70 BUILD 122 February/March 2011

INDUSTRY PROFILE

Greg McGovern –award-winning builderHamilton builder Greg McGovern sees green building methods as essential for the future. Maintaining exceptionally high standards of workmanship, service, project management and communication are keys to his award-winning success.By Alistair Mackenzie, Freelance Writer, Christchurch

Globally, the green building market is growing phenomenally. Global Green Building Trends (2008) reports that, by 2013, more than 96% of

construction firms in North America expect to be involved in green buildings. In Australasia, that number is set to grow from 67% in 2008 to 95% by 2013. If these trends are any indication, the number of building clients insisting that green building methods be applied to their projects in New Zealand is likely to soar.

Green building was a no-brainer for Greg McGovern, winner of the 2010 BRANZ Sustain-able Homes over $1 million category in last year’s Registered Master Builders House of the Year awards. He and his small Hamilton-based team at Greg McGovern Construction won the award for a 383 m² house overlooking Lake Rotokauri, which they spent more than a year building.

Big house, small environmental footprint

Greg sees green building methods as essential, and they played an important part in the winning project.

It was important to the clients that the environmental footprint of their $1.4 million house be as small as possible. Construction materials were selected for their low carbon footprint. Geoff Lentz of Antanas Procuta Architects specified a local source of radiata pine for the frame and structure to avoid using high-carbon steelwork. Paints and adhesives with low levels of volatile organic compounds were also used. The house is heavily insulated and features in-slab and solar water heating. The gardens are irrigated using wastewater treated by a worm farm.

No matter how energy-efficient the design, the way a building is put together also determines its environmental impact. Of the 1 million tonnes of waste from construction and demolition dumped in New Zealand landfills every year, 40% comes from the residential construction sector. Greg’s brief was to mimimise the building impact as much possible. Site practices included using wash-out areas for concrete, chemicals and run-off.

He says the key was project management. ‘With sustainability in mind, we certainly changed the way we built and managed the project,’ Greg says. Siteworks were streamlined, the ordering and storing of materials was strategically planned to reduce wasteful double handling and the use of materials was optimised. Waste was separated into reusables, recoverables and dumpables.

Greg found everybody involved in the build, including suppliers and subcontractors, was support ive of the approach once aware of the pre-fer ence for sustainable practices and materials.

‘It’s good for the environment and the country. It’s good for your health, and it’s a really enjoyable way to build,’ he says. To some extent, reducing waste was also good for the project’s bottom line.

Holiday job led to apprenticeship

Born in Palmerston North, Greg originally intended to join the Police when he left school, but holiday work with an uncle in Wellington – a Danish cabinetmaker – led to a building apprenticeship. Greg moved back to Palmerston North to finish his apprenticeship with John Oliver Builders where he learnt good finishing skills. He also picked up an award for the top apprentice in the Manawatu, which carried a cash prize of $100.

In 1994, after stints building in England, New Caledonia and Futuna, Greg formed his own company in Hamilton to build high-end homes for good architects and good clients. ‘It was what suited me and what I enjoyed the most.’

Top-end projects provide welcome challenge

One of the attractions of working on top-end projects is the opportunity to work on challenging details, Greg says. The Lake Rotokauri house provided plenty of those. As one commentator put it, the house is ‘as rich in detail as an old master’s painting’.

Although the overall design is simple, the detail is intricate. For example, triangular hollow slatted timber columns diffuse sunlight at roof level and

Greg McGovern (right) receives the 2010 BRANZ Sustainable Homes over $1 million award from BRANZ CEO Pieter Burghout.

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radiate light across the landscape at night. Western red cedar cladding is used in a variety of weatherboard profiles to create intricate textures and the illusion of woven surfaces. Inside, narrow-focus spotlights illuminate niches and alcoves in the kitchen, dining and living areas through screen walls fabricated from grooved MDF boards patterned with circular saw cuts.

Greg enjoyed the craftmanship and fastidious attention to detail that the project demanded and using natural sustainable materials like cedar, certified kwila and reconstituted plywood.

Besides the BRANZ Sustainable Home over $1 million award, the project won the $1–2 million category at the national 2010 House of the Year awards and 11 of the 12 categories it entered in the Waikato House of the Year awards, including the supreme award.

Small team means better control

Greg says the keys to successfully building top-end homes are maintaining an exceptionally high standard of workmanship and service, good project management and good communication between the owners, architects and subtrades. ‘We always focus on the livability and functionality of the home for the owners by coming up with innovative ideas and options and making the building process enjoyable and stress free.’

It’s also crucial to keep a finger on the pulse and know what is happening. ‘Being on site and liaising with the owners, architects and subtrades, you get a better feel for the job and are able to guide the owners with better decisions and ideas. We’re a small team of four builders, but I find that beneficial when building the top-end homes, as you can control and project manage the job more easily. Being on the tools most days certainly helps.’

The award-winning Lake Rotokauri house.