Environmental Archives - Ardill Payne

Reducing our Power Consumption

Posted on September 23, 2019September 23, 2019 by Michael Terlich

Our office is looking super good! We have replaced the old style Fluro light panels within our office to the new energy efficient LED light panels. The swap over will generate a huge reduction in our energy consumption, lower our environmental impact and reduce the need for maintenance, as LED lights have a 5 year life expectancy. We now have a much brighter office and are only consuming a third of the power we once used. The change over is part of the NSW Government initiative for businesses to reduce power usage.

We’re a Key National Player in Alternative Energy

Posted on September 17, 2018November 27, 2018 by Michael Terlich

With the ongoing discussions regarding Global Warming, one solution is to replace and retrofit current technologies with alternatives that have comparable or better performance, but do not emit carbon dioxide.

Ardill Payne and Partners (APP) is proud to be an Australian-wide player in the Alternate Energy revolution.

“Climate change, population growth, and fossil fuel depletion mean that renewables will need to play a bigger role in the future than they do today,” said Bill Payne, Principal at APP.

At Ardill Payne & Partners, our Alternative Energy Projects involve providing engineering, project management and surveying solutions to wind farms, solar powered factories, housing estates, luxury homes and offices. In addition, we facilitate the incorporation of recycled materials into our projects wherever possible.

APP has worked on over 40 wind farms Australia wide and continue to be a key player in the field nationally. Our work involves the design of wind monitoring masts which record the wind data for a prospective site for 2 years.

“The masts collect wind information to assess how much wind energy can be won from a site. Based on this assessment the farm may or may not proceed,” said Bill.

In solar, we find that our ‘turnkey factory’ projects now usually require or request solar energy capacity. This is driven by a range of factors including the cost of power, green policies by factory franchises and personal green preferences.

Some APP solar projects include Habitat Byron Bay, and the environmentally-conscious Bridgestone “green truck centers” located in the Barossa, Hume and Port Hedland.

“As well as powering the Bridgestone sites, the solar panel array feeds energy back into the grid when the store is closed, and has a digital display in the waiting room showing kWh generation and carbon-dioxide emission reductions,” said Bill.

APP’s recycling projects range from water harvesting and recycled water systems to materials re-use.

“Our water recycling projects involve engineering, water engineering, town planning and project management for the Ballina Heights Estate, The Habitat Byron Bay, and the Bridgestone Truck Centers in the Barossa, Hume and Port Hedland,” said Bill.

“Material re-use projects involve using recycled rubber compounds for flooring systems as in the Bridgestone Truck Centers, recycled timber for housing projects such as our Coolamon Scenic Drive luxury home project, and recycled concrete for pavement construction in road construction throughout the Ballina Heights Estate.”

Elements of Byron

Posted on January 15, 2018June 4, 2019 by Michael Terlich

The Brief
The client came to us needing Civil and Environmental Engineering solutions for large tourist development in a very sensitive coastal environment.

Key Challenges
The key challenges we could see for this project were flood prone site with high water table. Flood planning levels and urban runoff issues required a well communicated response to flooding and water sensitive urban design solutions.

APP’s Role
Ardill Payne & Partners undertook the Civil Engineering & Environmental Engineering aspects of the project.

Timeframe
The project was completed in the timeframe 2013 to 2017.

Budget
The budget for the project was $75m.

Bridgestone Tyres

Posted on November 15, 2017September 6, 2018 by Michael Terlich

The Brief:
The client came to us wanting delivery of turn-key Heavy Vehicle Truck-Tyre Centres, including land acquisition, project scoping and concept design, detailed design, town planning, project management and design.

Key Challenges:
The key challenges we could see for this project were developing the building design and project scope to meet the requirements of the tenant.

Solutions:
We overcame these challenges by providing open and honest communication and building client relationship from the get-go.

Key Features:
The key points of difference to mention of the project are the Heavy Vehicle B Double vehicles' access to sites, liaison with local councils, including road upgrades.

Timeframe:
The project was completed on time and in budget.

APP's Role:
Ardill Payne & Partners provided Structural and Civil Engineering, Project Management, Environmental and Town Planning for the project.

Key Partners:
The builders for this project are AGS Commercial in Lismore, and the developers are Freestar.

Ballina Heights Estate

Posted on October 11, 2017September 6, 2018 by Michael Terlich

The Brief:
The client came to us needing a Master-planned Community Development run with an Integrated Project Management and Development Services team under the one roof.

Key Challenges:
The key challenges we could see for this project were extension of all core infrastructure services from Ballina to the new village site some 5 km distant. On site problems have included highly sloping ground, striking large seams of rock, considerable settlement in alluvial floodplains and coordinating bulk earthworks in urban communities

Solutions:
We overcame these challenges by working with Council and Contractors to develop efficient and project sympathetic infrastructure solutions for the range of problems encountered. Specifically this has involved regular Council executive meetings, the Integrated Management System, resourcing and re-engineering earthworks materials for the 750,000 cubic metres of material moved around the site. Only 50,000 cubic metres were imported. Project staging to control ground consolidation.

Key Features:

Over 750 quality Residential Lots
Sporting Facilities
Cycle-way to Ballina
Environmental works
Parks and BBQ amenities

APP's Role:
Ardill Payne & Partners are responsible for the Master Planning, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Survey and Integrated Project Management of the project. Long term Project Management of a new village involving complex management, engineering foundation and infrastructure solutions.

Timeframe:
The project is ongoing with a 25-year timeframe to completion.

Budget:
The budget for the project is $95m.

Habitat Development

Posted on September 15, 2017September 6, 2018 by Michael Terlich

The Brief
The client came to us needing high level Structural and Civil Engineering Design to address complex infrastructure, servicing problems and value engineered solutions for the buildings. The brief was expanded to provide on-site construction and overall Project Management.

Key Challenges
As Project Managers, the key challenges we could see for this project were to provide a cost effective filling and ground preparation solution, and then to control a changing product and architectural solution for a new residential and commercial market, providing the first optic fibre and formal live-work precinct in Byron Bay.

Solutions
We overcame these design challenges by detailed surface and subsurface water modelling to resolve storm water and undertaking the ground works on a day works arrangement, and supervising the works directly in a risk sharing contract. Project Management solutions involved an Integrated project management team being embedded with the design and construction team.

Key Features

Nil increase in storm water runoff quality and quantity
Live/Work Residential dwellings
Commercial / Retail precinct
Shared meeting rooms for development owners & tenants
Access to National Broadband Network
Embedded energy network with solar power & battery time-shift capabilities
Recreational facilities including 25m lap pool
Electric car charging spaces and GoGet car sharing

APP’s Role
Integrated Project Management, Value Engineering & Land Title Surveying

APP’s role as project managers was multi-faceted. Our conventional PM role involved coordinating approvals and design, calling tenders and supervising construction. The developers of Habitat engaged with APP’s suggestion to use the integrated management system and value engineering process to risk share, defuse commercial conflict and obtain maximum value from building and designers shared input. Results to date have been excellent.

Civil works involved $7.5m of detailed infrastructure work and was constructed on time, and $0.5m under budget. Building works are currently under way. At completion the building component will consist of a $12m commercial precinct and $70m domestic and live-work areas.

VE and IPM Attributes for Habitat:

Leading a collaborative team approach in design development
Tender and Contract Administration by APP Risk Sharing Contract
Value Engineering exercise between Tender and Construction phase
Coordinating APP’s in-house design team as well as external architects, service engineers, other specialist consultants and builders
Liaising with Council and PCA to obtain timely approvals
Community and Strata Title Subdivisions

Timeframe
The project has been running since 2014 and will be completed in 2020.

Key Parties
The key parties involved with this project are Agcorp, DFJ, and MDA.

Budget
The budget for this project is $100m.