The Murra Warra wind farm has a massive project value of $650,000,000. Led by Telstra, this consortium also includes ANZ, Coco-Cola Amatil and the University of Melbourne. Securing long-term supply and price security, this agreement will allow construction of the wind farm to begin. The deal is a second of its kind for Telstra, following an agreement reached with RES Australia for the 70MW Emerald sold farm in Queensland in May 2017.

The new planning of Uunguala Wind farm valued at a whopping $1.3B which includes the construction of a 116 turbine wind farm, road & associated infrastructure. The wind farm will be located over a 32 square kilometre site north of Horsham encompassing Horsham Rural City & Yarriambiack Shire, The wind farm may host up to 100 turbines and the energy generated from the farm would connect to the 220-kilovolt national electricity grid line between Horsham & Mildura.

Still in Victoria, ESCO also have development plans with Council in for a Solar Farm in Horsham for a Utility Scale renewable energy project with an output measuring up to 130 megawatt (MW). It is located approximately 5km east of Horsham CBD in the Rural City of Horsham – The solar farm will cover an area of approximately 196 hectares (485 acres) and comprise approximately 340,000 solar photovoltaic modules.

Also too, with ARENA still actively accepting funding applications and projects being planned all over the country, scrapping the Renewable Energy Target is yet to slow down the industry. With the rising cost of energy prices, many companies are still inclined to go green! What are your thoughts?

What makes a building?

People may argue “the developer has the dream”, “No, no, it’s the architect that has the vision”, “but the builder adds structure to the vision”, “yes but the real estate agency sells the dream, vision and complete structure”… All of this is true and one couldn’t survive and thrive without the other but having just celebrated the “Day of the Engineer” on April 5^th and recruiting in the building services space, I thought it fitting to pay tribute to the engineers who bring the dream, vision and structure together.

Walking through most modern buildings in any Australian city you would be forgiven not to notice the feats of engineering designed specifically for you, the consumer. From the tangible elements of design – the perfect temperature no matter the weather outside, the lighting which is never too bright nor too dim, the smoothness of the lift and the factors we often take for granted – the water pressure on level 22, the correctly designed sprinklers and hose reels providing safety in the event of an emergency to the use of renewable energy focusing on carbon reduction and reduced dependence on natural resources. The design of our buildings is ever-evolving to be smarter, more economical, more environmentally friendly creating a healthier environment for users – all of which would not be possible without the input of building services engineers.

The heart of the building

I met an outstanding candidate last week and when asked what they most enjoy about being a building services engineer they immediately replied “I am responsible for helping to create the heart of the building” – A great answer from a passionate Unsung Hero.

If you are a Building Services Engineer in Australia looking to explore your next opportunity, or a decision maker in your organisation looking for talented services engineers nationwide, don’t hesitate to get in touch for a confidential discussion.

Direct line – (03) 9832 8142

 I don’t understand why a mid-size firm wouldn’t seek to gain a return on their 2 to 4 year investment? The only option I can see is that they recycle Apprentices, provide a great reference and then hire another apprentice as its cheaper than a labourer. I see this occurring more in residential construction than commercial. I have spoken to several Site Managers and Forepeople that say, “I had an interview with that company last year and they don’t like us old blokes.” This is something I have heard way too often, hence why I’m writing this article!

Not everyone wants to climb or build the construction corporate ladder. Is 50 the new use-by date for Australia’s most experienced Site Managers/Senior Site Managers for builds between $2M – $20M? Do companies really care about quality and diversity or do they just want to keep costs down? Do they want to be kings of their own castle and not draw on the expertise of others? Is it ego? Is it a lack of management/communication skills to manage someone who may have a better suggestion or do they just want yes people? I would love to hear peoples thoughts on this!I recently declined to provide a shortlist for a builder whose construction manager said, ” I don’t want anyone older than me – I don’t want anyone telling me how to do my job.” I was gobsmacked that a construction manager declined his own peers and would make such sweeping generalisations in terms of who they would and would not interview based on age alone.

I interviewed a Site Manager-Structure Foreman who is only 52 & who has trained and led a team for over 20 years. He commenced at 16 years of age and has seen it all. What some firms seem to forget is that these people will have a longer tenure than someone with 5 years experience who may jump from tier 3, then tier 2, then tier 1 and who often have unrealistic salary expectations! With age comes experience – and one heck of a network! They can attract past apprentices to join the firm and their subcontractor network is often outstanding!

As an Industry, we cannot be ageist and we have to offer people of all ages the opportunity to interview and be aware of our own bias, notice our own personal opinions due to a past experience and get over them. If Henry Ford listened to what his clients wanted he would have built faster horses. Let’s give these people a good Aussie crack based on experience, attitude and capability – not a number!

Last week I visited their Melbourne office and was grateful for the opportunity to experience and learn more about the practical applications of Reality Engineering. Including how it can be used to deliver an exceptional user experience and bridge the gap between the engineer and non-engineer in order to make the seemingly intangible (somewhat) tangible.

Seeing is often believing and delivering a real life experience in virtual reality has a number of benefits for customers. One such example on my visit was being able to walk through a proposed new home wearing a VR headset. An existing struggle for potential house-and-land package buyers is the inability to envisage their new home before it has been built. Reality Engineering enables the customers to engage with a truly interactive experience, allowing them to walk around their new estate and home. This is just one example of how Reality Engineering can be used to provide an unrivalled customer-centric experience.

Virtual models are so accurate and true to life, that Reality Engineering has the potential to save significant costs for clients. Imagine a developer being able to offer a virtual showroom instead of bricks and mortar. They could take an investor on a virtual walk around of a proposed new hotel and modify specifications before they have even been built.

The possibilities of Reality Engineering are endless and it is certainly a great tool to engage, inspire and inform everyone from developers, builders, customers and the layperson. 

Cheers to Wood & Grieve Engineers for opening our eyes to the future!

If you’re an Engineering professional looking for career opportunity in the industry,
please get in touch with our team at Selection Partners.