Things that Matter Most While Selecting Building Materials

When you set out to start a construction project, it is the material that you are using is perhaps the most important element. With the advancement of technology, a wide variety of building materials are available in the market. According to the building and construction management professionals, it can be complex to identify the most suitable material for your construction project.

Longevity or price?

Whether you would like to go for the materials that last long but come with a hefty price or relatively cheap materials that you can afford easily but will not last long, the decision is yours. People who are involved with the project management in building construction suggest that, if you want to build a home where you would like to stay for the rest of your life, using top-notch materials are the best option as it may prove financially beneficial in terms of investment. The maintenance cost of your home will reduce a great deal. If you have a plan to relocate somewhere else in future, then you don’t need to spend high on the home your building for living temporarily. Picking what you want starts with knowing what you need.

Choose materials according to the weather conditions-

In a country like Australia, the selection of building materials should be adjustable with weather conditions. Do keep in mind that weather, location, and temperature of a certain place are the key components that affect a house significantly. The construction materials should be different for the houses that are located in the hot and dry areas, whereas the choice of material should be different for the cold and moist areas. For guidance, it is better to consult with the professionals of building and construction management companies.

Energy efficiency and environmental concerns-

Over the last few years, a remarkable change noticed among the Australians. They become more and conscious about the environment and showing extreme preference in building houses using green building materials that are composed of renewable resources. Green materials are environmentally responsible as the impact over the life of the product is considered. Houses built with these sort of materials are not only good for our environment but are also highly energy efficient.

When selecting building materials, it is important to consider construction materials that are readily and easily maintained. Generally, elements with higher maintenance requirements are likely to have lower initial costs but they may also have higher whole-life and environmental costs.

Pumped Hydro is Australia’s Giant Stride Towards Renewable Energy

Giving extreme preference to pumped hydro is thought to be Australia’s giant strides towards renewable energy. The Australian Renewable Energy Agency has told Malcolm Turnbull, pumped hydro could be the key to unlocking "cost-effective large-scale energy storage that can stabilize high levels of renewable energy in the national electricity grid", such as in South Australia.

How Pumped Hydro Works-

The pumped hydro functions by pumping water uphill between two connected reservoirs when power is plentiful, and dispatching power to the grid when demand is high or when wind and solar do not work. Pumped hydro is also widespread in Europe, especially in the alpine parts of Italy, Germany and France, and in Scandinavian countries like Norway. It is also widely used in Japan and the United States.

Pumped Hydro in Australia-

Pumped hydro is not something entirely new to Australia, the issue is there was no major development in it for the past two to three decades. Now the Australian government is galvanizing it to make some positives in the field of renewable energy. A joint Arena-Australian National University study has listed thousands of sites where other pumped hydro storage projects could be built, with a total capacity of a massive 67,000 gigawatt hours. The potential sites that are identified for pumped hydro are:

• South Australia's Spencer Gulf
• Valleys of the Hunter
• Illawarra
• Lower Blue Mountains regions of NSW

"Pumped hydro is the only mature, bankable technology that is readily available at scale," ARENA chief Ivor Frischknecht said. ARENA is itself already funding feasibility studies into pumped hydro storage in Tasmania, and in the Upper Spencer Gulf in South Australia and Kidston in north Queensland.

Benefit-

The Pumped hydro facilities will contribute to the stability of the electricity grid by combining renewable energy generation with large-scale energy storage capability. It is also expected to help meet the growing demand for electricity at peak times as well as help alleviate the state’s peak power prices.

Fantastic Color Trends for Residential & Commercial Buildings

Colors are undoubtedly the most influential factor when it comes to purchase a residential or commercial building. It is the color that creates the mood, feeling and desire. Studies have found that colors play a huge part to add aesthetic value to a building. In many cases buyers make a purchasing decision solely because of the appearance of the building and the location comes second.
According to the property experts, there is a growing consciousness noted among the people about the color of the place they are living. Along with the interior color of their house the exterior color also playing a crucial role in shaping their decision.

A Sydney-based property developer shared a funny incident regarding the color of a building where one of his clients simply refused to buy a residential apartment because its color was blue. On asking the reason the client said he is an avid Manchester United (a football club in England) fan and the color of their jersey is red while their main rival Chelsea F.C jersey color is blue. And he can’t live in an apartment that color is blue. The incident may seem funny, but it has enormous significance in terms of judging the factors that influence the purchasing decision of the people by solely judging a property by its color.

Recent color trends for residential and commercial spaces-

• Colors that spanned 16th- and 17th-century Europe are now being represented in new ways in this year and this color trend is likely to continue in 2018 . Deep reds, rich greens, subtle pale blues, and bright golds are getting extremely popular especially for residential building.
• 2017 is the year of Greenery, a yellow-green shade that takes its cue from the environment is mostly preferred by the people for their office building. Other hot colors include earthy shades like Hazelnut, a warm nude, in addition to splashy shades like Lapis Blue, a vivid jewel tone and Flame, a fiery orange. These colors for office apartment generate a sense that the company is conscious to environment. 2018 color trend will remain same with the strong possobility of color blue will take the center stage and more attention.
• Navy blue, this classic shade has reached neutral status for 2017. Navy blue cabinets, islands, and counters feel fresh and moderns in kitchens, particularly when paired with crisp whites and warm accents such as reclaimed wood and copper or satin brass.
• As 2017 continues to advance towards its end, a number of commercial buildings are beginning to choose bolder and more eye-catching color options for facades and more. Bright, colorful installations highlight your exterior facades and give guests something interesting to view as they approach and enter the building.

Colors and finishes selected for building materials for residential or commercial projects can change time to time. The color trend set in 2017 will likely to continue for the coming five years.

An Exact Overview of Australia’s Current Property & Construction Sector

Activity levels across Australia's construction sector have never been stronger before. The latest industry forecasts released by the Australian Construction Industry Forum (ACIF), the demand in the sector of residential building and construction development (mining-related construction, roads, rail and other large infrastructure) boom have pushed the growth beyond expectation.

According to the Ai Group head of policy Peter Burn, “September saw a continuation of the healthy levels of overall construction activity that have prevailed for most of the year to date.”

The commercial and industrial building will be driven by Sydney and Melbourne offices plus some further hotels building, now switching from servicing business travel to the tourist areas. Changes come through slowly but inexorably, like a slow train wreck. Sky-high Sydney prices flatlined this winter, inching up just 0.3 per cent over the past three months and holding steady during August, according to the CoreLogic home value index.

Sydney and Melbourne recorded the strongest property performance in 2017. This trend is likely to continue in 2018 but notably with some improvement in Brisbane and stability in Perth. The impact of lower interest rates has been directly felt in the retail and residential property sectors, while further downstream benefitting office and industrial. The lower AUD will increasingly factor into investment and consumption decisions, improving the economy at a broad level.

The property market in Australia has boomed and the most recent government data marked growth in residential property prices at 10.2 percent year on year for the 2017 March quarter. In a note, UBS Economist George Tharenou said any rash interest rate action from the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) could trigger a crash. But its possibilities are less and investors don’t need to worry too much.

Australian property and construction market are likely to remain stable and perfectly steady. You can be sure that your investment will reap high value in the coming future.

What are the Specialized Project Management Techniques

Construction industries throughout the world are challenged to improve performance if they are to contribute fully to the achievement of economic prosperity, sustainable environment and healthy fulfilled populations. Construction management is the study of:

• How projects are conceived, designed, and built
• The types of materials and methods used
• Techniques for estimating the cost of construction
• Design and contract law construction accounting
• Oral and written communications
• Safety requirements
• Project planning and project management

Construction Management, or CM, is a service that uses specialized, project management techniques to manage the planning, design, and construction of a project, from its beginning to its end. The purpose of building and construction management is to control a project's time, cost and quality. A construction manager plays an important role in ensuring that construction projects go smoothly from start to finish.

Construction managers often deal with all aspects of the construction of a building. They may need to deal with the investors who are behind the project, as well as the construction workers who are actually being paid for the physical construction of the building. It makes it really important for the project managers to properly understand the regulations that impact the industry.

Specifically, project management in construction encompasses a set of objectives which may be accomplished by implementing a series of operations subject to resource constraints. There are potential conflicts between the stated objectives with regard to scope, cost, time and quality, and the constraints imposed on human material and financial resources.

Building and construction managers are generally appointed early in the construction process to share their valuable industry knowledge and bring in a uniformity to the entire project. Construction managers are hired to lead and oversee a variety of building projects including the building of all types of residential, commercial, and industrial structures, roads, bridges, power plants, schools, and hospitals. They oversee specialized contractors and other personnel. They schedule and coordinate all design and construction processes to ensure a productive and safe work environment.
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Different Types of Residential Building Options Available in the Market

When deciding on the type of home you’d like to purchase, there are several types of residential buildings to choose from. In the view of the project manager for residential construction, your purchase should be based according to your lifestyle, budget and requirements. The choice of a particular type of housing is dependent on locally available materials, skills and levels of technology.

We are providing you a handy guide to some of the residential buildings you can opt for.

Single-Family Home-
Single family homes are homes built on a single lot, with no shared walls. Sometimes there’s a garage, attached or detached. A single family detached home has open space on all four sides and is not attached to any other structure. These type of homes are separated from other structures with walls that are extended from the ground to the roof. Single-family homes tend to offer more privacy and space than other types of homes, and frequently come with private front and back yards.



Condominium or condos-
A condominium is one of a group of housing units where each homeowner owns their individual unit space, and all the dwellings share ownership of areas of common use. What all condos have in common is that they share common areas—such as yards, garages or gyms—with other units that the condo owners don't have to maintain themselves, making home upkeep that much easier.


Townhouse-
A townhouse is usually a part of a community association, each person has his own separate living space. Townhomes usually have multiple floors—sometimes as many as three or four in one unit for one common family. Some townhomes are attached to twin units, but each owner still has exclusive access to all the floors in his own home. Unlike duplexes or fourplexes, however, each townhouse is individually owned. The primary difference between townhouses and row houses is in how they’re arranged.

Current global trends indicate that the newer construction of world housing is being dominated primarily by two types of construction, masonry houses and reinforced concrete buildings.

Benefits that can be Acquired Through a Well Executed Project Audit

A project audit acts as a quality assurance instrument. It scrutinizes the project life cycle system by evaluating the deliverables produced during various phases of the project from the design phase all the way to the implementation phase.

Project audit thoroughly analyzes all the data of a particular project and try to identify  existing or probable impediments/issues regarding the project. All over Australia, project audit and compliance are the things that are taken very seriously in all the construction related and other important projects.

One of the finest things about project audit is that it instantly gives a warning alarm when a project that was seemingly progressing normally and was considered to be OK, is not doing well in reality. The organization can take a prompt decision either to cancel the project, to change the project manager, or to increase the funds.


 

There are multiple benefits that can be acquired through a well executed project audit-

The first and the most significant benefit is the ability to identify problems early on
Reduce waste in terms of time, effort, material and costs
Boost overall project performance
Access to performance/ project costs/ project timeline interrelationships
Informed appraisals for the project team
Ability to identify possible opportunities
Project audits help identify business risks that may involve budget, time, scope and quality
Evaluate the feasibility of the project in terms of affordability and returns

Project management companies in Sydney can play a significant role in helping an organisation achieve its strategic objectives in relation to project management. While a project manager who is skillful, conscientious, honest and on top of his job may learn nothing new from audits, audits nevertheless reduce doubts in the minds of others about project status. For the project, the audit helps guarantee continued success if everything is on track and an opportunity to put things in order if they are not.