Equilibrium

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New Project - Randwick Racecourse Stadium

Equilibrium Air Conditioning has been engaged to as part of Royal Randwick's $150 million redevelopment.

With only nine months until Sydney race fans get the opportunity to enjoy the magnificent facility, significant progress is starting to be noticed on the busy construction site.

Lift shafts have been established, the large access turret on the west-end is taking shape and the highly anticipated Theatre of the Horse can be clearly depicted.

In the space of eight weeks, the skeleton of the new grandstand will stand as high as the existing frame of the Queen Elizabeth II stand, providing a new structure for Sydney's skyline.

Mark Flanagan, the man in charge of delivering the project, is confident work will be completed for the 2013 autumn carnival despite the heavy rainfall during winter.

"The project is working in two parts, you have the existing structure of the QEII stand and the new site," Flanagan said. "The new site is slightly ahead of schedule and the other is a couple of days behind but when you blend them together we are on track."

Flanagan, the Australian Turf Club's general manager of property development, has scoured the world's best racecourses in a bid to ensure Royal Randwick will sit alongside of them.

"This will not just be your average sports venue," Flanagan said.
"It will be like a five-star hotel meets fine-dining combined with the thrill of racing.

Enviromentally Sustainable Solutions

Equilibrium Air Conditioning has served the Australian commercial construction industry for more than forty years. The company provides both design and construct solutions, incorporating the latest environmentally friendly innovations that are in compliance with the Green Star program and the National Australian Built Environment Rating System.

All project managers are responsible for ensuring that each project is assessed for optimum reduction in energy consumption and waste minimisation, and minimise the carbon footprint of the building that results from HVAC systems.

For the Corsoleil project Equilibrium Air Conditioning provided a design and construct solution for air conditioning and ventilation, and was also responsible for part of the Coles supermarket refrigeration heat rejection system. The design incorporated energy efficiencies and flexible operation, with particular attention paid to the acoustic treatment.

Richard Crookes Constructions and Restifa and Partners approached Equilibrium Air Conditioning regarding the Corsoleil project, as a result of their demonstrated expertise in providing a solution for a Coles supermarket which had similar acoustic constraints.

Acoustic considerations were paramount when locating plant. The location and treatment of noise-generating compressors, heat-rejection plant and fans were engineered to satisfy the strict requirements of the local council and Australian Standards.

Other recent design and construct projects for Equilibrium Air Conditioning include Stockland Merrylands, UWS Blacktown Laboratories, Moore Park Supa Centre, Westfield Tuggerah, Westfield Liverpool and the Hills Home Hub in Castle Hill, NSW.

Stockland Merrylands Grand Opening

Stockland has marked the completion of its largest ever retail development with the opening of Stockland Merrylands in Western Sydney. The shopping centre has undergone a $400 million rebuild that has more than tripled its original size.

Speaking at an event to celebrate the opening, The Hon. Barry O'Farrell MP, Premier of NSW said: "This centre will serve as a focal point for the Merrylands community and create important employment, business and social opportunities for the people of Western Sydney."

Snelling’s Budget delivers few surprises

Treasurer Jack Snelling’s first Budget was one of consolidation that delivered few surprises.
And while it unwound some unpopular spending cuts and maintained infrastructure spending critical to the state’s growth industries, ongoing tax constraints on South Australia’s property sector remain a hurdle to investment and economic growth.

“This Budget has brought to light some stark fiscal and political realities about the state’s revenue raising capacity,” said Nathan Paine, Executive Director of the Property Council of Australia (SA Division)
“Despite the fact that the property sector is the largest contributor to the economy – with10 per cent of Gross State Product and the second largest employer, responsible for providing work for more than 10 per cent of the workforce – property taxes comprise around 40 per cent of South Australia’s own-state revenue.
“If we are to capture benefits of our growth industries, the state must move to a more competitive footing and create a better investment environment.

“Reforms to the property tax regime will also expedite development of the homes, factories, public spaces and commercial offices that will support the workforce spawned from growth in these industries.”

The Property Council has repeatedly drawn attention to the risks inherent in maintaining a shallow tax base and has long urged reforms that mitigate this risk and unleash investment potential in the state. The Government provided some tax relief in last year’s Budget, including an adjustment in thresholds that provided relief to mum and dad investors and indexation of land tax thresholds will provide an additional $170.7 million of relief when it commences on 1 July 2011.

“The Government clearly had a tough ask in this Budget, undoing some previous unpopular spending cuts, balancing declining GST receipts and maintaining a record infrastructure spend,” Mr Paine said.

“While we acknowledge how difficult this must have been, and that Mr Snelling faced growing pressure to allocate much-needed funds to critical social needs – property tax remains the elephant in the room.

“We’ve made it clear we want to partner with the Government in finding new ways of funding its commitments to economic and structural reforms, reforms that we steadfastly support.

“We have extended our hand to Mr Snelling and the Government to support them in this transition. We look forward to working with them in pursuit of an equitable, efficient and reliable tax system that helps us unleash the state’s pent-up economic potential.”

Carbon tax: the impact on property

The Federal Government has launched Securing a clean energy future: the Australian Government’s climate change plan.

The core of the plan is the introduction of a price on carbon pollution.
Treasury’s modelling shows that the construction industry is one of the few to shrink over both the short and long term.

The Government’s own analysis spotlights disturbing risks for the property and construction industry that should be addressed before carbon tax arrangements are finalised.

The Property Council has called for a joint government-business working group to undertake far more detailed modelling of the price impacts of the scheme for the residential and commercial property industries.

Comprehensive modelling should show how much abatement the scheme buys over its first three years, and provide a better understanding of the potential price impacts that will occur when the scheme transitions into its full Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) phase.

Better targeted and designed incentives are also required to encourage building energy efficiency and improve affordability.

The positives are:
    •    a large commitment to renewable energy programs that could be tailored to promote embedded generation in buildings and precincts;
    •    an investigation into a national energy efficiency incentive scheme (‘white certificates’) that will tie together and expand existing arrangements; and,
    •    the potential to rationalise existing environmental reporting arrangements for large investors.

The negatives are:
    •    a shrinking construction industry (compared to other major economic sectors);
    •    the absence of any modelling on housing affordability – which is likely to decline as construction costs rise;
    •    the absence of transition arrangements for fixed price contracts, such as leases; and,
    •    the lack of protection from unwarranted energy price increases