MODUS Asia-Pacific Edition | Q4 2018

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Q4/18 ASIA-PACIFIC EDITION

WELLNESS IN THE WORKPLACE 12 / PROPTECH START-UPS 16 / INTERNET OF THINGS 32

REDAS-RICS Smart Buildings Conference 6 March 2019, Singapore As Singapore embarks on its journey to become a Smart Nation, the REDAS-RICS Smart Buildings Conference will take a closer look at the government’s ‘Smart Nation Singapore’ initiative, a national effort between residents, businesses and government to support better living using cutting-edge technology.

We will also uncover how buildings play a key role in this journey, from the conversion of legacy buildings to integrate smart sensors and building management systems, to case studies of future developments that have yet to be built and how they aim to meet constantly changing needs.

Highlights • Government insight: Where are we now as a Smart Nation?

• A deep-dive into smart infrastructure: Existing versus future.

• Smart solutions for the built environment and facility management.

• The conversion of legacy to smart buildings: What does it take?

Find out more at rics.org/smartbuildings

RICS CONTACTS Contact centre For enquiries, APC guidance, subscriptions, events and training: modusasia@rics.org Regulation helpline +852 2116 9713 Confidential helpline +44 (0)20 7334 3867 Dispute Resolution Services +44 (0)20 7334 3806 UK switchboard +44 (0)20 7222 7000

“ RICS MUST CHANGE SO IT CAN SUPPORT THE SURVEYING PROFESSION IN A CHANGED WORLD �

O

ne of the pleasures of my inauguration as RICS President was to welcome Governing Council to my home city of Hong Kong at the end of November. The city is an excellent example of an international metropolis with global influence, and is a place

where both the benefits of urbanisation and the challenges that

FOR RICS Rory Tufano and Jeanie Chan (Asia Pacific) Stephanie Bentley (UK) FOR SUNDAY Editor Oliver Parsons Art Director Sam Walker Deputy Editor Andy Plowman Contributing Editor Alex Frew McMillan Designer Katie Wilkinson Creative Director Matt Beaven Account Director Karen Jenner Advertising Sales Director Emma Kennedy Asia Advertising Bryan Chan Production Manager Michael Wood Managing Director Toby Smeeton Repro F1 Colour Printers ROF Media Cover Image Kerry Hughes (model), Wilson Hennessey (photography)

Published by Sunday, 207 Union Street, London SE1 0LN

accompany it are highly visible. The surveying profession has a key role to play in helping to address many of these issues.

Hong Kong is also not immune to the disruption seen elsewhere as a result of technological advances, new business models and changes in the way in which people are owning, occupying and using real estate.

While both Hong Kong and the surveying profession are operating in a constantly changing economic and business environment, I believe that the need for professionalism, consistency and trust within the natural and built environments remain unchanged. These must therefore be the areas on which RICS should focus.

Our profession has a chance to innovate and lead in all aspects of the natural and built environment. To achieve this goal, we will need to

wearesunday.com

ensure that we adapt and offer true value to those seeking our services.

Advertising enquiries Bryan Chan,

We will also need to break down silos and collaborate with other built

ROF Media, +852 3150 8912

environment and technology professionals. Without change, RICS Views expressed in Modus are those of the named author and are not necessarily those of RICS or the publisher. The contents of this magazine are fully protected by copyright and may not be reproduced in any form without the prior permission of the publisher. All information correct at time of going to press. All rights reserved. The publisher cannot accept liability for errors or omissions. RICS does not accept

will struggle to fully support the profession in an increasingly datadriven and digitalised world. We must not only be able to preserve the critical role we play in the built and natural worlds, but also strengthen our standing as a trusted profession.

responsibility for loss, injury or damage or costs that result from, or are connected in any way to, the use of products or services advertised. All editions of Modus are printed on paper sourced from sustainable, properly managed forests. This magazine can be recycled for use in newspapers and packaging. Please dispose of it at your local collection point. The polythene and paper in this pack are recyclable.

CHRIS BROOKE FRICS RICS PRESIDENT

Hong Kong nominations Open: 10 October 2018 Close: 12 December 2018

rics.org/hkawards

INTELLIGENCE

FEATURES

06

12

Re-thinking / Why we need a more sustainable appraoch to digitisation

08

Will we get WELL soon? / Why have Asia’s landlords and investors been so slow to embrace workplace wellness?

16 How to get ahead in proptech / How do you make a success of your big idea?

Three professionals share their stories

Opinion / RICS’ Sean Ellison on learning the lessons of financial crises past

09

Chartered territory / What will be the biggest change to the profession in the next five years?

10

What we can learn from … / … India’s efforts to improve its poor record on transparency

22

30

Sea change / How do coastal cities prepare for a world in which rising sea levels could wipe them out?

The shape of things to come / The internet of things has already outgrown our homes, and is now transforming cities

36

42

It’s (not) going to be OK / Collapses, disputes, skills shortages … is the construction industry capable of reform?

Bound for future glory / Three big issues, 12 global finalists. Who will win RICS’ Cities for our Future challenge?

EXPERIENCE

46

Let me introduce / How slipforming has taken skyscrapers to new heights

49

RICS news and events /

50

What if … / Could the world really run out of sand, asks architect Andrew Waugh

INTELLIGENCE

Sustainable digitalisation / Asian Financial Crisis – 20 years on / Future of the Profession / Transparent real estate markets /

R E-T HINK ING

PLE A SE DIGITALISE RE SP ONSIBLY

ILLUSTR ATION BY ARON VELLEKOOP LEÓN

Digitalisation might be transforming the built environment, but as Simon Carter argues, we are also ignoring the risks it presents to the environment, society and the profession

We are pursuing smart cities and proptech, and responding to cybersecurity and the threat of “digital disruption”. We are putting Amazon’s Alexa in our homes, investigating a future with driverless cars, automating our work, and making sense of Blockchain.

Digital technologies are evolving all around us. But only by stepping back do we see the bigger picture of a mega-trend that sits alongside urbanisation, globalisation, climate change and others: the digitalisation of our cities, society and our species.

Should we digitalise? This is a pointless question – technological innovation is an intrinsic characteristic of our species. The benefits are much too great. The real question we need to be asking ourselves is: given the extraordinary transformational power of digitalisation, what is the responsible, ethical and sustainable way to advance with it?

Digitalisation will be heavily felt in the built environment. Autonomous vehicles and new mobility systems will transform our cities. The construction industry will automate building fabrication, and we will create new forms of architecture.

Our buildings, infrastructure and cities will be operated with pervasive smart technologies. They will also have virtual twins, built out of data, and inhabitable through augmented or virtual reality.

The built environment will transcend two worlds: the physical and the digital.

But this is only the beginning. The transformation is happening rapidly and expansively – even though it is hard to see day to day. This is a structural shift in the real estate sector, yet our industry is not up to speed with it. We have been too focused on the opportunities that digitalisation offers. This means we are paying insufficient attention to the considerable risks digitalisation also presents: it is indeed a doubled-edged sword.

Digital technology will improve construction productivity, cost efficiency and safety. But at the same time, it will lead to considerable job displacement in construction and among real estate professionals. While the internet of things will drive huge operational improvements in buildings and infrastructure, it presents a greatly increased cybersecurity risk.

We will work and entertain ourselves in augmented and virtual realities, but how will our species adapt to suddenly leaping into this whole new world?

Who will own and protect the community’s data? Has the public really come to terms with the notion that personal privacy might be a thing of the past? Recent events with Facebook and the EU’s General Data Protection Regulations suggest that privacy will be a huge issue around the world for quite some time, with crossborder implications. We should prepare for the focus to shift from internet data alone,

to also include built environment data.

We must anticipate that trust in the developers, owners and operators of real estate will be more vital than ever.

Discussion of our digital evolution is often led by technologists, rather than the broad church of our industry. The discourse commonly excludes the communities and stakeholders that will be most affected by it.

The stewarding of this new generation of real estate and cities will require a very different approach from the existing real estate professions and city administrations.

The next wave of professionals and officials will have to be highly digitally literate and understand the many environmental, social and governance issues driven by digitalisation. They will then have to be able to lead their clients and the public in negotiating these opportunities and pitfalls.

These new leaders will be proficient with ethical decision-making so they can address the considerable trade-offs associated with deploying digital technology. They will also have come to terms with their own digital transformation, as individual professionals, businesses and whole professions.

Those who wish to provide industry leadership on sustainable digitalisation will need to lead by example in their responsible use of technology. They should integrate it in their strategies for sustainability corporate responsibility.

They may help industry and our society actively explore the opportunities and challenges with digitalisation. This will help us build a shared vision of the future using digital technology, leveraging the best it has to offer, but underpinning progress with wisdom, smart risk management, and care for our communities.

Simon Carter is MD of Sydney-based sustainability strategy practice Morphosis, and author of Crossing the Threshold– a primer for sustainable digitalisation in real estate and cities, published with RICS. For more information on the report, see p49 Q4 2018 / MODUS APAC / 7

INTELLIGENCE

“ 20 YEARS POST-ASIAN FINANCIAL CRISIS, ARE WE DUE ANOTHER? ” SE AN ELLISON RICS SENIOR ECONOMIST, ASIA-PACIFIC

With the Indonesian rupiah falling to its weakest level in 20 years in September, and currencies from the Argentinian peso through the Turkish lira to the Chinese yuan under pressure, you can hear some old Asia hands muttering: “It feels like 1997 again.”

The Asian financial crisis started in Thailand, but quickly spread through Asia.

Next it hit Brazil and Russia. Those original “black swans” prompted the default of hedge fund Long-Term Capital Management.

That took the crisis to Wall Street, with the US Federal Reserve supervising the bailout.

Ten years since the global financial crisis. Twenty years since the Asian edition. Are we due another instalment?

Prior to the Asian financial crisis, easy global credit and rapid growth led to a sharp increase in overseas borrowing by banks in Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia. This debt binge fuelled an increase in domestic credit issued in Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia, at a pace substantially above the rate of interest: a classic credit bubble.

Much of the money was then pumped into real estate, since emerging financial markets have fewer other assets in which to invest.

Things began to turn in early 1997.

Amid mounting bad loans, a pair of large Thai developers defaulted on their debt.

This prompted foreign investors to start withdrawing funds from Asian emerging markets. International speculators began betting against the Thai baht, Malaysian ringgit and Indonesian rupiah. By the end of 1997, these three currencies were in free fall, losing 50% of their value in six months.

The International Monetary Fund stepped in, and was able to stabilise the baht and ringgit. But the rupiah continued to fall, at one point having lost 85% of its value.

Economists have stressed the “quick” recovery from this crisis – Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia all saw GDP growth in 1999 – but the costs were immense.

Thailand and Malaysia’s real GDP declined by more than 7% in 1998, causing great short-term pain. Indonesia was hit even worse, with the economy shrinking

more than 13% in 1998. Food shortages and mass unemployment sparked riots across the country, and led to the resignation of President Suharto, in power for more than three decades.

The good news is that the governments involved, and the companies that survived, have largely learned from their mistakes.

There may be pockets of weakness in the Thai, Malaysian, and Indonesian economies. But these three countries have done a much better job in balancing external liabilities with assets.

South-east Asian companies have shifted from offshore borrowing via bank loans to offshore bond issuance. It’s a small change but an important one. Bonds have longer durations than bank loans, needing less frequent refinancing. They also spread risks among a range of bondholders, rather than concentrating exposure at a few banks.

This buffers against the current upswing in interest rates. But it is not a bulletproof shield. Total emerging-market debt has doubled since the global financial crisis. It sits on a much larger and more diversified economic base than previous cycles, but it still represents a fundamental risk to the financial stability of emerging markets.

If these markets became more risk averse, it could trigger another wave of financial stress. But that would require a major recalibration of downside risks by investors.

Recent data from RICS’ Global Commercial Property Monitor, published quarterly, suggests that markets are headed towards a soft landing rather than a sharp decline.

We are not at crisis level yet. But the events of 20 years ago serve as useful touchstones if markets move in disconcertingly familiar ways.

ILLUSTR ATION BY DANILO AGU TOLI

OPINION: LESSONS FROM THE PAST

CHARTERED TERRITORY

IN FIVE YEARS FROM NOW, THE PROFESSION… What will the industry look like in the near future and are we ready for it? These are the questions posed by RICS’ Future of the Profession campaign. We asked our Twitter followers what they thought would be the key trend.

19%

#RICSMODUS ON T WIT TER

WILL REQUIRE NE W SKILL SE TS

@JORDAN__ MAXWELL

10.5%

WILL BE SERVICE LED

Find out more about how we’re responding to the challenge of creating a profession fit for the future at rics.org/futureprofession

I’m a big advocate for the modular/ prefab sector. Will be interesting to see how tech and the rise of offsite disciplines evolve over the next few years.

@PAULFAREY

14%

WON’T HAVE CHANGED MUCH

150 edition of Modus is a fascinating read capturing the tradition, diversity and achievements of surveyors since 1868. A great showcase for #rics and the profession.

Well done to everyone involved!

@PETERGILLILAND @RICSnews congrats on the #RICSModus 150 issue; it looks fantastic throughout & projects a stylish image of the profession

@STING4R

57%

WILL BE MORE EFFICIENT THANKS TO TECHNOLOGY

My exciting Saturday night this week is sponsored by @HarryPotter Film @RICSnews #Modus and very soon there should be a complimentary @pizzahutdeliver involved too …

Q 4 2018 / MODUS APAC / 9

INTELLIGENCE

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Mumbai’s Imperial towers have attracted buyers from international firms such as Blackstone and McKinsey

WHAT WE CAN LE ARN FROM…

INDI A’ S P U SH T O BE MORE TRANSPARENT

IMAGE BY GE T T Y

The Modi government’s reforms have led to a dramatic improvement in the country’s investment prospects, says JLL’s Lee Fong

There has been a growing recognition in recent years from governments, occupiers and investors in Asia that transparency is necessary for an efficient real estate market.

Encouragingly, great strides have been made in this area. In the 2018 edition of JLL’s Global Real Estate Transparency Index, published in June, Asia recorded the largest improvement of the four major regions.

South and south-east Asia led the way in transparency gains, accounting for three of the 10 markets that registered the biggest improvement globally: Myanmar, Thailand and India. South Korea, meanwhile, moved into the “transparent” category for the first time (box, right).

The change in India is striking, and a direct result of a clear legislative drive. The implementation last year of the Real Estate Regulatory Act (RERA) was instrumental in furthering prime minister Narendra Modi’s agenda to reduce corruption and improve transparency. The government has also pushed to remove roadblocks in the REIT (real estate investment trust) industry. The strengthening of information in the public domain, including the digitisation of property records, also helped the country move up the ranking to 35th place.

RERA is a notable highlight that promotes transparency and accountability through wide-reaching regulations such as the requirement for real estate brokers to be registered, as well as a mechanism for homebuyers to resolve disputes with

developers. These measures contribute to the broad professionalisation of the industry, although implementation has not been uniform across the country. Mumbai’s home state of Maharashtra has led the way, but others have been slower to respond.

These positive strides, in tandem with the country’s bright economic prospects, have helped lift foreign interest in the real estate sector to new heights. International capital inflows are growing – private equity investment has risen threefold since 2014.

Amendments to regulations under the Securities and Exchange Board of India have boosted investor sentiment about the development of the country’s REIT market. Blackstone and Embassy Group are poised to launch the first initial public offering of a REIT. Such investors are more demanding, which has compelled data providers to improve their data quality and market coverage.

New technologies are testing the traditional structure of India’s real estate industry, creating pressure to improve transparency even further. Despite the progress already made, it is essential that the public and private sectors work together to ensure this positive momentum is not squandered.

Lee Fong is associate director, Asia Pacific Research, at JLL in Hong Kong. Download the 2018 Global Real Estate Transparency Index at jll.com/GRETI

HOW SOUTH KORE A MOVED INTO THE “ TRANSPARENT ” CATEGORY FOR THE FIRST TIME South Korea’s rise into the “transparent” category of JLL’s Global Real Estate Transparency Index has been underpinned by an improvement in market intelligence and sustainability.

As the country opens up to overseas investment, there is a growing understanding of the need to accelerate reforms in transparency, the labour market and corporate governance.

Heightened investor interest is prompting information providers to increase the depth of their non-office real estate coverage. The roll-out of the Korean Emissions Trading Scheme (KETS), which was initiated in 2015, helped push improvements in sustainability.

Primarily designed to cover carbon emissions from industrial facilities, KETS encourages companies with emissions that are below the mandatory threshold to report them on a voluntary basis.

South Korea has a high capability for strong innovation thanks to its engineering and high-tech industries, which boast a significant depth of knowledge, digital connectivity and advanced infrastructure.

This represents a golden opportunity for the country to leap further ahead in the transparency rankings by embracing new technologies.

The new wave of innovative proptech companies and digital platforms can be some of the strongest future drivers of real estate transparency.

Q4 2018 / MODUS APAC / 11

W WORDS BY ALEX FREW MCMILLAN

ith a board that includes author Deepak Chopra and actor Leonardo DiCaprio, workplace wellness consultant Delos has big backing to push you to live well. Its WELL Building Standard for workplace wellbeing works in a similar way to how LEED certifies green buildings.

At present, only 5% of Asian employees have access to a workplace wellness programme, the Global Wellness Institute reported in 2016.

That compares with 52% of Americans and 23% of Europeans.

“In terms of having formal programmes in place, Asia has a lot of catching up to do,” concedes Alessandro Bisagni, founder of greenbuilding consultant Bisagni Environmental Enterprise. But will Asia listen? Employees in Asia don’t seem to expect much out of their office besides pay. Developers, landlords and tenants talk up their green credentials but they do little for the people that they put inside.

IMAGES COURTESY OF ARCADIS, BE AN BURO, CITI

Great strides have been made in ensuring modern buildings are kinder to the environment, but in Asia at least, far less thought is put into the welfare of the people who work in them. What’s holding us back?

WELLNESS

The benefits, in theory, are manifold: a fit workforce is a happy, productive and loyal one. Unexplained absences go down, while efficiency and energy go up. The price of fitting out and running such workplaces can also go up, however. And it’s hard to measure the cost of adding “wellness” to a building because nobody yet agrees what you should be measuring. How do you count the benefits of a room for 10 minutes of meditation? “That’s the holy grail in the industry,” says Bisagni. “To say exactly how one particular intervention will give you X amount of money back.”

When it came to fitting out Grosvenor’s office space at Jardine House in Hong Kong, there was no choice between“This is standard”, and “This is how far we’re willing to go,” according to Ian Mair, chief operating officer of the developer’s Asia-Pacific arm. “We said: ‘If we’re starting with a blank sheet of paper, why would we not want to make it this way?’” In June this year, the refurbishment was the first in Asia to receive dual gold certification from WELL and LEED. But for Jim Sheerin MRICS, a partner at Arcadis in Hong Kong, the numbers don’t add up. Both Arcadis and one of its major clients, a healthcare provider, have opted not to secure WELL certification.

The companies believe they can spend the money more efficiently, especially when they are already shelling out to ensure they have LEED-certified buildings. But, he suggests:“it wouldn’t surprise me to see LEED adapt and incorporate some of the WELL aspects. I think there is probably room for one of the two.

“There are benefits but it’s also a law of diminishing returns,” Sheerin argues. “We don’t need to spend a lot of money to have someone tell us we’re providing a good environment for our staff.”

Arcadis’ (opposite) and Grosvenor’s (above) Hong Kong offices were fitted out with wellness in mind, but only the latter pursued WELL certification

Striking a balance Mair does feel that Asia-based staff are reticent to take advantage of wellness initiatives. That is perhaps because “wellness” means different things to different people. Work-life balance features top of the list in the West. But people in mainland China prioritise health.

In Japan, child care is a big selling point, but in Hong Kong it is common to have nannies, and food choice scores high. “We’ve worked quite hard to say it’s OK by us,” Mair says.“It’s about setting that right tone and leadership.”

Arcadis experienced similar reluctance with sit-stand desks. The company is ensuring that 20% of desks in all new offices globally are adjustable. In the US and Australia, offices immediately opted to switch to 100%. There was plenty of skepticism about these newfangled gadgets in Asia. The “knowledge and expectation” among staff was “negligible,” says Sheerin. Nevertheless, the Hong Kong branch installed sit-stand desks for 80% of its office in Kwun Tong.

Take-up has been “extremely high,” Sheerin notes, with Hong Kongers particularly keen to stand up after lunch, to aid digestion.

The region may not have quite “got” wellness in the workplace yet because the people do not expect it. In Asia, “the starting point is lower,” suggests Sheerin. If an employer starts offering workplace benefits, employees often wonder why the company doesn’t devote more money to pay. “Being completely frank, staff often say they’d prefer the money,” he adds.

Sometimes, you can have both. Grosvenor’s Hong Kong staff receive up to HK$5,000 ($637) a year to spend on six categories of health-related items: gym memberships, personal training, fitness equipment, vaccinations, health supplements, and eyewear. The developer has a “libertarian-paternalistic thing” going on, explains Mair. “You have choice. It’s libertarian in that sense, paternalistic because we’d like you to improve your health.”Take-up of the scheme has reached 96%. Among the other benefits on offer is a “wellness room” for meditation or use by expressing mothers.

Q4 2018 / MODUS APAC / 13

Citi’s new Kowloon office (above and opposite) is the world’s largest building to win WELL certification

Fitting Grosvenor’s office out to meet both WELL and LEED standards – through measures such as sensors to measure air quality – cost the company 10-15% extra, Mair estimates. But it has been an interesting lesson Grosvenor may deploy in offices it develops.

The improved control the systems give it over lighting and cooling has led to a 30% reduction in the property’s energy bills.

Citigroup also opted to target WELL and LEED certifications when developing Citi Tower on Hong Kong’s Kwun Tong waterfront. The 330,000 ft2 (30,658 m2) office block is the largest single building globally to win WELL recognition. Citi paid close attention to air quality, with particulate readings of particular concern to WELL assessors. Toxins in new buildings directly affect health, particularly when, as Bisagni estimates, we spend 90% of our lives indoors. But there are other subtler factors Citi considered, such as how light colour affects hormones and stress levels.

Bisagni says the bank has “done a phenomenal job,” not only by reducing the toxicity of new fittings but also considering biophilia – the human need for connection to nature – which reduces stress and improves productivity. There are plants, plenty of sunshine, and a lighting system that’s timed to mimic the natural day-and-night cycle outside. That way, even employees who spend all day indoors feel a connection to the outdoors.

Citi insists the added effort and money spent in search of WELL certification was “not that material in cost”. But Duncan Macintyre, head of Citi Realty Services in Hong Kong, concedes it is far more difficult if you are an occupant of existing office property.“Air quality is a real issue if you’re a tenant, because you have no ownership of the central plant,” Macintyre notes.

14 / MODUS APAC / Q4 2018

WELLNESS

So, does wellness pay? Grosvenor and Citi obviously feel the cost is worthwhile but, so far, their efforts begin and end with properties that they themselves occupy. And although some developers, such as Hong Kong’s New World Development, are starting to consider wellness in new workplaces that they build, none have opted to retrofit existing space. That’s considerably more expensive and does not make sense to most standing tenants on leases of five or fewer years, let alone landlords.“It’s easy to factor wellness in when you’re building new,” says Bisagni. “I don’t think the developers see the financial case yet when a building is already built and leased out.”

Whether it is likely to have an influence on how a property is valued, the consensus seems to be: watch this space.“I haven’t heard of a valuation being increased specifically because of a WELL certificate,” says Sheerin.“I do think a Gold or Platinum LEED rating will carry a premium, but a direct correlation [between WELL certification and increased values] I suspect remains to be proven.”

Sheerin’s is a view supported by Jimmy Tong, an associate at Arup in Hong Kong.“WELL is quite a new concept in Asia, so we are yet to see a quantifiable benefit. There is anecdotal evidence to suggest that attaining a green certification such as LEED does lead to an increase in a building’s value. I would expect the same for the WELL standard.”

It took around five years for LEED certification and the “green building” concept to gain critical mass, notes Tong. He predicts a similar effect will occur with wellness.“It’s always the early adopters that see the business case, but they pay a higher premium to get this recognition,”he says. Several Hong Kong landlords are demonstrating a payback.“We are starting to see some economic indicators showing that higher rent and higher premiums will be charged.”

Tong expects environmental wellness to catch on quickly in China, South Korea and Vietnam, where air quality is a concern. For other features to become standard, we must know what we want. Then ask and ask for it. An assertive Asia may find itself thrust to the forefront of a nascent trend, one that for the large part it has yet to notice. n

Q4 2018 / MODUS APAC / 15

Are you sitting on the next great idea that will disrupt your sector?

Thanks to the way technology is transforming the way we work,

HOW TO

it seems that every new company is a proptech company. In such a febrile atmosphere, standing out from the competition is more important than ever. What does it take to turn a spark of inspiration into a successful business?

GET AHEAD IN

We spoke to three entrepreneurs who made the leap …

WORDS BY CHERRY MASLEN ILLUSTRATIONS BY POLI LOVI

PROPTECH

START-UPS

↑ WASTING NO TIME GARY WALTER MRICS, CO-FOUNDER & CEO, RE ALINFLO, HONG KONG

G

“ YOU GET SO MANY OPPORTUNITIES TO LEARN … AND HAVING SO MANY ROLES IS PART OF THE EXCITEMENT ”

ensure data accuracy within the platform.

The database is designed to be used by professionals such as surveyors, brokers, investors and developers, who can also use the in-platform tools to analyse data.

“With better organisation and availability of data, we will be able to improve the way the industry works, improve the investment attractiveness of existing markets and open up new ones,” says Walter. Realinflo is the first member of RICS’ Technology Affiliate Programme in Hong Kong and Asia-Pacific.

Walter, who is currently in talks with prospective investors, says the biggest challenge is the status quo. “Proptech here is at an early stage compared with the UK and US. People in the industry have been doing things the same way for 20 or 30 years,” he laments. As in other property markets, however, the industry is project led, so brokers are focused on the next deal, they’re not thinking about what might benefit them in the long term.

Walter points out that the numerous steps and procedures you need to go through for valuations makes it more complicated to apply software. There are also the challenges of starting a proptech company in the region.

“Asia is complex in that it has multiple countries, languages, legal frameworks, practices and standards,” he says. The platform has to cover different scripts and characters and, on the tech side, accommodate Baidu, China’s answer to Google.

“You need people working with you who share the same vision and passion, otherwise you can’t move forward, and of course you want people with the right mix of skills.

“To succeed in a proptech start-up you need to be able to challenge the current situation and take new trends into account.

For instance, we looked at flexible leases and co-working providers such as WeWork rather than the traditional model, to see how this potentially affects our own business.”

This model, where WeWork might lease 20 floors and sublet it on short contracts, fitted out, with half of it as hotdesking, is starting to take off in Hong Kong.

“The big benefit of being a start-up is that it honestly doesn’t feel like work, it’s fun to try to solve problems,” says Walter. “You get so many opportunities to learn, in my case on the programming and technical side, and having so many roles is part of the excitement.

I have to go out and pitch, take care of the finances, the legal side, client management and recruitment; that’s a lot of hats.”

For a complex task, Walter’s goals are simple: “We want to provide more accurate information and better tools for real estate professionals; our ultimate goal is to improve standards in the industry.” The feedback so far? That it can be a huge boost. “It’s great when users report they can complete tasks in a fraction of the time. It’s really good to see the impact we can make.”

↑

ary Walter was working as a valuation and advisory manager for Colliers International in Hong Kong when he came up with the idea for Realinflo, a data analytics platform for real estate professionals in Asia-Pacific. “I kept coming up against the same problems, I was spending 70-80% of my time doing data collection, verifications and analysis,” he says.“The lack of transparency in Hong Kong and throughout the region, from information on buildings, to transaction data and market information such as new supply and demand, was making it difficult to support valuations and slowing down transactions.”

Walter also noted that real estate advisory companies did not have the tools to manage their data in-house, meaning reduced employee productivity and repeated work, such as taking measurements multiple times. He started to draw up a structure for a database, then met his co-founder at a friend’s wedding. “He was working for a software company, we had the same vision so started building a prototype. We got really valuable feedback from our industry peers, and decided to take the risk and go ahead with our start-up in June 2017.”

Realinflo was launched in January 2018, and though in its early stages, is gathering market information using rigorous checks to

SENSE OF ACHIEVEMENT MARK SORSA-LESLIE MRICS, DIRECTOR, BERINGAR, EDINBURGH, UK

M

ark Sorsa-Leslie founded Beringar with fellow surveyor Paul Byrne MRICS in 2016. The company develops sensors that pick up data on how individual rooms in buildings are used: how many people enter a room and how long they stay. The sensors also monitor eight environmental factors including temperature, humidity, lighting, CO2, UV light and noise, which are crucial in analysing why rooms are used or underused.

The idea for the sensors was born out of a conversation Sorsa-Leslie had with a client, while he was working in online property management. “We had a client in the NHS [the UK’s National Health Service] who was responsible for 300 buildings,” he says. “He was frustrated that surveys kept telling him he had X% of free space but he didn’t know where it was. We thought there must be a sensor solution to this.”

The problem was the type of sensors he needed didn’t exist. Then Sorsa-Leslie met a component manufacturer at the Censis trade show, and worked with them to develop a prototype. This first version monitored occupancy only, without the environmental factors, but even so the data collection was impressive. They tried it out on a health

START-UPS

“ IF THE CHOICE IS BETWEEN DOING IT AND NOT DOING IT, THEN JUST DO IT. LEAN FORWARD ” centre in east London. “The results were fantastic – we saw a pattern of use that no one had seen before, and were able to understand how the building worked in a new way.”

The addition of the environmental sensors helped clients understand why certain spaces were not being used well – crucial for the NHS given around £8bn of its budget is spent on buildings and their management.

Beringar’s sensors have now been adapted to track moveable equipment including hightech beds that need regular maintenance.

Sorsa-Leslie says one of the demands of working on a proptech start-up is you have to be prepared to take risks: with proptech now growing fast, waiting is not an option.

“If the choice is between doing it and not doing it, then just do it. Lean forward,”he says.

explains that both occupiers and landlords need data that tells them exactly how space will be used. “Landlords need to make sure they have the properties that customers need,” he says. “We’re trying to make sure they are used as efficiently as possible. When people and buildings work together, people are more productive.”

Despite the constant challenges, SorsaLeslie finds working in a proptech start-up extremely stimulating. “By responding to a client challenge, we created something that hadn’t existed before,” he says. “That’s exciting. We are surveyors; to collect data that no-one has seen before is a great feeling, so is knowing how to turn that data into money for clients. I still wake up every day feeling excited.”

“It worked for us. One benefit of working in a start-up is that you have the freedom to act quickly.” Beringar recently worked with start-up accelerator R/GA Ventures to learn how it can use its website to communicate more effectively. “Because we are agile and nimble, we completed this in days.”

Beringar is now raising seed funding to grow the business, which Sorsa-Leslie feels has huge potential for commercial office buildings. “The industry has been slow to adopt technology but now it’s accelerating as people have become used to great online service in other areas,”he says.“We feel we’re in the market at exactly the right time.”

As we move into an era of shorter leases and space-as-a-service provided by companies such as Regus and WeWork, he

Q 4 2018 / MODUS APAC / 19

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START-UPS

THE GENESIS OF AN IDEA TRIPT Y AYRA, FOUNDER AND CEO, TRAV TUS, LONDON

W

hat makes a start-up succeed is fully understanding the problem you’re trying to solve, or, if you like, what makes you angry,” says Tripty Arya. “If someone is looking at building a proptech business they either need to have experienced the problem as a consumer or be very close to the problem.

Without passion you won’t make changes.”

It was on these principles that, in 2013, Arya set up Travtus, a property maintenance platform that automates jobs for residential property managers. She observed that real estate is an industry with a lot of depth – buildings, repairs, tenants – but property managers are so busy dealing with everyday issues that they don’t see the bigger picture.

Travtus connects residents, management and maintenance staff, collecting residents’ requests in a single database and sending jobs directly to contractors’phones. Tenants can log issues on their phones and managers are able to analyse trends to identify problem areas affecting whole floors or buildings, improving efficiency and saving money.

“Our users manage 6,500 residential units in London and 13,000 in New York,” says Arya.

The big development this year is the launch of Adam, Travtus’ version of Siri or Alexa – a digital property manager driven by artificial intelligence and voice recognition.

Adam can talk and text, take calls from residents and book jobs. It prompts the caller to say what the problem is and which day would be convenient for the work to be done, checks the availability of the workman and schedules the job with the resident all in one call. Adam can even send suggestions of equipment needed to the workman’s phone.

Adam was launched in April, and clients on both sides of the Atlantic are currently piloting the innovation, among them JLL and Cluttons. “Adam is live in New York and London, people are getting quite excited

“ PROPERTY IS A TRADITIONAL INDUSTRY BUT YOU CAN SEE YOU’RE PART OF ITS FUTURE ”

about it,” says Arya, emphasising the importance of feedback for start-ups, good or bad. “Feedback is the elixir we live on, it’s what enables us to make changes and develop.”

Arya developed Adam with the help of MetaProp, the New York-based proptech accelerator that helped provide seed funding for Travtus’ AI innovation. The company graduated from MetaProp’s Accelerator programme in February 2018. “MetaProp encouraged us – they were a critical part of Adam’s development,” she enthuses.

“We absolutely love them.”

Arya agrees with Beringar’s Sorsa-Leslie on the industry’s previous lack of appetite for adopting technology. “I’ve noticed that the property industry is about five years behind other industries,” she says.“Property people like to see a concept proven elsewhere first, but there is now an acknowledgement that this needs to be addressed.” Convincing the industry that innovation is necessary is the biggest hurdle. “Companies need to partner with start-ups to make innovation happen.”

Arya is in no doubt about the benefits of working in a proptech start-up. “The tech side gives you so much creativity,” she says.

“You learn such a lot. You are solving problems every day but you have the luxury of thinking about a problem in a creative way. That’s the point of a start-up. You don’t have to deliver a solution the next day.”

Like our other entrepreneurs, Arya wakes up excited about the next problem to be solved.“Property is a traditional industry but you can see you’re part of its future,”she says.

“I love the environment, the speed and the excitement of a start-up. It makes real estate a fun industry to work in.”

RICS recently hosted a webinar with MetaProp on the future of real estate investment: bit.ly/ proptechwebinar. For more on the Technology Affiliate Programme, go to rics.org/tap n

Q 4 2018 / MODUS APAC / 21

Should global temperatures increase beyond 2ยบC by 2100, the subsequent rise in sea levels will devastate coastal cities like Lagos, Tokyo, Dhaka and Miami.

John Vidal, the former environment editor of the UK Guardian, examines what, if any, measures can be taken to prevent their total submersion

DATA BY CLIMATECENTRAL.ORG

22 / MODUS APAC / Q 4 2018

LAGOS / AROUND 70% OF THE CITY’S RESIDENTS LIVE LESS THAN 2M ABOVE SEA LEVEL

EXISTING WATER LEVEL

LEVEL AFTER 2ºC RISE

FLOODING

TOKYO / CAN ONE OF THE WORLD’S BIGGEST MEGACITIES ENGINEER ITS WAY OUT OF DANGER?

EXISTING WATER LEVEL

LEVEL AFTER 2ºC RISE

DHAKA / EDUCATION, BETTER WASTE DISPOSAL AND DRAINAGE MAY KEEP THE BANGLADESH CAPITAL RESILIENT

EXISTING WATER LEVEL

LEVEL AFTER 2ยบC RISE

MIAMI / UP TO $3.5TN IN ASSETS MAY BE LOST IF TEMPERATURES INCREASE BY 2ยบC

EXISTING WATER LEVEL

LEVEL AFTER 2ยบC RISE

FIGHT THE WATER WITH CONCRETE, OR RISE ABOVE IT?

COSTS COULD PROVE TOO HIGH A BARRIER

LAGOS, NIGERIA

TOKYO, JAPAN

The super-rich of Lagos are being invited to turn their backs on their city. Instead of enduring the massive traffic jams, incessant floods, deadly heat, endless slums and gross air pollution of Africa’s largest metropolis, they are heading off-shore to what’s being billed as the “best prime real estate in west Africa”.

Eko Atlantic City, claims the developer of this 3.86 square mile (10 km2) waterfront district reclaimed from the sea off Victoria Island, is Nigeria’s answer to climate change and sea level rise. It is a place where 250,000 people can live in private luxury, surrounded by a 4.4 mile (7km) concrete sea wall over which the waves will never crash.

With a new financial quarter, its own power grid, renewable energy, high-tech housing and shopping malls, it is billed as a model of how other coastal cities can fortify themselves against sea level rise, and how companies and people can escape the global ecological crisis.

The concrete perimeter wall, dubbed “the great wall of Lagos”, is said to be able to withstand sea level rises of several feet and the worst storm imaginable in 1,000 years. But the 90m m3 of sand dredged from the shallow ocean off Lagos has already been blamed for changing the direction and impact of storm surges, and for increased flooding in the city’s poorest areas.

Lagos, which has grown from fewer than 1 million people in 1950 to more than 25 million today, and is still expanding, is built across islands and lagoons, but its future is perilous. Over 70% of its 12 million inhabitants live in slums, most of which are less than 2m above sea level. According to the Nigerian meteorological service, the city is already experiencing more intense heat, rainfall and flooding than it did just 20 years ago, and can expect increasingly extreme weather.

If temperatures rise by 2ºC – the minimum expected by the UN’s climate body, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in its last global assessment – then sea levels along the west African coast can expect to rise 20-40cm by the mid century. If temperatures increase by as much as 4-5ºC, then sea levels would drown much of Lagos, Port Harcourt and other Nigerian ports.

Lagos is both one of the richest and poorest cities in the world, and one of its slums provides a model for a climate-resilient city, says Nigerian environmentalist Nnimmo Bassey. Makoko, a settlement of around 100,000 people, is built over the water, with pipes for clean water paid for and laid by its enterprising residents.“It shows us how to face sea level rise and deflect its sting. It is the perfect example of how coastal cities can respond to global warming. It shows that cities do not have to be in a straitjacket where the only solution is concrete, more concrete, and more cement,” he says.

Many coastal cities in poor countries will drown because they do not have the resources to hold back sea level rise. But Tokyo, the world’s most populous metropolis, plans to engineer itself out of the problem to protect its 38 million residents.

Four rivers flow through the megacity and in 2006 it spent $4bn building the world’s largest underground cistern to hold flood water.

But that is now seen as inadequate and, as heavy rainfall linked to climate change increases and sea levels rise, the city is debating whether to build 336 miles (540km) of “super levees” along its river banks, as well as a massive sea barrier costing tens of billions of dollars at the mouth of the Bay of Tokyo to hold back potentially catastrophic storm surges.

The stakes are high. Large areas of the city lie below sea level and are only protected by ageing dykes. A 2ºC temperature rise could destroy 90% of Japan’s beaches, regularly flood 4 million people and cost the economy $700bn – or 20% of Japan’s GDP. A 3-4ºC rise, possibly in 150 years, would force millions more to move.

Japanese scientists have observed an accelerating rate of sea-level rise of 5mm a year since 1993 and calculate that sea levels will rise 0.7-1m in the next two centuries. A 2ºC rise could drown 18 million people’s homes, and if temperatures were to rise 4ºC, 34 million people would be vulnerable. “We’re preparing for flooding beyond anything we’ve seen,” says Kuniharu Abe, head of the city’s underground flood protection system.

But environmentalists question the wisdom of erecting more and more concrete barriers. Climate change is now built into the atmospheric system and is not expected to stop in 100 years’ time, so cities will be forced to continually increase the size of their defences, eventually living behind high walls.

Tokyo is not alone. Many of the world’s most vulnerable coastal cities are in Asia. Cities such as Hong Kong, the Indonesian capital Jakarta, Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam and Yangon in Myanmar were mostly built on marshland and now, subsiding under their own weight, all face permanent flooding within 50 years.

Most believe they are too important to drown and all are preparing to invest massively in new sea defences and visionary solutions.

Jakarta wants to protect itself with a 15 mile (24km) outer sea wall, artificial islands and new embankments, Ho Chi Minh City with giant embankments, and others by building flood gates.

The most visionary? Bangkok is considering building a floating city called “Wetropolis”. It would be, say the architects, the world’s “first post-diluvian” city, where people have learned to live with flooding instead of resisting it.

CLIMATE CHANGE

THE CITY, LIKE ITS RESIDENTS, HAS TO ADAPT

THERE’S NO KEEPING THE WATER OUT…

DHAKA, BANGLADESH

MIAMI, UNITED STATES

Even without a rise in sea levels, delta-bound Dhaka, with 20 million people living at the confluence of the mighty Ganges, Brahmaputra and Meghna rivers, is one of the world’s most vulnerable megacities.

Typhoons, river floods and monsoons all regularly leave great swathes of Bangladesh’s capital inundated.

If temperatures continue to rise along the 2ºC trajectory, Dhaka and much of Bangladesh would seem to have little hope. The city, along with nearly one-quarter of the country, is less than 2m above sea level, and the UN’s IPCC is predicting sea level rises of up to 0.9m.

Bangladesh is already suffering some of the fastest recorded sea level rises in the world. Storm surges from more frequent and stronger cyclones can push walls of water 50-60 miles (80-100km) up the Ganges delta. At the same time, the melting of glaciers and snow in the Himalayas has swollen rivers that flow into Bangladesh from Tibet, Nepal, Bhutan and India.

“Rainfall patterns are becoming more erratic and unpredictable,” says Saleemul Huq, director of the International Centre for Climate Change and Development in Dhaka. “A temperature rise of 3ºC will result in large-scale sea level rises, and even more intense and frequent natural disasters.”

Dhaka can barely cope now but its greatest challenge will be the likely migration to the city of the many millions of people retreating from the coast. The city’s population has doubled over the past 10 years and around 3,000 people a day are coming in from increasingly unliveable coastal areas.

“The poorest people live in the lowest-lying areas,” Huq explains.

“Inevitably, over time, millions will lose their livelihoods and will have to move. They simply will not be able to continue living where they are now. Those suffering from sea level rise can’t wait for someone else to pay for it. They are going to have to help themselves.”

But rather than spending billions of dollars trying to engineer a solution, Dhaka is thinking how it can adapt to climate change.

“The city is leading the world in adapting to climate change and sea level rise,” says Huq. “The country spends almost $1bn annually on adapting its economy and has set up a $400m Climate Change Trust Fund. The aim is to make Dhaka as liveable as possible, by improving waste collections, better drainage, and education about how to avoid flooding.

“Bangladesh has learned a lot about how to adapt,” Huq adds.

“Rich countries and nations can afford to build seawalls, upgrade sewage systems, and elevate critical infrastructure, but when it comes to adaptation, the rich can learn much from the poor on how to be resilient.”

South Miami mayor Philip Stoddard expects his city to become a series of lakes and wetlands within his grandchildren’s lifetimes.

Sea level rise is happening now, he says, and although people can prevent the worst effects, nothing will stop it in the long run.

“It is going to push a lot of us out of the state. Miami will be forced to de-populate. There’s no keeping the water out. Residents will need to slowly migrate inland while Miami is eventually turned into protected wetlands and aquatic parks,” he tells Modus Asia-Pacific.

Miami is one of the most vulnerable cities in the rich world, and could lose up to $3.5tn in assets by as early as 2070 if temperatures increase by 2ºC. The highest point in the county is just 7m above sea level and a 2ºC rise is expected to submerge an area home to more than 7 million people. Last year South Miami’s residents were given their first-ever evacuation orders when Hurricane Irma approached, and roads in the city were rendered impassable. Properties on higher levels already command higher prices and lower insurance rates.

First to go with rising sea levels, says Stoddard, will be Miami’s drains and water supplies as salt water intrudes; then its natural wonders like the Everglades and the Keys will disappear. By 2050 sealevel rise is set to make what are now classed as “nuisance” floods a monthly occurrence. By the 2070s these could happen every day. By the end of the century, beachside properties, like President Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate, will probably be submerged. If temperatures were to rise 4ºC then much of Florida will be sea within 150 years.

“The coastal area will become a series of islands. The Everglades will become a shallow bay. Miami city will be a series of lakes and swamps with bridges between higher ground,” says Stoddard.

The state is protected to some degree by its huge wealth, and the authorities are responding by trying to engineer their way out of disaster. Miami Beach has voted to spend $400m on climate mitigation, installing flood pumps, building higher sea walls and raising street levels. Other communities are raising levees and installing new sewage systems.

Yale University’s September 2017 climate study found that 70% of Floridians understood that climate change was already happening, but that only 41% believed it would affect them personally. They are in for a surprise, remarks Stoddard. Miami is already experiencing more heatwaves, flooding, stronger hurricanes and heavier rainfall.

“Sea level rise is a fact of life now. Nobody can say how fast the waters will rise, but we know that Florida will be unrecognisable.”

How is the built environment sector responding to the challenge of climate change? More at rics.org/climatechange

Q 4 2018 / MODUS APAC / 29

What exactly are the “things” in the internet of things? Where once we talked about sensors to control lights and heating, now urbanists envision whole cities covered by a smart grid, driven by artificial intelligence to learn about its residents’ habits.

For most of us, it can be difficult to separate the hype from the reality. But the technology is already taking hold in our built environment, even if we haven’t even noticed it happening.

Modus Asia-Pacific went in search of some real examples.

THE SHAPE OF THINGS TO COME

WORDS BY MATT HAMBLEN

SEP TEMBER 2018 / MODUS / 31

PORT OF ROT TERDAM, NE THERL ANDS

W

hile much of the world is testing self-driving vehicles, the Port of Rotterdam (pictured, previous spread) is going one better. By 2025, ships will be able to navigate its docks and unload their cargoes autonomously.

“We are starting to use internet of things (IoT) sensors, augmented intelligence and smart weather data, orchestrated by IBM and other partners, to measure things like the availability of berths and other vital statistics,” Vincent Campfens, business consultant at the port authority, said recently.

By combining tide and weather data, shipping companies will be able to predict when conditions are most favourable for docking, saving them time and money while cutting fuel consumption and emissions.

Ships will soon be able to operate autonomously, communicating with each other and the port to avoid collisions. To aid this process, IBM is working with Cisco and mapping systems provider ESRI to create a digital twin of the port to mirror its infrastructure.

And because a ship can spend hours dockside as its cargo is loaded or unloaded, the port has launched an app called Pronto to track the progress of a ship from its arrival to departure. All parties involved in a port call, from shipping company to terminal operator, can access the platform and share their data.

As the largest port in Europe, Rotterdam is a vital economic engine for the continent. The new efficiencies could reduce a ship’s berthing time by an hour, thereby increasing the docks’ daily capacity and cutting ship owners’ costs by up to $80,000 per visit.

SHIPPING COMPANIES WILL BE ABLE TO PREDICT WHEN CONDITIONS ARE MOST FAVOURABLE, SAVING THEM TIME AND MONEY WHILE CUTTING FUEL CONSUMPTION AND EMISSIONS

”

RESILIENCE PLANNING GETS A SHAKE UP WELLINGTON, NE W ZE AL AND

T

he massive 2016 Kaikoura earthquake on New Zealand’s South Island has been described as the “most complex ever studied”. In the capital city of Wellington, these studies have extended to a project to install a network of sensors to learn how buildings are likely to behave in future quakes.

The sensors, a type of accelerometer that measures movement much like a smartphone pedometer, have already been installed in some public buildings and the central library, as well as some businesses.

The technology is not intended to provide an early warning, as is the case in some other cities.“Deaths from earthquakes are caused by falling buildings and tsunami,” says Mike Mendonca, chief resilience officer for Wellington City Council. “Early warnings may work well in cities like Mexico City where the fault line is some distance from the city, but we have 33 known faults and three major ones right in the city, so we’re reluctant to base our planning on the possibility that there may be a few seconds of early warning.” Instead, Wellington will use the sensor data to make smarter decisions about which buildings to inspect first after a future quake, and to identify those too weak to withstand one.

Mendonca said it took weeks to obtain reports on the stresses on Wellington buildings in the 2016 quake. The accelerometers will speed up this process, helping engineers know what variables have mattered the most in a collapse, including the type of ground they are built on, height, location and construction type.

IMAGES BY GE T T Y

FACILITIES MANAGEMENT’S HIGH-WATER MARK

“

SMART CITIES

MAKING LIGHT WORK OF INFRASTRUCTURE UPGRADES LOS ANGELES AND SAN DIEGO, US

S

treetlights have become the platform on to which cities can add IoT sensors of all kinds – from those that detect noise, pollution and weather conditions, to listening devices that pick up the sound of gunshots.

In Los Angeles (pictured) and San Diego, streetlight upgrades to efficient LED lighting presented local authorities with an opportunity to add a range of new sensors, as well as WiFi antennas and more. Los Angeles was expected to test a variety of smart tech on streetlights as early as 2017, but the city recently said it is not yet ready to divulge its sensor plans.

LED lighting upgrades allow cities to claw back costs on annual maintenance that can be pumped into smart sensor deployments instead. In LA, the city replaced existing streetlights with 14,000 LED fixtures over a four-year period, reducing energy usage by 63%. Meanwhile, the number of units requiring repairs was cut in half.

San Diego, working with GE, commenced a pilot scheme in 2017 of 49 smart LED streetlights with sensors that performed a range of functions, such as directing drivers to open parking spaces or helping first responders during an emergency. In the longer term, the city plans to connect about 10% of its 30,000 streetlights to a smart network.

Annual savings of $2.3m a year have been calculated, partly through energy reduction, because the upgraded LED lights can be dimmed or made brighter with centralised controls.

SEPQTEMBER 4 2018 / 2018 MODUS / MODUS APAC / 33

SMART METERS PLUG THE GAP IN SUPPLY INDIA

U

nexpected electricity outages and brownouts – when the voltage level temporarily drops – have been a problem for decades in India, affecting millions of residents and businesses.

To report these outages and fluctuations in electricity, the Electricity Supply Monitoring Initiative (ESMI) has installed smart, connected voltage meters in homes, farms and businesses. They are plugged into power sockets and then transmit their findings over wireless networks.

That data is collected using an IoT-based system and presented on a website.

The reports help identify power lapses in the electricity grid. In one example, the data was used to show irregular and unplanned outages in the Akola Industrial Area in Maharashtra. Short interruptions there damaged industrial equipment, forcing the local distribution company to take corrective steps.

Prayas Energy Group, an Indian non-government organisation, started the work on the ESMI in Pune in 2007. As of May 2018, the initiative had covered 408 locations in 23 states in India, generating 5 million hours of data. The initiative is now being replicated in Indonesia, Kenya, Tanzania and Tajikistan.

Poor electricity supply hurts marginalised neighbourhoods the most, but improving transparency and accountability can help redress this imbalance, says Shweta Kulkarni, senior research associate at Prayas.

“

POOR ELECTRICITY SUPPLY HURTS MARGINALISED NEIGHBOURHOODS THE MOST, BUT IMPROVING TRANSPARENCY CAN HELP TO REDRESS THIS IMBALANCE

”

SMART CITIES

DRAIN BRAIN HELPS MITIGATE OUTFLOWS K ANSAS CIT Y, US

B

eneath the streets of Kansas City lies a network of nearly 300 sensors and radio transmitters, fixed to the underside of manhole covers. Together, they form a smart sewer system that is continuously monitoring the city’s sewage as it flows through 2,800 miles of pipes.

The technology uses valves and control gates to reconfigure the sewer system during rainfall in a similar way to how smart traffic lights reduce congestion during rush hour. The sensors work like sonar, measuring the flow and depth of the water in a given spot.

In real-time, a decision-support system created by tech company EmNet then dynamically controls the flow of water to prevent sewage overflows into the Missouri River.

The city expects to save nearly $1bn from rolling out the smart sewer network, because the improvements come from optimising existing infrastructure, rather than building costly new tunnels, which require pumping stations. Residents should also see rising sewer bills flatten out.

“We’ll use what’s already built to hold the flow, since deep tunnels are enormously expensive,” says Andy Shively, special assistant city manager or Kansas City. “If we have a rain event, the system will say we need to send the flow over there.”

An earlier version of the technology was trialled in South Bend, Indiana, in conjunction with the University of Notre Dame, cut overflows by 70%.

THE CITIES WITH MINDS OF THEIR OWN KUAL A LUMPUR, MAL AYSIA AND HANGZHOU, CHINA

S

ome of the most ambitious work to embed sensors into city infrastructure is being conducted by Alibaba Cloud in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and Hangzhou, China. Both city’s systems rely on traffic data crunched with artificial intelligence from video footage, traffic bureaus, mapping apps and public transit systems. Kuala Lumpur will rely on as many as 500 innercity cameras mounted on poles and streetlights.

In Hangzhou, the Alibaba City Brain has helped report traffic violations with 92% accuracy, cut the response time in half for emergency vehicles, and increased overall traffic speed by 15%, claims Wang Jian, chairman of Alibaba Group’s Technology Committee.

The AI technology in the City Brain processes vast quantities of data to predict scenarios such as what traffic congestion will be at a certain location in the next 10 minutes with 90% accuracy, says Dima Tokar, co-founder of IoT analyst MachNation. “It can catch parking violations as they happen, which is serious ‘Big Brother’ stuff.

“It’s an interesting example of IoT because it shows the difference in expectations and norms when it comes to privacy in China versus the West,” he adds.

Find out how we can plan our cities to make efficiencies and improve health and wellbeing: rics.org/citieshealth n

Q 4 2018 / MODUS APAC / 35

CONSTRUCTION

Almost a year on since UK construction giant Carillion collapsed, owing nearly £7bn in liabilities, the aftershocks of its demise are still being felt.

Its failure has shone a light on the multitude of challenges facing the construction industry across the world, be that the increasingly complex nature of disputes, a contracting model in need of reform, or the frustratingly glacial pace of technological change.

How can we rebuild confidence in the sector?

WORDS BY ROBYN WILSON

T

he fact that the construction industry needs to evolve and adapt does not really require any further debate. Barely a month goes by these days without the arrival of another report warning of how the sector’s outdated methods are responsible for a shortage of new talent, a glut of disputes or a spate of insolvencies.

But the demise of Carillion at the beginning of 2018 – the ripples from which have stretched far beyond the UK’s shores – was a genuine wake-up call that has forced the industry to take a long, hard look at itself. It is an opportunity to ponder the answers to some big questions. Is it possible for contractors to break away from the boom-and-bust cycle? Will disputes forever plague the industry? And can innovation and new technology truly revolutionise the sector?

Many of the construction industry’s problems stem from its fragmented, subcontracting structure and lowmargin business model. The average global margin is 6.4%, according to Turner & Townsend’s International construction market survey 2018, which analysed figures from projects across the world (infographic, p41).

The report showed a UK average of just under 5%, while separate financial news reports from contractors paint an even less favourable picture, with many firms operating on an average margin of between 1% and 2%.

Inevitably this leaves little room for error, as main contractors try to turn a profit by squeezing their subcontractors or passing risk down the supply chain.

This, in turn, can result in lengthy disputes, poor payment practices and low collaboration.

As construction lawyer Simon Lewis, partner at Newcastle firm Womble Bond Dickinson in north-east England, says: “When times are hard, contractors will be pricing very keenly if not on a knife edge in order to get a job. Recovering money out of these projects becomes more and more difficult. So the economic cycle exerts pressure on the industry in terms of its willingness or otherwise to enter into disputes.”

Q 4 2018 / MODUS APAC / 37

“

IN AN IDEAL SCENARIO, THE RISK SITS WITH THE PARTY BEST ABLE TO BEAR IT. IN REALITY, IT IS OFTEN SIMPLY AN EFFORT TO PUSH THE RISK AS FAR DOWN THE CHAIN AS POSSIBLE

”

SIMON LEWIS WOMBLE BOND DICKINSON

This was seen in Arcadis’s 2017 Global Construction Disputes Report, which found that conflicts arose following commodity and currency volatility the year before. It also flagged the role legacy contracts were playing in relation to disputes, where projects had been priced in the immediate aftermath of the financial crisis.

Rhodes Group project executive Allan Banks FRICS says one of the main causes for such disputes is construction companies failing to properly administer contracts. Based in Houston, US, Banks oversees and manages the analysis on construction-related claims on complex projects, and has worked in Australia, the United Arab Emirates and the UK among others.

He says that contractors – particularly in Australia and the US – often fail to notify the client as soon as a problem occurs on a project, such as delay or increased costs. “In America, it doesn’t happen enough at all, people tend to bundle things and do them in tranches.

Whereas in Australia, they just don’t do it at all, and then wait until the end [of a project] and say ‘we spent loads of money, I want some of it back please’.”

Banks posits several reasons for this. Contractors can sometimes be conscious of upsetting the client, or they simply might fail to understand the importance of notifying the client when a problem occurs.

Clearly, though, resolving problems early on in a project programme – at their most inexpensive stage – is vital to maintaining client and contractor relationships.

It also minimises the likelihood of cashflow being tied up in drawn-out disputes, which can have a knock-on effect further down the supply chain. Any failure to do this alludes to a wider problem around risk within the construction industry, particularly when it comes to transferring that risk down the supply chain.

As Lewis explains: “The risk is transferred on as far as possible. In an ideal scenario, you would have an optimum risk curve, where the risk sits with the party best able to bear it without becoming insolvent.

But the reality is that on many occasions it is simply an effort to push the risk as far down the chain as possible.”

This is seen through poor payment practices in the sector such as the use of retentions. Typically, tier-one firms such as Carillion will hold 3-5% in cash retentions until the end of a scheme, once the project has been checked for snags and defects. Despite there being rules in place for repayments to be made, it is a widely understood practice that retentions are held by some companies to aid their own cashflow, which can be particularly detrimental for subcontractors. In June, Scottish-based civil engineering company Crummock entered administration, citing high retention levels as a key factor of its demise.

The use of retentions in the UK was brought into focus following the collapse of Carillion, which owed £800m in retention payments to its supply chain at the time of going under. This has led to the introduction of the Construction (Retention Deposit Schemes) bill into UK parliament, which is pushing for retentions to be held in third-party bank accounts to avoid companies being hit in the event of an insolvency.

Although a positive step for the industry, there are many who feel the bill does not go far enough. UK trade bodies BuildUK and the Civil Engineering Contractors Association both failed to back the bill, saying that the use of retentions should be abolished altogether.

Construction expert Mark Farmer MRICS, the CEO of London-based cost consultant Cast, meanwhile, dismissed it as “window dressing” and called for a wider shake-up to the overall contracting and payments model.

Farmer was commissioned by the UK government in 2016 to assess the industry’s labour model, the result of which was his report, Modernise or Die, which also looked at safeguarding the sector.“The whole issue of payments in our industry is misunderstood,” he says. “Passing the money through tier-one contractors is increasingly not the right model. We need to get back to direct payments.”

Collective responsibility The problem around payments is part of a much larger and systemic issue of how the construction industry organises itself – something that Farmer says is an international issue. He explains how over the last 40 years, volatile global economies have resulted in large swings in supply and demand, which has in turn led to an increase in subcontracting with companies passing on project responsibility. “Main contractors, process managers and consultants are now increasingly divorced from responsibility for what they consult on.

Subcontractors are at the bottom of that food chain, with some of the big subcontractors themselves subcontracting. So we’re not talking about one level, we’re talking about multi-tiered responsibility being divested and devolved down.”

For this to improve, the traditional procurement model – whereby a main contractor is paid for a job and then subcontracts that work out – must change, he says.

“So the idea of lump-sum contracts, cheapest price, sub it all out, just doesn’t work anymore, and if Carillion doesn’t show that, then I’m not quite sure what does.”

GL

OB

AL

AV

ER

AG

E

Global

SY

DN

EY

AL

%

KU

3.0

%

AL

%

UM PU

AN

0%

R

15.

JOH

NA

G

IR O

%

BI

8.5

UR

%

SB

2 .5

NE

7. 0 %

8.0 %

E

LO

%

GH

5 .0

AN

%

SH

%

3.5

9.0

AU

%

UA

2 .0

OP

%

SÃ

4 .6

%

AI

SE

OU

L

0.3

%

MA

%

DR

%

ID

OR

%

WY

5 .0

NE

3.5

7. 0

KC IT Y

8.0

%

RA NC

%

0%

NF

%

10.

SA

5 .0

7. 0

PA

%

%

IN S

RIS

6 .0

O

1.5

ISC

TA

NB

UL

ND

%

LO

3.9

%

ON

5 .8

UC

IN S

TR

RG

NS

MA

CO

T IO

NC

Cities with tighter margins and higher inflation could be at risk from market fluctuations

%

%

5 .0

6.2

7. 4

OS

The average global margin is 6.4%, while construction cost inflation in 2017 ran at 4.1%.

Sydney

4.0

%

%

4.5

4 .1

6.4

SOURCE: T URNER & TOWNSEND, 2018

T

CONSTRUCTION

MARGIN CALL

SEPQTEMBER 4 2018 / 2018 MODUS / MODUS APAC / 39

DIGITAL DELIVERY ON PAYA LEBAR QUARTER, SINGAPORE Lendlease used integrated digital delivery (IDD) to build Paya Lebar Quarter, a 1.8m ft2 (167,224 m2) mixed-use project in the east of Singapore.

IDD uses a mixture of innovative solutions through the life cycle of a project to improve efficiency, safety and quality across the scheme.

Technology such as drones were used on site, which Lendlease said helped it with logistics and planning, as well as photography, safety inspection and tracking the construction progress.

It also made use of 360º cameras to capture immersive views of the construction site.

This enabled it to create virtual site walks for safety induction, as well as giving the project’s stakeholders a chance to observe the scheme without risk or disrupting work.

Elsewhere, the developer employed BIM for design and coordination, which increased accuracy and productivity.

Construction scheduling and sequencing were also used, as well as LIDAR scanning and field verification.

All of these measures helped Lendlease to win a BIM Award Gold Plus last October from Singapore’s Building & Construction Authority for its use of construction technology.

Farmer adds that the sector needs to move towards a vertically integrated business model, in which multiple businesses would work together on a long-term basis, rather than on individual jobs.

Digitally led and manufacturing-led business models also have the potential to alter the sector, he says, suggesting that companies could do everything from land assembly through to delivering a project without main contractors, consultants or subcontractors. This type of disruption can already be seen in the US, where end-to-end digitally led building service provider Katerra offers total building delivery; from materials supply, to design, to build and management and interiors.

Historically, though, the construction industry has been pretty slow to adapt to technological advances. For example, the uptake of Level 2 BIM in the UK, which is now a prerequisite for government contracts in the UK, is still slow, according to the Chartered Institute of Building’s 2017 BIM+ survey.

That said, pockets of innovation are popping up across the sector, such as the use of drones or virtual reality software, which are intended to facilitate collaboration and create project efficiencies.

Singapore is leading the way here with a real focus of digitally-led construction – or what the city’s Building & Construction Authority terms “integrated digital delivery” (box, left). “The government [has] some quite interventionist techniques in terms of mandating levels of pre-manufacturing and having a completely linked programme into the skills market,” says Farmer. “So they’re training people in digital technologies – from designers to assemblers on site, using BIM minimum level – then linking that to levels of pre-manufacturing.”

Concrete commitment Nomitech’s global vice-president of business development, Alan Windley, adds that Singapore schemes also join up their design and costs from day one on elements like concrete requirements – a limited material in the country. Nomitech develops software that brings together estimating and cost management services into a single platform, incorporating the use of BIM and encouraging early engagement on schemes.

Windley explains that companies in Singapore must have a concrete-utilisation plan in place to ensure they have enough of the material to cover the whole project but within limits of the Concrete Utilisation Index, which is set by the Singapore government to meet its sustainability criteria. It is an approach he believes should be transferred to other countries, as it would keep a tighter control on costs and sustainability further down the line.

Clearly, joined-up thinking, collaboration and advanced technology promise to form an interesting next chapter for the sector, but they will need to be truly embraced by all to genuinely revolutionise construction.

Government support will be required, as will a longterm view from both clients and contractors, with a shared sense of responsibility that starts with realistic bids and continues with efficiently planned and benchmarked delivery. n

“

THE IDEA OF LUMP-SUM CONTRACTS, CHEAPEST PRICE, SUB IT ALL OUT, JUST DOESN’T WORK ANYMORE. IF CARILLION DOESN’T SHOW THAT, THEN I’M NOT QUITE SURE WHAT DOES

”

MARK FARMER MRICS CAST

BOUND FOR FUTURE GLORY Nearly 1,200 entries to RICS’ Cities for our Future challenge have now been whittled down to 12 finalists, with the winner to be announced this month. Who will take home £50,000 to help turn their idea into a reality? We take a look at the shortlist

ILLUSTRATIONS BY MARTÍN AZAMBUJA

CITIES FOR OUR FUTURE

01

02

TIJMEN DEKKERS EUROPE CLIMATE CHANGE

PAMELA LAROCCA OCEANIA CLIMATE CHANGE

More than 1 billion people around the world lack access to clean water, reports the World Wide Fund for Nature. To combat this, Dekkers’ Delta X system uses hydraulics to pump and filter water, while a digital monitoring system measures volume and purity. Made from aluminium, Delta X is extremely strong, yet cheap and easy to build. It can be designed to any length, depth and width, and can be erected in just one day.

03

A radical new approach to housing, Ecof(I)ood is a system designed for regions at threat from rising sea levels. The layout is partly submerged within a watertight shell, and features an algae culture room to generate power for the home, while aeroponic zones would enable the growing of vegetables. Prototypes will be developed using shipping containers to ensure Ecof(I)ood is sustainable from the outset.

04

CHEYENNE LAU NORTH AMERICA CLIMATE CHANGE

MEGAN BURKE EUROPE RAPID URBANISATION

Rising sea levels have made New York City highly susceptible to flooding. Lau’s Canal City plan proposes a comprehensive redesign of Coney Island’s urban environment, creating a series of canals that would regulate water levels, helping to alleviate flooding. Flowing into central water plazas, around which new housing would be developed, the canals would also help to regenerate an area devastated

by Hurricane Sandy in 2012.

Burke’s policy-based initiative would incentivise businesses in London to fit air-purification towers to the top of commercial properties by offering them a discount on business rates.

The towers are already in use in the Netherlands and Burke asserts that landlords would be prepared to bear the financial burden of erecting the towers because of the subsequent uplift in a building’s desirability with occupiers and investors.

Q 4 2018T / MODUS APAC / 43 JUNE-AUGUS 2018 / MODUS

“

SAPELENT LIT VOLUPTAT ENDEBIS NOS ET VERIT DERUMQUODIT HARUM QUE PORE NUS ET LAUDITINT, SEQUE IS RECTUS AUT VOLOR SINIS ERO OD MILLANDA DUNT QUIBUS SITINCI

”

CITIES FOR OUR FUTURE

05

EARL PATRICK FORLALES SOUTH-EAST ASIA RAPID URBANISATION Proposed as a solution to the chronic overcrowding problem facing the Philippines’ capital, Manila, Forlales’ CUBO is a modular, expandable house made of bamboo. Each unit measures 3x4m and comprises a bedroom, bathroom, kitchen and dining/living space. Using bamboo – an abundant, local material that costs only $2-$3 a pole and has a similar strength to steel – means the structure is low cost and highly durable.

09

ENGINEERING FOR SOCIAL GOOD MIDDLE EAST & NORTH AFRICA RESOURCE SCARCITY Engineering for Social Good’s internet-of-things-based water management system can be installed on tanks to identify toxins that affect water quality.

It can also deliver real-time information on water usage.

Although the idea was created to provide a solution for refugee camps, the technology would work just as well in urban areas that lack proper infrastructure, such as favelas, or in cities trying to reduce water consumption.

06

SORAN & SAMAN SHANGAPOUR EUROPE RAPID URBANISATION To address homelessness in Glasgow, the Shangapours’dualuse proposal envisages the city’s multistorey car parks doubling up as homeless shelters. Usually empty overnight, they can be easily converted into secure accommodation near to places of work. Their plans would also see homeless people provided with a portable closet in which to store personal effects that follows them to where they will be sleeping on a given night.

10

HEAT ISLAND LIMITED MIDDLE EAST & NORTH AFRICA RESOURCE SCARCITY This multidisciplinary team from the UK has developed a thermal insulation system that can be retrofitted to buildings in African cities where peak shade temperatures can pass 40ºC. The Evaporos system uses moveable, 3D-printed, porous, ceramic panels to create a “wrapper” that passively cools the structure, reducing energy consumption and removing the need for mechanical cooling and ventilation systems.

07

08

KATIA SQIR EAST ASIA & CHINA RAPID URBANISATION

JAMES BROWNING SOUTH & CENTRAL AMERICA RESOURCE SCARCITY

To combat air pollution in Beijing, Sqir has taken an approach to urban planning that imitates nature. Her vision is divided into two stages: the first improves air quality via a spider-web-like network of plants, hanging between buildings; the second looks at constructing future homes with more green space in mind. She also recommends building with bamboo, which is fast-growing, strong and sustainable.

11

New Zealander Browning has proposed a basic infrastructure system to improve access to resources in the slums of cities such as Caracas, capital of Venezuela. Small towers would harvest rainwater and generate power, with the water and electricity then being distributed to local households. The water can also be used to cultivate fields for farming, and the electricity to power street lighting.

12

SAYALI VIRULKAR SOUTH ASIA RESOURCE SCARCITY

YICHENG XU MIDDLE EAST & NORTH AFRICA RESOURCE SCARCITY

Sayali’s Urban Farms idea would move agriculture from Delhi’s periphery into the centre of the city, thereby minimising the journey from field to fork. The Urban Farms model could also boost the economy, as farmland becomes more integrated with modern life, making it easier for farmers to take their product to market. Most importantly, with better access to open space and fresh food, the health of people in urban areas would improve.

The recent influx of refugees into Jordan is putting additional pressure on one of the most water-stressed countries in the world. Xu’s solution to this problem is Watershared, which would re-engineer water tanks, exposed pipes, dilapidated stairs and abandoned houses to create a basic, new water system.

Larger, shared water tanks will eventually replace the older models, directly connected to houses via a network of pipes. n JUNE-AUGUS Q 4 2018T / 2018 MODUS / MODUS APAC / 45

01 When constructing a building core, hydraulic jacks mounted on steel yoking frames lift the steel formwork at about 300mm per hour as concrete is poured in

3 TONNE HYDRAULIC JACK

3 TONNE HYDRAULIC JACK

TOP DECK

02 The mix needs to be workable enough to flow into the form and consolidated with vibration, yet quick-setting enough to emerge from it with strength

HYDRAULIC PUMP

03 BLOCK OUT FOR WINDOW

Rebar and post-tensioning ducts, and block outs for doors and windows are placed continuously by operatives stood on a platform attached to the formwork as the operation progresses

04

FORMWORK RISES CONTINUOUSLY

Setting rates are constantly monitored to ensure they match the speed the formwork rises

TRAILING DECK

FORMED CONCRE TE

CONCRE TE ADDED CONTINUOUSLY

WORKING DECK

05 Formed concrete exposed under the platform is treated to meet the specified finish

EXPERIENCE

LET ME INTRODUCE…

Slipforming

INTERVIEW BY STEPHEN COUSINS; ILLUSTRATION BY JOHN SEE

Meeting our global obsession with building ever-taller structures to tight programmes would not be possible without the widespread use of slipform concrete construction. Peter Goring and Alex Opoku MRICS explain how it works, where it’s a game-changer, and the latest cutting-edge techniques

Slipform is a key technology behind our rapidly changing cityscapes that has enabled the speedy construction of major reinforced concrete structures, such as cores for commercial skyscrapers, bridge pylons and piers, concrete gravity structures such as oil platforms, and entire warehouses and silos.

The self-contained and “automated” formwork system was pioneered in the 1930s when it was used to build silos and grain elevators. It achieved more widespread use in the late 1960s and was famously used to erect the CN Tower in Toronto, completed in 1976, and the Shard in London, the tallest building in the EU, completed in 2012.

Slipform is a technique based around a fixed formwork structure that is raised continuously on hydraulic jacks, positioned between the walls, at a rate of about 300mm an hour. The result is a monolithic concrete structure, created in one pour from the bottom to the top. The formwork typically includes three platforms, an upper platform for storage and distribution, a main working platform above the poured concrete level, and a lower platform that provides access for concrete finishing.

Height restrictions Slipforming can have significant cost and programme benefits on the right project.

Typically, structures greater than seven storeys high, such as bridges and towers, are considered economically viable.

The system can run 24/7, and even on the most complex commercial office block, it is possible to complete a floor-to-floor

section of core in less than three days, compared with around eight days using an alternative jumpform solution.

Slipform requires little crane time during construction, and supporting the formwork on the core removes the need for temporary works or access from other parts of the building. It is often the most efficient method of building cores in tall steel frame buildings – by the time you have built the basement and core, it coincides with when you are ready to start erecting the steel frame. As a result, you get complete segregation between frames and don’t need to share tower cranes.

Finishing touches But the slipform methodology does not work for every scheme. Architects often prefer jumpform, which has a better consistency of finish, especially if there is any exposed concrete. Mace is using a mix of slipform and jumpform on the Battersea Power Station Phase 2 project in south-west London – jumpform is being used on cores where the grain of timber shuttering is exposed.

Setting up for slipforming takes longer, and ensuring a constant supply of materials can be a challenge. It scores well when all the cores are identical, and can also easily accommodate changes to floor-to-floor height, unlike jumpform where the height of the shutters must be continually adjusted because you are pouring them at full height.

When you have to stop frequently as the structure rises, to reconfigure the formwork to meet different structural or servicing needs, jumpform might make more sense.

Concrete specialist Byrne Bros poured the core of the Shard in spurts, stopping for periods as the use switched from offices, to a hotel and then residential at the top.

The intervals turned out to be beneficial, as they prevented the core from significantly overtaking the overall build programme.

Question of liquidity Ultimately, the decision on whether to use slipform is often based on a straightforward commercial evaluation of cost allied to the needs of the construction programme.

The process has been refined over the past 10 years. Optical solutions and GPS have improved accuracy compared with using string and plumb bobs, and tolerances have tightened up considerably.

There is a greater integration of concrete mix designs into the slipform methodology, which ensures more consistent programme delivery. Contractors will utilise a different mix depending on the weather or the schedule. A relatively small core going up very fast might demand a fast-curing mix, while a more complicated core only rising 200mm an hour will probably require a mix with more workability so you can keep placing the concrete and moving.

People say the construction industry is slow to innovate, but new applications of slipforming have transformed the reinforced concrete frame world.

Peter Goring is operations director for civil and structural engineering at Mace. Dr Alex Opoku MRICS is senior lecturer in project management and quantity surveying at UCL Bartlett Faculty of the Built Environment Q 4 2018 / MODUS APAC / 47

Pay your 2019 subscription fee in instalments Renew your 2019 membership the easy way By renewing your membership by the end of 2018, you have the option of paying your membership fees in three instalments over the course of 2019 rather than one up-front fee.

Act quickly to take advantage of this special offer for our professionals.

Find out more australasiasubs@rics.org

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2018-10-15 00:46:42 +0000

Direct Entry news for NZVRB Registered Valuers NZVRB Registered Valuers can now gain an international credential by applying for Direct Entry to RICS Apply by 31 March 2019 to take advantage of a special subscription offer that will take you through until the end of 2019.

Gain global recognition of your skills and experience, plus the respect, market advantage, knowledge and experience already enjoyed by over 130,000 professionals worldwide.

Learn more at rics.org/nzvrb

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2018-10-15 08:37:24 +0000

EXPERIENCE

NEWS IN BRIEF

JOIN US AT THE WORLD BUILT ENVIRONMENT FORUM SUMMIT 2019 Innovators and global influencers from across the built and natural environment and beyond will reconvene in New York City on 13-14 May 2019 for the next RICS World Built Environment Forum Summit.

The theme of the summit is “Investing with impact: profit and purpose”. Key topics to be explored include: the changing nature of work and workplace; the impact of algorithms and tokenisation; the real-world outcomes for cities and citizens; new finance models for energy and transport; and investment risk allocation.

Book your place today at the super early-bird rate of $800: rics.org/wbef.

SUSTAINABLE DIGITISATION IS THE SUBJECT OF L ATEST RICS REPORT Our new report, Crossing the Threshold, created in partnership with Morphosis, presents digitalisation as a megatrend, sitting alongside urbanisation, globalisation, climate change and others – one that is reshaping our world and redefining the global sustainability agenda.

It outlines the opportunities and challenges emerging for the property industry, ensuring digital innovation is sustainably and ethically implemented. Download the report for free at rics.org/crossingthethreshold RICS RESE ARCH TRUST CHANGES THE WAY IT AWARDS FUNDING RICS Research Trust is now encouraging research in specific areas by means of “defined calls”.

Research applications under these defined calls will be considered bi-annually, and the topics will be

EVENTS

published on our website. The trust will also consider applications outside specific areas as “open calls”, which will need to demonstrate that they have secured matching funds, or convince trustees that their proposal is so innovative that funds are hard to find. Go to rics.org/researchtrust or email researchtrust@rics.org.

CRITICAL UPDATES PROPOSED FOR GOVERNING COUNCIL RICS recently contacted all its professional members across the globe to inform them about important proposed governance changes to the organisation.

The intended reforms reflect the thinking of RICS’ elected strategic leadership body, Governing Council, about the critical updates it believes are required to its governance for the institution to better meet the needs of a rapidly changing world. Ensuring ongoing demand, trust and respect for the work of the profession is central to the proposals. For more information, visit rics.org/future.

NE W DATA STANDARDS BRING CONFIDENCE TO BUSINESSES Ensuring the quality and consistency of data, whether being used in current technology platforms and tools, or emerging technologies such as Blockchain, is now a critical requirement for many businesses.

To address these issues, RICS has developed a set of data standards that work in parallel with our international standards and professional statements. Implementing RICS Data Standards ensures that data is captured, verified and shared both within organisations and across external stakeholders. To find out more, visit rics.org/datastandards.

RICS International Heritage Conservation Conference 2019 24-25 January 2019, JC Cube, Hong Kong Presenting case studies of buildings that have been adapted for cultural, educational, commercial or residential use, thus generating new value for owners and local communities. Sessions will focus on factors that drive the successful, long-term sustainability of heritage buildings and how these can be applied in Hong Kong. CPD hours: 8.5 Early-bird price: HK$1,650 rics.org/heritagehk

SINGAPORE RICS 150th Anniversary Dinner 5 December, Goodwood Park Hotel, Singapore Join us for a unique and prestigious evening.

We will celebrate achievements in the built environment and look ahead to the issues changing the dynamics of the profession today.

Featuring special guests Chris Brooke FRICS, RICS Presidentelect, and Morphosis MD Simon Carter, author of our latest joint report: Crossing the Threshold. S$218 rics.org/150dinner

REDAS-RICS Smart Buildings Conference 6 March 2019, Singapore Taking a closer look at government strategies to plan and construct the city’s smart buildings. This includes how the private sector and other businesses are contributing towards the Smart-Nation initiative, as well as the conversion of legacy buildings through building management systems and smartsensor technology.

CPD hours: 6 $S350 rics.org/smartbuildings Prices are not inclusive of local taxes

For details of conferences, training sessions and CPD seminars near you, go to rics.org/events Q4 2018 / MODUS APAC / 49

EXPERIENCE

WHAT IF…

The world ran out of sand?

Sci-fi could become reality if our addiction to constructing in concrete continues unchecked

50 / MODUS APAC / Q 4 2018

As specifiers, architects must demand that building materials can either be replaced or reused. That means greater use of materials such as wood, but also specifying recycled steel and embracing other elements that make up the circular economy.

Sadly, I am not optimistic that the industry will change its ways. Experience tells me we’ll continue to feed our addiction to concrete no matter the cost. Our reaction to global warming, for instance, has largely been to slap a solar panel on a building rather than initiate genuine change.

However, talking to young people fresh out of architecture school gives me some hope. From an early age, they have been educated about environmental issues and consider the consequences of their actions in everything they do. The next generation might yet demand the change required.

Let’s just hope it isn’t too late.

“ We need to stop gobbling up resources with such little regard for the consequences ”

Andrew Waugh is founder of Waugh Thistleton Architects, London

INTERVIEW BY ADAM BRANSON; ILLUSTRATION BY JAMIE CULLEN

At first glance it may look like an odd question, but the fact is the world is running out of sand – or rather, the type of sand needed to make concrete – fast.

Sand found on beaches and in deserts is in plentiful supply, but unfortunately it is next to useless from a building perspective.

Having been worn by the sea or by wind, it is too smooth to have much value as an aggregate. What the construction industry requires is river sand, which retains its sharper edges and therefore can be used to create the concrete upon which we have become so dependent. Such sand is in alarmingly short supply.

That we are in this situation should come as no surprise when you consider it takes 200 tonnes of sand to manufacture sufficient concrete to build a single home.

Add to that the fact that India alone is forecast to build 90 million homes over the next 20 years and it is clear that the world has a problem. Some experts estimate that China, for instance, only has a year’s domestic supply of river sand left.

This is a massive problem, but one that is only just starting to be talked about in construction circles. That the industry has been slow on the uptake – or perhaps blind to the issue is more accurate – is all the more concerning given the impact the shortage is already having on geopolitics.

There is now a substantial illegal trade in the material. Sand is being dredged out of rivers in poor countries, principally in Africa, and then illegally traded with development-hungry countries such as the US and, more extensively, China.

So, where do we go from here? For a start we need to stop gobbling up resources with such little regard for the consequences.

International Heritage Conservation Conference 2019 Operational sustainability of adaptive reuse heritage buildings 24-25 January 2019 09:00 – 17:00 (Day 1) 09:30 – 11:00 (Day 2) JC Cube, Tai Kwun, 10 Hollywood Road, Central, Hong Kong

Registration now open

rics.org/heritagehk