Consultya

29/04/2022

Opportunity Flows From Billion-Dollar Clean Energy Push

"Australia’s commitment to achieving net zero carbon emissions by 2050 is prompting a boom in renewable energy projects around the country.

It is having flow-on effects in terms of construction and development across regional Australia as well as supporting property prices in rural areas, prompting those in the industry to point to its growing importance to rural communities.

Fifty per cent of Australia’s main electricity grid is expected to come from renewable sources by 2025, with this figure reaching 65 per cent by 2030. It’s estimated an average of $2.1 trillion a year will need to be invested between 2022 and 2025 to reach net zero emissions by 2050."

Click the link below for the full article.

https://www.theurbandeveloper.com/articles/opportunity-flows-from-billion-dollar-clean-energy-push

Property and sites near billion-dollar clean energy projects remain undervalued, but prices, along with sales, are growing as people start to pay attention…

26/04/2022

Skills Shortages ‘Challenge of the Decade’ for Australia’s Construction Industry

"Worsening skill shortages will be “the challenge of the decade” for Australia’s under-pressure construction industry, a new report has warned.

Construction job vacancies have increased by a massive 80 per cent since late 2019. It is forecast that by 2023 there will be more than 100,000 unfilled roles in the sector.

“This will be almost 50 per cent greater than the number of people who are expected to be qualified to fulfil them,” global consultancy Arcadis said in its latest construction costs index report.

“As confidence returns to the construction sector, it urgently needs to focus on becoming a more resilient industry investing in digital, modern methods of construction and practical measures to improve sustainability.”

It also said while public investment works were not yet in full swing and were a work in progress, planned infrastructure investments were likely to put even more strain on resources translating to further inflationary pressure.

Arcadis’ executive director of cost and commercial management Matthew Mackey FRICS said a severe shortage of construction workers will present a huge challenge to the industry in the future

“Construction has largely recovered from the pandemic, but that recovery is coming with an inflationary cost,” he said.

“Skills shortages will only get worse, and this will become the challenge of the decade.

“Businesses that invest in the industry’s transformation will find themselves in a market-leading position in an industry that underpins the Australian economy.”

Click the link below for the full article:

https://www.theurbandeveloper.com/articles/skills-shortages-challenge-of-the-decade-for-australia-s-construction-industry?utm_source=TUD+-+Weekly+Briefing&utm_campaign=7eed7aeb3a-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_6_28_2021_9_50_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_d5b348417f-7eed7aeb3a-195645218

Construction job vacancies have increased by a massive 80 per cent since late 2019 and the forecast is they will only get worse....

22/04/2022

Design Motifs Inspired by Exoskeletons Could Lead to Stronger Construction Materials

Researchers from Monash University have found a new pattern inspired by animal exoskeletons that could create more durable materials for building and construction.

In a paper published in Nature Communications, Professor Wenhui Duan FTSE from the Department of Civil Engineering at Monash University said the new pattern can add a high strength motif to commonly used building materials such as composites and cement, and may help reduce carbon emissions.

The cement industry is one of the largest producers of carbon dioxide, creating up to 8 per cent of worldwide man-made emissions of this gas. This discovery could help reduce the use of cement by improving the material’s damage tolerance.

The research team replicated the design motif using cement material. In combination with a 3D printing technique, nanotechnology and artificial intelligence, the team was able to fabricate a lightweight cement composite which demonstrated a superior load-bearing capacity and a unique progressive failure pattern.

“We demonstrated the application of this design motif in producing a high strength, damage tolerant lightweight cement material. In addition, this design motif can also be applied to various materials such as ceramic, glass, polymeric and metallic materials for advanced materials design, energy storage/conversion and architectural structures, in collaboration with the teams from the The University of Queensland and the The University of Manchester,” Duan said.

https://www.insideconstruction.com.au/section/research-analysis/animal-exoskeletons-could-lead-to-stronger-construction-materials/

Researchers from Monash University have found a pattern derived from animal exoskeletons that could create more durable building materials.

19/04/2022

Gold Coast Skyline a New Frontier for ‘Wafer’ Towers

Two development proposals have been filed signalling the ever-expanding Gold Coast skyline is becoming Australia’s new frontier in the proliferation of modern wafer-thin towers.

The planned residential high-rises at 61 Garfield Terrace, Surfers Paradise, and 39 Brittania Avenue, Broadbeach, are only about 8m and 9m wide, respectively.

Skinny skyscrapers have become a global development trend with the first slender towers emerging in Australia about a decade ago. With larger development sites increasingly becoming slim pickings in the booming Gold Coast property market, developers are casting their visionary gaze to smaller, narrower lots.

Both the proposals lodged with the Gold Coast City Council for Surfers Paradise and Broadbeach are for sites spanning only 607sq m with 15m-wide frontages.

Brisbane-based Frank Developments is behind the Mira Residences project on Garfield Terrace, a planned $100-million-plus, 31-storey beachfront tower.

Designed by Ferro Chow Architecture, it comprises 13 double-storey apartments and a four-storey penthouse with a private rooftop terrace.

“It’s very innovative. I don’t think anything like this has been done before in Queensland or Australia,” managing director Jared Chow said.

Click the link below for the full article.

Source: https://www.theurbandeveloper.com/articles/gold-coast-skyline-a-new-frontier-for-wafer-towers

Two development proposals have been filed signalling the ever-expanding Gold Coast skyline is becoming Australia’s new frontier in the proliferation of modern wafer-thin towers...

15/04/2022

🐰 The team at Consultya wishes you & your families a Happy Easter!
Hope you have a refreshing & relaxing long weekend break. 🐣

08/04/2022

DA Filing Frenzy Ahead of Gold Coast Planning Changes

"Just when the Gold Coast thought it was shaking off its boom-bust reputation, a pending shift in the planning foundations on which the city is built, threatens to burst a seemingly bulletproof development bubble.

Fearing the worst, developers are now rushing to lodge plans in a bid to futureproof their pipelines from the constraints of looming planning scheme amendments.

The proposed amendments effectively reduce density along the city’s established coastal strip through increased setbacks, reduced building heights and down-zoning.

Development industry experts are warning the changes pose a serious threat to residential project viability—particularly tower developments—and supply in the city that’s famed for its skyline of skyscrapers.

Seeking approval of the controversial amendments, the Gold Coast City Council sent the proposed changes to the Queensland government in late December. It is currently waiting for them to be assessed and for the minister to sign off on them.

“Every developer is scrambling to lodge DAs, as are we,” says one of the city’s most prolific high-rise developers, Morris Property Group director Barry Morris.

“Categorically, increasing setbacks and decreasing height limits does have an impact on development yield. It’s simple maths.

“So, on the Gold Coast, it’s just all about getting your DAs in at the moment.”

He says the proposed amendments reflect a major shift in the council’s planning strategy and, if adopted, will significantly impact the Gold Coast’s development landscape and the growth of the city as a whole.

“They will have the greatest detrimental impact on the provision of housing in the city … [where] previous amendments have been the opposite, they’ve promoted more development and actually enhanced housing.

“It doesn’t quite make sense and it would seem to be counterproductive to what the Gold Coast needs right now.

“As we all know there’s more people moving to the city—because of the Covid effect, people are wanting to move out of the big cities and are gravitating towards the beachside lifestyle.

“And, yet, here are amendments where it would appear the outcome is less housing.

“It’s quite obvious that any policy that results in a reduction of the future available stock would seem to be ill-founded.

With the population of the Gold Coast forecast to grow by 55 per cent to 928,000 people by 2041, the local development industry is collectively shaking its head."

Click the link below for the full article.

Source: https://www.theurbandeveloper.com/articles/da-filing-frenzy-ahead-of-gold-coast-planning-changes

Just when the Gold Coast thought it was shaking off its boom-bust reputation, a pending shift in the planning foundations on which the city is built threaten to burst a seemingly bulletproof development bubble. It’s simple maths....