OLD COPY

David Blanche is the former chair of the Building Advisory Council which is an industry wide group that advises the Victorian Minister for Planning on issues relating to the building industry. David is an architect, and is currently managing director of a design management organisation and a property investment company. The design management company, Property Consultant Services, is responsible for the design and construction of a number of major projects in Victoria. Prior to that, David was director of Godfrey and Spowers, and was responsible for the design and administration of more than 20 major buildings in Melbourne and other parts of Australia. He was involved in the planning and development of the Southbank and Docklands precincts as new urban spaces in the City of Melbourne, and in the retention of the heritage environment in inner Melbourne.

He has a passionate desire to use his planning skills to ensure that Melbourne remains a highly liveable city. He has been president of the National Gallery Society of Victoria, and maintains a close relationship with the arts, the National Gallery of Victoria, and in the collection of art. He was also on the board of the Property Council, and a member of the Heritage Council. Life outside of work is important.

David plays competition squash, and is an enthusiastic, but somewhat erratic golfer. He is married and has two daughters, who share his interest in property and the arts.

Jan Brandjes

Environmental Building Consultant, Trainer, MBAVSustainability Principles (2014 - 2018)

Growing up in The Netherlands, Jan started his career as a writer/ journalist and public relations manager with Elsevier’s Publishing Company in Amsterdam.

The attraction of wide open spaces saw him immigrate in 1983 to the Yukon, Canada, where after a short stint as a communications strategist for the government, he became involved in Canada’s super energy efficient building program labelled ‘R-2000’.

Over the following 12 years Jan developed extensive knowledge in sustainable and energy efficient construction. Starting as a builder of R-2000 homes in Canada’s far North in the 1980s, he later progressed into a building consultant and building inspector. Jan immigrated to Australia in 1995, where he discovered energy efficiency was not widely recognised in Australian construction. He developed a number of demonstration projects: ‘The Healthy House”, ‘The Eco-home’ and ‘ The Economical House’, which were all built in Sunbury, Victoria. He received invitations to guest lecture at a number of universities on sustainable building, and developed training programs for energy efficient construction.

As an environmental building consultant Jan advises on a wide range of issues to both industry and private clients. As a trainer for Master Builders in Victoria, Jan combines his journalism background with his practical building skills. His focus is strongly on future industry developments with education being key.

Peter Carmody

Peter Carmody’s experience in the building industry ranges from small projects, multistorey buildings, fit-out and refurbishment of existing buildings since beginning his career as a carpentry apprentice in 1957.

He worked on various sites with promotions to foreman, site supervision and contract administration.

Peter was employed as a building estimator by a number of major building contractors and sub-contractors and most recently employed by Hooker Cockram Projects as Chief Estimator for 28 years until his retirement in 2007.

Since then Peter has been active in the domestic building market with developments of new units, new houses, refurbishments, renovations and extensions, also working with the Building & Facilities Committee at Holmesglen TAFE until this committee was discontinued in 2016.

Peter now enjoys retirement.

Paul Chen

After obtaining double degrees from the University of Melbourne, Paul has spent a considerable amount of time participating on both local and international projects. He has worked across all facets of the building construction industry including domestic, civil, commercial, land subdivision and property development in both private and public sectors.

Through his career, Paul has being appointed as estimator, contract administrator, project manager, client side project manager, senior project manager, chief estimator, project director and had held various company directorship.