of valued components out of reach in high wage economies; however, continuing to burn our hazardous waste abroad or in inefficient local facilities, is not only unethical, but a tragic ‘waste’ of an opportunity for an enduring ultimate energy source.

By the way, where has the Tyre Collection Levy gone?

agement is successfully processing and re-purposing approximately 50% of the six million waste tyres discarded each year. Tyres are shredded and used as fuel in cement kilns.

Additional funding would enable Waste Management

to double throughput and make inroads into the illegal tyre dumps.

Various other tyre recycling ventures have received sporadic taxpayer funding for years; most have failed. safetynews.co.nz

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Yearbook 2021

ENERGY

The world’s largest and most efficient gas turbine Grid-connected validation de-risks equipment purchases, ensures reliability and insurability

M

itsubishi Hitachi Power Systems’ T-Point 2 combined cycle power plant validation facility has entered full commercial operation with an enhanced JAC gas turbine that sets the record for output and efficiency.

MHPS’ most advanced JAC gas turbine, designed for maximum efficiency and

lower emissions, is now integrated with MHPS-TOMONI® digital solutions for verification and validation at T-Point 2.

The gas turbine is entering commercial operation at record-setting combined cycle efficiency greater than 64 percent and a world’s first turbine inlet temperature of 1650°C.

This gas turbine reduces carbon emissions by 65 percent compared with coal-fired plants. In addition, it has the capability for conversion from natural gas to a blend of natural gas with 30 percent renewable hydrogen to reduce emissions further.

Eventually it will be capable of running on 100 percent renewable hydrogen to completely eliminate carbon emissions.

MHPS demonstrates new gas turbine capabilities at its own combined cycle power plant before shipping to customers. This enables the company to provide unmatched performance, such as the 99.5 percent reliability of its J-Series gas turbines The T-Point 2 plant was commissioned in March at Takasago Works in Japan, to replace MHPS’ original T-Point plant and to continue MHPS’ approach advance the limits of technology while minimising risk to its customers.

To do this, MHPS validates its new gas turbine

technologies and digital solutions under long-term grid-connected operation for a minimum of 8,000 operating hours, which is equivalent to nearly one year of normal operation and is a key insurance industry criterion for fleet reliability.

The digital building blocks of the autonomous power plant being validated at T-Point 2 include an advanced Automatic Plant Startup package that is closely linked to the advanced analytics and diagnostics that continuously monitor the total plant.

To validate complete remote operation, operations will be transferred from the local control room to the Takasago Remote Monitoring Center. Operations and maintenance building blocks under evaluation include an advanced array of acoustic, video, and thermographic data acquisition sensors monitored by advanced analytics that are being trained to identify pattern changes.

T-Point 2 is also evaluating the first ever Netmation 4S Digital Control System to be used on an advanced class gas turbine combined cycle plant. Netmation 4S adds additional reliability, redundancy, and enhanced operator experience to the well-proven family of control systems.

“This project positions us years ahead of any manufacturer in putting the latest generation of 1650°C gas turbine technology into commercial operation,” says President and CEO of MHPS Americas Paul Browning. mhps.com twitter.com/MHPS_Global linkedin.com/company/ mitsubishi-hitachi-powersystems

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Delivering infrastructure

POLICY

A report by Simpson Grierson

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Yearbook 2021

Planning

Summary of reform New processes and powers recently introduced (and under development) may go some way to resolving the planning challenges facing infrastructure development in New Zealand.

Recent reforms have included the streamlining of RMA processes and the introduction of new

powers via the COVID-19 Recovery (Fast-track Consenting) Act 2020 (Fasttrack Act) and the Urban Development Act 2020 (UDA).

The Resource Management Amendment Act 2020 has also made some changes to the RMA, with far more substantial RMA reform in the near future following the review of the resource management system.

In July, the Resource Management Review Panel released its report and recommendations on RMA reform. Its recommendations included repealing the RMA and replacing it with three new Acts: the Natural and Built Environments Act, the Strategic Planning Act and the Managed Retreat and Climate Change Adaptation Act (see diagram).

COVID-19 Recovery (Fast-track Consenting) Act 2020 The Fast-track Consenting Act has introduced an alternative, truncated consenting process for projects that can demonstrate they will provide an immediate boost to employment and economic recovery. It is the key tool required to facilitate an infrastructure-led recovery, with large-scale infrastructure projects obvious candidates for the fast-track consenting process.

Fast-track consenting is intended to get projects started, and people into jobs, faster than would otherwise happen under standard RMA consenting and approval processes.

The 17 projects initially identified were included on the basis that they were “shovel ready” and only

POLICY

Challenges While our national population and urban centres are rapidly growing, the provision of development capacity and infrastructure necessary to keep up with growth is lagging.

This deficit has coincided with a time when the natural environment is under significant pressure from the effects of climate change, threats to biodiversity and wider environmental decline – resulting in environmental bottom lines becoming increasingly more stringent and difficult to meet.

In this setting, an efficient and effective planning framework that is able to cope with those competing tensions in a timely and cost-effective way is critical. Yet timeframes and costs for consenting within the Resource Management Act 1991 (RMA) framework have presented a challenge to the development of much needed infrastructure for some time.

Covid-19 has highlighted the potential challenges in getting necessary planning approvals fast enough to enable prompt commencement of work, and intensified the progress towards streamlining RMA processes.

reliant on RMA approvals before construction could commence.

However, given the long lead times that are generally required for infrastructure projects, we anticipate that only a subset of the anticipated projects will currently be able to take advantage of the fast-track consenting before the legislation self-repeals on 8 July 2022.

While other streamlining

options are available for infrastructure projects under the RMA, namely using the Board of Inquiry process or direct referral to the Environment Court, the fasttrack consenting process is the most truncated now available.

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POLICY

Yearbook 2021 velopment projects through the creation of Kāinga Ora (the Crown agency tasked with implementing the Government’s housing and urban development agenda).

Kāinga Ora’s well-publicised streamlined approval powers for urban development projects under the UDA are significant and will undoubtedly be used to speed up the delivery of major projects. However, they are likely to do little to address the broader time and cost issues with infrastructure or the RMA consenting process because: - the powers will only apply to Kāinga Ora’s projects (which are predominantly urban development projects) and will therefore be spatially limited; and - Kāinga Ora will, we expect, work collaboratively with private developers, iwi, and councils. So, although the UDA goes some way to streamlining the consenting process, there will still be many interests to take into account (perhaps no fewer than would arise through an RMA process).

What is next?

There will always be a tension between the need for large-scale infrastructure (and the large-scale of environmental effects that tend to accompany such infrastructure), and the protection of the natural environment from further decline.

As our national understanding of the effects of development on biodiversity and other important environmental values has grown, the planning frameworks that relate to those values have become more stringent. When considering existing infrastructure (for example, the hydro electricsafetynews.co.nz

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Proposed new planning and consenting framework

PROPOSED NEW PLANNING AND CONSENTING FRAMEWORK NATIONAL DIRECTION Natural and Built Environments Act

Strategic Planning Act

required for topics identified in the proposed Natural and Built Environments Act, including on resolving conflicts between those matters

REGIONAL SPATIAL STRATEGIES

Managed Retreat and Climate Change Adaptation Act includes powers to: change established land uses, and provide for compensation/ funding mechanisms to address adaptation and reduction of risks from natural hazards

will set objectives for long-term urban growth/land use changes, climate change response, and identifying areas that are inappropriate to develop

COMBINED PLANS

replace regional policy statements, regional plans and district plans

Natural and Built Environments Act

CONSENTS

clearer guidance in plans means consent applications are processed more efficiently

The recommendations have been welcomed by the Government and opposition parties alike, and the Government has announced it will repeal and replace the RMA. This will have very significant, permanent impacts on infrastructure development. For instance, the proposed Strategic Planning Act should reduce costs and increase the efficiency of land use and infrastructure planning, processes and funding, and would align multiple Acts (Local Government Act, Land Transport Management Act, Climate Change Response Act and the proposed Natural and Built Environments Act). ity generation in the South Island), it is sometimes difficult to imagine how it would gain approval today.

It should be noted that while the RMA can be seen as a barrier to progressing infrastructure, it can also compel infrastructure development. Recent examples include: • the National Policy Statement for Freshwater Management – driving the need for new infrastructure (for example higher levels of wastewater treatment) and making it more difficult to obtain consents for activities that have effects on freshwater bodies as a

result of increased environmental bottom lines; and • the National Policy Statement on Urban Development – requiring councils to plan well for growth including ensuring that areas identified for urban development will be adequately supported by infrastructure.

However, infrastructure has not had specific recognition under the RMA, so although the benefits of infrastructure projects may be significant, it is often challenging for infrastructure providers to find pathways through stringent regulation. Examples of this are particularly common in the

coastal environment as the New Zealand Coastal Policy Statement includes strong “avoidance” language that flows through to lower order planning documents.

In the longer term, RMA reform may respond to this issue. In the shorter term, it is possible that some balance could be achieved by central government considering where, when and how infrastructure may be provided for in more sensitive environments – and articulating this in a new national policy statement (that also makes it clear how that statement is to interact with existing statements).

Challenges 2020 has seen a meteoric rise in funding committed to infrastructure – initially through the $12 billion New Zealand Upgrade Programme and, more recently, through the $3 billion (‘shovel-ready’) Covid-19 Response and Recovery Fund, and $761 million water upgrade package.

The commitment to substantially increase funding available for critical infrastructure projects is welcome news to those that will directly benefit from particular projects, as well as others in the wider economy who will see the indirect benefits of infrastructure-led economic stimulation.

However, that stimulation will be a short term measure.

In the longer term, our infrastructure deficit will only be addressed if all stakeholders have the necessary tools to ensure that fit-for-purpose funding and financing solutions are available for viable projects.

In New Zealand, key amongst those stakeholders is local government, which manages in excess of $120 billion of assets – including most water and transport infrastructure. Yet, as has been well publicised, local government continues to face major constraints on its ability to both fund and finance the new and replacement infrastructure for which it is responsible.

Housing Infrastructure Fund Local authorities across the country are constrained by debt ceilings that limit capacity for debt to finance viable projects that are des-

perately needed to support Act), is expected to proless be maintained in public growth and replace aging vide an off-balance sheet ownership, by way of vestassets. solution for the funding and ing in the relevant public The Housing Infrastructure financing of local infrastruc- authority upon completion Fund ture.

Intergenerational equity: (HIF) – a one-off contestThe solution, known as the the model preserves the able $1 billion fund that pro- Infrastructure Levy Model, traditional use of long-term vided 10-year interest-free sidesteps existing financial debt finance as a means loans to high-growth constraints faced by many of spreading the cost of councils high-growth local authorinfrastructure in accordance to finance core infraities by providing for a with the principle of interstructure – was originally project company to be able generational equity conceived of as a solution to collect a multi-year levy Growth-pays-for-growth: toThe thissolution, problem.known However, (with the approval of thesidesteps in existing directing the levy to the as the Infrastructure Levy Model, financial while laudable in its intent, Crown and relevant local beneficiaries of constraints faced by many high-growth local authorities by providing for a project the on-balance sheet HIF authority) from the benefithe infrastructure, the modcompany to be able to collect a multi-year levy (with the approval of the Crown and debt needs to be includciaries of infrastructure and el provides for those who relevant local authority) from the beneficiaries of infrastructure and raise debt on the ed in local authority debt raise debt on the strength benefit from the infrastrucstrength of the levy cashflow. covenants and so does little of the levy cashflow. ture to pay for it. to address financial constraints.

Key features of the Development Act Key features of the Infrastructure Levy Model Infrastructure Levy Model Separately, the UDA Act off-balance sheet: the Off-balance project company willthe carry thehas debtprovided burden, Kāinga therebyOra Infrastructure Funding sheet: unshackling the project from the relevant local authority’s debt constraints and Financing Programme project company will carry with another avenue for Consequently, the Govthe debt burden, thereby therestriction funding and financing ownership: the IFF Act does not include any regulatory on the ernment sought, through unshackling the project of urban infrastructure ownership of the project company, making private investment a possibility its Infrastructure Funding from the relevant local auprojects. While the UDA Act infrastructure assets:thority’s the assets procured through the model must designed and Financing Programme debt constraints was principally nevertheless be maintained in publicthe ownership, vesting in the – a key part of the Urban Ownership: IFF Act by way as aoftool to streamline and relevant public authority upon completion Growth Agenda – to add to does not include any regconsolidate regulatory the tools and mechanisms ulatory restriction on the processes forofselected intergenerational equity: the model preserves the traditional use long- urlocal authorities and others ownership of the project ban development term debt finance as a means of spreading the cost of infrastructure in projects, have to fund and finance company,ofmaking private equity Part 4 of the UDA Act also accordance with the principle intergenerational infrastructure. investment a possibility provides Kāinga Ora with a growth-pays-for-growth: in directing the levy to the beneficiaries of powers inIts flagship legislation, the Infrastructure assets: the range of funding the Funding infrastructure, modelprocured provides through for those who benefit the Infrastructure and theassets cludingfrom rating and developFinancing infrastructure Act 2020 (IFFto pay for theit. model must neverthement contribution powers How the infrastructure levy model operates

HOW THE INFRASTRUCTURE LEVY MODEL OPERATES Owner/Investor 1. Establish project vehicle

Financiers 3. Finance raised 7. Finance repaid from levy

6. Infrastructure vests in usual owner

Project Vehicle

4. Construction cost paid from finance

Contractor(s)

Local Government

5. Procurement of infrastructure

Central

8. Last resort support Government

2. Long-term infrastructure levy

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POLICY

Funding and financing

Yearbook 2021

Yearbook 2021

POLICY

in parallel with territorial authorities.

Common among these tools is the creation of statutorily-created revenue streams for new entities that will allow them to attract finance for infrastructure procurement.

They also provide for infrastructure to be procured on a special purpose and a project-by-project basis, providing greater transparency as to the costs of infrastructure procurement and thereby contributing to a more informed cost/benefit debate.

Three Waters reform programme The Three Waters reform programme will consider optimal arrangements for water service delivery for the next generation of New Zealanders, but it seems clear at the outset that appreciable funding and financing benefits, at least, would accrue from aggregation within the sector.

The creation of new, asset-owning, entities that are remote from local authority

balance sheets is expected to support improved access to capital (not constrained by local authority debt ceilings) that could finance the current gap and, in turn, free up local authority balance sheets for other purposes.

(See pages 116-117 for more detail on the issues and opportunities.)

Tax incentives unlikely Tax incentives for investment in infrastructure remain a distant prospect, despite the Treasury and IRD being tasked with considering whether the tax system should have a role in driving infrastructure last year as part of the Government’s 18 month tax policy work programme.

The Treasury and IRD’s mandate followed a Tax Working Group recommendation after it was urged by the New Zealand Superannuation Fund (NZSF) to recommend tax incentives be used to encourage investment in nationally significant infrastructure projects, including a

reduced corporate tax rate for certain infrastructure investors.

The Treasury and IRD have now proposed that the current tax rules for infrastructure investment be reviewed to determine whether they “create any significant impediments”, with a statement that this would include consideration of the NZSF proposal. However, they went on to lay their cards face-up, stating that “officials’ starting point for this workstream is that there should be a high bar before diverging from the broad-base, low rate tax framework”.

Initial indications suggested Ministers would be briefed by the end of 2019 on “findings of engagement” by industry stakeholders. However, to date no report has been released. Officials’ obvious lack of enthusiasm, not to mention the subsequent onset of the pandemic and ensuing fiscal constraints, suggest there is unlikely to be serious progress on tax incentives in the foreseeable future.

What is next?

The measures taken by the Government to date go some way to unshackling infrastructure investment from the existing debt constraints of public authorities, and provide an avenue for private finance to help close the infrastructure funding gap.

While the use of private finance for municipal projects can be contentious, there are steps that can be taken to ensure investment is a financing solution only, and does not diminish public ownership and control of assets.

The legislation enacted by the current Government, in particular the IFF Act

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and the UDA, utilises those measures and represent a step forward for New Zealand’s infrastructure funding and financing toolkit.

However, greater reform is possible: • Employ receivables financing techniques to ensure that private investment is backed by (high-quality) public revenue streams only – not public assets • Provide for central and local government control over the tools, without privatisation by stealth • Regulate returns on finance where appropriate – to avoid exploitation of public projects for private gain.

• Expansion to other agencies and projects. The Infrastructure Levy Model was initially conceived of as financing tool for debt-constrained local authorities and is expected to be used (at least initially) for bulk infrastructure to support greenfields housing development. However, the IFF Act has been prepared on a flexible and permissive basis such that the model could be adapted for brownfields projects and/or by other public agencies – eg those that are responsible for transport infrastructure – providing avenues for finance to support a wider range of infrastructure delivery.

• Value capture. Regardless of what entity raises debt for infrastructure investment, someone must still pay for it. Finding new funding sources, and ways to fairly share the funding burden, therefore remains critical. Value capture techniques could, with minor regulatory reform, be deployed in New Zealand to unlock further funding sources in an equitable manner to support greater investment in infrastructure.

Yearbook 2021

Challenges Prior to Covid-19, both government and industry actors had recognised several challenges in contracting for the delivery of major projects and infrastructure in New Zealand – including: • inconsistent and uncoordinated construction pipeline planning • skills and labour shortages • unclear regulations • lack of coordinated leadership • uncertain pipeline of work • use of increasingly extensive special conditions by principals • construction company collapses.

Covid-19 has created additional challenges, in particular, amplifying the existing skills and labour shortage and also the uncertainty around project funding and delivery.

A major focus of recent reforms is the creation of schemes to identify and implement reform, notably the Construction Sector Accord (Accord) and the Infrastructure Commission. MBIE has also played an increasingly significant role in construction and procurement policy development.

Construction Sector Accord The Accord provides a platform for industry and government to work together on key challenges facing the sector. Most importantly, the Accord launched the three-year Construction Sector Transformation Plan in January 2020. Actions in the plan are focused on change in six areas: Leadership, Business Performance, People De-

POLICY

Contracting

velopment, Health, Safety and Wellbeing, Regulatory Environment and Procurement and Risk.

Procurement Rules and Guidelines MBIE has played its part with the release of new Government Procurement Rules (4th edition) and a set of Construction Procurement Guidelines designed to improve the quality and consistency of procurement by government agencies.

Retentions regime The retentions regime, requiring retention money to be held on trust, was introduced in 2017 to support the robustness of New Zealand’s contracting sector. The Government has now proposed changes to the regime to ensure it is fit-for-purpose as the construction sector continues to show signs of distress: • a new offence and penalties for non-compliant company directors and firms • strengthening how retention money is held to prevent firms from using it

as working capital • requiring a transparency statement stating where and how much retention money is held What is next?

The most immediate contracting challenge will be to address the continuing impact of Covid-19. MBIE and the Accord have published guidance notes in response to key contractual issues arising under NZS 3910 from the initial lockdown, including whether the lockdown necessitated suspension by the Engineer, application of change in law provisions and approaches for public sector agencies to value Covid-19 related variations.

However, the impact of Covid-19 on infrastructure delivery will continue for the immediate future. Parties are likely to adopt increasingly divergent contractual approaches to address the cost and time impacts of future lockdowns or work restrictions.

Common industry guidance on amendments to deal with these issues going

forward would mitigate the risk of fragmentation in the industry response to Covid-19 and a corresponding increase in claims and disputes.

In addition, infrastructure projects risk being delayed while supply chain issues limit the availability of specialist equipment and materials, and border restrictions prevent specialised labour resources from overseas from entering the country. Further consideration of these impacts by industry participants will be particularly relevant to larger infrastructure projects requiring specialist equipment and workforces for particular activities, such as tunnelling.

Beyond specific contracting amendments to address Covid-19, reforms to deliver a more efficient and equitable contracting model would help to facilitate successful delivery of the infrastructure pipeline. An industry-led set of proposed changes to NZS3910/ NZS3916 as a driver for contracting reform would be a welcome first step. safetynews.co.nz

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Structures & institutions

POLICY

Challenges Much has been made of New Zealand’s fragmented approach to procurement, inefficient division of infrastructure responsibilities between public sector agencies (particularly as between central and local government) and lack of centralised, strategic planning for nationally significant infrastructure.

Much work has been done to analyse New Zealand’s institutional frameworks

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for infrastructure delivery and consider best practice abroad.

While reform initiatives are underway to address the planning, funding and financing, and contracting issues that constrain our ability to deliver transformative infrastructure, meaningful advancements are unlikely to occur in the absence of appropriate structures and institutions that can promote, implement and guide those reforms.

The Government has

sought to deal with these issues by putting in place a framework of dedicated institutions and supporting legislation.

Infrastructure Commission By far the most significant step in this regard is the creation of the New Zealand Infrastructure Commission/Te Waihanga. Te Waihanga’s key roles are to produce a 30-year infrastructure strategy and support cen-

tral and local government entities to procure and deliver major infrastructure projects, with the intention to support more strategic infrastructure planning and delivery.

Te Waihanga has indicated it will deliver its draft 30 year strategy in late 2021, which will, amongst other things, identify priorities and barriers to good outcomes. The intention is that this plan will replace the government’s existing 30 year plan, last produced in

2015, and provide decision makers with a basis for bold reform and policy change, informed by independent, evidence-based analysis.

In the meantime, Te Waihanga also maintains and makes available an infrastructure pipeline of projects, to facilitate future planning and co-ordination across the wider industry.

New institutions Other new institutions and bodies have been established, including: • Kāinga Ora – Homes and Communities: this new Crown agency brings together the functions of

Housing New Zealand and its development subsidiary HLC, together with responsibility for leading urban development projects in partnership with Māori, local and central government, and others with the support of the UDA Act. Its creation should provide critical mass and a single focus point for the Government’s urban growth aspirations.

• Infrastructure Industry Reference Group (IIRG): the establishment of the IIRG, in April 2020, is a direct response to the early stages of Covid-19. Tasked with identifying and help to co-ordinate ‘shovel-ready’

projects across New Zealand, the relevance of the IIRG may be short-lived, but will nevertheless play a key role in the Government’s infrastructure-led recovery plans.

• Three Waters Review: in the wake of the Government inquiry into Havelock North’s drinking water and in the face of continued investment constraints, the Government has announced its intention to undertake a far-reaching review of water services delivery over a three year time horizon. Details of the proposed reforms are to be worked through by the Government with participating local authorities, but the Government has indicated a preference for multi-regional models, under local authority ownership, that will be: - of significant scale, to enable benefits from aggregation - asset-owing entities separated from local government, to support improved access to capital - statutory entities with commercial disciplines and competency-based boards.

What is next?

The Government has made good progress to date in putting in place more suitable institutions and structures to facilitate much needed infrastructure delivery, as well as one-off initiatives in response to Covid-19.

We expect that the composition of the new government after the 2020 election will affect some of the points of emphasis in the new measures, but, with all major parties supporting investment in infrastructure projects as a key part of the Covid-19 recovery, the overall thrust will remain.

In the short term, the work

done by Te Waihanga on a new 30 year strategy, and in particular its ability to guide investment to the right projects (as free from political interference as possible) that deliver long-term economic, social and environmental benefits to New Zealand, will be a critical first step.

With the advent of Covid-19 there is a risk that the long term strategy put forward by Te Waihanga may not be consistent with the Government’s desire to create employment opportunities and stimulate economic activity in the short term. However, resolving New Zealand’s long-standing infrastructure deficit will require institutions to take a long term view and it is therefore critical that Te Waihanga’s work is not side-tracked by the challenges in the short term. Other frameworks, such as the IIRG, are poised to focus on nearer term requirements.

Over the longer term, the Three Waters Reform Programme is poised to deliver perhaps the most significant structural reform to the infrastructure and local government sectors since the 1989 local government reforms – creating new public water agencies and freeing up local government to focus on the ‘four wellbeings’.

There will undoubtedly be competing tensions and priorities to work through, and a one-size-fits-all model may not work for all communities. But, with proper problem-framing, and meaningful engagement and collaboration, an outcome that both meets the needs of our communities and positions the country to address our long-standing infrastructure deficit is there for the taking. safetynews.co.nz

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Yearbook 2021

Yearbook 2021

Challenges “source to tap, and back to measure service perforprocess. An additional two A sector review following again”. They vary across mance. tranches of investment the Government inquiry into communities, but have The challenges will have will be announced at later Havelock North’s drinking been framed in the followbeen exacerbated by strategic dates. The first water revealed shortcoming way by the Department Covid-19 and resulting fore- tranche of funding will ings in New Zealand’s of Internal Affairs: casted revenue decreases. support local authorities Three Waters infrastructure • Funding and financing: Climate change is another to maintain planned but (drinking, waste and storm Many local authorities, parfactor, making droughts unfunded investment and water). The exact scale of ticularly smaller ones, will more likely and putting asset quality, with the the problem remains unbe unable to fund the infrapressure on existing assets. further tranches expected clear as, in some communi- structure upgrades required to, among other things, ties, drinking and wastewa- to meet safety standards, Reform on the horizon support large scale asset ter assets remain ungraded, keep pace with population To address these challeng- replacements. and uncertainty exists as growth (or decline), and es, central government has At a high level, the reforms to our stormwater sysbuild resilience against committed to system-wide propose the creation of tem’s resilience to climate natural events. reforms to water service multi-regional, asset-ownchange. However, it is clear • Capacity and capadelivery arrangements uning water service providers that significant investment bility: The attraction and der the recently announced jointly owned by grouped is required. retention of special techniThree Waters Reform Prolocal authorities. Larger Being largely owned and cal skills necessary to run gramme. The programme is scale providers, it is hoped, operated by local authoricomplex water infrastrucintended to involve collabo- will benefit from stronger tiesAand their council-conture and manage assets–is the ration between central and balance sheets, an ability to related measure, the Taumata Arowai Water Services Regulator Act, establishes trolled organisations, the another challenge, again local government to provide raise more funding, econoa new water regulator (Taumata Thisfor body will oversee, administer and enforce burden of managing and particularly forArowai). smaller local a fit-for-purpose model mies of scale, more technimaintaining Waterswater authorities. and,also at theimproving same time, introcal expertise and the ability the newThree drinking regulatory system, while the environmental infrastructure has largely • Regulation: The regula- networks. duce investment stimulus to co-ordinate approaches performance of wastewater and stormwater fallen on local authorities – tory environment is weak. to support New Zealand’s within catchment areas. some of whom may struggle Broadly speaking, there Covid-19 recovery.

On the regulatory The three-year reform programme will be led by the Department of Internal Affairs side, a without support to respond are issues with inadequate In July 2020, the Governnew Water Services Bill is, working Waters Steering Committee engageawith key stakeholders, such given the sheerwith scaleaofThree stewardship, compliance, ment to announced funding at the date of publication, investment monitoring and enforcepackage of $761 million ear- making its way through as localrequired. government and iwi/Māori.

The challenges facing the ment practices across marked for local authorities, the Parliamentary process.

It will broadly be delivered in Waters, three tranches with the intention that new water Three Waters sector are the Three and no conditional on authorities Thisdedicated Bill comprehensively saidentities to be systemic, from formal economic regulation participating in the reform reforms the drinking water will be fully operational by 1 July 2023: The three tranches

SECTOR

TRANCHE 1

TRANCHE 2

Engage with iwi/Māori to establish interests in reform programme

Council agreement to MOU triggers tranche #1 of stimulus release

#

Councils work with stakeholders and iwi to consider multi-region groupings

1

YEAR 1: 1 JUL 2020 – 30 JUN 2021 #

GOVERNMENT

POLICY

Three waters

Partner with sector through joint Steering Committee

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1

Councils opt-in to multi-regional groupings and undertake preestablishment planning. Triggers possible further stimulus.

YEAR 2: 1 JUL 2021 – 30 JUN 2022 #

Confirm features and commence drafting legislation Release tranche #1 of stimulus

Guidance to the sector on entity design considerations

Legislation introduced

2

TRANCHE 3 Related to formation of new entities.

Triggers possible further stimulus.

Release tranche #2 of stimulus

Local elections

YEAR 3: 1 JUL 2022 – 30 JUN 2023 #

Legislation passes

New entities commence operation

3

Release tranche #3 of stimulus

POLICY

Yearbook 2021

regulatory system and proposes new national-level reporting and monitoring functions for wastewater and storm water.

A related measure, the Taumata Arowai – the Water Services Regulator Act, establishes a new water regulator (Taumata Arowai).

This body will oversee, administer and enforce the new drinking water regulatory system, while also improving the environmental performance of wastewater and stormwater networks.

The three-year reform programme will be led by the Department of Internal Affairs working with a Three Waters Steering Committee to engage with key stakeholders, such as local government and iwi/Māori.

It will broadly be delivered in three tranches with the intention that new dedicated water entities will be fully operational by 1 July 2023.

The scale of the anticipated reform, and its complexity, should not be underestimated. It represents the

largest reform to affect local Programme. government since 1989.

Prior to 1996, Scotland’s WATER REFORM IN SCOTLAND Each local authority will water industry was manScotland, in many sharesby be impacted in a different aged andways, operated characteristics similar to New Zealand. way, depending on the state twelve local authorities.

At Both countries have small populations, of its Three Waters assets, that time, Scotland’s water abundant water resources and similar the extent of investment GDPs. The industry facing Scottishwas water reformmany of required, and the size of experience thehas same alsosystemic been held chalout as its rating base. The ability lenges New reasons, Zealand’s an exemplar and,that for those to navigate these issues it appears Three industry likelyWaters to influence the is under the Three Waters in a way that addresses proposals currently experiencing Reform (such Programme. the interests of all affected as industry fragmenparties – as well as striking a need for major Prior to tation, 1996, Scotland’s water industry and operated an appropriate balance was managed reinvestment, andbyconcerns At that time, between the competing twelve local overauthorities. water quality).

Scotland’s water industry was facing its interests of critical mass, Scotland consolidated many of the same systemic challenges on the one hand, and local water services into three that New Zealand’s Three Waters representation, on the other Public Water Authorities industry is currently experiencing (such – will be fundamental to as the in 1996, and again in 2002 industry fragmentation, a need for success of the programme. into a single Governmajor reinvestment, and concerns over ment-owned entity, Scottish water quality).

Water reform in Scotland The water industry ScotlandWater. consolidated its water servicesis Scotland, in many ways,into three overseen by three regulaPublic Water Authorities in shares characteristics 1996, and tors: anineconomic again 2002 into aregulator, single similar to New Zealand. Government-owned an independent entity, regulator Scottish of Water. The water industry is overseen Both countries have small drinking water quality and regulators: an economic populations, abundant by threean environmental regulator. regulator,Scottish an independent water resources and similar Waterregulator has touted of drinking water quality and an GDPs. The Scottish water major benefits arising from environmental regulator. reform experience has also the consolidation of water Scottishservices Water hasin touted major(see been held out as an exemScotland benefits arising from the consolidation plar and, for those reasons, right) but it remains to be of water services in Scotland (see right) it appears likely to influseen whether similar results but it remains to be seen whether ence the proposals under wouldwould arisearise in New Zealand similar results in New the Three Waters ReformZealandfrom similar reform. from similar reform.

Scotland's water reform

£8 billion

of investment undertaken since Scottish Water’s formation

Operating cost savings of

40%

High levels of water quality with 99.92% of all tests taken complying with strict regulatory standards

Better environmental outcomes, including reducing leakage by over

55% Information from the Scottish Water Annual Report safetynews.co.nz

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POLICY

Climate change Funding for climate positive 'shovel-ready' projects New Zealand has an opportunity to emerge from Covid-19 with a stronger, more durable economy. As part of our recovery, on 4 September, the Government announced a principle list of ‘shovel ready’ projects that will receive $2.4 billion in funding from the Covid-19 Response and Recovery Fund.

The project allocated the most funding is the bundle of 12 regional Climate Resilience Packages which amounts to $212 million of the fund allocation. Other priority projects include $100 million for storage investment to enable 100% renewable electricity and $71.5 million for major cycleway routes.

The Government had earlier indicated a preference for climate positive projects such as water, transport, clean energy, and building projects. At least some of the proposed infrastructure project choices are based on future environmental expectations and align with New Zealand’s climate change agenda.

Identifying the right projects Projects that can be implemented quickly, and that target households which have been particularly hard hit by the Government’s response to the pandemic, are more likely to feed through directly to consumption.

Such projects are also more likely to align with New Zealand’s Living Standards Framework and the UN Sustainable Development Goals, and positive safetynews.co.nz

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effects for households and businesses can be harvested in the short term – eg projects that benefit SMEs but still support long-term goals of tackling climate change.

These projects therefore support people and business, and our climate.

Maximising benefits and minimising costs can also be achieved by focusing on infrastructure that improves energy efficiency. Options include environmentally-friendly transport-modes and improving transport safety and traffic fluidity technologies. Accordingly, around $590 million of the proposed projects are transport focused.

Long term productivity under a transitioning economy It will be important not to focus on projects which produce initial high employment results while construction is ongoing but are unproductive in the long term (described by the Chair of Crown Infrastructure Partners Limited as “bridges to nowhere”).

These types of projects, once completed, can become economic deadweights when long-term benefits fail to materialise.

Projects likely to achieve support from the public and investors must therefore be those that strongly align with New Zealand’s climate change priorities and vision for a sustainable economy.

They should drive efficient private capital investment by prioritising net zero emissions. In other words, investing in climate positive projects today means investing in the right projects for tomorrow’s needs.

Whether long term productivity is achieved will become apparent as the projects progress. Indications are that this will be achievable to a large extent, but only if the risks from transitioning to a decarbonised domestic and global economy are taken into account by the proposed projects.

Statutory imperative The climate change-related policy and legislative environment in New Zealand has been evolving rapidly.

As such, the regulatory framework is now largely in place, or planned, and the implementation of additional adjustments is imminent.

There are an increasing number of obligations being placed on both public and private sector decision makers with respect to addressing climate change-related risk. For example, in 2019, the New Zealand Government amended the Climate Change Response Act 2002 to enable decision makers to take New Zealand’s net zero emissions by 2050 target into account. There is a reasonable prospect that the courts will find that the 2050 target (as well as

the emissions budgets and emissions reduction plans once they are produced) is relevant to a range of central and local government decisions, and potentially a mandatory consideration in some cases.

We even see the potential for climate change to become a mandatory consideration by private sector decision makers. In addition, New Zealand will shortly introduce a mandatory disclosure regime for financial firms and listed companies. The regime will require disclosure of the climate-related financial impacts of climate change on their business and investments. This will enable markets to understand the financial risks posed by climate change, and is designed to ensure climate change risk, including the risk of a transitioning economy, is being adequately factored into business and investment decisions.

The impacts of this regime will continue to apply post Covid-19 and will provide New Zealand’s businesses with a range of opportunities as the economy transitions to meet New Zealand’s emissions reduction target.

New Zealand’s leading infrastructure advisors Simpson Grierson understands infrastructure projects. With the largest infrastructure law team in New Zealand, we’ve helped to deliver some of our country’s most significant projects – from beginning to end.

www.simpsongrierson.com

Yearbook 2021

Regional T Freight Hub unveiled

FREIGHT

The preferred site for the 2.5 kilometre long inter-modal freight hub is between Palmerston North Airport and Bunnythorpe

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he announcement of the preferred site for the Regional Freight Hub near Palmerston North is a significant milestone for this nationally important logistics project.

Palmerston North is a nationally strategic freight location, with domestic and export goods moving to the city from Auckland and the upper North Island, Taranaki, Hawkes Bay and Wellington.

Freight volumes are expected to increase

significantly in the coming decades and it is crucial that we have an integrated transport network to support this growth. Rail is an important part of this picture.

KiwiRail is progressing plans for a high-tech, intermodal freight hub which will help grow Palmerston North’s role as a critical freight distribution centre for the lower North Island.

It will support rail and road transport working together to meet the freight demand in the lower North Island, while boosting the regional economy.

The hub project is aligned with Horizon’s and Palmerston North City Council growth plans and it will tie in with other freight transport projects in the region.

KiwiRail has received investment through the Government’s Provincial Growth Fund to undertake the design (Master Plan) of the hub, have the land designated for rail use and commence purchasing the required land.

“The Regional Freight Hub will have huge longterm benefits for Palmerston North and the wider Manawatu – with the ability to attract two to four billion dollars of logistics investment into the area – while servicing the entire central and lower North Island.

It will be New Zealand’s first, truly world-class supply chain logistics precinct – including capacity for a log yard, bulk goods silo, container terminal (including free trade zone capability for exports), significant warehousing for freight partners, and KiwiRail’s operations.

Integrating all of these services, on this scale, creates efficiencies and cost savings that will set the standard for New Zealand

FREIGHT

Yearbook 2021

logistics and support the growth of Palmerston North as a distribution centre well into the future.

KiwiRail is a proud part of the Palmerston North community and he wants to ensure locals are involved as the design of the Hub is finalised.

The Hub is designed to enable our trains and heavy trucks to work efficiently together, while helping to get trucks out of already congested parts of Palmerston North city.

“I fully appreciate a project of this size represents a big change for the local community. That is why we want to work with the public as we finalise the design of the Hub to ensure we have the right mitigations in place and any environmental impacts are minimised.

“KiwiRail has contacted affected landowners and today begins wider public consultation that will allow feedback on aspects of the Hub footprint, and the mitigations we will be developing. My team will also be holding public meetings in and around Palmerston North in the weeks ahead.

“The Regional Freight Hub is designed to meet the freight needs of the Manawatu and the surrounding regions for the next 100 years. Announcing the preferred site is a major milestone in this important regional project.”

Design, consenting, and acquisition of land for the Regional Freight Hub is funded through a $40 million investment from the Government’s Provincial Growth Fund.

Benefits

> Reducing transport emissions and road costs – every tonne of freight carried by rail has 66 per cent fewer carbon emissions than heavy road freight.

Getting more freight on rail also reduces road maintenance costs and improves road safety. > Taking pressure off city roads – situating the hub outside Palmerston North and integrating it with NZTA’s planned freight road and Manawatu Gorge road, will take freight traffic out of central Palmerston North and reduce congestion. > Growing the logistics industry in Manawatu – KiwiRail will also work with key customers on major infrastructure requirements to encourage logistics and distribution businesses into the area, to help grow the sector and create more local jobs.

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Yearbook 2021

Green trends emerge for commercial property investment Inclusion of ESG criteria is a notable trend in the latest CBRE survey of AsiaPacific cross border investors

INVESTMENT

Lessons for Kiwis from AsiaPacific investors Auckland slipped out of the 2021 top ten destinations for real estate investment this year in the AsiaPacific CBRE survey of investor intentions.

Still, many of the criteria and reasons for cross border investment apply equal-

ly in New Zealand. © CBRE, INC. | 7 Nearly half of the respondents were involved in real estate funds while a further 30 percent was made up of owners, developers and operators.

rred market for investment

cities (cross-border FigureTop 4: ten Toppreferred 10 preferred citiesfor for investment investment (cross-border* only)only)

BEIJING

SEOUL

6

3

1 9

SHANGHAI 7

TOKYO

OSAKA

4

SHENZHEN

ng 5

HCMC

2

op

SINGAPORE

h

f d

8 10

SYDNEY

MELBOURN E

Legend Top ten preferred cities*

to y

Higher ranking than in 2020

*Cross-border refers to respondents domiciled in a different country to the most attractive destination selected safetynews .co.nz Investor Intentions Survey, CBRE Research, January 2021 Source: Asia Pacific

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A

lmost half of respondents to the CBRE survey had already adopted environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) criteria in their investment strategies.

This direction is driven in part by regulatory and tenant requirements and more institutional investors now have to purchase assets with ESG certification or to commit capital to funds that invest in such assets.

With more listed companies required to publish information related to their ESG performance, office occupiers are set to demonstrate stronger demand for green buildings.

Energy efficiency remains a key consideration while health and wellness is now a key focus area due to the pandemic creating greater awareness around the importance of proper ventilation, the report says.

Other key findings include a belief among investors that the pandemic will not have a detrimental impact on long-term office demand in Asia Pacific.

This year’s survey did, however, discern a shift in investors’ strategies, sector focus and target sectors compared to previous editions.

Logistics is the most preferred sector for the first

ial and logistics property over

most popular for investment in time since surveys began p spot. with the pandemic boosting demand for industrial and logistics property. ed in investors’ Robustpricing demand for logism institutional buyers, stated they tics assets is also reflected in investors’ pricing expectations: 23 percent of mainly long-term instisets in Asia Pacific narrowed from tutional buyers, said they in Q3 2020.

Globally, the were willing to bid above asking prices. ginning of 2018 to just 30 bps in

Yearbook 2021

Figure 7: Preferred sector for investment

Preferred sector for investment 50% 40% 30% 20%

© CBRE, INC. |

9

© C B R E , I N C . | 12

10%

strategy – core or opportunistic/distressed ld storage named most popular alternatives

attractive city for AsiaPa-

aged developers.

Hotelinvestors and retail cific cross-border s. with Singapore, Seoul and using this due to the Hoyear Chi Minh City set to attract more interest this year. el andthe the pandemic rapid forrestrictions even longer, New entrants include

urns, especially and Shenzhen,within whichcore adjoins Hong Kong and looks likely ompetition is likely to see some to benefit from political debt, with this year likely to the latter, opportunistic investors faced by the Chinese where issues the government tives to Special compensate for Region higher Economic elopers. This is likely to force (SAR).

This year’s survey saw an increase in investor interest in Singapore, which ranked second. Although CBD office rents declined in 2020, rents are forecasted to register growth over the next three years, supported by low vacancy and strong

71%

rentdata roll centre growthinvestment volume in Asia Pacific Figure 12: Direct Stronger focus on long-term 2,500

47%

demographic and technological trends 2,000

USD million

f management expertise, Favoured states ar for the first time since the ted business parks and R&D Tokyo remains the most ities are emerging in Mainland

Greater 1,500 consideration of ESG issues

35%

1,000

Provision of relief measures to retain major tenants

31%

500

Introduction of flexible space in office 0 assets 2016 2017

2018

24%

2019

Q1-Q3 2020

demand. establishing Asia Pacific encouraging more manuSource: RCA, Asiaremains Pacific Investor Survey, CBRE Research, January 2021 The city-state an Intentions headquarters.

Source: Asia Pacific Investor Intentions Survey, CBRE Research, January 2021facturing investment, indusimportant hub for foreign A noteworthy movement trial and logistics assets are corporations looking to in this year’s rankings is keenly sought after. access Southeast Asia and Ho Chi Minh City, which While Hong Kong SAR fell is also emerging as a viable entered the top five for the out of the top ten, selected alternative to Hong Kong first time. With the diverforeign buyers increasingly SAR among companies sification of supply chains view the city as an opporsafetynews.co.nz

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propertyandbuild.com

INVESTMENT

0%

er logistics yield compression over Industrial & Office Residential Hotel Retail Staying closer to home Logistics Ongoing travel restric2018 2019 2020 2021 tions are not discouraging rved that many investors have Figure 5: Preferred investment strategy Asia Pacific investors lly due to uncertainty aroundfrom the Figure 8: Price discount expected by investors across sectors Investor alternative sector by property type type Figure 11:interest Investorininterest in alternative sector by property n this year’s survey as a surge on core or displaying strong interest xpect sizable discounts for office 35% in cross-border investment, rms to support remote companied a morewith cautious Logistics 23% ed offices arebydiverse, half 45% with more than 70 percent 30% orage.

Transaction volume in to elevated vacancy risk and the 40% of respondents intending to Grade A office (stabilised) st annual total in five years.

25% 35% purchase assets overseas 30% in 2021. considering these h few investors 20% Grade A office (value-add) With Asia containing the 25% ecure and operate suitable re discounts. tosignificant investors placing a greater 15% pandemic relatively well 20% High street retail 30% ns the preferred entry route for nsidering hotels as counterAssets with rent rolls of three compared to North America 15% 10% sgthan for investors to partner with domestic markets, such and tourist Europe, more investors those lacking this type of 10% Shopping mall 25% identified markets within investment to expand their 5% ng distressed hotel opportunities 5% the region as their preferred 0% Hotel 46% 0% choice for investment this Data Core Centre Col d Storage Real Estate Healthcare Reti rement Living Core plus Value-add Opportunistic Student Distressed assets erest inyear. higher risk strategies. On Debt Living 0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% The fact that Asia is home demand forinto which increased loy capital a range of 2021 Willing to bid above asking2018 price No discount 2018 2019 2019 2020 2020 2021 to markets and dynamics requirements from occupiers emes inwith thewhich Pacific and Discount of less than 10% Discount of 10% - 30% most responcts. dents aredislocation more familiarinisthe Figure e current price 30%+ 6: Discount How hasof the pandemic your investment andstrategy? operating strategy?

How has the pandemic affected affected your investment operating also likely to have influic to private opportunities.

Source: Asia Pacific Investor Intentions Survey, CBRE Research, January 2021 enced investors’ strategies.

Greater emphasis on tenant credit and hile hospitals and medical

Yearbook 2021

higher reversal rents upon renewal.

INVESTMENT

te portfolio to change over thea Figure 10: What is investor view of demand for physical office space in the coming three tunistic play following How will demand for physical office space change in the coming three years? years? recent price correction.

Australian cities are less popular compared to last Decrease significantly (10% to 30%) 10% 21% year owing to the rise in office space for sub-lease and large supply25% pipeline, Decrease slightly (up to 10%) 50% which may limit office rental growth in the short-term.

Korea’s 20% robust domestic investment market proRemain the same 24% pelled Seoul into the top three destinations for the 4% first time.

Local institutional invesIncrease slightly (up to 10%) 11% tors remain highly acquisitive, while domestic and foreign buyers retain a Increase significantly (10% to 30%) 3% strong appetite for modern logistics properties in Greater Seoul.

Source: Asia Pacific Investor Intentions Survey, CBRE Research, January 2021.

1 CBRE Asia Pacificthe RealbroadEstate Market Outlook 2021 Reflecting funds, insurance companies global long-term office Well founded recovery based improvement in and pension funds display demand, the impact in Asia While investment was market sentiment, this stronger buying intentions Pacific will be relatively suppressed for much of year’s survey found that 60 for 2021 compared to 2020. mild, the survey suggests. last year due to measures percent of investors intend Boosted by the upbeat Most respondents exto contain the COVID-19 to purchase more real fund-raising environment, pect office demand to pandemic, sentiment and estate in 2021, the highest which saw US$59 billion of decline moderately (up to purchasing activity gradual- level since 2016. equity raised by Asia Pacific 10 percent). Some invesly improved in H2 2020.

The recent commencefocused close-ended real tors, especially insurance Asia Pacific commercial ment of vaccination proestate funds between 2018 companies, believe office real estate transaction grammes in several counand 2020, real estate funds demand will increase. volume rose by 44 pertries around the world has will continue to deploy These findings are largely cent quarter-on-quarter to further boosted market capital. consistent with CBRE Asia US$26 billion in the third confidence.

Pacific’s most recent office quarter of 2020, with the High-net-worth indiThe office market occupier survey, which October-December quarter viduals and REITs, along While the increasing found a quarter of responalso expected to show an with institutional investors adoption of remote working dents are planning to slightincrease. including sovereign wealth is set to negatively impact ly reduce their office portfolios over the next three to five years, while more than 20 percent of respondents intend to increase their office space.

The findings of both surveys confirm that the Asia Pacific office is here to stay.

While office demand is not expected to contract significantly over the course of 2021, rents will remain under pressure this year.

With business activity in many markets continuing to be disrupted by measures to contain the pandemic, many investors expect tenants to request rental reductions or more incentives for new leases including fit out subsidies and longer safetynews.co.nz

124infrastructurenews.co.nz propertyandbuild.com

d storage named most popular alternatives

lopers. This likely to force Cold is storage

The second most popular sector was cold storage, demand for which increased substantially over the course of 2020 due to rising requirements from occupiers selling groceries online and pharmaceutical products. The survey noted growing interest in healthcare.

While hospitals and medical centres are tightly traded and require high levels of management expertise, more investors are seeking pharmaceutical-orientated business parks and R&D laboratories.

Investors displayed weaker demand for student housing this year due to the widespread closure of edu-

45% Si gnificant decrease 40% 35% Modest decrease 30% 25% 20% No change 15% 10% 5%Modest increase 0% Data Centre Col d Storage Si gnificant increase

21%

25%

20%

14% Real Estate Debt8% 2018

Unsure

Healthcare

2019

2020

Reti rement Student Living Living 2021

11% INVESTMENT

Data Centres ure and Data operate suitable centres were the subject of stronger s the preferred entry routeinterest for in this year’s survey as for investors to partner with a surge in demand for video nvestment to expandand their conferencing other platforms to support remote working led to increasing requirements for data emand storage. for which increased Transaction volume in the equirements from occupiers sector reached US$2 billion s. in 2020, the highest annual total in five years.

As data require ile hospitals andcentres medical considerable expertise to management expertise, secure and operate suitable ed business and with R&Dexpesites,parks partnering rienced operators remains the preferred entry route for investors. sing this year to the increasCBREdue anticipates ing opportunities for invesl restrictions and the rapid tors to partner with second tier data centre operators in need of equity investment to this expand capacity ebt, with yeartheir likely to and footprint. where the government

How do you expect your corporation's real estate portfolio to changes over the Figure 9: How do you expect your corporation’s real estate portfolio to change over the nextthree threetotofive fiveyears? years? next Figure 11: Investor interest in alternative sector by property type

Source: CBRE Research, January 2021.

Sou 1 C

Direct12: data centre investment volume in Asia Pacific Figure Direct data centre investment volume in Asia Pacific 2,500 2,000 USD million

rent-free periods.

CBRE expects Grade A office net effective rents to this year’s survey as a surge remain under downward ms to support remote pressure in 2021. However, age. Transaction the declinevolume will be atina mildrate than in years.

2020. annualertotal in five

Yearbook 2021

1,500 1,000 500 0 2016

2017

2018

2019

Q1-Q3 2020

Source: RCA, Asia Pacifictravel Investor Intentions Research, January 2021 cational institutions, placeSurvey, a capCBRE on bank lending percent over last year restrictions and the rapid should encourage developDespite North America adoption of online classes. ers to dispose of assets to ranking as only the third replenish liquidity. most popular region for Exit strategies and capital With numerous close-end- cross-border investment, fund raising ed real estate funds due to Korean and Japanese invesWhile most investors hold expire in 2021/2022, many tors retain a strong appetite strong buying intentions, entities will be looking for US real estate as they this year’s CBRE survey to sell as fund managers look to assemble internafound a greater willingness review portfolios and exit tional real estate portfolios. to sell among selected inpositions.

The weaker US dollar, vestors including developFund managers will also which has driven down ers and real estate funds. ride the wave of improving hedging costs, has also Already net sellers in 2020, market sentiment to build spurred interest. developers will continue to a track record for the next dispose of assets this year, round of capital raising.

Learning from either to repay debt or recyImproving investment sen- the pandemic cle capital, the report says. timent and asset availabilSince the onset of the The Chinese government’s ity is expected to support pandemic, CBRE has obrecent move to regulate de- an increase in investment served that many investors velopers’ gearing levels and volume by 5 percent to 10 have adopted a two-tier insafetynews.co.nz

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propertyandbuild.com

Yearbook 2021

most popular sector

ey

om INVESTMENT

n

ver

he

weakened substantially due vestment strategy focusing recently imposed new caps for the first time since the to uncertainty around the on core or opportunistic/ on bank lending to develGlobal Financial Crisis in outlook for future demand. distressed assets. opers. This is likely to force 2008/2009, according to Investors therefore expect This has been accompadevelopers to utilise private the report. sizable discounts for office nied by a more cautious debt.

Opportunities are emergFigure 7: Preferred properties. Expectations approach towards core- sector for investment ing in Mainland China and for discounts for stabilised plus and value-add due to Buying in the dip India, particularly among offices are diverse, with half elevated vacancy risk and This year’s survey also highly leveraged develop50% of investors seeking disthe prolonged duration of noted a significant uptick ers. counts of up to 10 percent. the pandemic. in interest in higher risk With the low interest rate Demand for retail and hoStronger strategies. environment set to last for 40% interest in core tels remains weak, with few investments is attributed to On the opportunistic front, even longer, the pandemic investors considering these investors placing a greater investors continue to deploy has prompted investors to sectors. Those investors emphasis capital into a range of dereview their target returns, 30% on tenant credit that are interested require and stable cash flow. velopment projects includespecially within core and significant discounts.

Assets with rent rolls ing build-to-rent schemes opportunistic strategies.

20%years or longer However, selected opof three in the Pacific and speculaFor the former, robust portunistic investors are typically attract far more tive logistic facilities across competition is likely to see bidders than those lacking the region. some investors adjust down considering hotels as countercyclical plays, particularthis10% type of security.

The current price dislocatheir targeted returns. ly in countries with strong There continues to be tion in the public markets is For the latter, opportunisstrong interest in real estate also stimulating interest in tic investors are expected to domestic tourist markets, 0% such as Australia and Japan. debt, with this year likely to public to private opportuset more aggressive return Industrial & nities. Office Residential Hotel Investors areRetail also seeking bring a host of opportuniobjectives to compensate Logistics distressed hotel opportunities, particularly in China, Distressed assets are now for higher risk.

2018 2019 ties in the latter. where the government back on investors’ radar Interest2020 in the office sector 2021 Price discount expected by investors across sectors Figure 8: Price discount expected by investors across sectors

ce f

se

Logistics

23%

Grade A office (stabilised) Grade A office (value-add) High street retail

h

30%

Shopping mall

es

25%

Hotel

46% 0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

Willing to bid above asking price

No discount

Discount of less than 10%

Discount of 10% - 30%

100%

Discount of 30%+ Source: Asiafrom Pacific Investor Intentions Survey, CBRE 2021 The survey which this article is abstracted wasResearch, preparedJanuary

by CBRE Research for information purposes only and is not to be used or considered as an offer or the solicitation of an offer to sell or buy or subscribe for securities or other financial instruments.

To access additional research reports, please visit the Global Research Gateway www.cbre.com/research-and-reports

Henry Chin, Ph.D. Global Head of Investor Thought Leadership, Head of Research, Asia Pacific henry.chin@cbre.com.hk Leo Chung, CFA Associate Director, Asia Pacific leo.chung@cbre.com.hk Connie Chak, Analyst, Asia Pacific connie.chak@cbre.com safetynews.co.nz

126infrastructurenews.co.nz propertyandbuild.com

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