RICS Modus, Asia edition – Q2, 2014

on the menu Farming innovations to feed nine billion p14Ice cold In antarctIca Construction at the South Pole p30way to work Offices and their effect on productivity p38

Q2.14 //

can the surveyIng professIon go wIreless? p24

us Q2.14 // r

icsAsiA.or

sAsiAth

e 2025 Issue

ricsasia.org/modusasia

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Sources: demographia.com,

cia.gov, mhupa.gov.in, londoncouncils.gov.uk,

healthstats.nsw.gov.au, statssa.gov.za, nyc.gov, sao-paulo.info, ined.fr,

census.gov.ph, koli.re.kr

Illustration by Ian Dutnall

CROWD CONTROLTHE DENSITY AND LIFE EXPECTANCY OF CITY POPULATIONS

Measure //

Sources:demographia.com,

Built on a 125-year tradition of partnership, integrity and excellence, our prestigious commercial and luxury retail properties are landmarks of success in Asia’s leading cities.

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NO 13Q2.14 //

A REGISTER OF INTERESTAs I write this introduction to the Modus Asia Q2.14 edition, I’ve just spent

several days in Hong Kong talking to members of RICS, lenders, insurers and

legal advisers about the forthcoming launch of RICS Valuer Registration in Asia,

starting with Hong Kong (Information, p49). The demand for this new form of

quality assurance of Red Book standards is building. Both the profession and its

clients and customers welcome the confi dence it will bring to the market. Valuer

Registration, with its active monitoring, is a fi rst for Hong Kong and will enhance

recognition of both RICS and the profession. The scheme provides a clear,

competitive advantage for registrants and we intend to ensure that it is widely

demanded by regulators, as well as lenders, listed companies and investors.

GILLIAN CHARLESWORTH RICS DIRECTOR OF REGULATORY AND CORPORATE AFFAIRS

Q2.14 // MODUS ASIA 03

Regulars04_FEEDBACKYour views on Modus and the surveying profession

06_INTELLIGENCEGlobal news, plus opinions, reviews and reactions

29_BUSINESS ADVICEPractical guidance on how to make sure you get the most from your business’s website

44_LAW ADVICEProcurement rules for refurbishing historic buildings

Features14_ARTIFICIAL AGRICULTUREIs indoor agriculture the key to greater productivity? 18_AN END TO PLOUGHING?A look at an old farming technique that is winning new friends

20_PRECISION FOR PRODUCTIVITYHow GPS is making every square inch of farmland work harder

24_UNWIRED, UNLEASHEDThe myriad rewards of swapping desktop PCs and miles of server cabling for smart, cost-eff ective cloud-computing solutions

30_ON THE EDGEDiscover the innovative strategies employed in the construction of Antarctic research stations

34_MARKET FORCESGeorge Hongchoy FRICS, CEO of The Link REIT, is keeping pace with retail trends

38_THE RETURN ON HAPPINESSTo what extent can the interior of a building aff ect its occupants?

Information45_RICS NEWSNews and updates from RICS

48_EVENTSTraining and conference dates

50_THE MEASUREData on global levels of obesity

Contents

Modus_Asia_Q2.14_P03-05_Contents & Feedback_v2.indd 3 24/04/2014 10:16

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 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 polywrap is made from biodegradable material and can be recycled.

We regret that we are unable to print all letters or respond to every one individually.

Feedback //

The MODUS team //

Future Cities Summit 2014

Best Practice in Real Estate, Construction and City Development

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JOIN THE DEBATE

:REACTIONS AND RESPONSES FROM PREVIOUS ISSUESDo you have an editorial comment about this issue of Modus? Please email editor@ricsmodus.com.

FOR SUNDAYEditor Oliver Parsons // Art Director Christie Ferdinando //

Contributing Editor Brendon Hooper // Production Editor

Andy Plowman // Junior Designer Isabella Fernandes //

Creative Director Matt Beaven // Account Director Karen

Jenner // Advertising Sales Director Charlotte Turner //

Advertisement Manager Victoria Cunningham //

Modus Asia edition is the offi cial publication of the Royal

Institution of Chartered Surveyors in Asia: Room 3707-09,

Hopewell Centre, 183 Queen’s Road East, Hong Kong

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

sundaypublishing.com Printers ROF Media //

Cover Thomas Burden

FOR RICSKate Symons and Mark Goodwin (UK)

Roy Ying and Jeanie Chan (Asia) | ricsasia@rics.org

Asia advertising ROF Media

Bryan Chan +852 3150 8912 | bryan@rofmedia.com

DROP IN THE OCEANI appreciated with interest the double-spread picture story on the environmental impact of palm oil plantations [Q1.14 Asia edition, page 6]. But I think it would be interesting to have the same double-spread on livestock: after all, cattle farmers use more than 70% of global agricultural land, whereas palm oil farmers use only 0.3%.

The large area of land needed to raise livestock was revealed in a comprehensive study carried out by the Livestock, Environment and Development Initiative and reported in Livestock’s long shadow, a report published by the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation in 2006. The study found that the livestock sector is the single largest anthropogenic user of land. It accounts for 70% of all agricultural land use, or 30% of the word’s land surface. About 3.9bn hectares of land are used by the livestock industry, of which 3.4bn hectares are used for grazing. The area of arable land dedicated to producing animal feed – 471m hectares – is almost 1,260 times the size of Belgium.

It’s no exaggeration, then, when the report says that livestock is the major driver of deforestation and the leading player in the reduction of biodiversity. By comparison, the global area occupied by palm oil plantations – 15.6m hectares – is miniscule. In fact, the land area utilised for livestock production is 250 times more than that used to produce palm oil.

This is an important comparison, when you consider around 20% of the world’s pastures and rangelands have been degraded to some extent by overgrazing, compaction and erosion from livestock. Previndran Singhe MRICS, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

HIGH PRAISEIn Edinburgh, on 19 November 2012, Scotland’s national bard Robert Burns [1759-96) was posthumously awarded the title Honorary Chartered Surveyor by the RICS President Alan Collett for his work as a land surveyor. This was the fi rst award of its type given by RICS.

The award was presented to Derek MacKay, minister for local government and planning, who received the accolade on behalf of the nation. It will be housed at the National Trust for Scotland’s new award-winning Robert Burns Birthplace Museum in Alloway, Ayrshire. In his response, MacKay said: ‘It’s a pleasure to receive this award in honour of Robert Burns. While his contribution to Scotland and Scottish culture is widely recognised, his work as a land surveyor is less well known.’

It is interesting to note that the UK media picked up the story again the following January, providing the surveying profession with more positive coverage. It has been an original idea developed into an inspirational piece of marketing. Many congratulations to those involved, including Sarah Speirs, Director of RICS Scotland, who led the project. I hope that the person whose idea it was can be identified and receive the recognition rightly deserved.Thomas Inglis MBE FRICS, Fintry

RIGGED COVERAGEI have just received the latest Modus and found that those four Canmar drillships [pictured] in McKinley Bay are all making hole, according to the caption [Q1.14 Asia edition, page 20]. They had actually been laid up for the winter and were being prepared for the

next summer season’s work in the Beaufort Sea in the early 1980s.

As a Canadian and an Albertan, it is clear you don’t like the oilsands by the limited – none, actually – remarks you sought from the oil and gas industry, relying on [Global Sustainability Research president] David Hughes for your quotes, and your reference to tar sands oil.

There are a lot more geomatics opportunities available in oil and gas than alluded to in the article. Just think, all of the work offshore would not happen without surveyors being there during the planning, execution and development phases. There is no land – except on the seabed – nearby to reference what you are doing and surveyors are critical to all that work.Bruce Calderbank FRICS, Canada

MODUS ONLINERead the latest and all the previous issues of Modus Asia edition online at ricsasia.org/modusasia. To reduce your carbon footprint, unsubscribe your hard copy and receive a digital edition only by emailing your name and/or membership number to ricsasia@rics.org with the subject line ‘Unsubscribe Modus Asia’.

Future Cities Summit 2014

Best Practice in Real Estate, Construction and City Development

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Intelligence :news :reviews :opinions :reactions

Modus_Asia_Q2.14_P06-07_Intel Opener.indd 6 24/04/2014 10:19

01.11 // MODUS 09

The province of Almería in southern Spain is renowned as the global capital of plasticulture. After China, Spain has the world’s largest number of greenhouses, and at Campo de Dalías, this low-altitude cape on the province’s south coast, is its greatest concentration – around 20,000 hectares under cultivation known colloquially as the mar de plastico.

The growth of plasticulture followed a nationwide poverty reduction programme, which in Almería offered mountain dwellers one-hectare plots of farmland on the plains. The first greenhouses appeared in 1962, and by 1983 the total area under plastic was 8,500 hectares. Today, that figure stands at more than 32,000, with large corporations, including Syngenta and Monsanto, increasingly involved.

Until the 1900s Almería was Spain’s poorest province, its desiccated landscape fit only for drought-resistant crops. Today it is the fifth most affluent. Not only have the greenhouses flourished, but so too have businesses that supply them – with plastics, seeds, irrigation systems, fertilisers and so on. And a modern transport infrastructure has emerged to send Almería’s produce to Europe and North America.

:mar de plasticoCAMPO DE DAlíAS, SPAIN

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Opinion

TIME FOR GLOBAL STANDARDS TO MEASURE UP

It goes without question that by improving real estate transparency, the quality of market information, and industry best practices in general, we can attract

more capital to the sector. This is what we try to achieve at ANREV in our role as a non-profi t industry association that represents institutional investors, so it makes sense for us to provide support to like-minded initiatives such as the International Property Measurement Standards (IPMS). The IPMS aims to address the current inconsistencies in the way property is measured from one market to the next, by introducing internationally recognised ‘standards’ for measuring different types of property.

Transparency is important because investors require detailed and thorough information on the assets that they own and in which they hope to invest. Inconsistent measurement practices mean this information is often specific to local markets, which makes it difficult to compare properties on a like-for-like basis. Investors that operate across markets run the risk of misinterpreting, or failing to acquire the information that would enable them to make sound, informed investment decisions.

In ANREV’s annual Investment Intentions Survey, investors state clearly that their primary reason for not investing in the Asia-Pacific region is the lack of transparency and poor quality of market information. Many of the survey respondents are European investors and, although there are some transparent markets in Asia-Pacific, certain markets in the region present challenges. What is interesting, and perhaps somewhat

counterintuitive, is that when we survey Asia-Pacifi c-based domestic investors that want to invest offshore in Europe and the US, they too will state that transparency is a challenge for them. This seems strange – surely property markets in London, Paris and New York are the most transparent in the world? Well, not necessarily if you are investing for the fi rst time – new markets are unfamiliar to all fi rst-time investors and this is why initiatives that create consistency across international markets are so important.

IPMS will provide a means for comparing investments across markets and a better understanding of a property’s ‘usable space’, thus improving the ability to value property. Investors, especially those investing in cross-border transactions, will benefi t from much clearer, transparent and robust measurement information. It will mean they can make timely and informed investment decisions without the added risk of inconsistent data.

ALAN DALGLEISH FRICS is chief executive of ANREV (Asian Association for Investors in Non-listed Real Estate Vehicles). anrev.org

Alan Dalgleish FRICS ANREV

Intelligence //

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Climate change is aff ecting food security around the world, warns a new report from the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. The threat from climate change could lead to a 2% drop each decade in the yields of such staple crops as maize, wheat and rice. This is especially serious, it says,

because demand for crops is projected to increase by 14% a decade as the global population increases. The report notes that the resulting rise in food prices will aff ect the world’s poorest countries the most, particularly those in tropical regions, and that major crops in temperate zones will also be aff ected.

Furthermore, rising food prices and unpredictable availability could lead to ‘poverty pockets’ in upper-middle to high-income countries and urban areas. Sue Steer FRICS, Chair of the RICS Countryside Policy Panel, said: ‘RICS members as land managers and their clients are in the position of both facing risks from

the impact of climate change and being well placed to contribute to solutions. Cutting emissions from agriculture, sequestering CO2 through good land use practices plus creating zero-carbon energy resources are all valuable contributions to mitigation and adaption and make good economic sense, too.’

Land WARMING THREATENS TO COMPROMISE FOOD SECURITY

CLEARLY BETTERHong Kong’s high levels of business transparency have helped cement its reputation as one of the world’s leading marketplaces

Modus_Asia_Q2.14_P08-13_Intel.indd 8 24/04/2014 10:34

01.11 // MODUS 09Q2.14 // MODUS ASIA 09

Innovative ideas

STAND OUT FROM THE CROWD In the heart of Hong Kong’s fi nancial district, the Standard Chartered bank has undergone an inspired revitalisation project, led by ISG Asia’s project director Hung Lap Tso MRICS. By day, the offi ce’s aluminium façade displays the bank’s trustmark and an LED information screen, but at night, the façade comes alive with blue and green LED lights. What’s more, the façade is powered sustainably by 20 solar panels.

What other techniques could raise the profi le of commercial clients? Email editor@ricsmodus.com.

RegenerationSEISMIC CHANGES IN NEW ZEALANDA multidisciplinary team has been selected to build a new sustainable, earthquake-resistant housing scheme in central Christchurch, New Zealand, following a global contest. ‘Breathe – The New Urban Village Project’ was set up in 2012, after earthquakes devastated the region in 2010 and 2011, and the competition sought ideas to turn 8,149m2 of repurposed land in the city into a new aff ordable housing development. Once the project is fi nanced, construction fi rm Holloway Builders, Anselmi Attiani architects and Cresco engineers will create 72 homes using sustainable and seismic-resistant materials.

CommercialHONG KONG KING OF COSTHong Kong is the world’s most expensive city for fi rms to locate employees, Savills’ latest World Cities Live-Work Index reveals. The cost of living and working space per employee in the city now averages US$123,000 a year, which is 1.6 times more expensive than Singapore, 3.8 times more expensive than Shanghai, and 4.4 times more than Mumbai. Savills notes Hong Kong is also the world’s most expensive city in which to base fi nancial sector staff – each employee’s live-work space costs an average of US$144,000 a year. However, the city is only the third most expensive in the world for tech and creative employee accommodation.

2030: THE GROWTH OF THE MIDDLE CLASS

North America

Central & South America

Europe

Source: KPMG’s Future state 2030 report

Middle East &

N Africa

Asia-Pacifi c

Sub-Saharan

Africa

20092030

338 322

664 680

105234

3,228Millions of people in

:ONE BIG QUESTION IS BUILDING INFORMATION MODELLING KEY TO THE FUTURE OF QUANTITY SURVEYING?

Take part in discussions by joining the RICS group at linkedin.com.

United Arab Emirates I think BIM is in its infancy and there is much more to come. But in the same way that the many reliable structural design software programmes have not substituted the structural engineer’s role, the QS’s sense will never be replaced.

Mahmoud Bader MRICS, Dubai Islamic Bank

West Midlands The QS profession should embrace BIM as a fantastic opportunity to integrate with and infl uence the design process, and to provide intelligent, timely and data-led cost advice. BIM is the key to a collaborative, open and coordinated future.

London BIM requires investment, but it also improves effi ciency and mitigates risk for the profession and clients. But for it to work, what’s needed is model content plan development and project enablement, because the data needs to be reliable: you are using not interpreting.

Mark Lacey MRICS, alinea consulting

Will Poole FRICS, Arup

08 r ics.org

Simon Rubinsohn, RICS Chief Economist

Intelligence //

10 r icsasia.org

Reining in the extraordinarily loose monetary policy that was put in place to address the aftermath of the

global credit crunch was never going to be straightforward. The challenge that it might present became clear in the middle of last year, when the merest hint from the US Federal Reserve (Fed) that it could at some stage slow – and I mean slow, not unwind – the ongoing

quantitative easing programme was enough to send fi nancial markets into apoplexy.

In order to restore a measure of calm, the Fed chairman Ben Bernanke was forced to shift the tone of the message and rethink the broader communication strategy. This approach appeared to be vindicated when in December the US authorities scaled back their level of bond buying and managed, encouragingly, to do so with no further upset. However, the decision to reduce the programme by a further US$10bn in January to US$65bn proved too much for investors, who again began to fret about the impact of the gradual withdrawal of liquidity.

In the UK, meanwhile, the Bank of England has managed to halt its quantitative easing programme with much less fuss. But, then again, it has been of a considerably smaller magnitude (a total of £375bn), with far less signifi cance for the world economy. Instead, the key challenge facing Mark Carney, governor of the Bank of England, is how to respond to the much better than expected domestic economic news, as he, arguably, becomes a victim of his own success.

In both the UK and the US, the actual selling of bond holdings – that is, reversing quantitative easing – is likely to remain off the agenda for some time to come, for fear that it could be particularly disruptive. More pressing for Carney is the issue of forward

guidance on interest rates that he initiated only last summer, but which already looks to have run its course as the unemployment threshold is rapidly approached. He is also having to grapple with whether a small hike in the base rate from the historically low level of 0.5% may now be warranted.

The case for a small tightening in policy isn’t hard to make: the economy is on course for 3% growth this year (the best performance since 2007); asset prices are generally high and moving upwards; and employment is rising sharply, with many new jobs full-time, rather than part-time or temporary, and some skill shortages beginning to emerge. Yet doubts linger as to whether the recovery is fi rmly enough embedded to withstand a signal that borrowing costs are heading higher.

Carney, Bernanke and his replacement at the helm of the Fed, Janet Yellen, are all painfully aware of what happened in Japan following the unwinding of its asset price bubble more than two decades’ ago. Here, policy errors primarily, but not exclusively, related to the introduction of premature tightening measures resulted in a fitful growth performance subsequently, and an economy that, even today, is still struggling to overcome the spectre of defl ation. Because of this, it’s perhaps unsurprising that the Bank is likely to want to tread very carefully.

Column

THE BANK IS RIGHT TO BE CAUTIOUS

LandVINEYARD INVESTMENT INCREASINGLY POPULARDemand for ‘lifestyle’ vineyards as an investment is growing, according to Knight Frank. The fi rm’s Global Vineyard Index, which compares the prices of vineyard land across key winemaking regions, describes prices increasing by an average of 6.8% in the year to June 2013. Lifestyle vineyards are those of fi ve hectares or more, which are neither hobby purchases nor large commercial setups. In addition, the report notes that China has seen a 90% increase in vineyard area between 2000 and 2012, and that Chinese investment in Bordeaux estates has increased dramatically since 2008. Download the research at bit.ly/GlobalVineyardIndex.

App of the month

FORMWORKSIt is: An iPad app by Digital Field Solutions that replaces paper forms.Who’s it aimed at?: Especially handy for property surveyors and facilities managers. You can create a custom-made form to complete during a meeting or inspection, attach pictures and then capture a signature authorisation on the spot, before sending the data directly to the offi ce. This is more effi cient, and reduces the potential for data errors.

Search ‘Formworks’ at the app store (free).

es; ©

BOOKS We like

STARPATHWhat’s that? It might be the future of street lighting: instead of traditional lamps, our streets and pathways could be lit with luminous surfaces that use no electricity at all. How? Pro-Teq Surfacing (UK) has developed an aggregate material that absorbs and stores energy from the sun during the day, and then releases it at night with glow-in-the-dark particles. Sprayed on pathways, it could provide safer journeys for pedestrians and cyclists, and because it can be applied to existing surfaces, it could help councils reduce energy bills.Where can I see it in use? The product was recently sprayed on to a pathway that runs through an open space in Cambridge. It took only half an hour to apply, and the surface was ready to use after just four hours. Watch it in action at pro-teqsurfacing.com.

ConstructionPRINTING HOUSES FOR THE FUTURERecently, small-scale 3D printing has attracted a lot of attention, but what if construction fi rms could ‘3D print’ entire houses? This is the dream of Dr Behrokh Khoshnevis from the University of Southern California, who has developed a ‘contour crafting’ technology that’s being considered by NASA as a potential way to build structures on the moon. Khoshnevis’ huge, robotic 3D printer extrudes concrete in layers to build walls to a set programme – and if made more aff ordable, it could massively reduce construction costs and times, particularly on large-scale, low-income housing projects.

InnovationAPPROVAL FOR WORLD’S LARGEST CITY FARMThe US city of Detroit plans to transform around 60 hectares of dilapidated land into the world’s largest urban farm network. Private company Hantz Woodlands paid around US$450,000 (£270,000) for the land after local government approval. After clearing the sites of rubbish and construction debris, the company will plant hardwood trees and food crops. For more details, visit hantzfarmsdetroit.com.

Is this a good solution for disused urban land? Email editor@ricsmodus.com.

ConstructionJAKARTA’S TOWER STATIONRider Levett Bucknall is to provide quantity surveying services on the construction of Indonesia’s tallest building, the Pertamina Energy Tower (pictured). The 530m Jakarta tower is scheduled for completion in 2020, and designer Skidmore, Owings & Merrill claims it will be ‘the world’s fi rst super-tall tower for which energy is the primary design driver’. The architect’s aim is that around a quarter of the tower’s energy will be generated from renewable sources. A ‘wind funnel’ at the top will draw air through turbines to produce electricity, while walkways at its base will be covered in solar panels.

Explains how to interpret and apply cost managment rules, including how to quantify building works and prepare order of cost estimates and cost plans.rics.org/shop: 19800£39.99

Third edition, introduces the principles of property valuation theory by means of clear explanation and worked examples.rics.org/shop: 19845£29.99

Provides guidance on the quantifi cation of maintenance works for the purpose of preparing order of cost estimates and formal cost plans.rics.org/shop: 19866£45.00

The book considers the identifi cation, cause and diagnosis of common – and sometimes not so common – defects.rics.org/shop: 19860£39.99

08 r ics.org

Qatar concernThe construction sector in Qatar is ‘rife with abuse’ of workers, warns Amnesty International, raising fears that workers could be exploited during the building of venues and infrastructure for the 2022 FIFA World Cup. The report, entitled The dark side of migration, documents dangerous working conditions and non-payment of wages. Visit bit.ly/SpotlightQatar.

Hotel demandChinese investors are set to increase their share of global hotel acquisitions from the current level of 4% to 10% by 2017, says Savills. As overseas Chinese tourism expands, Asia-Pacifi c regions and the UK, particularly London, will benefi t the most, the fi rm predicts.

New horizonsEC Harris has expanded in Asia with the purchase of project management specialist InProjects, which has a network of offi ces in Hong Kong, China, Macau, Singapore and India. Meanwhile, Savills recently opened an offi ce in Yangon, Myanmar, which continues the fi rm’s regional growth and expansion into Indochina.

Social skillsVietnam needs domestic and international expertise as it embarks on a massive housing plan to improve the living conditions of low-income earners, the country’s construction ministry says. The Vietnamese government aims to build 10m m2 of social housing by 2015, to meet the demands of 400,000 low-income families.

LATEST NEWSOpinion

CAN INTENSIVE FARMING INCREASE PRODUCTIVITY AND PROTECT THE ENVIRONMENT?Rob Yorke FRICS Rob Yorke Associates

There’s no doubt that the intensifi cation of farming practices over the last 50 years has enabled most of us to enjoy

the luxury of a huge range of affordable foods throughout the year. But this has come at a cost. The inextricable link between our food and the environment means that agriculture has had a negative impact on the natural world. Can better farming help reduce this impact?

Many of us long for mixed farms with different crops and livestock enterprises on a rotating cycle, where wildlife has plenty of opportunity to thrive. But such a bucolic approach may be incompatible with the modern world – it might not produce enough food.

Proposed alternatives to intensive farming come with compromises. Organic farming, for example, works well with biodiversity, but research shows that as crop yields increase, biodiversity often decreases. And the idea of enabling more access to pasture for currently housed cattle is great in principle, but it doesn’t acknowledge that the larger areas required for pasture could put pressure on wildlife habitat.

Many believe the answer is to reduce waste and eat less meat. But considering our society’s addictive consumption habits, it is unclear how this will happen. With this and the increasing price of food in mind, we have to look at improving productivity (effi ciency value per input), not just increasing production (total output) – in other words, intensifying our production of ‘more from less’.

Contrary to popular opinion, such an approach might bring advantages to the environment. Farmers could adopt a more intelligent approach to the use of fertilisers, for example, 50% of which are currently wasted with negative impacts on the environment.

The low standards of pesticide and herbicide applications are symptomatic of a historically poor approach to intensive farming techniques. There is room, then, for the new generation of well-qualified profession farmers to raise standards and in doing so improve productivity, conserve and reduce inefficient use of resources and make more room for wildlife.

ROB YORKE comments on rural issues. @blackgull

FISHY BUSINESS: GLOBAL SEAFOOD CONSUMPTION

Source: FAOSTAT (2014) Fish to 2030 (2013)

Farm raised

Wild caught

62%62%45%

55% One thing I know...

LEAD WITH AUTHENTICITYHelen Gough FRICS, head of buildings and construction at Jones Lang LaSalle ‘There are many diff erent styles and approaches to leadership, and you need to be able to adapt to every individual and every situation. The most valuable insight that I can give is to be authentic and to lead by example – not just through rhetoric.’

What’s your business tip? Email editor@ricsmodus.com

12 r icsasia.org

Modus_Asia_Q2.14_P14-17_PlantLab.indd 14 24/04/2014 10:38

T he UK Daily Mail issued a stark warning in 2008 about a new agribusiness on the Isle of Thanet in the county of Kent in the south-east of England. ‘Kent is often called the Garden of

England,’ it said. ‘When this village of glass is complete, it will be more like England’s factory.’ It was talking about Thanet Earth, the UK’s largest greenhouse complex.

Today, Thanet Earth’s 91 hectare site produces roughly 12% of the UK’s annual crop of tomatoes, 11% of its bell peppers and 8% of its cucumbers. Its impressive yields go some way to shortening supply chains at a time when food security is rising up the agenda. So does intensive indoor farming offer a sustainable solution to food production or is it something more sinister?

While the scale of Thanet Earth is a statement in the UK (one of its four glasshouses has a larger footprint than Heathrow airport’s Terminal 5), this approach is common elsewhere in Europe, says Robert James, technical director at Thanet Earth Marketing. In the Netherlands, for example, hydroponic greenhouses account for 50% of all fruit and vegetables produced. ‘There have been more incentives for European farmers and growers to diversify

Feeding the world //

Words by George Bull Illustrations by Patrick Hruby

DO WE EVEN NEED SOIL AND SUNLIGHT TO GROW OUR FOOD?

ARTIFICIALAGRICULTURE

THE FUTUREOF FOOD IS…

WITH CLIMATE CHANGE LOOMING AND THE GLOBAL POPULATION CONTINUING TO EXPAND,

HOW IS FARMING GOING TO ADAPT?

and develop in this area,’ James explains. Also, indoor farming gives growers more control over conditions: ‘You wouldn’t have British cucumbers, tomatoes and peppers if you didn’t grow them in a protective environment.’

At Thanet Earth, crops are suspended from the ceiling in hydroponic rows. With no soil, the system provides crops with the correct quantities of water and nutrients. Detractors often claim this kind of system is industrial and inauthentic. James says this is a misconception. ‘Most tomatoes have been produced hydroponically for the past 40 years,’ he points out. ‘Growing in a more inert medium than soil means we can provide plants with a consistent environment. We can recycle whatever water or nutrients the plants don’t use. And because we’re recycling them, no fertiliser contaminates the water table.’

Pesticides are used sparingly: in the confi ned area, growers use predators to prey on pests, so most solutions tend to be biological. According to James, the tomatoes have been free of chemical pesticides for two years.

Judy Whittaker, communications manager at Fresca, Thanet Earth’s largest shareholder, says that a large area of the site is dedicated to rainwater storage. ‘If our rainwater reservoirs are full by the end of March, we have suffi cient water storage to fulfi l all our needs until September,’ she explains. As a result, around 55% of Thanet Earth’s water comes from rainfall, around 25% is recycled and the remaining 20% is from external supplies. ‘In a high rainfall year, we have no need for external supplies,’ she adds.

With such cutting-edge technology underpinning the operation, you could be forgiven for wondering where the traditional notion of a farmer or grower fi ts in. But James points out that each greenhouse might have as many as 100 people working in it at any one time. ‘It’s not a plug and play system,’ he says. ‘The grower has to manage the crop according to how much light is hitting it. Every tomato variety needs a different environment, and the grower will adjust temperature, feed and water to keep it in balance and ensure a good quality product.’ >>

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According to Tim Benton, professor of population ecology at the University of Leeds, growing global demand for food in the coming decades will require higher yields from agriculture, and Thanet Earth does ‘as well as any modern system can to manage its environmental impact’. Far better also to concentrate the greenhouses into one complex on a site where the light is right and it can be most effective than to have hundreds of under-performing greenhouses all over the country.

Benton believes that an increasing need for resilience in food production and a desire from consumers for shorter, more transparent supply chains, will create more pressure to do smart things with fruit and vegetables. ‘They can be produced in quite high volumes without a large land area, as Thanet Earth shows. If we put these factors together, then I think we have quite a drive for indoor and even urban agriculture.’

However, we’re unlikely to see too many replicas of Thanet Earth’s success, in the UK at least, because there aren’t enough suitable spots. Benton explains: ‘There are relatively few places where the light makes economic sense. That’s why it’s in Thanet – because it gets the highest amount of solar energy in the country. The further you go away from that southeast corner, the more cloudy it is so the more you have to heat the greenhouse and the more your energy bills go up.’ The next advance in indoor farming will come with LED technology, Benton believes, enabling high yields of vegetables without the need for direct sunlight. Research is already underway at PlantLab in Den Bosch in the Netherlands, and trials have taken place at Stockbridge Technology Centre in the UK to explore how manipulating the light spectrum can improve yield and crop quality. Reports suggest that lettuce yields could be improved by as much as 200%.

For fast-growing cities in the developing world unable to pay for long supply chains, the ability to produce high yields effi ciently will pay dividends, suggests Benton.

Progress in LED technology will enable modern horticultural systems to be slotted onto brownfi eld sites. ‘The future of indoor farming is unlikely to be these wonderful glass structures where economy of scale is important, but basements or warehouses on brownfi eld sites,’ says Benton. ‘I can’t imagine in 10 years not being able to dispense with the sun for some horticulture.’

With plans for three more greenhouses at Thanet Earth, surely the business sees its approach to indoor farming as having a role to play in meeting food demand. ‘We’ve been held up as a good example, but we’re not the only solution. We are one of a number of options for how we can produce more from less,’ explains James. ‘This model has value because it helps to mitigate some of the risks around climate change. And, as there’s still such a high volume of imported product, there’s defi nitely room for more quality, UK-grown food.’

‘The future of indoor farming is unlikely to be in glass structures, but in basements and warehouses’

‘WE NEED THE MEANS TO SUPPLY ENOUGH WATER FOR OUR OWNFOOD SECURITY’DAVID WEIGHT MRICS,ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR, AECOM

The UK consumes so much embodied water in imported food and other products that 75% of our water needs is met by resources in other countries. We can’t assume that we’ll always be able to rely on long supply chains. We need to develop the means to supply enough water for our own food security.

British farmers already need more water than they can get, having lost around £400m from crop failures after the dry late winter and spring of 2011. As water demand increases with the population, and both climate change and restrictions on abstraction licences exert pressures on supply, water companies in the southeast may need to fi nd 50% more water by 2030.

Although reservoirs refi ll quickly, aquifers and groundwater levels take longer to recover, and abstraction from these is essential for agriculture and cooling at power stations. If we can reduce the likelihood of rivers, canals and streams drying up, reasonable levels of abstraction can continue.

Aecom has proposed the construction of a canal to bring water from Kielder Water in the northern county of Northumberland into our waterways. It could supply up to 900m litres of water a day and deliver a range of secondary benefi ts including improved communication and transport links, and the opportunity to create ecotowns and villages.

Words by Caspar Van Vark Illustration by Patrick Hruby

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In 1943, the American agronomist Edward Faulkner published a book in which he challenged the wisdom of something that farmers had been doing for thousands of years: ploughing the fi eld. Many take it

for granted that ploughing is what you do before planting. But why, exactly? ‘The truth,’ wrote Faulkner in the opening paragraph to Plowman’s Folly, ‘is that no one has ever advanced a scientifi c reason for plowing.’

Although abandoning the plough was a shocking proposition at the time, in recent years farmers around the world have been adopting the idea enthusiastically: between 1999 and 2009, the global area cultivated with no-tillage systems grew from 45m to 111m hectares. Rather than turning the soil to aerate it and bury residues, these farmers prefer to minimise soil disruption. They leave crop residues on the fi eld and plant the next crop in the undisturbed soil below with direct-drill seeders designed for the purpose.

AN END TO PLOUGHING? NO-TILL AGRICULTURE ALLOWS FARMERS TO INCREASE YIELDS AND REDUCE THEIR WORKLOAD. SO WHAT IS ITS POTENTIAL?

One of the original benefi ts of no-till farming was the prevention of soil erosion. Faulkner’s proposal came on the back of the Dust Bowl era of the 1930s, when soil that had been heavily ploughed in previous years simply blew away when drought hit because there was nothing to anchor it. No-till farming helps to prevent this happening because it leaves protective ground cover and maintains soil strength and structure.

The Dust Bowl itself may be history, but no-till farming is increasingly recognised for its potential to address issues other than soil erosion. It now sits under the broader umbrella of conservation agriculture, a concept the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) promotes to save resources, maintain profi ts, sustain production and protect the environment.

In other words, no-till farming can help to create a sustainable food-production system, because it’s a way of maintaining high yields with lower energy inputs and

THE FUTURE OF FOOD IS…

Modus_Asia_Q2.14_P18-19_NoTillFarming.indd 18 24/04/2014 10:42

fewer negative environmental outputs. For example, leaving crop residue in place can help conserve water in the soil. It also encourages soil fl ora and fauna, such as earthworms, which increase the quantity of organic matter in soil and create tunnels that funnel oxygen to roots and further help the soil to hold water.

A number of studies have found that no-till farming increases carbon sequestration in the soil. Organisations such as the United Nations Environment Programme now promote it as a measure to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in agriculture. But evidence on the precise extent and soil depths at which this occurs is inconclusive, and one recent report by the German development agency Misereor even concludes that no-tillage makes ‘little or no contribution to carbon sequestration and does not prove to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in croplands’.

BARRIERS TO UPTAKEMaking the transition from conventional to no-till farming is still diffi cult for many. There’s a lot to take in, and yields don’t increase automatically. ‘In our case, in year one it was more or less the same,’ says Tony Reynolds, who farms 246 hectares in central England at Bourne in Lincolnshire, and started converting to no-till in 2004. ‘In year two, we’d used up residual nitrogens and yields declined. In year three, they declined even more. But yields began to return, and after year fi ve we were pretty much back to where we started. Now we’re fi nding on one of the farms that we yield more than before.’

Weeds can also be a problem. One of the effects of ploughing is to turn the soil and bury weeds. When farmers practise a no-till system, they can become more reliant on herbicides to control weeds, and sometimes weeds become resistant. On the other hand, there are immediate savings to be made in labour and other inputs, because if you don’t have to plough the fi eld before planting it, you don’t have to make so many ‘passes’.

‘If you’re going through the fi eld to establish the crop in a single operation, it takes much less time than doing a more typical cultivation,’ says Nathan Morris, farming systems and soil specialist at the UK’s National Institute of Agricultural Botany. ‘You might be looking at three operations on a more conventional site, because you do a primary then a secondary cultivation and then drill. There are large gains to be had by reducing the number of fi eld passes.’ This also means you need less fuel. Reynolds estimates that conventional agriculture uses 90 to 95 litres of diesel per hectare, whereas the no-till method uses 40 to 43 litres.

Reducing fuel consumption is useful in its own right. But paired with greater yields it makes no-till farming compelling from a sustainability point of view. The FAO estimates that by 2050 the world’s population will reach 9.1bn, requiring food production to increase by as much as 70%. If no-till farming can help us to produce more from the same amount of land, without additional inputs such as fertiliser and fuel, it seems like a winner.

There is already some evidence for this. In Zimbabwe, for example, an estimated 300,000 farmers have adopted no-till and are producing maize at a rate of around two tonnes per hectare, nearly triple the amount yielded under conventional agriculture. Such results are particularly relevant for resource-limited countries such as those in sub-Saharan Africa, where achieving food security for

growing populations will depend to a great extent on building the productivity of the millions of smallholders that account for most food production.

But although no-till farming is benefi cial in theory, there are also some specifi c barriers for smallholders in developing countries. Some of the farmers who rear cattle as well as growing crops, for example, use the stubble left after harvesting as feed, so they wouldn’t want to leave it on the fi eld as crop residue. This type of issue, as well as the need to train millions of individual farmers in the fi rst place, is a barrier to the widespread uptake of the practice.

Elsewhere, major food-producing countries such as the US, Australia and Brazil have embraced no-till, but they have structured support for farmers to encourage the transition. Brazil, for instance, adopted the national Agricultural de Baixo Carbone (Low Carbon Agriculture) plan, which explicitly promotes no-till cultivation, in 2011. Credit and training services help farmers invest in equipment like direct-drill seeders and learn how to manage different patterns of weed growth and pests that can emerge. The legacy of soil erosion in the US means that farmers there are also subsidised to practise no-till farming as part of conservation agriculture.

By contrast, no-till farmers are still relatively rare in Europe. With a range of long-standing farming traditions and a history of relatively high, stable yields, European farms appear to have had less incentive to try this method. The Common Agricultural Policy has also historically rewarded production, although this has now changed so that subsidies under the Single Payment Scheme – the primary support mechanism for agriculture – are also linked to public goods and environmental objectives.

‘Of particular note in this arena is the Soil Protection Review, an annual requirement since 2010 to identify soils susceptible to erosion and compaction, and those areas where the loss of organic matter, which would otherwise provide nutrients, is likely to occur,’ says Ashley Taylor

MRICS of Townsend Chartered Surveyors. ‘Once identifi ed, farmers must then implement preventative measures at an individual farm level.’ Although this approach aligns with no-till farming, without more explicit policy support, more widespread adoption of the technique may only come gradually through farmer-to-farmer diffusion.

Will Scale, a farmer from Pembrokeshire in Wales and founding member of the UK No-Till Alliance, is convinced of the technique’s value. ‘The aim certainly isn’t low input, low output,’ says Scale, who has held open days at his farm to try to inform other farmers of the benefi ts. ‘I’ve found that yields can be as good or better. You’re saving fossil fuels, it doesn’t take as much time, it’s better for soil biology, better for water infi ltration, and I see less erosion. But it’s a steep learning curve, and you’ve just got to decide you can make it work.’

AN END TO PLOUGHING?

‘In Zimbabwe, farmers who have adopted no-till produce maize at nearly triple the rate yielded under conventional agriculture’

Modus_Asia_Q2.14_P18-19_NoTillFarming.indd 19 24/04/2014 10:42

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When English farmer Malc Parr wants to measure part of a fi eld, he reaches into his pocket for his smartphone, opens an area-calculation app and

walks around the area in question. ‘It uses GPS, so it has pinpoint accuracy,’ explains Parr, who farms at Gainsborough in Lincolnshire. ‘When I get back to the start point, it tells me the exact distance I’ve walked, and the area my route has encompassed.’

Growers and livestock producers are increasingly embracing such cutting-edge technology as they strive to improve the effi ciency of their production. So-called precision farming techniques – which use GPS mapping systems, satellite-controlled steering, robotics, unmanned aerial vehicles and even driverless tractors – represent a range of new tools that enable farmers to increase agricultural productivity. At the same time, the adoption of these technologies is encouraged by their customers, including such major supermarket chains as Sainsbury’s, who are increasingly interested in how their food is produced and its carbon footprint.

With demand for food set to increase substantially in the coming decades, as the global population heads towards 9bn, the impetus for farmers to use new technology is greater than ever. ‘Agriculture must become more fl exible and effi cient,’ says Simon Blackmore, director

Growers and livestock producers are employing smart technologies to improve the effi ciency of their processes

Words by Johann Tasker Illustrations by Patrick Hruby

PRECISION FOR PRODUCTIVITY

DO GPS, ROBOTICS AND SMART SOIL-ANALYSIS TECHNOLOGIES HOLD

THE KEY TO MAXIMUM EFFICIENCY?

THE FUTURE OF FOOD IS…

Modus_Asia_Q2.14_P20-23_PrecisionFarming.indd 20 24/04/2014 10:46

of the National Centre for Precision Farming at Harper Adams University in Shropshire, England. ‘We need smarter farming systems to support smarter farmers.’

A wide range of equipment is already available, offering a variety of options to improve farming methods. GPS technology, for example, allows farmers to tailor their nutrient and agrochemical applications to suit crop requirements within the fi eld and to minimise overlapping cultivations when using machinery that can cause damaging soil compaction.

Precision farming techniques are not only seen as best practice, they also help farmers save money and reduce environmental impacts at various stages of production. A case in point is the work required to reduce levels of soil compaction caused by machinery. In conventional farming systems, up to 96% of a fi eld is left compacted by tyres, and addressing this problem accounts for up to 90% of the energy consumed during cultivation. Research has shown that spatial control of machinery – through auto-steer or controlled-traffi c farming, for example – can save 10%-15% in time, fuel, crop nutrients and other inputs.

Another way in which farmers can potentially save time and reduce costs is by using computer-controlled applications of expensive inputs such as fertilisers, which are also the source of the highest CO2 emissions when growing crops. At the Overbury Estate, near Tewkesbury

Researchers in the US have developed a driverless tractor. One person can control up to 16 of these machines, which were developed by the Autonomous Tractor Corporation (ATC) and the Automation Research Group. ‘No one has re-thought the [agricultural] tractor from the bottom up in probably 80 years,’ says LeRoy Anderson, ATC vice president of software development. ‘Currently available equipment has tried to meet the needs of farmers by incremental innovation over decades.’

Technology like this isn’t without its drawbacks. ‘One of the problems is that the more automation you put inside a tractor, the less involvement the driver has,’ says Simon Blackmore, director of the National Centre for Precision Farming at Harper Adams University, Shropshire. Farm workers

will need retraining, he adds, and some won’t necessarily make the grade. There is an upside, though. ‘Although these kinds of agricultural robots will eventually replace semi-skilled drivers, we’ll need an equal number of highly skilled agricultural robot engineers and operators to be able to supervise and manage these systems.’

Similar changes are taking place above the fi elds. UK-based URSULA Agriculture specialises in unmanned aerial vehicles designed to monitor crops. Director Steve Keyworth says: ‘The high-resolution multispectral imagery that we capture has numerous applications from weed detection to yield estimation and crop trial analysis. Data, once analysed, can inform farmers’ decision-making and deliver maps compatible with farm management systems.’

Rise of the robots

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in Gloucestershire, south-west England, farm manager Jake Freestone has been using smart technology to target inputs since 2006, when they started taking soil samples and analysing them for levels of phosphate and potash. ‘Rather than using a blanket approach and applying the same amount of nutrients across the field,’ says Freestone, ‘we tailor the rates according to the phosphate and potash already in the soil and what the following crop is likely to need, adjusting it to different areas of the field. We input the data into a computer program that creates a field map showing all the varying rates. Then we use the same sort of GPS that is in a smartphone to tell the tractor and fertiliser spreader where it is in the field and how much fertiliser should be applied at that point.’

Freestone estimates that precision farming methods like this have resulted in a 30% reduction in the amount of phosphate and potash used. ‘We are using less of a finite

resource, putting it where it is needed, reducing waste and being more accurate,’ he explains. He uses the same technology for liquid nitrogen. ‘A USB stick in the sprayer puts the variable-rate nitrogen where it is needed – giving us a better response. We’re probably not saving money on nitrogen, but we are targeting it more effectively.’

Freestone also uses a smart approach to sowing seeds at Overbury. After the soil has been scanned to assess its water-holding capacity, seed rates are adjusted as the seed drill goes across the field to produce a more uniform crop, making management and harvest easier. ‘The tractor has auto-steer on it,’ explains Freestone, ‘so it basically drives itself up and down the field, while the computer

Farmers are increasingly using GPS-guided systems to sow seeds and apply fertilisers and other inputs more accurately

‘The tractor has auto-steer on it, so it basically drives itself up and down the field, while the computer adjusts the inputs’

‘We can feed the World

on current arable land

capacity’Eifion BiBBy MRiCS, SenIor

conSultant, DavIS MeaDe ProPerty conSultantS

Historically, global demand for food has increased by an average of 1% a year, and since 1945 agricultural production has grown by about 2% a year. Feeding the world, then, could theoretically be achieved on current arable land capacity. But can this rate of progress continue?

UK farmers are encouraged to use less intensive systems but have to compete with demand for land for growing biofuels and building homes – as well as negotiating the challenges of climate change.

There is scope on many farms to boost yields with the adoption of new techniques. Indeed, in January, UK environment minister Owen Paterson warned that Europe ‘risks becoming the museum of world farming’ if it fails to embrace genetically modified crops. However, reliable assurances are needed that such production is safe, as short-term fixes aren’t the answer.

But does focusing solely on growing ourselves into food security obscure the wider issues? Perhaps we’re already growing enough – after all, in the UK 7.2m tonnes of food is binned every year at a cost of £12.5bn.

Some might say that we’re eating too much. Busy modern lifestyles have encouraged us to eat more (particularly cheap, processed foods) and move about less, to the extent that obesity is leaving more and more people at risk of diabetes, heart disease and cancer. If trends continue, and global diets change to favour meat and dairy products – as is already happening in India and China – demand for cereals will increase, augmenting the carbon footprint, and health concerns will continue to rise.

Politicians need to align food security with environmental and public-health agendas and establish the means for farmers to produce nutritious food at affordable prices.

adjusts inputs depending on its location. There are lots of savings in time and efficiency. There’s no overlap in cultivations either. So it reduces labour, input cost and wear and tear.’

New technology is also helping farmers to harvest selectively. In a conventional system, up to 60% of a harvested crop is wasted because it isn’t of saleable quality. But precision farming allows a farmer to harvest only the part of the crop that has 100% saleable characteristics, thereby minimising off-farm grading and sorting. At the University of Southern Denmark, researchers have developed a microdot sprayer that recognises the leaves of a plant in real time, putting chemical only where it is required on the leaf and saving 99.99% of sprays by volume.

Mark Little FRICS, director and farmland estate consultant at Savills in Norwich, East Anglia, believes that precision farming is one of the most significant agricultural developments in recent years. ‘You can certainly see the benefits on any farm that has improved in-field management using precision farming.’

network farmingOne of the biggest barriers to the widespread adoption of precision farming techniques remains the cost. Larger equipment – such as real-time kinematic (RTK) satellite navigation, a precise form of guidance technology – can be prohibitively expensive for individual farm businesses. As a result, farmers are signing up to networks that give them access to equipment and reduce associated costs.

In some parts of the world machinery manufacturers have established RTK networks. But in the UK groups of farmers have taken the initiative. In East Anglia, for example, RTK Farming’s Trimble network was formed when five farmers decided they wanted to benefit from the efficiencies and cost savings of precision farming without the large individual capital spend. With the aid of a government grant, the network has grown to cover eastern England, and there are plans to extend it from the Humber estuary down to Kent.

It would cost an individual farmer up to £14,000 to set up his own system. But by joining RTK Farming, the same farmer can access the technology for a joining fee of £200 and an annual subscription of £500 per guidance unit. Early adopters of the system included vegetable growers who were quick to recognise that precision farming could reduce machine and driver fatigue and help to produce high-value crops requiring precision establishment with a high level of traceability.

‘The cost is far outweighed by the benefits,’ says Cambridge farmer and RTK Farming founder member David White. The savings achieved through precision farming stack up on their own, he adds, without considering other areas of improvement. ‘We recognised that the benefits needed to be affordable for the smaller farms, operated by an owner-operator with a single tractor doing all of the work, through to large multisite businesses spread over a larger geographical area.’

More farmers are realising the benefits of precision farming – including larger businesses with large budgets for machinery that are investing in the technology to capitalise on higher commodity prices and the need to make best use of expensive inputs. Just like the mobile phone, precision farming, it seems, is for everyone.

‘Can the UK inCrease prodUCtivity while proteCting the environment?’Jason Beedell MRICs, partner and head of research, smiths Gore

Global food production will have to increase dramatically if we want to feed the world in 2050. If this won’t be hard enough, it needs to be done by growing more from the land we already use, as there is little scope to expand into new territory. What’s more, it needs to be done with fewer natural resources – soil, water and carbon.

Can the UK increase productivity while protecting the environment? It’s a tough challenge, but not impossible, say the UK’s best brains. But only if farming and the policies that drive it change.

There’s no doubt we can improve the efficiency of production. Resources like water, pesticides and fertilisers can be used more accurately. The best UK producers already employ precision techniques to put the right amounts in the right places at the right times. And technology is improving all the time.

In addition, we need to recognise that at the moment the environment is ‘subsidising’ our food production – the cost of using up our natural resources isn’t reflected in the price of food. Unfortunately, the recent reform of European farm policies has failed to achieve a balance between sustainability and intensification, and environmentalists are rightly disappointed. Until we’re able to achieve this balance, we won’t be able to fix the food crisis.

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Modus_Asia_Q2.14_P24-29_Computing + Business.indd 24 24/04/2014 10:48

computers have revolutionised working practices, But now their cost and

complexity is tying us up in knots. is moBile, agile cloud computing the solution?

words by Paul Wilkinson illustration by Thomas Burden

Cloud computing //

Cloud computing sounds quite vague and mysterious, but if you focus on the benefits, it all becomes very clear. Culturally,

we’ve become used to the idea of computer applications and data being stored on our hard drives, or perhaps on a company’s central server, with software a shrink- wrapped commodity that’s sold in boxes and administered by a team of in-house IT staff. With cloud computing, all these things are reversed: rather than fixed assets that require continual management by the user, services are outsourced and data is stored remotely so you don’t have to worry about having enough server space. Software packages are available online and can be updated almost continually, and your internal IT needs diminish dramatically, as this is all taken care of remotely and super-efficiently by centralised services. All of this saves both users and their businesses valuable time and money.

Although cloud computing has become something of a buzzword recently, it has actually been around for a while. The UK construction and property sector, for example, was a relatively early adopter, with Software as a Service (SaaS) vendors such as 4Projects, Asite and Conject offering fast, secure and reliable cloud-based IT systems via a standard web browser for temporary, fragmented, multidisciplinary and multi-company project teams.

With SaaS, tools that were previously out of reach for smaller firms can be adopted at a lower cost, and can often be implemented quickly with little or no investment in new hardware. Customers usually ‘lease’ the software package, paying a predictable monthly, quarterly or annual subscription for the software itself, and for hosting and support. There are no software depreciation costs, and these pay-as-you-go services can be very easily turned on and off, and scaled up or down as required. >>

Using his experience of working for large agencies, Ben Thompson is now aiming to grow Castle Estate Agents, a small Dublin chain, as quickly and economically as possible. ‘Having seen how expensive it can be to develop and maintain in-house systems, it was good to start with a clean slate,’ says Thompson. Castle’s core systems are built around Google Apps for Business, with centralised shared storage via Google Drive, and tools such as Gmail immediately accessible via PCs, tablets and smartphones, at home, in the office or out on the road. ‘This has helped us from a corporate governance perspective,’ Thompson explains. ‘I can update a standard document once and I know that it’s immediately available to everyone else.’

The group currently has four offices with 20 agents, plus support staff – and, following an acquisition, will soon acquire two more offices. ‘We have invested in Chromebook devices, and are using these instead of desktop machines,’ says Thompson. ‘Once connected to wifi, an office is ready to go.’ Rather than invest in property-specific customer relationship management (CRM) tools, Thompson opted to use a generic SaaS CRM system, Infusionsoft. ‘This suits our sales and marketing culture,’ he says. ‘We’re tracking and nurturing leads, and developing strong email marketing and content marketing strategies, which are more easily supported by a sales-oriented platform that everyone has access to.’

Cloud computing //

What’s more, the vendor takes on the responsibility for ensuring 24/7 reliability and availability of the applications and data, and provides automatic back-up and security, which means that there are fewer issues if a user’s laptop is lost or stolen.

Why noW?In the early days of cloud computing, there were, understandably, concerns about security and reliability, the financial stability and resilience of providers, and the legal issues around contracts, data ownership, intellectual property and legal admissibility. However, providers have proved over time that they are generating sustainable revenues, and organisations and project teams have welcomed the improved efficiency, and the significant time and cost savings, of having one centralised single version of the truth. Furthermore, the construction and property sectors have become more sophisticated in their use of electronic information, and increased the use of mobile hardware as broadband capacity continues to grow and universal software interoperability standards enable applications to seamlessly exchange large volumes of data. Many construction and property professionals now routinely use smartphones and tablets, which has almost unwittingly increased the use of cloud-based services to enable access to data on any device, wherever the user happens to be. For example, cloud storage services, such as SkyDrive, DropBox and Box, are frequently used to share files among working groups, while note-taking and archiving tools such as OneNote and Evernote can be used to synchronise data across multiple devices.

Another factor in the growth of cloud computing has been the development of cloud services by ‘traditional’ software developers such as Microsoft, which now offers its Office applications in the cloud. However, in a market once dominated by Microsoft Office, Google Apps now also offers web-based alternatives for email, calendars, word-processing, presentations and spreadsheets, as well as online storage – to which Microsoft quickly responded by launching Office 365, its own subscription- based online office suite.

In the construction, architecture and engineering sector, the design software developers Autodesk and Bentley Systems both offer collaboration platforms and other cloud services. For example, alongside cloud storage, Autodesk 360 also offers

pay-as-you-go computing capacity for processor-intensive tasks such as the rendering of photorealistic visualisations.

Industry-specific software vendors have been quick to identify the power of the cloud, too. For example, in 2004 Mobile Computing Systems launched Priority 1, its construction ‘snagging’ or defects reporting tool, and this has since become a mature market with several rival product offerings. And looking beyond project completion to the documenting of existing assets,

surveyors are using iPad technology to reduce surveying time by uP to 50%

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In my experience

‘Once connected to wifi, an office is ready’ben thomPson mrics HEAD Of BUSInESS DEvElOPMEnT, CASTlE ESTATE AGEnTS, DUBlIn, REPUBlIC Of IRElAnD

north-east England company Kykloud offers iPad-based asset management services to owners and operators of large property portfolios, as well as mobile surveying capability. At its Building Surveying conference in April 2013, RICS launched a range of survey templates for mobile devices that are delivered exclusively by Kykloud. The templates – which include valuation, dilapidation, condition and maintenance surveys, as well as energy and carbon audits – enable users to rapidly produce reports that meet RICS standards. The reports are uploaded to and stored in Kykloud’s cloud service, where multiple reports from different surveyors can be aggregated to compile a detailed overview of a client’s property assets.

‘Over the past year, the benefits of mobile technology to the surveying industry have been proven repeatedly, with surveyors using iPad technology to increase accuracy and consistency across portfolio-wide schemes, reduce surveying time by up to 50%, and increase their competitiveness, resulting in more successful tenders,’ says Kykloud CEO Ed Bartlett MRICS.

Cutting the wireSo how to take initial steps into the world of cloud computing? Andrew Waller MRICS is a partner at Remit Consulting and co-author of the 2011 RICS report The role of cloud computing in commercial property, which is a useful read for those unfamiliar with the technology. Waller advises companies to look at the bigger picture and avoid ad hoc projects started by individual members of staff: ‘Look at what the business needs, prioritise where to start, and start small,’ he says. Begin by implementing a few easily managed applications that are not business- critical, ensuring that there is adequate bandwidth to make the cloud viable. Based on learning from these initial pilots, take a phased and prioritised approach to build in the use of further applications. Waller adds that some staff members may also need coaching to move away from the practice of storing data locally on their hard drive.

According to Waller, the take-up of cloud computing solutions within built environment professions has been growing steadily since 2011, with technology still continuing to advance. >>

Cloud Computing 101what is it? Traditionally, software and data live locally, on a user’s computer. But with cloud computing, these are both available as an internet service direct to the user’s device. Just software and data? No, as well as Software as a Service (SaaS), the cloud can provide a Platform as a Service (PaaS) – supporting mobile applications, for example – and even a complete Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) of virtual servers, storage and networks.who hosts my information? Many organisations use public cloud service providers, such as Amazon, Microsoft, Google and Salesforce, which offer access via the internet. These SaaS providers have either their own or rented data facilities.why should i care? Cloud computing can cut IT overheads, lower risks and make information more instantly available across a company and across a range of devices, which supports more flexible mobile working.

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‘We are developing systems that can rapidly process huge volumes of cloud-streamed data – look at Google’s driverless cars, for example,’ he says. ‘Our mobile workers are now carrying around with them powerful devices, capable of accessing rich data sources, which means that they can work almost anywhere at any time.’ Looking ahead, Waller believes that property roles will change dramatically as technical and market ‘big data’ is accumulated and made almost instantly available to support different roles. Facilities managers, on the other hand, will be able to access real-time building performance metrics, while automatic valuation systems will change the way that valuers work, and building surveyors could be wearing Google Glass-type technology.

These advances will be accelerated by the accumulation of data during project delivery. Increasingly, new-build projects will adopt Building Information Modelling (BIM) processes, where digital information is collated and shared not just for design and construction, but also to assist with scheduling, cost control and future asset management. In the short- to medium- term, the UK government’s mandate for BIM to be used in all public sector projects by 2016 will involve cloud-based ‘common data environments’ to support

When Brad Hook decided to launch a new business targeting the opportunities available under the UK government’s Green Deal scheme, he decided traditional computing architecture, with servers and software hosted within the business, did not offer the affordability, flexibility and scalability of resources he needed. As a result, the Oxfordshire-based company embraced cloud computing, opting for the Office 365 suite from Microsoft. ‘The tools are equivalent to, if not better than, the full Microsoft Exchange Server platform, and we always have the latest version of the software, so there are no software depreciation or upgrade costs,’ he explains. ‘Also, each person can use the software – which includes Outlook, Word, Excel and PowerPoint – on up to five different devices, and they can access the associated cloud storage anywhere that has internet connection. We don’t need any servers, or pay IT support fees; we just pay around £100 per user per annum.’ Green Deal Together’s team of four use Android smartphones and tablets, and have started to use Microsoft’s Android Lync 2013 app for teleconferencing to cut meeting costs. Three other applications also support the business: Capsule is used for customer relationship management, Basecamp provides project management tools, and the accounts are maintained in the cloud using KashFlow. The latter has also helped the company cut their accounting costs: ‘We have another office in Milton Keynes, and we use an outsourced book- keeping service, so they have a login and can extract information, update records and run reports instantly,’ says Hook. ‘We haven’t experienced any downtime yet in six months,’ he adds. ‘And the fact that you don’t need to manage licences, or worry about software updates and upgrades, is a real time- and cost-saving.’

interdisciplinary project collaboration. And BIM will also be deployed for work in existing buildings, such as the RICS headquarters in London, where Severn Partnership recently spent two weeks laser-surveying and converting the output into a 3D Revit BIM model. ‘The project is part of a wider RICS BIM initiative to learn about procuring, using, managing and maintaining an information model,’ explains Severn’s director Nick Blenkarn MRICS. ‘Laser scanning and BIM is ideal for retrofit, refurbishment and renovation projects, even on heritage buildings such as the RICS HQ.’

Perhaps understandably, a lot of attention is currently focused on the actual BIM technology, but a repeated mantra at BIM conferences is: ‘Technology is simply an enabler; the process is much more about people and culture’. Accordingly, the construction industry is now starting to develop the necessary skills, procedures and standards, and individuals are learning how to incorporate BIM into their work throughout the life cycle of built assets.

The same will happen with cloud technologies, believes Waller. Whether we are talking BIM or the cloud – or BIM in the cloud – he says that technology is simply a tool, and it should not diminish the value of the individual. ‘The cloud is a great leveller, regardless of your location or how big or small your company is,’ Waller explains. ‘It gives us all access to the same tools and technology – but it is the people who will make the difference.’ rics.org/cloudcomputing

Paul Wilkinson blogs at extranetevolution.com and is a consultant on SaaS, construction collaboration technology platforms and other related fields. pwcom.co.uk

mobile Workers are noW carrying PoWerful devices caPable of accessing rich data sources, so they can Work anyWhere at any time

In my experience

‘We haven’t experienced any downtime yet’brad hook mrics CEO, GrEEn DEAL TOGETHEr, OxFOrDSHIrE, UK

Many of us are proud of our websites, but although the site belongs to you, it wasn’t built for you. It was built for your visitors, who are all potential clients, and you only have seconds to pique their interest. Here are a few suggestions on how to make sure your website is as effective as it can be.

Employ a clEar navigation systEmNot everyone will land on the homepage; they could follow a link or arrive via a search engine, so a clear navigation system is essential. Include a tagline in the header, so that from every page, a visitor can see clearly who you are and what you do. Place the primary navigation bar along the top or on the left, under the logo/tagline, and always begin with a ‘Home’ tab and end with a ‘Contact us’ tab, with meaningful tab headings in between. Drop-down menus should be avoided if possible.

It’s important to maintain a consistent layout throughout the site: nobody likes to click on a new page and find that the navigation has changed or the search box has moved.

The primary navigation bar should be focused on the services you offer, with links to company information, the ‘About us’ page, T&Cs etc in the footer navigation bar. Also, your logo/tagline should be clickable and linked to the homepage, and your contact details should feature clearly on every page.

makE thE contEnt countThe layout, colours, fonts etc all pale into insignificance when measured against the words on the page. So cast a critical eye over every page and ask: is the purpose clear? Does it add value? Would someone landing here pick up the phone after reading the words?

Each page should begin with headline information, so the visitor can quickly assess the relevance of the content. Then follow up with supporting information and evidence of competence, such as case studies, testimonials, stats and images. Spend time on your page titles, as these are still the prime source of information for the search engines, and make sure each is unique and has the keywords in place. Also make sure that the important information is visible without scrolling down the page on all platforms (desktop PC, tablet and smartphone), and avoid long sentences and jargon.

Keep the layout clean and simple, and avoid use of sliders, animations and carousels, as they can be very distracting.

The same applies for invitations to follow you on Twitter, join your Facebook group or read your blog – you don’t want your visitors to wander off. Be ruthless in clearing out the distractions and make sure the site is 100% focused on converting visitors into clients.

Add hyperlinks to your content to lead the visitor to related information within the site, and include a ‘call to action’ on every page in an obvious place. If you want the visitor to call you, put your number right in front of them – don’t hide it away in the footer or on a different page.

tEst your wEbsitEVisit every page to check that the content loads quickly and correctly, and make sure that every page leads somewhere with a call to action or link to further information. Also make sure that the website works on all platforms and in all the major browsers, and check that the hyperlinks and contact forms function properly, and that useful advice is given if a mistake is made filling out a form.

analysE your statsInstall an analytics package, and then use it to identify where your visitors land, what they did and, most importantly, where they left the site (exit pages). See if there’s anything you can do on these exit pages to encourage people to stay on the site or take action. If a high proportion of visitors leave the site within seconds, it means the page they landed on didn’t meet their expectations. This is not good news but, by following the advice above, you should be able to fix this problem. You can also use the programme to investigate the keywords that visitors used to find your site, and the content of referring websites, to make sure the content they are directed to on your site is relevant.

graham smith provides effective website help and advice at aerin.co.uk.

bE ruthlEss in clEaring out distractions and makE surE thE sitE is focusEd on convErting visitors into cliEnts

How to make your

wEbsitE bEttErBy website design expert graham smith

Business advice //

CONSTRUCTION FOR THE WORLD’S COLDEST, DRIEST AND WINDIEST CONTINENT REQUIRES PIONEERING SOLUTIONS, FINDS BRENDON HOOPER

30 r icsasia.org

Halley VI 75º35’S, 26º39’W

The research station’s unique design was the result of an international design competition in collaboration with RIBA. Opened in early 2013, the 1,510m2 station is made up of eight modules, each sitting on ski-fi tted, hydraulic legs so that they can be easily towed to a new location.

Antarctic architecture //

ON THE EDGEEDGE

Modus_Asia_Q2.14_P30-33_Antarctic.indd 30 24/04/2014 10:58

ris, B

While many of Antarctica’s research stations are sited near the coast for greater accessibility, the IPF decided to build the Princess Elisabeth on a granite ridge 220km inland, which would create a more permanent station in a mountainous area ideal for scientifi c study. Of course, locating the station here greatly increased the logistical diffi culty of moving machinery and materials to the site – and resupplying it. So it was crucial for the project team to create an effi cient and logistical plan that would limit the amount of materials and equipment needed. ‘We had to be creative,’ Berte explains. ‘This included repurposing the wooden sledges that we used to carry around 20 large containers to the site into scaffolding during construction. We also used the wood as a building material for the below-level garage. With fewer materials to transport, we saved a lot of time and money.’ >>

Bharathi Polar Station69°24’S, 76°12’E

An inspired design by BOF Architekten, India’s National Centre for Antarctic and Ocean Research is made up of 134 shipping containers, prefabricated with an insulated skin and outer shell and raised up on stilts. Completed in 2012, the station has enough living space for 47 people and can be disassembled and removed at any time.

The modular design of Halley VI and the Bharathi Polar Station means they can be easily relocated

There are good reasons not to live in Antarctica. The temperature can drop below -60°C. Powerful winds can gust at speeds topping 100mph. The ground underneath moves as ice

shelves fl ow out to sea. Snow levels can rise by more than a metre a year, burying everything on the surface. And for months during winter, the land is in prolonged darkness.

But because Antarctica is such a unique environment for scientifi c study, every summer international teams of scientists and researchers arrive to stay in research stations for periods of weeks or months at a time. These stations are located far from rescue or supply outposts, and therefore have to allow for people to live and work in the extreme conditions not only self-suffi ciently, but also comfortably. To build them, project teams have to test the limits of design and construction.

‘Our approach was: don’t think of the Antarctic as the enemy – consider it as a place of opportunity,’ says Johan Berte, project manager at the International Polar Foundation (IPF). He oversaw the design and construction of the IPF’s Princess Elisabeth research station, which was inaugurated in 2009 as the fi rst ‘zero-emission’ research station in Antarctica. Made mostly from wood, the building relies only on passive heating techniques and renewable energy systems, controlled by a smart energy grid. Its wall modules, each made up of nine layers of air-tight insulation, are so energy effi cient that the station even has to be cooled during the summer months when the interior heats up from solar gain. Based in Belgium, Berte’s team started the complex planning of the project in 2004. ‘We thought: we have a lot of energy there, so let’s use it,’ he says. ‘There are high levels of sunlight in the summer to passively heat a building and power solar-energy systems, increased by the high refl ectivity of the white terrain, while the strong winds can drive wind turbines.’

The sustainable, spacecraft-like structure is just one example of a new generation of advanced buildings that have been specially designed to cope with and, more importantly, adapt to the continent’s extreme conditions.

32 r icsasia.org

Princess Elisabeth Antarctica71º57’S, 23º20’E

Opened in 2009, the International Polar Foundation’s highly sustainable Princess Elisabeth research station boasts zero emissions, with energy generated by nine wind turbines (48%), 380m2 photovoltaic solar panels (40%) and 22m2 thermal solar panels (12%).

The Princess Elisabeth station’s modular sections were prefabricated and thoroughly tested in Brussels before being transported to the site

Nearer to the coast, the British Antarctic Survey’s (BAS) Halley VI research station stands directly on the 150m-thick Brunt Ice Shelf, which is moving out to sea at a rate of around 500m per year. The location was a major reason why its predecessor, Halley V, had to be abandoned and demolished: having been fixed into the ice shelf, it was in danger of going adrift. But the genius of Halley VI, opened in early 2013, lies in its ability to get out of trouble. Designed by Hugh Broughton Architects and Aecom, the structure’s ski-mounted, modular construction allows it to be towed to another location when necessary, making it the first fully relocatable polar station in Antarctica

John Hammerton, director at Galliford Try, took the lead on the construction of the £25.8m project in 2006. For him, building a station of such complexity in a tough environment required rigorous planning and a resolute spirit of teamwork: ‘It was key to assemble a team that could identify problems at an early stage, come up with solutions and minimise the risks to the project,’ he says. These risks became apparent when the team had to move cargo up to the station’s construction site. As the Brunt Ice Shelf rises some 30m above sea level, all the materials delivered to Halley VI had to be unloaded onto the much thinner sea ice – a potentially very dangerous undertaking. ‘We gathered expert advice from BAS, and others on the project team, to figure out a strategy for moving the heavy goods and equipment across the ice,’ Hammerton explains. ‘We couldn’t unload and get up to the location. Because the sea-ice thickness changes

every year, we had to plan and continually assess what we thought was a sensible load to work with, deciding that, to get everything to the site within a good margin of safety, the weight of each sledge and its cargo had to be a maximum of 9.5 tonnes.’

The logistical constraints of the site also determined the station’s modular design. Halley VI is made up of eight aerodynamic pods clad in highly insulated fibre- reinforced plastic panels. The pods are connected and arranged in a straight line side-on to the prevailing wind to help slow the formation of snowdrifts around the structure. Also, to ease its transportation and minimise the amount of building work on site, the design called for as much prefabrication and standardisation as possible. ‘It’s extremely expensive to transport heavy materials to Antarctica, and to keep the construction team there for some time,’ says Hammerton. ‘So the more you can do beforehand, the better – for example, we constructed the steel cassette frame that makes up the base of the modules in two halves at our base in Cape Town, and also attached its hydraulic legs before transporting it to the site.’

Berte and the IPF team on the Princess Elisabeth also employed a prefabrication construction strategy. As part of a detailed plan, the station’s modular sections first underwent a test build in Brussels, before being taken apart, adjusted where necessary, and then repacked for shipping to Antarctica. ‘This was a very good exercise,’ says Berte, who also believes their thorough design methodology helped them avoid any major problems during assembly at the site. It was a level of preparation

learned from his previous experience in the space sector, designing elements for the International Space Station. ‘It’s important to work with everything in parallel,’ he says. ‘One part of the structure can affect another as the station is an organic thing; a fully integrated system.’

The preparation also involved testing the structure in a wind tunnel to see how well it would cope with the region’s powerful, high-density katabatic winds, which are pulled down the slopes by the force of gravity and can rapidly change direction. The team used the wind tunnel to monitor how well the horizontal and vertical edges of the building would help spread pressure across a low and even area of the skin, regardless of which direction the wind hits the structure. ‘Really, there’s nothing aesthetic about the design – everything you see has a double or triple function,’ adds Berte.

material concernsAnother major concern when building in the Antarctic is the durability of the materials – a risk area identified by Hammerton’s team when they put together the risk appraisal for Halley VI. As most products are only tested to -20°C, how can you guarantee that what you take will withstand temperatures as low as -60°C, and still perform effectively? The solution for the Halley VI team was to find products that had already been used on other polar stations, or in extremely cold regions. One example was the flexible connectors they needed to join one module to the next. The modules are on hydraulic legs, so the station can be jacked up each year to lift the feet out of the heavy snow deposits – but they needed to be able to do this without having to disconnect the modules and disrupt the work inside, recalls Hammerton. After an international search, the team found a train connector that had been tried and tested in regions subject to extreme cold, such as Siberia: ‘When we slowly raise the modules, the rubber couplers allow us to accommodate 100mm of movement but, importantly, they don’t turn brittle in the low temperatures,’ Hammerton explains.

And what if you find you are short of materials on site? ‘3D modelling is becoming essential to projects such as Halley VI, to make sure that this doesn’t happen,’ says Hammerton. ‘During the design stage, we were able to model the project to ensure materials such as cables were the right length, because there are no nearby stores to go to if you come up short due to an unforeseen obstacle.’

Towards the winter months, as the days grow darker, all the research teams on the Princess Elisabeth leave the station, but the building must still be kept in good condition for when they return in the spring. Rather than sending costly maintenance crews, the team at the IPF’s headquarters in Belgium keep the station ticking along via satellite control: ‘During this time, we close down the essential living systems, such as water distribution, and run the very basics of the station remotely,’ Berte explains. ‘To protect the scientific instruments from the cold, the building is kept warm by an energy management system; it effectively hibernates for eight months of the year.’ Incredibly, a limited research team is able to stay in the Halley VI over winter, so the sensitive equipment is always protected – but during construction, equipment such as water-based paints had to be kept in a separate warm store to protect it from the extreme cold.

For both the IPF and Galliford Try teams, the ongoing success of these two diversely located construction projects has been borne out of meticulous planning, adapting to the extreme conditions and working within the limits that the environment sets them. ‘The adage that a month spent at the front of a project saves you a year at the end really paid dividends on Halley VI,’ says Hammerton, who notes that since its handover the only major complaint from the station manager has been about a lack of storage space for towels. ‘Obviously, the aim of any project is to get it running on time and with zero defects,’ he adds, ‘but in the isolation of Antarctica, it’s life-critical.’ antarcticstation.org antarctica.ac.uk

Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station90°S, 00°E Named after the explorers who first attained the South Pole in 1911 and 1912, the original building was founded in 1957, and updated in 1975 to include a 50m-wide geodesic dome. It was further redeveloped and modernised between 1997 and 2008, and now supports up to 150 staff at 2,835m above sea level.

Much of the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station is raised up on columns to reduce the effects of snow accumulation

Antarctic architecture //Im

é rob

ert –

The Link REIT is the first real estate investment trust listed in Hong Kong, Asia’s largest REIT and one of the world’s largest retail-focused REITs in terms of market capitalisation. With more than 11m ft2 (1m m2) of retail space and approximately 80,000 car park spaces under its portfolio, The Link REIT is also one of Asia’s biggest employers of real estate professionals.

As a listed company, The Link REIT’s mandate should be to maximise shareholders’ value, but as an operator of public estate retail space, the community may have very different expectations of you. Is it difficult to strike a balance?// It is really not a matter of balance. As the manager of such a large portfolio of retail space, we have a duty to offer an enjoyable shopping experience to shoppers. They are the reason why retailers sell goods and services in our shopping malls and fresh markets. We cannot succeed unless our tenants succeed. That’s why we have been progressively upgrading and enhancing our facilities and stepping up our effort in drawing shoppers to our centres. We also believe sustainability is good for those around us and therefore

good for our business: with a thriving business, we are able to invest in the community via a range of CSR initiatives that are all community-focused.

Are you looking at a different tenancy mix and a different rent review strategy with your new facilities?// The purpose of upgrading our retail space is to better equip ourselves to be able to suit the needs of our shoppers today. With 60% of our shopping centres measuring less than 100,000ft2 (9,290m2), the small footprint of our malls means that we need to have smaller shops to allow for more choices for shoppers. If you go to our newly renovated malls, you will see fewer ‘big’ Chinese restaurants and supermarkets and a greater number of small, diverse shops, which enables us to introduce more choices for our shoppers. Our strategy is to focus on helping our tenants drive sales, and that’s why we have established The Link Tenant Academy, where professionals such as marketing managers, display artists, celebrity chefs, store designers and retail experts share their experience to help our tenants do a better job in attracting patronage. >>

market forcesGeorGe HonGcHoy FrIcS, ceo oF tHe lInk reIt, IS HelpInG to tranSForm HonG konG’S retaIl experIenceInterview by Roy Ying, RICS Asia Head of Communications

34 r icsasia.org

Modus_Asia_Q2.14_P34-37_Interview_v5.indd 34 24/04/2014 14:58

领汇房地产投资信托基金行政总裁暨皇家特许测量师学会资深会员王国龙先生带领香港零售业作出变革采访人：殷晖，皇家特许测量师学会(RICS)亚洲区传讯部总监

市场力量

领汇房地产投资信托基金(「领

汇」)是首个在香港上市的房地产

投资信托基金，其市值规模名列

亚洲之最，并跻身全球以零售为

主最大房地产投资信托基金之

列。领汇旗下物业组合包括面积

约 1,100 万平方呎的零售物业以

及约 80,000 个车位, 是亚洲区雇

用房地产专业人士最多的企业之

一。

作为上市公司，领汇的使命应是

实现股东价值最大化，但作为公

共屋邨零售物业运营商，社区居

民对此却有不同的期望。身为行

政总裁，您是否觉得难以取得两

者的平衡？

// 这其实与平衡无关。作为规模

如此庞大的零售空间管理者，我

们有责任为顾客提供舒适怡人的

购物体验。顾客是商场及鲜活街

市销售产品及服务的推动力。公

司的成功与商户的成功息息相

关。因此，我们希望通过逐步提

升资产和改善设施，吸纳更多顾

客光顾旗下商场。此外，我们也

深信可持续发展既有益于社区，

也能带动业务发展。业务蒸蒸日

上，我们就能回馈社会，在不同

社群中开展心系社群的社会企业

责任活动。

在完成刚才提及的资产提升后，

领汇会否引入全新的商户组合及

调整租金策略？

// 提升零售空间设施的目的在于

提高领汇满足当今顾客需求的能

力。我们辖下60% 的商场面积均

少于10万平方呎。有限的面积意

味着公司需要引入小型商户才能

为顾客带来更多选择。在新装修

的商场中，「大型」中式酒楼和

超级市场数目不多，主要反而是

多元化的小商店，这样顾客便可

以享有更多选择。我们采取集中

提高商户销售额的策略，并开办

领汇商户学堂，邀请市务经理、

陈列设计师、名厨、商店设计师

以及零售业专家等一众专业人士

分享心得，帮助商户提高招揽顾

客的能力。

除各大商场之外，领汇日前翻新

多个鲜活街市。开展这些项目之

前，领汇采取了哪些措施鼓励社

区居民参与？

// 香港农户数量极少，而且受到

文化和生活习惯影响，对鲜活街

市的需求与外国不同。由于只有

批发及零售作分销渠道，而越来

越多顾客钟情于超市购物，鲜活

街市顾客数目渐减,逐渐沦为夕阳

行业。2010年进行大元街市活化

‘We cannot succeed unless our tenants succeed. That’s why we have been progressively upgrading and enhancing our facilities and stepping up our effort in drawing shoppers to our centres’

Interview //

36 r icsasia.org

‘Local resident surveys are conducted before every enhancement project, which enable us to take the community’s needs into account’

Along with shopping malls, there are a number of fresh markets that have recently been renovated. What steps have you taken to engage the local community in delivering these projects?// In Hong Kong, we don’t have a lot of farmers. Therefore the need for a market to sell fresh produce is different from overseas and based on culture and habit. With just wholesale and retail distributions, the fresh market industry is getting to a point where it’s considered to be a sunset industry with declining numbers of shoppers, who now prefer to shop in supermarkets. The Tai Yuen Market revitalisation project, which was launched in 2010, exemplifies our innovative eco-friendly approach to fresh market operations. Research and local resident surveys are conducted before every enhancement project, which enable us to take the community’s needs into account. We consider even the smallest details. For example, from the surveys, we understand that shoppers don’t like the ‘wet’ feeling in fresh markets. This has

led to a number of changes to our facilities, ranging from taller fish tanks, to enclosed loading areas and rubbish collection, so that we can keep the floors clean and dry. Apart from the renovation work, we are also doing a lot in offering a value-added shopping experience to the surrounding neighbourhood. For example, at Lok Fu Market, we raised our level of hospitality by hiring ambassadors to promote the market, as well as providing a concierge service counter and shopping trolleys.

The Link REIT invests heavily in CSR and sustainability. What return on investment are you seeing from these initiatives?// The Link REIT’s vision is to ‘serve and improve the lives of those around us’. We believe sustainability is good for people and therefore good for our business – sustainability issues are reported directly to me instead of to corporate communications. We take them very seriously and I often ask my colleagues to make sure that we are contributing to the local communities instead of just donating money. Examples of our contributions include

项目时，我们将独创的生态环保

方法纳入鲜活街市的营运模式之

中。在展开每个翻新工程前，我

们都对当区居民进行意见调查，

充分考虑当地社群的需要, 力求

做到无微不至。举例而言，我们

从调查中了解到顾客比较抗拒鲜

活街市「湿漉漉」的环境。有见

及此，我们改动了多项设施，如

改用高身鱼缸、专用送货区及垃

圾收集区，以保持地面清洁干

爽。除翻新工程外，我们还不惜

工本致力为该区居民营造增值购

物体验。例如在乐富街市，我们

聘请了多位顾客服务大使作推

广，并开设顾客服务台以改善服

务水平。此外，我们还新增了更

多手推车，方便市民购物。

领汇在企业社会责任和可持续发

展投资领域投放了大量资源。这

类举措的投资回报如何？

// 领汇坚持「为提升社区的生

活质素而努力」的企业愿景。我

们深信可持续发展既可造福于

民，也能带动业务发展。有关可

持续发展的事宜同事会直接向我

本人而非企业传讯部汇报。我们

对此十分重视，而我也经常要求

同事确保公司不要为捐款而捐

款，而要为本地社区作出实质贡

献。我们所作的贡献包括：斥资

2.6亿港元开展一个改善无障碍

设施的五年计划；每年捐出物业

净收入最多0.25%以支持社区参

与活動；设立「领汇社区体育学

院」，让居民充分利用我们的康

乐设施；以及自2012年开始，

赞助香港理工大学开办「领汇商

场管理行政文凭」课程，藉以培

训及提升同事的专业知识。这些

贡献均会直接或间接地令零售核

心业务受惠。社群欣欣向荣，商

场营商环境便越好，便越能吸纳

更多客源。

可以介绍一下「领汇商场管理行

政文凭」课程吗?

Left: Lok Fu Market reopened in October 2013 after a major renovation

Below left: the revitalised Lok Fu Market Below: Lok Fu Plaza, the

flagship property of The Link, whose asset enhancement project

was completed in 2010

左：乐富街市进行大规模翻

新后于2013年10月重新营业

下左：翻新后的乐富街市

下：乐富商场为领汇的旗舰

物业, 其资产提升计划于

2010年完成

Interview //

enhancing barrier-free access facilities with a HK$260m five-year programme, supporting community engagement with an annual donation of up to 0.25% of our annual net property income, allowing community members to utilise our recreational facilities through The Link Community Sports Academy, and developing talent via the sponsorship of ‘The Link Executive Development Programme in Shopping Mall Management’ in collaboration with the Hong Kong Polytechnic University since 2012. These are contributions that either directly or indirectly benefit our core operations as retail space managers, because if we can have a more thriving community, our shopping centres are better placed to attract shoppers.

Could you tell us more about ‘The Link Executive Development Programme in Shopping Mall Management’? // In Hong Kong, there is really no recognised tertiary education on shopping mall management. That’s why we are working with the Hong Kong Polytechnic University on this two-year programme, which focuses on both the theory and practice of shopping mall management and consists of eight subjects including property law, corporate real estate asset management, real estate valuation, accounting for management decision-making, principles of corporate finance, property management, maintenance management and operations, and project studio for construction and real estate. With the rapidly growing retail industry in Hong Kong, I hope this programme results in more qualified and trained shopping mall managers. Currently, it is only available to our staff, but in the future, we are looking to open it to the public.

It was recently reported that The Link REIT is now diversifying operations into China with a partnership with Vanke. What is the rationale behind this?// In view of the emergence of a middle-class consumer sector and continuous infrastructure development in China, we are seeing closer integration between Hong Kong and the Pearl River Delta. It’s an irreversible trend, and we think it’s a bigger risk to the organisation to decide not to diversify ourselves outside of Hong Kong. In the Extraordinary General Meeting back in February, our unitholders approved the change of investment mandate that allows us to acquire assets outside Hong Kong. China Vanke is a leading property developer in Mainland China. As we explore ways to expand into the PRC, the intended collaboration presents an opportunity to partner with one of the largest and most reputable property developers in the PRC to identify suitable real estate investment opportunities as part of our long-term strategic plan. Some existing tenants, including Café de Coral and Sa Sa International, have already opened stores in shopping centres in the mainland.thelinkreit.com

REIT CoDE RELaxaTIon

The Securities and Futures Commission of Hong Kong (SFC) recently consulted the public on whether the REIT Code in Hong Kong should be relaxed to allow property development to invest up to 10% of Gross Asset Value. RICS sent a submission to the SFC in support of this proposal but suggested that the regulator should strike a balance between investor protection and market development. In particular, because a typical REIT would involve assets from different countries, a unified standard of property measurement and valuation is preferred, such as using the International Property Measurement Standards (IPMS) and International Valuation Standards (IVS). These are areas George Hongchoy agreed on, and also areas in which RICS members can contribute to the development of REITs.

// 香港并没有认可的商场管理

深造文凭课程, 因此，我们联同

香港理工大学开办为期两年的商

场管理理论及实践课程，当中由

8个单元组成，包括产权法、企

业房地产资产管理、房地产估

值、决策管理会计、企业财务管

理、物业管理、维修管理和营

运，以及建造及物业项目策划。

香港零售业发展一日千里，我期

望这个课程能培育出更多合资格

和训练有素的专业商场管理人

才。目前，课程仅限领汇员工报

读，但理大方面或許于日后會向

公众开放。

近日有报导指领汇正与万科在大

陆市场开展多元化经营合作。能

否与我们分享一下合作的理念？

// 随着大陆中产消费群的涌现

以及基建设施的不断发展，香港

与珠三角加强地区合作，已是大

势所趋。我们认为，公司如不采

取投资香港以外的多元化经营模

式，所要面对的风险将会更大。

在2月份举行的基金单位持有人

特别大会上，基金单位持有人通

过了投资委託变动，允许公司在

香港境外收购资产。万科为内地

房地产界的龙头企业，适逢我们

正积极探求迈向内地发展的机

遇，是次与国内规模最大且信誉

超卓的房地产开发商之一万科携

手合作，让我们能抓紧物业投资

的良机，此亦为领汇长远发展策

略的其中一环。目前，领汇的现

有商户如大家乐和莎莎国际已纷

纷进驻内地商场。

The reTurn on happinessHow does an office sHape a business? does space affect tHe bottom line? and can a better building really boost productivity?words by Stuart Watson illustrations by Jack Hughes

38 r icsasia.org

a common element in many modern offices, breakout areas provide a comfortable space for staff to chat, relax, think quietly or conduct informal meetings

Modus_Asia_Q2.14_P38-43_Productivity.indd 38 24/04/2014 11:09

The reTurn on happiness

Office productivity //

For the growing number of built environment professionals studying the relationship between buildings and organisations, the connection between office design and business performance

is the Holy Grail. And if they can demonstrate that link to financial directors dithering over whether to relocate their companies into a better space or refurbish their existing accommodation, the argument would be over in a moment. But productivity is notoriously difficult to measure. How well is the company run? Has it got the skilled people it needs to perform well? Are those people satisfied and happy with their jobs? How many of them argued with their spouses this morning? All of those factors probably affect individual and group productivity more than the office’s air-conditioning, but that doesn’t mean it has no effect at all. ‘The relationship between the physical environment and the effectiveness of a workforce isn’t an exact science,’ admits Richard Kauntze, chief executive of the British Council for Offices (BCO). ‘Office environments are hugely disparate – they’re not like a sausage factory, where you can measure output in absolute terms. But there is a lot of science that supports the argument.’

Nigel Oseland has been studying the connection for 25 years – first at the Building Research Establishment and now with his own consultancy, Workplace Unlimited. He argues that it’s time to stop saying the link is too difficult to prove, because the evidence already exists, compiled by a number of different researchers over the past century. Last year, Oseland reviewed more than 200 different research reports, but there was something of a credibility problem in that the body of research as a whole showed productivity gains ranging from 0.3% to 160%, depending on the methodology and subject under examination. Oseland analysed 75 of the most robust reports, using a weighting system to take into account the strength and relevance of the research, and found that carrying out improvements in each of the principal factors affecting employee performance can produce productivity gains in the region of 2-4%. Those figures cannot be added up to produce a total figure, but Oseland calculates that together they can improve productivity by more than 5%. And because building costs are a relatively small part of a company’s operational expenses, he concludes that those savings are more than enough to offset the entire construction and operational cost of the building over its lifetime. >>

40 r icsasia.org

– to more complex issues that influence behaviour, such as controllability, workstation design and the layout of the space. In a new building, some of the basic factors can be addressed early on at the design stage: ‘It’s about the quality of the environment in simple physical terms – light, height, temperature – those aspects of the base design are very important,’ explains Simon Rawlinson MRICS, a partner at consultancy EC Harris and a member of BCO’s management executive committee. ‘Then, you have to consider if the floorplate supports effective space planning and encourages a collaborative flow of people with natural visibility across the space.’ Buildings with large floorplates are often popular with occupiers partly for that reason, but they also have potential drawbacks in terms of lighting and ventilation. ‘The depth of the floorplate will determine whether or not you can naturally ventilate the space [instead of using air-conditioning]. Usually, it can’t be done at more

Furthermore, Oseland contends that office occupiers should be measuring their revenues per square metre to determine the effectiveness of their property – in the same way that retailers measure sales per square foot. ‘The focus of our industry is on cost per square metre, and if we use that it will always be about reducing cost,’ he says. ‘Let’s stop thinking about our industry as cost-cutting, and start thinking about it as generating revenue and helping businesses.’

Brian Thompson MRICS, head of strategic property services at consultancy Babcock, produced a report on workplace design and productivity for RICS in 2008. He also believes that there is currently too much focus on cost: ‘The property profession is obsessed with cost per square metre and per workstation, rather than the output of people, because it’s easier to measure.’ Thompson observes that in an economic environment in which companies have been taking advantage of the growth in the use of mobile technology to squeeze more employees into buildings, it’s surprising that so little attention has been paid to the effect this might have on business performance. Kauntze adds that the effect could be significant in financial terms: ‘Property is a relatively small proportion of the overall cost of a business – 15% compared to payroll’s 85%. So if you spend your 15% wisely, it can have a big effect on your far bigger cost – your people.’

While the private sector is slowly emerging from recession, this potential increase in efficiency could be particularly beneficial in the public sector, where many organisations – both in the UK and elsewhere – are still tightening their belts. The UK government, for example, has halted the signing of new leases on property and is trying to drive more intensive use of space through its workplace standard, which it claims saved £454m a year between May 2010 and March 2013. Meanwhile, the Way We Work programme is trying to ensure smarter working so that more can be delivered with less. ‘But if you only squeeze down on the space, you can have an impact on productivity so we are trying to make sure that isn’t the only factor,’ explains Bridget Hardy MRICS, workplace transformation strategist for the Government Property Unit in the UK Cabinet Office. For example, breakout areas have been created in atria and more project spaces are being introduced to enable civil servants to use their

offices more effectively and intensively. And although capital budgets for workplace improvements that might improve productivity are tight, Hardy says that they can generally be paid for by releasing space as part of a rationalisation programme.

Design factors that have been shown to have an impact on employee performance and wellbeing range from the basic – such as air quality, light, noise and temperature

‘The drive to open up spaces has been poorly interpreted as open-plan, without any regard to issues such as concentration and confidentiality’

Lighting (potential change in performance: up to 2%) For optimum performance, the lighting must be appropriate to the task and situation. If the level of artificial illumination is the same at the core of an open-plan office as it is by the windows, some workers may complain about dimness while others suffer from glare. Natural light is also a factor: a 1980 study of occupants in windowless offices found increased levels of anxiety, hostility and depression.

Noise (up to 1.7%) Anyone who has ever worked in an open-plan office knows about the potential for distraction and loss of concentration caused by ringing phones and colleagues shouting across the room. The increased use of mobile phones and higher workstation densities may be exacerbating this problem.

Temperature (up to 1.9%) Many research projects over an extended period of time show that performance drops when the subject gets either too hot or too cold – but the temperature band for optimal performance is wider for office-based tasks than for manual ones. A study in 1974 found that typewriting speeds were around 40-50% slower when temperatures rose from 20°C to 24°C.

Ventilation/air quality (up to 1.7%) Research suggests that around a third of all sick leave is due to symptoms caused by poor air quality. In a 1988 survey of around 4,000 space-planning executives, carried out by the Building Owners and Managers Association, the worst problem for most respondents was heating and ventilation issues.

Controllability (up to 2.1%) An individual’s perception of control over their environment has a significant impact on self-reported productivity. A report in 1998 by behavioural scientist Adrian Leaman and building physicist Bill Bordass, concluded: ‘In study after study, people say that lack of environmental control is their single most important concern, followed by lack of control over noise.’ The report goes on to say that many people oppose the idea of open-plan working because they will lose control and privacy.

Furniture/workstation design (up to 2.1%) Many office workers are likely to spend almost a third of their lives at their desks, and several studies have found a correlation between the introduction of ergonomically designed furniture and an increase in productivity. It may also be the case that poorly designed furniture demonstrates a lack of concern on the part of management, which can negatively impact on employee motivation.

Space (up to 4.4%) Following the financial crash, many companies and public sector organisations have sought to reduce property costs by increasing the density with which they occupy buildings. In some cases, more breakout space has been provided within existing offices simply by pushing desks closer together. But while a dense open-plan environment may potentially foster greater communication, it can also hinder tasks that require more concentration. No single layout will suit all organisations or functions best.

than 15-18m across,’ explains David Clark, a partner at engineering firm Cundall and an expert on the design of low-energy buildings. ‘That is also true for daylight, so you should limit your building width if you can.’

However, since most improvements are likely to be carried out on existing buildings, there are also measures aimed at creating a more productive work environment that can be incorporated as part of a refurbishment. For example, when the Institute of Civil Engineers wanted to create a refurbished office space in a 19th-century, grade II-listed building at 8 Storey’s Gate in London, the designer, Black Architecture, included a range of improvements to help increase employee performance. According to managing director Paul Hinkin, these include: a mixed-mode ventilation system that allows workers to control the temperature and air quality by opening windows, while still providing air-conditioning for very hot or cold conditions; bulbs of different >>

:DeSk joCkeyS

the factors that drive office performance

fluctuating temperatures, excessive noise, lack of

privacy and constant distractions mean that open-plan workspaces

can be detrimental to staff productivity

brightness to provide more light for those sitting away from windows; and a layout that promotes interaction between people on different floors by incorporating deliberate inefficiencies to make staff pass through communal areas to reach toilets and meeting rooms.

Current thinking holds that more breakout spaces for social interaction within offices boosts productivity, particularly in the more creative and information-based industries. Ken Giannini, a director at architecture firm Scott Brownrigg, worked on Google’s offices in Victoria, central London, which include a gym, a pilates studio, two restaurants and massage rooms. ‘Not that long ago, it was all about cramming in as many desks as possible. But these days, almost every client is more concerned about things away from the desk – amenities, breakout areas and quiet spaces,’ he explains. ‘For Google, the key was creating a huge amount of variety: Generation Y want to move around and work in different places.’

Since offices often accommodate a huge variety of different companies, employing people to perform a wide range of tasks, Nicola Gillen, an architect and director at Aecom, says that no single approach will fit all situations. ‘You need variety, not just open space,’ she argues. ‘And not just informal space, but formal space, too. The drive to open up spaces has been poorly interpreted as open-plan, without any regard to issues such as concentration and confidentiality.’

However, making the appropriate design changes alone may not be enough. Breakout and meeting spaces are only worthwhile if employees use them, so the business attitude must also change in order to utilise a space more productively. ‘The final piece of the jigsaw is about staff engagement and change management,’ explains Rawlinson, who claims that when EC Harris

moved to a new office in King’s Cross, the business seized the opportunity to not only save money, but improve productivity, too – and within a year, the increased fee income had offset the cost of moving.

Unfortunately, one of the reasons there is so little comprehensive data linking workplaces and productivity levels is that on the rare occasion an evaluation is carried out, it’s usually linked to a move rather than being conducted on an ongoing basis. To remedy this, in 2010 Tim Oldman,

a management consultant with an architecture background, created the Leesman Index to measure the effectiveness of workplaces via a questionnaire, which asks employees if their workplace enables them to work productively. The research can be repeated annually, and the Leesman team is gradually building up a database of post-occupancy evaluations that could help to demonstrate the extent to which a better office space offers ongoing improvements in productivity, even after the novelty wears off.

According to Oldman, the older spaces consistently score lower on the index, and he speculates that the new offices now being handed over to occupiers could show diminishing returns year-on-year unless something is done to continually evaluate and improve them. ‘Often, the built environment community delivers something good, and is then told to come back in 10 years’ time,’ he says. ‘How do we stop these spaces drifting away on a 10-year write-down? That is the challenge for surveyors who really understand the value of an asset and how it changes over time: to build a relationship with the occupier that is ongoing.’

‘Traditionally, developers have focused on delivering plain vanilla workspace: that is cat A BCO (British Council for Offices) spec, with tenants given a detached white box and left to be creative. The focus is on maximising desk numbers and reducing communal wasted space, with efficient open-plan floorplates – which tackles property costs, but ignores the much bigger issue of making sure employees are productive. Payrolls have always dwarfed corporate property costs – in 1984, a study showed that employee salaries were around 13 times building costs, which implies that over the life of a building a 13% increase in

construction costs would have been justified if it increased employee productivity by 1%. Therefore, if we build more productive offices, it’s probably worth the additional cost.

‘So why is now the time for the property world to take note? First, at around five years, lease terms are shorter than ever before. Tenants want an exciting workspace, but can’t justify the capital cost. Plus, a greater share of the value lies in the reversion – ie with the landlord, who increasingly needs to maintain Grade A office rents and reduce reletting risk.

‘Second, as the TMT sector (technology, media and telecommunications) grows,

there is an exceptional demand for flexible workspace. TMT occupiers recognise that mobile technology lets employees work just as well away from their desks. Plus, the fight for TMT talent is particularly fierce, so innovative buildings can help attract the brightest, most productive workers. And don’t forget the impact on other sectors: legal and financial service providers, for example, increasingly want to emulate their TMT clients’ style.

‘Finally, post-recession, the sharp focus on corporate costs remains. It’s often assumed that creative space will cost more, but actually the opposite may be true. Occupiers don’t necessarily

want less space, they want flexible space that can provide greater densities as sharing becomes the norm.

‘It’s these factors that are driving developers to produce thoughtful and stimulating workspaces to respond to the growing creative sectors, reduce reletting risk and increase value to tenants – and, therefore, the rent payable. The demands of end-users should be absolutely fundamental to building design, rather than a superficial finishing touch. In the end, developers are still economic animals – but in the current climate, it may well pay to be creative.’prptblog.com@prptblog

Opinion

‘The demands of end-users should be fundamental to building design’

‘These days, almost every client is more concerned about things away from the desk – amenities, breakout areas etc. The key is creating variety’

42 r icsasia.org

How mucH does

space affect tHe productivity of staff in your

workplace? Email editor@ricsmodus.

com or tweet @modusmag.

:RICS NEWS :DIARY :BENEFITS :RESOURCES

WHEN WORKING ON EXISTING AND SOMETIMES VERY OLD BUILDINGS, SURPRISES ARE UNAVOIDABLE

Law advice //

The popularity of historic buildings as places to visit, live, work and play continues to drive investment in refurbishment work. Refurbishment can involve preservation or reconstruction within an existing shell, repairing and restructuring to retain the original style and character of the building, or adding fl oors to create more space. Because procurement of refurbishment projects is different from new-build work, the client and the professional team need to understand the challenges and risks – be it in specifi cation writing, or in fi nding effective solutions that achieve the desired aesthetic expectations.

SPECIFICATION WRITING Producing refurbishment specifi cations requires a depth of knowledge and an appreciation of the qualitative aspects of different construction materials, processes and methods. Specifications should be prepared by the design team – they are the specialists in their respective disciplines on how the building is

to be refurbished, as well as regarding what quality, standards and intricacies are necessary.

Writing clear specifi cations involves thorough research into risks that are common in most old buildings, such as structural strengthening works, rising damp, asbestos

contamination, unknown live cables and underground structures, incompatible materials and finishes and redundant and non-compliant services infrastructure.

TECHNICAL RISK FACTORSWhen working with existing and sometimes very old buildings, surprises are unavoidable. As part of risk management on refurbishment works, measured fabric surveys, structural condition surveys, materials inspections and termite infestation surveys should be carried out. This information provides a useful basis for specifi cation writing and assists in understanding the condition and forms of construction, as old buildings have a legacy of ad hoc maintenance over time and an absence of accurate as-built drawings. The surveys can also identify the possibilities of adaptation of the existing building for the proposed use, as sometimes the cost of putting right a lack of maintenance in the past or the increase in fl oor loadings and restrictions in fl oor-to-ceiling heights, can be a signifi cant factor in the decision to refurbish a building.

PROCUREMENT ISSUESTraditional single-stage, lump-sum procurement delivers the best results if the design information and the extent of the work are available at the time of tender. Where there are programme constraints, an attractive alternative is two-stage competitive tendering of the lump-sum arrangement, which can provide an opportunity for early contractor involvement. This contracting structure promotes better integration between design and construction processes and identifi es potential risk outcomes early, thus enabling more accurate and sensible pricing before work starts on site.

PRICING REFURBISHMENT WORKPricing for a refurbishment project is unlike new-build and is made more difficult by the unseen and the uncertainties that come with this type of work. Because every old building is unique, standard unit prices or price books can only serve as a guide.

The risks, cost drivers and technical difficulties associated with old buildings have to be fi rst determined so that contingency provisions that affect cost and programme can be included. Adopting a piecemeal approach to pricing – by providing for limited repairs, replacement or strengthening works – in the belief that this will save time and money, is not advisable as it may result in the fi nal cost exceeding the original estimates.

With all its complexities and unexpected diffi culties, refurbishment procurement is a challenge, especially if the work is to be undertaken in an occupied building. For successful procurement and to reduce delays and cost overrun, it is essential to use designers, contractors and subcontractors with specialist skills and experience at all stages of the project, and have a clear understanding of the client’s objectives and appreciation of the existing condition and capacity of the building.

EUGENIE LIP FRICS is a director at Davis Langdon KPK, an Aecom company, and head of the Contracts Support Group. aecom.com

44 r icsasia.org

Procurement for refurbs prompts

CONSTRUCTION CHALLENGESBy professional contracts specialist Eugenie Lip

The popularity of historic buildings as places to visit, live, work and play continues to drive investment in refurbishment work. Refurbishment can involve preservation or reconstruction within an existing shell, repairing and restructuring to retain the original style and character of the building, or adding fl oors to create more space. Because procurement of refurbishment projects is different from new-build work, the client and the professional team need to understand the challenges and risks – be it in specifi cation writing, or in fi nding effective

Procurement for refurbs prompts

RICS membership

in Asia now exceeds

Modus_Asia_Q2.14_P44-49_Info + Law_v3.indd 44 24/04/2014 11:23

01.11 // MODUS 09

Information :rics news :diary :benefits :resources

According to RICS Asia’s recently published 2013 Annual Review, RICS is increasingly being recognised by Asian real estate markets as the driver of global standards, knowledge transfer and the utilisation of international practice. RICS Asia’s achievements in its tenth anniversary year included: RICS forming a new partnership with the government of Sichuan; high-profile members being invited or appointed by government bodies across Asia to serve in reviewing committees and advisory bodies; and the growth in RICS membership and services. Download the 2013 Annual Review at bit.ly/ricsasia2013.

Taking sTock

we have conTinued To enhance The recogniTion of rics in The main real esTaTe markeTs in asia

chris Brooke mrics Chair of RICS Asia

useful numBersrics asia +852 2537 7117

General enquiriesAPC guidanceSubscriptionsEventsTrainingBookshop

regulaTion helpline +44 (0)20 7695 1670

confidenTial helpline +44 (0)20 7334 3867

dispuTe resoluTion services +44 (0)20 7334 3806

swiTchBoard +44 (0)20 7222 7000

rics membership

in asia now exceeds

20,000making it our second

largest region in the world

08 r ics.org

facts, stats & surveys

RICS news //

46 r icsasia.org

Delegates discuss growth at Indonesia summitsoutheast asia is experiencing robust economic growth with strong demand in high-value property and infrastructure projects. In february, the 2014 aseaN real estate and construction summit on advancing Industry Leadership in the region

took place in Indonesia. More than 170 key thought leaders in the construction, property and infrastructure sectors gathered at the shangri-La hotel in Jakarta to share information on current development trends and growth opportunities in the sector.

todd Lauchlan, country head, Indonesia, at Jones Lang Lasalle, shared a recent study that showed price rises in Jakarta had made it the number one property market in the region. Photographs of the event are available at facebook.com/ricsasia.

Recent RICS research has revealed how Building Information Modelling (BIM) can help quantity surveyors speed up the estimating process by supporting the use of the New Rules of Measurement.

the research was conducted by the university of salford, and the subsequent rIcs report, How does Building Information Modelling (BIM) support the New Rules of Measurement (NRM1)?, finds that the main advantage of BIM is its ability to capture, manage and deliver quality information. for quantity surveyors, the efficiency and accuracy of functions can be greatly improved by aligning BIM-based cost estimating and planning processes with NrM1, as it resolves the problems related to the quality of the BIM models and the issues created by the variations of design details. the research also notes that BIM delivers a more efficient solution for cost estimating, as it is able to link the relevant quantities and cost information to the building model, and then update them simultaneously. rics.org/bim

BIM Is tHe Key

a coalition of leading professional bodies from across the world assembled at rIcs HQ in London in february to formulate an International Property Measurement standard (IPMs) for offices. During the two-day meeting, representatives from the 31 member organisations of the IPMs coalition discussed plans for the launch and implementation of IPMs across international real estate markets. the first of its kind, IPMs seeks to standardise the way office space is measured, creating transparency and promoting market efficiency. the rise in cross-border property investment and expansion by global corporate occupiers underpins the demand for transparency amid myriad measurement practices. ipmsc.org

STANDARD SET

the percentage of respondents who received a base salary increase

55.8% the average base salary increase among

the 55.8% who received one

10.1%the average salary,

in US dollars, of Asian real estate

professionals surveyed

96,087

Michael Newey FRICS RICS President

RICS has appointed Tony Ho as Deputy Director of RICS North Asia.

Ho was a general manager at DTZ (Tianjin), and also assistant vice-president of American Appraisal before

joining RICS, and has more than 15 years’ experience in real estate and asset valuation consultation.

Based in Shanghai, Ho will oversee RICS’ business development in China, as

well as delivering business plans for the North Asia region. He will actively promote the recognition of RICS standards and qualifications, and work to expand RICS membership.

Jason Ho, Director of RICS North Asia, said: ‘Tony brings a wealth of experience in the real estate sector, which will help us engage closer with our members, stakeholders and partners.’

RICS noRth aSIa welComeS new dePuty dIReCtoR

PRESIDENT’S COLUMN

CPD is a recurring theme with members. Although many have engaged, misunderstandings still persist

My thanks to the overwhelming majority of members who have complied with the now long-passed 2013 continuing

professional development (CPD) deadline. You have all helped to cement our reputation as professionals who keep up to date, and give the best possible advice. This makes me feel immensely proud, and I hope members everywhere will feel the same.

As we are already well into 2014, I have begun to record my own CPD activities for this year. It really does take just a few minutes using the online tool on the RICS website.

CPD is a recurring theme in my conversations with members. Although many have engaged with the issue, a few misunderstandings persist, which I shall now attempt to dispel.

All members are expected to complete 20 hours of CPD (including 10 hours’ formal CPD) each calendar year. The only groups exempt from undertaking CPD are student members or current Assessment of Professional Competence (APC) candidates; retired members who are not practising; and non-practising members who are not undertaking any work, part-time or otherwise, and who do not intend to return to work in the near future.

There are consequences to not meeting CPD requirements. Failure to comply will be treated as a breach under RICS Disciplinary Rules, and will incur a sanction. RICS Regulation will also monitor CPD records throughout the year to review the quality and appropriateness of the activities recorded.

Networking, social events, team meetings or informal planning events and involvement on boards, committees or clubs that have little or no relevance to your professional role, cannot count towards your CPD requirements. Any activity undertaken needs to demonstrate a clear learning purpose to qualify.

Finally, CPD is not too expensive. Many activities cost nothing but your time, and members may already be undertaking such activities through their organisations. RICS also provides many low-cost and free CPD options. We offer free CPD through roadshows and we have recently launched a series of events through our SME Hub. And, of course, RICS is not the only CPD provider – members are free to shop around.

More information, including case studies, is available on rics.org, or from RICS Regulation. Call +44 (0)20 7695 1670, or email regulation@rics.org.

the percentage who believe that economic

activity will improve in the next 12

months

the percentage of respondents who believe

the headcount of their organisation will

grow in 2014

the percentage by which salaries of MRICS/FRICS

are higher than those without a professional

qualification

42%66%

48%Taken from the 2014 RICS and

Macdonald & Company Asia Rewards & Attitudes Survey.

Download the full report at bit.ly/Asiasalarysurvey2014.

08 r ics.org

48 r icsasia.org

RICS news //

cambodian code wordsRICS has been asked by the UK government’s Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the UK Trade and Industry department to provide assistance to the Cambodian government on the development of building standards and better regulations.

RICS Professional Groups visited Cambodia in March to research building control systems used in factories and the wider building sector. Martin Russell-Croucher MRICS, Director of Special Projects, is leading the project with Alan Cripps FRICS and they will present a report outlining their recommendations to the Cambodian government.

Russell-Croucher commented: ‘The Foreign and Commonwealth Office and UK Trade and Industry department asked RICS to work with the Cambodian government and provide advice on introducing building control and fire safety regulations, particularly in factories which produce clothes for the ready-made garment sector.

‘We visited Bangladesh last year to investigate the Rana Plaza garment factory collapse and, like Bangladesh, garment manufacturing is a very large part of the Cambodian economy, contributing 80% of

foreign currency income worth around US$4.5bn and providing clothing to many major brands in the UK and beyond.

‘Although factories in Cambodia tend to be single storey, which reduces the risk workers face, there is a general need to enhance factory safety. The introduction of building standards will help to protect employees and improve investor confidence in the Cambodian manufacturing sector.’

Thankfully, Cambodia has not suffered the factory disasters and massive loss of life that have occurred recently in Bangladesh. However, in both countries the ready-made garment sector is the primary contributor to their economies.

Cambodia is not able, at present, to develop its own building standards codes without foreign assistance, whereas the UK has a long and successful history of developing and implementing building standards and in supporting better regulation more generally.

Russell-Croucher and Cripps will offer advice and assistance onw producing codes and putting in place a building control system that will be of benefit to not just the garment factories, but the wider building sector.

leaders and real estate influencers attending, participants will undoubtedly benefit from coming to this unparalleled high-profile event.

MALAYSIAFiG-rism summit16-21 June, Kuala LumpurA week-long event will feature RICS’ President Michael Newey, president-elect Louise Brooke-Smith and past president See Lian Ong as keynote speakers.

Events

CHINArics Future cities summit – best Practice in real estate, construction and city development17 June, ShanghaiThe Future Cities Summit is a truly global and inspiring event at which participants will share visions about the property, construction, investment and urban issues that we are all facing. With dozens of visionary speakers, numerous business

book rics events bookinGs and enQUiries ricsasia@rics.org // +852 2537 7117

RICS Hong Kong Awards 2014 winnersThe RICS Hong Kong Awards 2014 were announced at the RICS Hong Kong Annual Dinner, held on the 20 March at the JW Marriott hotel. Regarded as the Oscars of the Hong Kong real estate industry, the awards recognise and honour the outstanding work of Hong Kong’s best real estate teams, and after a lively debate and with careful consideration from the jury, 12 outstanding winners were selected.

individUaL awards: Property Person of the Year Marco Wu Moon-hoi FRICS, chairman, Hong Kong Housing Society

Young Achiever of the Year Keith Hooper MRICS, EC Harris

team awards: Retail Agency Team of the Year CBRE Industrial Agency Team of the Year CBRE Residential Agency Team of the Year Knight Frank Office Agency Team of the Year Jones Lang LaSalle Property Management Team of the Year The Great Eagle Properties Management Company

Project Management Team of the Year CBRE

Professional Services Team of the Year Knight Frank

Best Deal of the Year Manulife Tower, One Bay East, CBRE

commUnity awards: members’ choice Social Responsibility Award of the Year Wheelock Properties (Hong Kong)

Community Benefit Project of the Year Kwong Wah Hospital

This year’s Property Person of the Year Award went to Marco Wu Moon-hoi FRICS. The jury commended his substantial and exemplary contribution to the property industry in recent years, while also recognising his success and devotion to property issues over the history of his career.

Christopher Wong FRICS, vice-chairman of RICS Hong Kong, said: ‘On behalf of the RICS Hong Kong Board, I would like to extend my sincere thanks to everybody who has been part of the RICS Hong Kong Annual Dinner and Awards for 2014. We are both humbled and thankful for all of the support we have received.’

For FULL detaiLs//of the RICS Hong Kong Awards, visit ricshkawards.com.

01.11 // MODUS 09

FOR MORE INFORMATION on RICS Valuer Registration, visit rics.org/vrhk

DISCUSSION POINTS

Why there is value in registrationIn April 2011, Valuer Registration became mandatory in the UK and was subsequently launched in continental Europe in 2011 and the UAE in 2014. Starting on 4 July 2014, Valuer Registration will become mandatory in Hong Kong for valuers undertaking Red Book valuation to provide clients with the assurance of RICS quality. Here, four local experts give their backing to the initiative.

RICS Valuer Registration brings quality assurance to the review process of valuations while lowering risk for end users. The monitoring system maintains high standards by issuing advice, rectifying issues and suggesting improvements in our methodologies. Without a doubt, the new and free CPD, sharing sessions and internal audits help valuers keep their knowledge up to date. This brings value to the industry.

GARY MAN FRICSMANAGING DIRECTOR, GREATER CHINA ASSET SERVICES

ALAN DALGLEISH FRICSCHIEF EXECUTIVE, ANREV

As a non-profi t real estate association representing investors in non-listed real estate vehicles across the region, ANREV fully endorses industry initiatives such as RICS Valuer Registration, which lead to improvements in valuation best practices. Only through adherence to high professional standards can industry participants rely on the underlying valuation to ensure sound fi nancial reporting and tracking of performance of funds.

RICS Valuer Registration gives Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ANZ) the knowledge that the work of valuers is consistent. Valuer Registration means that valuers are conscious of not only the minimum requirements, but also the implementation. There is an element of comfort knowing that RICS, as a professional body, actively reviews valuers’ work, and provides a structured process to address follow up issues.

NATHAN IDE DIRECTOR – PROPERTY RISK ASIA, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP

RICS Registered Valuers add credit to the published valuation reports in terms of communicating international valuation standards, prudency of the methodologies, and the reliability of the valuation profession to business stakeholders around the globe — including fund managers, bankers, lawyers, regulators, loan lenders, credit analysts, asset managers, credit rating agencies, equity analysts, bondholders, unit-holders, retail and institutional investors.

FRANCIS CHIU FRICSEXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, MANAGER OFREGAL REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT TRUST

OBESITY Prevalence by country (%)

BMI ≥ 30, ages 20+ both sexes

25 Argentina

KuwaitSa

USANew

Zealand

UK, Russia

PolandGermanyBrazil

France

Malaysia

Thailand

Namibia

Source: WHO, 2008

50 ricsasia.org

OFF THE SCALESCOMPARING GLOBAL LEVELS OF OBESITY

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crowD control The densITy and lIfe expecTancy of cITy populaTIons

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…which is why we specialise in creating the right recruitment solutions, to match talented surveyors with vacancies across Asia and worldwide.

RICS Recruit is RICS’ official global jobs board and attracts the highest calibre of candidates. Our flexible approach allows us to meet the hiring needs of our clients to deliver the best value possible.

If you are looking to build your teams from within Asia or internationally, make sure you visit ricsrecruit.com today to discover what we can offer.

At RICS Recruit we know that surveying is a global profession…

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19403 RICS RECRUIT MODUS ADVERT-202x274mm-AW.indd 1 17/04/2014 17:18MODUS_Asia_Q2.14_P51_RICS Recruit ad.indd 50 24/04/2014 11:33

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MODUS_Asia_Q2.14_P52_RAC ad.indd 50 24/04/2014 11:38

RICS Modus, Asia edition – Q2, 2014

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