BCME - Autumn 2008

NEW MASONRY
PLANT FOR
BORAL

Boral Limited has announced that it intends to build a new $33 million concrete masonry plant at its Middle Swan (Midland Brick) site in Western Australia. The new masonry plant will replace Boral’s existing 40-year old, high cost, low capacity Cannington plant more than doubling that sites current output.

Keith Mitchelhill, Executive General Manager of Boral’s Clay & Concrete Production division, said: “ Boral remains committed to the growing WA economy and in particular our valued customers. We see a real opportunity to expand the market for masonry products by increasing capacity because growth in the WA concrete masonry market, as a whole, has been restricted since 2000 due to installed capacity operating at close to full utilisation.

“Boral’s new masonry plant will be highly automated and include the world’s latest technology, having the capability to produce a broad range of concrete block and paver products for residential and commercial markets, which coupled with Midland Brick’s market presence and sales marketing expertise, positions us well to realise future growth potential.”

The new masonry plant will produce masonry products at a substantially lower cost than current WA production and will deliver safety and environmental benefits including reduced product waste, greater energy efficiency and reduced manual intervention.

For further information visit www.boral.com.au

RECYCLING
SUCCESS

A South Australian company is leading the way the State’s construction industry is recycling building waste materials.

Candetti Constructions was recently applauded for the exceptional amount of waste building material it has recycled during the construction of the $6m Maritime Skills Centre, being established by the South Australian Government at Techport Australia in Osborne.

Candetti has just completed another month of “near perfect scores”, saving about 95 per cent of material normally earmarked for landfill – a rate it has maintained throughout the entire seven month construction phase.

The Green Star ESD building rating system sets a target recycling rate between 60 and 80 per cent.

Key best practice environmental initiatives achieved by Candetti at the MSC site include:

• extensive waste recovery and recycling of construction materials, including reusing concrete as road base/rubble;

• innovative sediment controls to eliminate soil drag out to adjacent roads, and;

• extensive waste separation onsite including concrete, steel, and glass, as well as bottles, cans, and plastic bags to prevent them being blown into the nearby Port River.

Construction of the Maritime Skills Centre has been part of the CLEAN SITE program – a KESAB initiative aimed at driving local building industry commitment to best environmental practices.

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ABSA WINS MAJOR NZ RATING CONTRACT

The Association of Sustainable Building Assessors (ABSA), Australia’s peak organisation for professionals who rate energy efficiency in buildings, has won a major contract to provide services for New Zealand’s home energy rating scheme.

Like many countries, New Zealand is seeing a growing interest in energy efficient and sustainable houses. The comparatively poor energy efficiency of the housing stock means potential

ABSA President, David Howard
benefits are enormous – lower

household running costs, increased energy security, reduced impacts on the health system, and reduced environmental impact. The government-backed home energy rating scheme will enable householders to quantify and compare the energy efficiency of homes, and will provide a clear pathway and rationale for improving the energy performance of their homes.

Under the scheme, both new and existing homes will be able to be rated. Initially the rating will cover thermal envelope, space heating and water heating, with the possibility of further components being

added in future. An energy rating will be generated by an accredited assessor, and recommendations given for the best measures to improve that home’s energy efficiency.

ABSA will play a key role in the delivery of this scheme, particularly around the training and accreditation of qualified assessors. “We are very excited to have won the tender to provide this rating assessment program for the New Zealand market,” says ABSA President David Howard.

“This is a very important initiative. It presents a model that other countries, including Australia, should consider as a means of upgrading the energy performance of existing homes. There are already many guidelines in place in Australia, for example, to make sure new homes are energy efficient, but NZ is setting the example in also targeting established dwellings.”

The home energy rating scheme is being developed by New Zealand’s Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority. “Everyone wins when the energy efficiency of our housing increases”, says programme manager Katie Mathison. “While we’ve seen some movement in the low-income sector through our grants programme, the home energy rating scheme has the potential to really drive a market transformation of residential energy efficiency nationwide.”