Grocon | 5 Grocon aims to make every project they build the best it can be, he says, “and that involves the community in which it’s situated.” “In many cases, our projects will have a people engagement aspect, where we are seeking to assist people who may suffer some disadvantage in entering the workforce.” In some cases, “people engagement” means providing a construction job opportunity. In other cases, such as with their Common Ground projects, located in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane, it means providing housing opportunities. The Common Ground projects – which Grocon built at cost, and negotiated with many of their suppliers to build at cost – house 400 formerly homeless or low income people between them. “The dividend is obvious in terms of the sense of satisfaction it gives our workforce,” Zorbas says. “It’s an act of giving that you don’t always get the opportunity to do in a commercial environment.” Grocon has also done a lot of demolition and construction work at cost for the Victorian government, which they did to aid some of the people affected by the bushfires. “Those projects are an expression of our core value of community,” Zorbas says. “We’re always on the lookout for those opportunities.” From a more conventional sustainability perspective, Grocon also goes above and beyond. That commitment begins at the top, as Daniel Grollo is a founding member of the Green Building Council of Australia, and currently serves as its Chairman. Under his leadership, Grocon has implemented a plethora of sustainable initiatives – they are committed to recycling more than 90 per cent of waste from their building sites, they aim to introduce wind and solar technology on their sites, and have even developed their own green concrete with than 50 per cent less embodied carbon than normal concrete. “There’s a natural interest among our people to meet the challenges of the future,” Zorbas says. “There’s particular interest in creating long term value for our clients with buildings that are adaptable to future needs. With a population heading towards 10 billion around the middle of the century, we know it’s imperative to minimise
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