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Chris Hemsworth eyeing out Melbourne apartment development

Aussie actor Chris Hemsworth has been spotted checking out a potential Melbourne bolthole, where ex-Socceroo Harry Kewell could be his neighbour. According to The Herald Sun, the Hollywood great was seen eyeing out the construction site of the 103 Beach St, Port Melbourne, apartment development, set to be completed in September 2024. While he hasn’t purchased anything yet, it is understood that Hemsworth is working with a representative to inspect properties for his first Victorian base. The Marvel star is originally from Melbourne and spent his adolescence in Phillip Island but has no known property assets in the state. He and his wife Elsa Pataky currently own an incredible $30 million mansion in Byron Bay, boasting a gym, steam room, media room, games room and 50m rooftop infinity pool with ocean views. Hemsworth is also an avid Bulldogs supporter and has been seen in the past watching his AFL team play at Marvel Stadium. It comes after about a third of the luxury Beach St apartments were swiftly taken from the plan, with those remaining available ranging from $2.7 million up to $18.5m for the penthouse suites. Industry sources claim former Socceroo and Liverpool player Kewell has also engaged a buyer’s agent from Sydney to inquire about the project. Marshall White Projects director Leonard Teplin declined to comment on the identities of prospective buyers but revealed the complex had attracted interest from “some pretty high-profile people” across Australia, including some well-known business personalities who have already purchased. “It’s one of the more popular apartment projects we’ve had,” he said. “The day we went live there were over 400 registrations of interest … and in the first 72 hours it had 83,000 (website) impressions, which is massive.” Image credit: Getty / Realestate.com.au

Real Estate

Hope for families after abrupt collapse of construction firm

Failed builder Porter Davis will be partly sold to a Victorian construction firm to complete hundreds of homes. Nostra Property Group will take over the collapsed builder’s multiple dwelling business in Victoria which is mostly responsible for townhouses. Porter Davis, Australia’s 12th largest home builder suddenly stopped construction on 1,700 homes in Victoria and Queensland on March 31, 2023, after it was crippled by a funding hole estimated at $20 million. Liquidator Grant Thornton announced Nostra has plans to complete up to 375 homes including 126 townhouses which have already been sold to buyers using the same Porter Davis designs. The firm is also able to start construction for up to 169 townhouses that have already been sold. It is offering ongoing employment to 16 Porter Davis workers as well. "All parties worked tirelessly to achieve a positive outcome in an extremely short period of time which will see a number of jobs preserved, disruption minimised for several existing and future projects, and critically up to 375 homes built for families who have had to suffer enormous stress and anxiety following the collapse of the PDH Group," Said Jahani from liquidator Grant Thornton said. The managing director for Nostra Anthony Caruana said the company is already in affiliation with various developers that were building Porter Davis homes, making the buy-in a “natural fit”. "Together, we will work towards not only completing the existing partially built homes in this portfolio but also those projects which are yet to commence," Caruana said. "This will ensure that we can provide much-needed certainty to the families who have purchased a PDH-designed townhouse and they can once again look forward to having a new place to call home.” Founded by Caruana in Victoria in 2006, Nostra Property Group specialises in townhouse developments. More than 1,000 homes remain unaccounted for as the firm is only taking over the Victorian arm of the Porter Davis builds. It comes as upset families affected by the collapse took to the steps of Victorian parliament, demanding the government pay back the tens of thousands of dollars lost in deposits. Image credit: Shutterstock

Real Estate

Building and construction emissions and energy use reaches record levels

Despite improvements in energy efficiency, greenhouse pollution levels from the building and construction sector reached an all-time high in 2021. A new report on the building and construction sector by the United Nations Environment Programme released for COP27 found energy demand in buildings – for heating, cooling, lighting and equipment – increased by 4% from 2020 levels. As a result, the sector’s emissions increased 5% compared to 2020. While the increase partly reflects a re-bound in building and construction activities after the pandemic, energy and emissions levels were also above 2019 levels. This is significant because the sector accounts for around a third of total energy demand, the report says. The UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres told the opening forum of COP27 that the future of the planet is in our hands. “…and the clock is ticking. We are in the fight of our lives. And we are losing. Greenhouse gas emissions keep growing. Global temperatures keep rising. And our planet is fast approaching tipping points that will make climate chaos irreversible. “We are on a highway to climate hell with our foot still on the accelerator. “ With the release of the report, UNEP executive director, Inger Andersen added: “If we do not rapidly cut emissions in line with the Paris Agreement, we will be in deeper trouble.” The UNEP report argues investments in energy efficiency must be sustained in the face of growing crises – such as the war in Ukraine and rising energy and living costs – to help with reducing energy demand, avoiding greenhouse gas pollution and reducing energy cost volatility. “The solution may lie in governments directing relief towards low and zero-carbon building investment activities through financial and non-financial incentives,” Andersen says. Also critical to reducing the sector’s emissions are including buildings in climate pledges under the Paris Agreement – known as Nationally Determined Contributions – and mandatory building energy codes. The report’s recommendations include: building coalitions of stakeholders in support of sustainable buildings, governments introducing mandatory building energy codes and government policies, increasing investment in energy efficiency and commitments from industry.  <img id="cosmos-post-tracker" style="opacity: 0; height: 1px!important; width: 1px!important; border: 0!important; position: absolute!important; z-index: -1!important;" src="https://syndication.cosmosmagazine.com/?id=222598&title=Building+and+construction+emissions+and+energy+use+reaches+record+levels" width="1" height="1" />  <div id="contributors"> <a href="https://cosmosmagazine.com/earth/building-emissions-reach-record-levels/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">This article</a> was originally published on Cosmos Magazine and was written by Petra Stock. Image: Getty Images </div>

Real Estate

Debate rages over who was in the wrong after elderly woman's stoush with tradies

An elderly couple and a group of tradies in South-West Sydney are the latest to go viral after footage of a wild dispute has gained a huge amount of attention online. The clip posted to TikTok by user Raj Raj has the audience divided over who is in the wrong. The altercation took place in Greenacre. Clocking up over 762,000 views, the video starts off showing the elderly woman picking up handfuls of mud and throwing it at the tradie working on the house next door. The woman is screaming in another language while pegging mud and dirt at the workers. “Move move move, what the f**k,” the man filming can be heard saying as the scene unfolds. “This is Greenacre everyone. Come live in Greenacre it’s a mad place. Shootings, killings neighbours …” It is not immediately clear why the woman is so upset, but the man filming reveals the workers had cut electricity to her home. “Boys ripped off the wire,” the man says, panning the camera up towards the powerlines. “You cut the power,” the elderly man tells the tradies, as his partner continues to scream at the tradies. One of the workers assured the couple they were going to run a powerline for them immediately , this response prompts the woman to grab more handfuls of dirt and throw it at the man speaking. “Hey!” the person filming yelled out to the woman, before someone is heard saying “excuse me” in a high-pitched voice. The woman, still very angry, turns towards the camera, picks up a piece of debris from the dirt and pulls it up over her head ready to throw it at the person filming. The cameraman immediately hides behind a door, saying: “She is throwing bricks at me. Look”. The woman drops whatever is in her hand and makes a rude gesture towards the camera before walking away. “Why you don’t f***ing tell us you cut the power, eh?” the older man asks the workers. “Not you, not him, not him,” he adds, pointing at all the tradesmen standing around the neighbour’s property. One of the workers then tells the couple to “speak to Ausgrid”. The footage has gained over 1800 comments, with social media users unable to agree on who is in the wrong, the elderly couple or the tradies. Some believe the couple’s actions were justified in their anger at having power cut to their home seemingly without warning. “Well if you cut their power without notice than I get why she’s upset,” one person said, with another claiming they would be “raging 10 x more than her”. “Cowboys like this do what ever they want without consideration to neighbours. Happens all the time. Bet no notice or communication,” another person claimed. Another added: “Those poor people have clearly been traumatised by that house being built next door and have finally snapped!!!” There were other commenters who agreed that the workers needed to tell the couple if there was a possibility their power could be cut, but thought the woman was “overreacting” to the situation. “Angry that power was cut off … yes! But throwing a tantrum and throwing debris at people is really uncalled for. Wasn’t intentional,” another commenter said. You can watch the infamous TikTok <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@rajra1991/video/7165735173445782786?is_from_webapp=1&sender_device=pc&web_id=7109261629132686850" target="_blank" rel="noopener">here</a>.

Legal

Experts warn new homes aren’t future-proof

With thousands of new homes being built across <a href="https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/industry/building-and-construction/building-activity-australia/latest-release" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Australia</a> and <a href="https://www.stats.govt.nz/information-releases/building-consents-issued-april-2022/#:~:text=Key%20facts,the%20year%20ended%20April%202021." target="_blank" rel="noopener">New Zealand</a>, industry experts have raised concerns that they are already outdated. In a world of pandemics, working from home, and climate change, experts say these new homes aren’t fit for purpose now, let alone for whatever the future holds. Electric vehicle charging stations, multi-split air conditioners, double-glazed windows and built-in 5G technology top the list of features that could help achieve this, according to Peter Li, general manager of Sydney-based apartment marketing agency Plus Agency. Li told the <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/property/news/what-are-the-top-ways-to-future-proof-your-home-and-increase-its-value-20220729-p5b5nw.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Sydney Morning Herald </a>that multi-split air conditioners, where air isn’t circulated throughout an apartment block or even a single unit, is particularly crucial in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. “You basically have your own air within your own property but also within separate rooms. So if someone gets COVID, and they’re isolating in the master room, the other bedrooms won’t be affected,” he said. With a growing market for electric vehicles, Li said charging stations in homes are also key. “If you compare to Asian countries, a lot of Australian apartment building blocks don’t even have electric vehicle charging stations,” he added. “Even though we are pushing green energy, the buildings don’t come with electric car charging stations, how green is that?” Li noted that adding these features when homes are first being built will also be cheaper than years down the track, with most of the infrastructure being provided by telcos and electric vehicle companies. Andy Marlow, an architect and the director of sustainable architecture firm Envirotecture, said a majority of new homes are also “baking in” carbon emissions from the energy used to build and the energy produced to run the home, which Marlow said contributes to emissions and creates health problems. “These buildings are not fit for purpose now, and they are definitely not fit for purpose in the future,” he said. “When you build something that is substandard, which is basically our entire housing stock, it is very unlikely somebody will fix that soon.” Marlow said the key to building future-proofed homes lies in building comfortable dwellings with good insulation, good quality air, and reliable ventilation, and that existing products like double-glazed windows that address these issues should become standard. “Single glazing is just crap. Science shows us that single glazing will get condensation on it, it’s just physics,” he said, adding that this leads to mould and asthma. “Everything has been solved, every technical problem has been fixed. There’s a wonderful bit of evidence out of California, where they mandated double glazing and within nine months it was cheaper than single glazing.” Wealth over shelter Professor Alan March, an expert in urban planning at the University of Melbourne School of Design, explained that the problem stems from the perception of the property market as a vehicle for creating wealth rather than providing shelter. “The land value and the overall value is so inflated that people are not so interested in the interior and actual benefit they receive from the structure itself as to secure the number, the numeric value, and so that changes the nature of the housing market towards wealth building, or just avoidance of renting,” March said. One feature he said is key for Australian housing is resistance and adaptability to heat waves through natural ventilation and the ability to retrofit cooling systems or integrate battery-powered solar panels. Though building codes could change to allow for the construction of homes that suit the country’s varying climates, March said recent Covid-induced financial challenges have meant the building and construction industry are and will remain conservative. With Covid looking to be an ongoing challenge the world will face alongside increasing effects of climate change, here’s hoping that can change before it’s too late. Image: Getty Images

Real Estate

“This is our home”: Aussie family forced from home for new bridge

An Australian farming family is being forced to move from the farm they have owned for the past 22 years after it was decided a road would be run right through the centre - despite the property being surrounded by acres of vacant land. Marian and Peter Wilcox have been growing vegetables on their 15-acre North Richmond property for over two decades, but have been told their land will be turned into a road to provide access to a new bridge. The family have been hit with a notice from the NSW Government, Hawkesbury Council and a developer that their property would be forcibly acquired as part of the Redbank Communities project. Speaking to A Current Affair, Ms Wilcox said the family were completely blindsided by the decision. “This is our home. We had no idea this was coming,” she said. Ms Wilcox said she first found out about the plan for their home at a community meeting with other locals. “I found out at a community meeting in front of a whole lot of other people,” she recalled. “They just put a picture of our property up on the screen and said this is where the road is going to run and that is how I found out. It was very heartless.” The road is needed to connect a new bridge that is forming a major part of the Redbank North Richmond project and will cost $23.8 million to build. “It has purposely been directed to go through the house. Our property was not going to be touched at all,” Ms Wilcox claimed. “What we have here, it just doesn’t matter to them. Our family does not matter to them, our family home does not matter.” But, documents obtained by the Wilcox’s through freedom of information indicated that the original plans would have seen the road go through the neighbouring property, belonging to horse breeder and local real estate mogul John Starr. A Current Affair claimed there was evidence that the planned road had to “avoid the private land housing the horse stud”. “The road (has to be) designed to avoid the Starr property,” the documents reportedly read. Though there is no evidence to suggest Mr Starr was involved in the changes, the Wilcox family are still looking for answers. Adam, the Wilcox’s son, said the farm was “all I know” and that he had planned his future around it. “There’s vacant land there. Put(ting) it straight through someone’s house, it just doesn’t make sense,” he said. “I don’t know how much stress they have put on me and my parents. Just for what? Nothing.” Linda Perrine, the Hawkesbury City Council Director of City Planning, told the program that the road’s design was part of a joint discussion between Hawkesbury City Council, Transport for NSW and Redbank Communities. Ms Perrine explained that the original route was changed to its current path in February 2020. “The original route for the proposed bridge was through the nearby Navua Reserve,” she explained. “In February 2020, Council considered a report and confirmed its in-principle support for the current route alignment based on the facts that it: a) Does not involve any loss of public open space; b) Provides greater flood immunity, above 1:100 flood level; c) Minimises impact on heritage and biodiversity; d) Affects only three private property owners; e) Complements a suite of other roadworks upgrades also required to be delivered in the same Voluntary Planning Agreement f) Assists in addressing current traffic levels/congestion”. Images: A Current Affair

Real Estate

Royal Caribbean begin construction on huge new cruise ship

Construction on the sixth ship in Royal Caribbean’s Oasis Class has begun in Saint-Nazaire, France. The name of the cruise line, Utopia of the Seas, was revealed at the steel cutting ceremony. The ship, which is expected to take 30 months to build, will be available to set sail in the spring of 2024, depending on where you are in the world. It will also be the first Oasis Class ship powered by liquefied natural gas (LNG) in what has been classed as a “bold evolution”. By introducing the first LNG-powered Oasis Class ship, the cruise line will take yet another step toward a clean-energy future after its first LNG ship, Icon of the Seas, hits the sea in 2023. “We are excited to begin construction on Utopia of the Seas,” Michael Bayley, president and CEO, Royal Caribbean International said. “On the sixth Oasis Class ship, vacationers can look forward to the signature combination of Royal Caribbean experiences and many brand-new adventures that has and will continue to make the Oasis class of ships the ultimate vacation for guests of all ages.” Royal Caribbean cruise ships are known to be the “ultimate vacations” for families and travellers of all ages. Image: Royal Caribbean

Cruising

Renovating your kitchen? Help Australia’s tradies avoid silicosis by not choosing artificial stone

In 2012 my wife and I renovated our house — a two-storey extension with a brand new kitchen. Inspired by various renovation-themed TV shows and magazines, we chose a sleek stone island bench as the focal point for the kitchen. I knew the benchtop material was some form of stone. You could choose almost any colour and it cost a lot less than marble. But I didn’t know much else and I didn’t ask any questions. As a respiratory physician who has diagnosed numerous workers with silicosis over the past four years, I regret my ignorance. Like <a rel="noopener" href="https://s23.q4cdn.com/225400014/files/doc_presentations/Investor-presentation-Sept-2018-Final-Version.pdf" target="_blank">many Australians</a> who have renovated or built homes since the early 2000s, the material we chose was artificial stone (also known as engineered or reconstituted stone, or quartz). In 2015, after the first Australian stone benchtop industry worker was reported to have <a rel="noopener" href="https://erj.ersjournals.com/content/46/suppl_59/PA1144" target="_blank">severe silicosis</a>, I was astonished to discover artificial stone contains <a rel="noopener" href="https://theconversation.com/engineered-stone-benchtops-are-killing-our-tradies-heres-why-a-bans-the-only-answer-126489" target="_blank">up to 95%</a> crystalline silica. Inhalation of crystalline silica dust is one of the best-known causes of lung disease, including silicosis and lung cancer. The adverse health effects of silica exposure <a rel="noopener" href="https://theconversation.com/explainer-what-is-silicosis-and-why-is-this-old-lung-disease-making-a-comeback-80465" target="_blank">were established</a> while there was still debate about the harm of cigarettes and asbestos. But Australians’ affinity for artificial stone benchtops has seen silicosis make a major comeback in recent years. New research <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.worksafe.vic.gov.au/resources/silica-associated-lung-disease-health-screening-research-phase-one-final-report" target="_blank">in Victoria</a> shows the extent of silicosis among workers in the stone benchtop industry. What is silicosis? Silicosis is <a rel="noopener" href="https://theconversation.com/explainer-what-is-silicosis-and-why-is-this-old-lung-disease-making-a-comeback-80465" target="_blank">a preventable disease</a> characterised by scarring on the lungs, called <a rel="noopener" href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31989662/" target="_blank">pulmonary fibrosis</a>. Over time, inhalation of tiny silica dust particles triggers an inflammatory response that causes small growths called nodules to build up on the lungs. These nodules can grow and cluster together, causing the lungs to become stiffer and impeding the transfer of oxygen into the blood. In the early stages of the disease, a person may be well. Symptoms of silicosis can include a cough, breathlessness and tiredness. Generally, the more widespread the disease becomes in the lungs, the more trouble a person will have with breathing. There’s not currently a cure. In severe cases, a lung transplant may be the only option, and the disease <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-03-13/silicosis-victim-dies-from-disease/10895774" target="_blank">can be fatal</a>. Brisbane researchers, however, recently demonstrated <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/queensland-researchers-develop-world-first-treatment-for-deadly-lung-disease-silicosis-killing-tradies/2f5fc92f-d8a5-46f4-b6d3-2f0a6beb083a" target="_blank">early but promising results</a> from <a rel="noopener" href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33626187/" target="_blank">a trial</a> in which they washed silica out of a small number of silicosis patients’ lungs. The road to reform Tradesmen in the stone benchtop industry cut slabs of stone to size and use hand-held power saws and grinders to form holes for sinks and stove tops. This generates crystalline silica dust from the stone which may be released into the air. Using water in this process can <a rel="noopener" href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25326187/" target="_blank">suppress the generation of dust</a> significantly, but until recently dry processing of artificial stone has been ubiquitous in the industry. Almost <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.worksafe.vic.gov.au/resources/silica-associated-lung-disease-health-screening-research-phase-one-final-report" target="_blank">70% of workers</a> with silicosis in Victoria indicated they spent more than half their time at work in an environment where dry processing was occurring. Stone benchtop workers suffering silicosis <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.abc.net.au/7.30/spike-in-silicosis-cases-from-dust-created-when/10361776" target="_blank">have called out</a> poor work conditions over recent years, including being made to perform dry cutting with inadequate protections such as effective ventilation and appropriate respirators. Queensland was the first state to <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.worksafe.qld.gov.au/news-and-events/alerts/workplace-health-and-safety-alerts/2018/prevent-exposure-to-silica-for-engineered-stone-benchtop-workers" target="_blank">ban dry cutting</a> in 2018. Victoria followed <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.worksafe.vic.gov.au/news/2019-08/uncontrolled-dry-cutting-engineered-stone-banned" target="_blank">in 2019</a>, and <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.smh.com.au/business/workplace/nsw-to-ban-dry-cutting-of-stone-products-to-combat-deadly-silicosis-20200220-p542qr.html" target="_blank">New South Wales</a> in 2020. It’s too early to assess whether these changes have affected the prevalence of silicosis, but hopefully they will make a difference. Our research Around the time the Victorian government introduced the ban, it launched <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.premier.vic.gov.au/protecting-victorian-workers-deadly-silica-dust" target="_blank">an enforcement blitz</a> in high-risk workplaces, while WorkSafe Victoria implemented a free screening program for the estimated 1,400 workers in the stone benchtop industry across the state. The Monash Centre for Occupational and Environmental Health recently released <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.worksafe.vic.gov.au/resources/silica-associated-lung-disease-health-screening-research-phase-one-final-report" target="_blank">a report</a> detailing the findings from the first year of the screening program. Some 18% of initial 324 workers who completed the assessments were diagnosed with silicosis. We’ve seen similar results <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.worksafe.qld.gov.au/claims-and-insurance/work-related-injuries/types-of-injury-or-illness/work-related-respiratory-diseases/silicosis" target="_blank">in Queensland</a>, where as of February 2021 the government had screened 1,053 stonemasons exposed to crystalline silica dust from artificial stone. Some 223 (or 21%) were diagnosed with silicosis, including 32 with the most severe form, called progressive massive fibrosis. The Monash report indicates workers in Victoria are diagnosed with silicosis at an average age of just 41. The average time spent working in the stone benchtop industry when diagnosed was 14 years, and the shortest was just three years, reflecting an extremely high level of silica dust exposure. We published some earlier results of this research project in <a rel="noopener" href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33115923/" target="_blank">Occupational and Environmental Medicine</a> late last year. But this latest data hasn’t yet been published in a peer-reviewed journal, meaning it hasn’t been subject to the same level of scrutiny as other published research. A broader problem Failure to protect workers from silica exposure <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/silica-office-admin-worker-joanna-mcneill-contracts-silicosis/d64f8661-8bca-4b6f-b950-a1d64e13e421" target="_blank">goes well beyond</a> the stone benchtop industry. Around <a rel="noopener" href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26888888/" target="_blank">3.7% of Australian workers</a> are estimated to be highly exposed to silica at work, and we see workers in other industries, such as quarry work, with silicosis too. Some <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.britannica.com/science/silica" target="_blank">59% of Earth’s crust</a> is silica, so in certain workplaces such as mines and quarries, eliminating silica is not feasible. In these circumstances, exposure must be identified and tightly controlled with measures to prevent dust generation, isolation of workers from the dust, and effective ventilation. If silica cannot be eliminated from a workplace, constant vigilance and evaluation of control strategies are essential. But when it comes to the choice of material for your kitchen benchtop, it’s hard to argue elimination of high-silica artificial stone isn’t feasible. There are many other materials suitable for benchtops that contain little or no silica, such as wood, laminate, steel or marble. Compared with other countries, Australian consumers have developed a particular fondness for artificial stone, which accounts for <a rel="noopener" href="https://s23.q4cdn.com/225400014/files/doc_presentations/Investor-presentation-Sept-2018-Final-Version.pdf" target="_blank">45% of the benchtop market here</a>, but just 14% in the United States. Workers’ lung health may seem like a strange thing to contemplate when designing a kitchen. But increased awareness of this issue is crucial to drive change.<img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important; text-shadow: none !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/156208/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /> <a rel="noopener" href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/ryan-hoy-1211851" target="_blank">Ryan Hoy</a>, Respiratory Physician. Senior Research Fellow. Monash Centre for Occupational and Environmental Health, <a rel="noopener" href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/monash-university-1065" target="_blank">Monash University</a> This article is republished from <a rel="noopener" href="https://theconversation.com" target="_blank">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a rel="noopener" href="https://theconversation.com/renovating-your-kitchen-help-australias-tradies-avoid-silicosis-by-not-choosing-artificial-stone-156208" target="_blank">original article</a>. Image: Getty Images

Home Hints & Tips

How to make roads with recycled waste, and pave the way to a circular economy

It cost <a href="https://www.buildingfortomorrow.wa.gov.au/projects/russell-road-to-roe-highway/">A$49 million</a> to add 12.5 kilometres of extra lanes to Western Australia’s Kwinana Highway, south of Perth’s CBD. That’s not unusual. On average, building a single lane of road costs about about <a href="https://www.bitre.gov.au/sites/default/files/rr148.pdf">A$5 million per kilometre</a>. What is unusual about this stretch of extra freeway is not the money but the materials beneath the bitumen: two stabilising layers comprised of <a href="https://www.wasteauthority.wa.gov.au/images/resources/files/2021/06/RtR_Pilot_Report.pdf.pdf">25,000 tonnes of crushed recycled concrete</a>, about 90% of which came from the demolition of Subiaco Oval (once Perth’s premier football ground). <iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/jiFwKw3NTkk?wmode=transparent&start=75" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe> Recycling building and construction materials remains the exception to the rule in Australia. The<a href="https://www.awe.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/national-waste-policy-action-plan-2019.pdf"> National Waste Policy</a> agreed to by federal, state and territory governments has a target of 80% resource recovery by 2030. It’s currently <a href="https://www.awe.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/sustainable-procurement-guide.pdf">about 40%</a>. Of the 74 million tonnes of waste <a href="https://www.environment.gov.au/system/files/pages/5a160ae2-d3a9-480e-9344-4eac42ef9001/files/national-waste-report-2020.pdf">generated in Australia in 2020</a>, masonry materials comprised about 22.9 million tonnes. Plastics, by comparison, comprised about 2.5 million tonnes. Of the 61.5 million tonnes of “core waste” managed by the waste and resource recovery sector, 44% (27 million tonnes) came from the construction and demolition sector, compared with 20% (12.6 million tonnes) from households and local government activities. Most of this waste – concrete, brick, steel, timber, asphalt and plasterboard or cement sheeting – could be reused or recycled. It ends up in landfill due to simple economics. It’s cheaper to buy new materials and throw them away rather than reuse and recycle. Changing this equation and moving to a circular economy, in which materials are reused and recycled rather than discarded in landfill, is a key goal to reduce the impact of building and construction on the environment, including its contribution to climate change. <h2>The economics of ‘externalities’</h2> The fact it is more “economic” to throw materials away than reuse them is what economists call a market failure, driven by the problem of “externalities”. That is, the social and environmental costs of producing, consuming and throwing away materials is not reflected in the prices charged. Those costs are instead externalised – borne by others. In such cases there is a legitimate – and necessary – role for governments to intervene and correct the market failure. For an externality such as carbon emissions (imposing costs on future generations) the market-based solution favoured by most economists is a carbon price. For construction material waste, governments have a few more policy levers to help create a viable market for more recycling. <h2>Using procurement policies</h2> One way to make recycling more attractive to businesses would be to increase the cost of sending waste materials to landfill. But this would likely have unintended consequences, such as illegal dumping. The more obvious and effective approach is to help create more demand for recycled materials through government procurement, adopting policies that require suppliers to, for example, use a minimum amount of recycled materials. With enough demand, recyclers will invest in further waste recovery, reducing the costs. Lower costs in turn create the possibility of greater demand, creating a virtuous circle that leads to a circular economy. <hr /> <a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/432794/original/file-20211119-17-19fvngo.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/432794/original/file-20211119-17-19fvngo.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" alt="Diagram of the circular economy" /></a> <a href="https://www.awe.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/sustainable-procurement-guide.pdf" class="source">Australian Government, Sustainable Procurement Guide: A practical guide for Commonwealth entities, 2021</a> Australia’s federal, state and territory governments all have sustainable procurement policies. The federal <a href="https://www.environment.gov.au/system/files/resources/856a1de0-4856-4408-a863-6ad5f6942887/files/sustainable-procurement-guide.pdf">Sustainable Procurement Guide</a> states the Australian government “is committed to transforming Australia’s waste into a resource, where most goods and services can be continually used, reused, recycled and reprocessed as part of a circular economy”. But these policies lack some basic elements. <h2>Three key market-making reforms</h2> Our research suggests three important reforms could make a big difference to waste market operations. This is based on interviewing 27 stakeholders from the private sector and government about how to improve sustainable procurement. First, government waste policies that set aspirational goals are not supported by procurement policies setting mandatory minimum recycled content targets. All contractors on government-funded construction projects should be required to use a percentage of recycled waste materials. Second, the nature of salvaging construction materials means quality can vary significantly. Cement recycled from a demolition site, for example, could contain contaminants that reduce its durability. Governments can help the market through regularly auditing the quality of recycler’s processes, to increase buyer confidence and motivate suppliers to invest in production technologies. Third, in some states (such as Western Australia) the testing regimes for recycled construction products are more complex than that what applies to raw materials. More reasonable specifications would reduce compliance costs and thereby the cost of using recycled materials.<img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important; text-shadow: none !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/164997/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /> <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/salman-shooshtarian-693412">Salman Shooshtarian</a>, Research Fellow, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/rmit-university-1063">RMIT University</a>; <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/savindi-caldera-1187623">Savindi Caldera</a>, Research Fellow and Project Development Manager, Cities Research Institute, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/griffith-university-828">Griffith University</a>; <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/tayyab-maqsood-711277">Tayyab Maqsood</a>, Associate Dean and Head of of Project Management, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/rmit-university-1063">RMIT University</a>, and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/tim-ryley-1253269">Tim Ryley</a>, Professor and Head of Griffith Aviation, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/griffith-university-828">Griffith University</a> This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-to-make-roads-with-recycled-waste-and-pave-the-way-to-a-circular-economy-164997">original article</a>. Image: Main Roads Western Australia

Home Hints & Tips

Money for social housing over home buyers’ grants is the key to construction stimulus

There’s no doubt Australia’s construction industry is facing tough times. COVID-19 has caused migration to slow to a trickle. Some 2.6 million Australians have either <a href="https://blog.grattan.edu.au/2020/05/the-modest-rise-in-unemployment-hides-a-much-grimmer-picture/">lost their jobs</a> or had their hours cut in the past two months. Many economists <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/banks-warn-house-prices-could-fall-up-to-30-per-cent-as-rental-vacancies-surge-20200513-p54sgy.html">expect</a> property prices to fall. It all adds up to fewer homes being built in the coming months. That means fewer jobs in the construction industry, which employs nearly one in 10 Australians. The sector has already lost <a href="https://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/Latestproducts/6160.0.55.001Main%20Features5Week%20ending%202%20May%202020?opendocument&tabname=Summary&prodno=6160.0.55.001&issue=Week%20ending%202%20May%202020&num=&view=">nearly 7%</a> of its workforce since March. The Morrison Government is <a href="https://www.afr.com/policy/economy/new-home-buyers-to-get-cash-grants-20200531-p54y3g">set to anounce</a> a stimulus package for the construction sector as soon as this week. But what should it include? More home-buyer grants on the way The federal government has signalled it will offer cash grants of at least A$20,000 to buyers of newly built homes. Unlike <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/business/rudd-unveils-104b-stimulus-plan-20081014-50a6.html">past</a> schemes that have targeted first home buyers, it seems these new grants will be available to everyone including upsizers and investors. Grants may also be <a href="https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/coronavirus-renovation-rescue-for-tradies-jobs/news-story/bece00028670b6e7b7281f3bacc84ce7">extended</a> to renovations. Large handouts would prompt some more residential construction by encouraging some people to bring forward their home purchases. It’s why in 2008 the Rudd government <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/business/rudd-unveils-104b-stimulus-plan-20081014-50a6.html">tripled</a> the first home buyer grant to A$21,000 for new homes in response to the Global Financial Crisis. But under such schemes, governments also end up giving grants to people who would have bought a home anyway. Even the more pessimistic industry forecasts <a href="https://www.businessnewsaus.com.au/articles/hia-forecasts-new-home-building-to-fall-in-half.html">expect</a> 110,000 homes to be built in Australia next year. Giving A$20,000 to all of these home buyers would cost A$2.2 billion without adding a single construction job. Grants of A$40,000 would double the bill. That’s a lot of spending for little economic gain. Nor do grants to home buyers actually make housing more affordable. They are typically passed through <a href="https://grattan.edu.au/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/901-Housing-affordability.pdf">into higher house prices</a>, which benefits sellers more than buyers. In this case, that is likely to include developers eager to clear their existing stock of both newly and nearly built homes. Cash grants for renovations would likely hit the economy quicker since they don’t necessarily require building approvals. But they bring their own problems. Grants will likely see in-demand tradies raise their prices, especially if the government is effectively paying for most of the work done. It will be also be harder for officials administering the scheme to determine if the work has been done before paying out the money. Nor is it clear the renovation sector needs further stimulus: reports suggest COVID-19 is driving a <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/we-ve-never-had-it-this-busy-home-isolation-drives-renovation-boom-20200416-p54khh.html">renovation boom</a> across many parts of Australia. Research by credit bureau Illion and economic consultancy AlphaBeta shows spending on home improvements is <a href="https://www.alphabeta.com/illiontracking/">already 33% higher</a> than pre-COVID levels. There’s a better option There’s a better way to support residential construction without providing such big windfalls to developers: fund the building of more social housing. Social housing – where rents are <a href="https://www.pc.gov.au/research/ongoing/report-on-government-services/2018/housing-and-homelessness/housing/rogs-2018-partg-chapter18.pdf">typically capped</a> at no more than 30% of household income – provides a safety net to vulnerable Australians. In particular, the Morrison government should repeat another GFC-era policy, the <a href="http://www.nwhn.net.au/admin/file/content101/c6/social_housing_initiative_review.pdf">Social Housing Initiative</a>, under which 19,500 social housing units were built and another 80,000 refurbished over two years, at a cost of A$5.2 billion. Under the initiative the federal government funded the states to build social housing units directly or <a href="https://www.ahuri.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0018/2772/AHURI_Positioning_Paper_No155_Design-innovations-delivered-under-the-Nation-Building-Economic-Stimulus-Plan-Social-Housing-Initiative.pdf">contract</a> community housing providers to act as housing developers Public residential construction approvals <a href="https://blog.grattan.edu.au/2019/09/learning-from-past-mistakes-lessons-from-the-national-rental-affordability-scheme/">spiked</a> within months of the announcement. Building 30,000 new social housing units today would cost between <a href="https://www.afr.com/politics/federal/enemies-unite-in-call-for-10b-housing-fund-20200429-p54oej">A$10 billion an A$15 billion</a>. Because state governments and community housing providers won’t have to worry about finance, marketing and sales, they’ll be able to get to work building homes much quicker than the private sector. The boost to the economy would be pretty immediate. Just as important, building social housing would also help tackle the growing scourge of homelessness. At the most recent Census (2016), <a href="https://blog.grattan.edu.au/2019/06/who-is-homeless-in-australia/">more than 116,000 people</a> were homeless, up from 90,000 a decade earlier. COVID-19 has shown us that if we let people live in unhealthy conditions it can help spread disease – affecting everybody’s health. The drivers of homelessness are complex. Nonetheless the best Australian <a href="https://theconversation.com/social-housing-protects-against-homelessness-but-other-benefits-are-less-clear-97446">evidence</a> and international <a href="https://insidestory.org.au/you-dont-see-people-sleeping-on-the-streets/">experience</a> shows social housing substantially reduces tenants’ risk of homelessness. But Australia’s stagnating social housing stock means there is little “flow” of social housing available for people whose lives take a big turn for the worse. Funding social housing won’t boost house prices or provide windfalls for developers. It will do more to keep construction workers on the job, while also helping some of our most vulnerable Australians. Written by Brendan Coates. Republished with permission of <a href="https://theconversation.com/money-for-social-housing-not-home-buyers-grants-is-the-key-to-construction-stimulus-139743">The Conversation. </a>

Travel Tips

How countries can recycle more buildings

More than <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2019.118710">35 billion tonnes</a> of non-metallic minerals are extracted from the Earth every year. These materials mainly end up being used to build homes, schools, offices and hospitals. It’s a staggering amount of resources, and it’s only too likely to increase in the coming years as the global population continues to grow. Thankfully, the challenges of sustainable construction, industrial growth and the importance of resource efficiency are now clearly recognised by governments around the world and are now at the forefront of strategy and policy. A critical component of the <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/securing-the-future-delivering-uk-sustainable-development-strategy">UK government’s sustainability strategy</a> concerns the way in which construction and demolition waste – CDW, as we call it in the trade – is managed. CDW comes from the construction of buildings, civil infrastructure and their demolition and is one of the heaviest waste streams generated in the world – 35% of the world’s landfill is made up of CDW. The EU’s <a href="https://ec.europa.eu/growth/content/eu-construction-and-demolition-waste-protocol-0_en">Waste Framework Directive</a>, which aims to recycle 70% of non-hazardous CDW by 2020, has encouraged the construction industry to process and reuse materials more sustainably. This directive, which favours preventive measures – for example, reducing their use in the first place – as the best approach to tackling waste, has been implemented in the UK since 2011. More specific to the construction industry, the <a href="https://www.sustainabilityexchange.ac.uk/berr-strategy-for-sustainable-construction">Sustainable Construction Strategy</a> also sets overall targets for diverting CDW from landfill. Policies worldwide recognise that the construction sector needs to take immediate action to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, tackle the climate crisis and limit resource depletion, with a focus on adopting a <a href="https://theconversation.com/explainer-what-is-a-circular-economy-29666">circular economy</a> approach in construction to ensure the sustainable use of construction materials. Instead of simply knocking buildings down and sending the CDW to landfill, circular construction would turn building components that are at the end of their service life into resources for others, minimising waste. It would change economic logic because it replaces production with sufficiency: reuse what you can, recycle what cannot be reused, repair what is broken, and re-manufacture what cannot be repaired. It will also help protect businesses against a shortage of resources and unstable prices, creating innovative business opportunities and efficient methods of producing and consuming. Changing the mind-set The mind-set of the industry needs to change towards the cleaner production of raw materials and better circular construction models. Technical issues – such as price, legal barriers and regulations – that stand in the way of the solutions being rolled out more widely must also be overcome through innovation. Materials scientists, for example, are currently investigating and developing products that use processed CDW for manufacturing building components – for example, by crushing up CDW and using it to make new building materials. Technical problems around the reuse of recycled materials should be solved through clever material formulations and detailed property investigations. For instance, the high water absorption rate in recycled aggregates causes durability problems in wall components. This is something that research must address.<a href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/manager-engineer-check-control-automation-robot-1104780941" class="source"></a> Moreover, it is illegal in the EU to use products that haven’t been certified for construction. This is one of the main obstacles standing in the way of the more widespread reuse of materials, particularly in a structural capacity. Testing the performance of materials for certification can be expensive, which adds to the cost of the material and may cancel out any savings made from reusing them. For the construction, demolition and waste management industries to remain competitive in a global marketplace, they must continue to develop and implement supply chain innovations that improve efficiency and reduce energy, waste and resource use. To achieve this, substantial research into smart, mobile and integrated systems is necessary. Radically advanced robotic artificial intelligence (AI) systems for sorting and processing CDW must also be developed. Many industries are facing an uncertain future and today’s technological limitations cannot be assumed to apply. The construction industry is likely to be significantly affected by the potential of transformative technologies such as AI, 3D printing, virtual/augmented reality and robotics. The application of such technologies presents both significant opportunities and challenges. A model for the future As the image below shows, we have developed a concept for an integrated, eco-friendly circular construction solution. <img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/304567/original/file-20191201-156095-1h42cnl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" alt="" /> Author provided Advanced sensors and AI that can detect quickly and determine accurately what can be used among CDW and efficient robotic sorting could aid circular construction by vastly <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.autcon.2018.05.005">improving the recycling of a wide range of materials</a>. The focus should be on the smart dismantling of buildings and ways of optimising cost-effective processes. The industry must also be inspired to highlight and prove the extraordinary potential of this new construction economy. We can drive this through a combination of creative design, focused academic research and applied technology, external industry engagement and flexible, responsive regulation. Only through a combination of efforts can we start to recycle more buildings, but I’m confident that with the right will – and the right investment – we can start to massively reduce the amount of materials we pull from the ground each year and move towards a truly sustainable future.<img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important; text-shadow: none !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/126563/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /> <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/seyed-ghaffar-500624">Seyed Ghaffar</a>, Associate Professor in Civil Engineering and Environmental Materials, <a href="http://theconversation.com/institutions/brunel-university-london-1685">Brunel University London</a> This article is republished from <a href="http://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-we-can-recycle-more-buildings-126563">original article</a>.

Domestic Travel

Fans poke fun at The Block’s Scott Cam over home project

The Block’s grand finale reveals are hitting TV screens this week, however it seems the contestants’ hard work has inspired host Scott Cam to get out his own tool kit. The carpenter and TV personality took to Instagram to share he too was getting handy around his home. The tradie was photographed leaning against a semi-built structure, with his tool belt firmly strapped around his waist. Fans couldn’t help but to poke at Scotty for spending his weekend working on his own house. “Call me a sceptic but I’m thinking of checking with [your wife] Ann…”, Channel Nine host Leila McKinnon commented. “What??? A tradie working on his own home.... rare sight,” one person said, “Bet your wife has waited years for you to finish this project. Lol,” said another, while a third wrote, “That's unheard of - you sure are one of a kind Scotty Cam.” Scotty has had a busy season on The Block and will surely be relieved to say “tools down” for the last time this year. The most recent saga that we saw on TV screens was when the host had to play hardball with blockheads Tess and Luke. He angrily warned the contestants to “finish the bloody house,” before storming off after they complained about their rival team member’s financial situation. The couple confronted Scott over Mitch and Mark being $10,000 in debt. “[Mitch and Mark] have been able to do all these amazing things like put speakers in the ceilings whereas we’ve reeled it in big time. If we weren’t keeping track of our invoices, we could’ve won other rooms too,” Tess argued. A frustrated Luke complained, “How’s that fair on everyone else?” However, the TV host was not having a bar of it, snapping back “They weren’t going into the red four weeks ago when you guys were. And you’re now in a better position than them. “At the end of the day, we did you a favour.”

Home & Garden

"He's building a fortress": Guy Sebastian finishes construction on controversial multi-million dollar Sydney home

Guy Sebastian has finally moved in to his multi-million-dollar home in Maroubra, Sydney, after two-and-a-half years of construction works and a public feud with an “angry” neighbour, the <a href="https://www.news.com.au/finance/economy/guy-sebastian-puts-finishing-touches-on-controversial-multimillion-maroubra-home/news-story/25208e29e42a07a7a680e16b59355200">Daily Telegraph</a> reported. The singer and his wife Jules Sebastian bought the house for $3.1 million in 2013, but decided to bulldoze the original building and rebuild from scratch. Since beginning works in 2016, the 1,341sqm eastern suburbs site has made headlines due to a neighbour’s complaints over the “demolition nightmare”. <blockquote style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/BmCxdP-lZkK/" data-instgrm-version="12"> <div style="padding: 16px;"> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"></div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"></div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"></div> </div> </div> <div style="padding: 19% 0;"></div> <div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"></div> <div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div> </div> <p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" rel="noopener" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/BmCxdP-lZkK/" target="_blank">A post shared by guysebastian (@guysebastian)</a> on Aug 3, 2018 at 9:19pm PDT </div> </blockquote> In 2017, the unidentified neighbour told the media that he was selling up after his exterior wall was damaged during the development works. “He’s not building a house, he’s building a fortress,” he said. SafeWork NSW confirmed this report. “A residential property in Maroubra was damaged when a brick fell from a truck that was being loaded on an adjacent construction site,” the agency spokesperson said in <a href="https://homes.nine.com.au/latest/guy-sebastian-sydney-construction-feud-nightmare-neighbour/538fa890-b161-4730-8533-8bf3665f8f3a">a statement</a>. Sebastian spoke up about his “angry” neighbour for the first time in an interview with Hit105 late last year. “I’ve got one of those neighbours and he’s a bit filthy at everyone,” said the 37-year-old. “He’s one of those guys on the street that sits out the front screwing his eyes up at everyone.” He shared that the neighbour seemed to have deliberately parked close to the crane to hinder construction works and told the couple to “move on” and “let bygones be bygones”. Sebastian added that he thought it would “all be good”. <blockquote style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/Bp8bKIllFVb/" data-instgrm-version="12"> <div style="padding: 16px;"> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"></div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"></div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"></div> </div> </div> <div style="padding: 19% 0;"></div> <div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"></div> <div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div> </div> <p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" rel="noopener" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/Bp8bKIllFVb/" target="_blank">A post shared by Profile Property Group (@profile_property_group)</a> on Nov 8, 2018 at 7:15pm PST </div> </blockquote> <blockquote style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/Bm8ILwPAkIb/" data-instgrm-version="12"> <div style="padding: 16px;"> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"></div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"></div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"></div> </div> </div> <div style="padding: 19% 0;"></div> <div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"></div> <div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div> </div> <a style="color: #000; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none; word-wrap: break-word;" rel="noopener" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/Bm8ILwPAkIb/" target="_blank">This might look like a construction site but it’s our life’s work and dream about to come true. #buildingahouse</a> <p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;">A post shared by <a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px;" rel="noopener" href="https://www.instagram.com/julessebastian/" target="_blank"> Jules Sebastian</a> (@julessebastian) on Aug 26, 2018 at 3:55am PDT </div> </blockquote> Before buying the Maroubra property, Sebastian and his family had been living in a four-bedroom Clovelly home in Sydney’s eastern suburbs, which was later sold for $2.22 million in 2013. The pair also has a four-bedroom holiday house in Gerroa, on the NSW south coast, which overlooks Seven Mile Beach.

Music

How to finance your renovation

Every homeowner considers renovating at some point, from a major extension to a coat of paint. But it costs to do a makeover. To DIY you need tools and equipment and to call in a professional means paying an invoice. Like all financial questions, how much is too much comes down to the benefit you get in lifestyle or potential resale value compared to the outlay, and the hardest part is paying the bills. Avoid the debt trap Most people spend everything they earn on a monthly basis. So it appears the only way to pay for anything is by accruing debt. Assuming you have enough equity in your property and a reasonable capacity to repay, banks are more than happy to sign you up, even in this supposed climate of restraint.   Depending on the scale of the reno you might be forced into a construction loan at a higher interest rate with the option of rolling it into your mortgage when the bank is convinced you’ve added enough value to their security.    Some seeking a loan think that paying a mortgage broker will get them the cheapest interest rate, because that’s how mortgage brokers convince you to sign with them rather than the banks. Getting what you want So how do you pay for the reno you want? It depends how you look at debt. It’s obvious you can spend more in a lifetime if you limit the interest you pay, so it’s important to relate to debt better. This difference in perspective is the largest single thing that separates the independently wealthy from those who retire on only an age pension.    Most mortgages are designed to keep you in debt, especially those with offset accounts or lines of credit. As with credit cards it’s too easy to view the bank’s money as your own.    There is no perfect solution but the best approach is to look at debt differently. Rather than consolidating it, which is what banks and mortgage brokers say to do, approach it in bite-sized chunks instead. Consider interest rates In the worst-case scenario homeowners pay tradies using a credit card as a quick-fix solution. For small-scale renos it’s unlikely refinancing the mortgage makes economic sense because of the fees. But the interest on a credit card is at least twice that of the average mortgage. If you’re tempted to put the revamp on the card then you can’t afford it. The only sure way of saving interest is to avoid debt. Having said that, for large-scale renovations debt can be used as a tool to make the unaffordable attainable. Looking at debt differently Wikipedia If you borrowed $200,000 from your bank at 6 per cent over 30 years the repayments would be about $1200 a month or $14,400 a year. The interest would be about $12,000. At the end of the first year you would have paid just $2400. It can be disheartening to see so little paid and saving momentum can be lost. But if, instead of looking at debt as a whole, you perceive it as 20 lots of $10,000 repayments, at the end of the year you’d still have paid $2400, but that equals nearly a quarter of the smaller amount. The maths is exactly the same but your attitude is different and the satisfaction and sense of progress is greater, so you’re likely to save more. The best loan isn’t necessarily based on the lowest interest rate, it’s also about how it’s structured, how you approach repayments and unlearning what you’ve been conditioned to accept when it comes to debt. Financing options Home equity loan Equity is the difference between what you owe to the financial institution and what your home is worth. A home equity loan allows you to borrow against this amount. Redraw If your loan has a redraw facility and you’re ahead on payments you may be able to draw on the excess funds you’ve already paid. Refinancing If your loan doesn’t have a redraw facility, consider refinancing and taking out a whole new home loan, with the same lender or another financial institution. Line of credit Similar to a credit card but with lower interest, this is secured with a mortgage against your home and allows you to withdraw funds up to a set limit any time, with repayments made in full or monthly. Personal loan A good option if you need a little extra to finish the job. Because the (usually high) interest rate is fixed for the term of your loan you know exactly how much you’ll be paying back and when it will be paid out. Construction loan If you’re planning a big extension, a construction loan may be offered. Funds are drawn to pay for each stage so you only pay interest on the money as you use it. It’s only drawn down to a registered builder you’re contracted with. Republished with permission of <a href="http://www.handyman.net.au/how-finance-your-renovation?items_per_page=All">Handyman.net.au.</a>

Legal

“16 days of hell” on a cruise ship

More than 200 passengers have voiced their fury after spending thousands of dollars on a dream cruise holiday only to have their ship transformed into a construction zone. Two thousand passengers embarked on the two-week voyage between Miami and Los Angeles via the Panama Canal on the Norwegian Sun. Despite paying thousands of dollars for their holiday, the upgrades closed restaurants and amenities, caused excessive noise and leaked the smell of chemicals. Passenger Mae-Claire Locke says her family endured “16 days of hell” on the cruise. “It wasn’t a vacation,” she said. “It was a full-on construction zone.” Mae-Claire also said that shards of metal went into her son’s eyes. “We had to take him to the doctor as we couldn't unglue his eyes with hot or cold face cloths. They put us all in significant danger.” Passenger Charles P. O’Dale complained about the metal shards on a Facebook page created to bring attention to their nightmare cruise. “These are the metal shards that rained down on us in our balcony from a jack hammer one metre above us. “This is the danger to my health and safety they put me in with metal chips/filings that we were exposed to on our cabin balcony. Hopefully we did not inhale any while we vacated. “Work like this requires eye/ear/breathing protection, we had none.” Annie Barber, another passenger on the cruise, said she was stunned at the amount of construction work being done. “By Sunday 18th March we were shocked at the level of work that was being carried out,” she said. “Old deck flooring was being removed and new liquid flooring laid and then polished. “Existing metal supports were also rubbed down when old decking was being removed. Debris from this work was constantly falling everywhere on the ship and airborne particles were very evident. “There was a strong smell of chemicals for long periods during the cruise, not only in the public areas but also in our stateroom.” Passengers Annie Barber and Alan Taylor sent a letter to the cruise line in the hope of receiving some compensation for their ruined holiday. “We made many complaints to Guest Services as the noise was becoming impossible and we were getting quite worried by what we might be inhaling and ingesting through food and drink,” she wrote. “We were also concerned that some deck areas (some still open to passengers and some not) were being used as storage areas for what looked like chemicals and paint tins, plant equipment etc. “There was constant noise from equipment workmen were using, such as jack hammers and sanding/sawing equipment. Old deck flooring was being removed and new liquid flooring laid and then polished, existing metal supports were also rubbed down when old decking was being removed. Debris from this work was constantly falling everywhere on the ship and airborne particles were very evident. “There was a strong smell of chemicals for long periods during the cruise, not only in the public areas but also in our stateroom. A lot of passengers were complaining of irritation to eyes/skin/breathing. Workmen were provided with industrial masks. “ ... We will be looking for a refund of our entire so-called holiday — cruise fare, all flights and transportation costs. We would also expect some compensation for the ruined holiday of a lifetime, the stress and discomfort that this work created and now the amount of time that we are having to spend dealing with all this. “We are also concerned at potential long/short term health problems passengers may suffer due to inhaling and ingesting these unknown chemicals and substances throughout the entirety of this cruise. “ ... Had we been informed prior to the cruise that this extensive work would be carried out, we would have cancelled.” The cruise line responded by offering impacted passengers a 25 per cent discount on their next cruise. The passengers have criticised this offer and called it unacceptable. A spokeswoman for Norwegian Cruise Line told Newsweek: “At Norwegian Cruise Line, we continuously aim to offer the best vacation experience for all our guests. As part of our Norwegian Edge program, Norwegian Sun is currently undergoing enhancements to better serve our guests. The program is a significant investment designed to ensure every ship across the fleet delivers a consistently high-quality experience to all of our guests. “While we do our utmost to minimise any impact on the guest experience when these enhancements are taking place, we recognise that in this situation our guests experienced some inconvenience.”

Cruising

Fascinating video shows how giant cruise ships are constructed

Cruising is one of the most luxurious ways to travel and anyone who’ve ever been lucky enough to go on a cruise ship would agree that these ships are incredible pieces of machinery. But what goes into making one of these ocean vessels? Quite a bit of work, as it turns out. In the video above, filmed over the course of five years by time-lapse specialists MKtimelapse, we see the construction of the AIDAprima, a giant cruise liner with a gross tonnage of 124,500t, 1,643 staterooms and a capacity of 3,300 passengers. The footage is simply incredible. You really get a sense of the size and scale of the project, and how much coordination goes into to making these ships. What did you think of the video? Do you have a cruise lined up for your future, and if so where are you planning to go? Let us know in the comments. Video credit: YouTube / Neotorious Cruises Related links: <a href="/travel/cruising/2016/05/5-things-you-must-do-to-avoid-seasickness-on-a-cruise/">5 things you MUST do to avoid seasickness on a cruise</a> <a href="/travel/cruising/2016/05/10-things-you-must-never-do-in-a-cruise-cabin/">10 things you must never do in a cruise cabin</a> <a href="/travel/cruising/2016/05/po-ships-first-new-zealand-cruise/">P&O’s first cruise around New Zealand</a>

Cruising

Indigenous artefacts found at Sydney light rail construction site

Indigenous heritage consultants are calling for an immediate halt to construction of a section of Sydney’s light rail after 20,000 Indigenous artefacts were found. The artefacts were identified in a 100-metre-square area around the line’s proposed tram stabling yard. Scott Franks, whose company was contracted to advise on indigenous heritage issues for the $2.1 billion light rail line, said this finding was of great significance. "There is nothing at all like this in Sydney," Mr Franks told Fairfax Media. "You have material that's not from Sydney. It demonstrates a trading route, or that the mobs out of the Hunter Valley were working with the mobs in Sydney." Transport for NSW issued a statement recognising the significance of the discovery, “The social value of the site to the local Aboriginal community is very high and we are continuing to work with (the Aboriginal groups) to identify the artefacts and how they came to be found in Randwick.” But heritage consultants have demanded an immediate stop to construction. Greens MP David Shoebridge told Fairfax Media the Government’s response had been inadequate, “Already half of the site has been destroyed, the balance of the site is slated for destruction in the coming weeks. Transport for NSW... is seemingly more concerned about the construction timetable than the destruction of the site." For more information, watch the video above. Video credit: Facebook / Sydney Morning Herald Related links: <a href="/lifestyle/family-pets/2016/02/heartwarming-photos-that-prove-every-child-needs-a-pet/">15 heartwarming photos that prove every child needs a pet</a> <a href="/lifestyle/family-pets/2016/01/photos-of-animals-hitchhiking/">Hilarious photos of animals hitchhiking</a> <a href="/lifestyle/family-pets/2015/11/how-to-help-your-pet-conquer-their-phobias/">How to help your pet conquer their phobias</a>

News

Construction workers used to build skyscrapers without harnesses

Talk about an OH&S issue. The construction of the world’s first skyscrapers was no mean feat and required some serious guts, with brave workers doing their jobs without helmets, harnesses or safety ropes. One wrong move and they were toast, with virtually nothing keeping workers from an 85 metre drop. Despite this considerable risk workers often laughed in the face of danger, posing for funny pictures like the iconic Lunch atop a Skyscraper taken during the construction of New York’s RCA Building. At four dollars a day they were earning twice the average wage for manual labour, but it hardly seems like adequate compensation when you consider the immense dangers they faced daily. It was hard work too – gruelling, eight hour days without any real toilet or lunch breaks. From 1860 to 1900 the population of the United States of America great from 31 million to 75 million, and urban areas were under pressure to cater for this demand. The answer? Skyscrapers. <img width="484" height="273" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/9380/construction-workers-in-new-york_484x273.jpg" alt="Construction Workers In New York" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"/> William Starrett, a foreman who worked on some of these immense construction projects, typifies the risks involved with these major buildings. “Building skyscrapers is the nearest peacetime equivalent of war,” Mr Starrett told the History Channel. “In fact, the analogy is startling, even to the occasional grim reality of a building accident where maimed bodies, and even death, remind us that we are fighting a war of construction against the forces of nature.” And it wasn’t just New York. Construction of Sydney’s iconic Harbour Bridge was similarly hazardous with 16 workers losing their life on the job to make the bridge with workers often faced with conditions that would send a modern OH&S representative into hysterics. So if you’re having a lousy day at work, maybe take a moment to say thanks that you’re not dangling 100 metres in the air. We owe these brave workers a considerable debt of gratitude. Related links: <a href="/lifestyle/family/2015/08/historical-photos-in-colour/">Historical black-and-white photos restored in colour</a><a href="/lifestyle/family/2015/08/historical-photos-in-colour/"></a> <a href="/travel/international-travel/2015/08/worlds-biggest-hotel/">The world's biggest hotel yet is coming</a> <a href="/travel/international-travel/2015/08/historical-holidays-idea">Historical holidays that bring the past to life</a>

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