Building Connection Summer 2016

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BUILDING CONNECTION SUMMER 2016 47
cladding, insulation and internal lining, with plumbing and
electrical services installed ready for connection.
In addition, floor cassettes are usually part of the system
which are delivered as large panels to be craned into
position, ready for wall assembly above, which can enable
savings of up to 10 weeks in completion of dwellings.
The primary building applications for timber offsite
systems in construction are detached dwellings, multi-
residential construction, and commercial residential
construction which are summarised below.
DETACHED DWELLINGS
Defined as low-rise one and two storey houses,
predominantly built with prefabricated ‘open’ timber wall
frames and truss roofs, now with more offsite ‘closed’
timber framing with cassette floors and wall panels
completed and ready for assembly and connections on site.
MULTI-RESIDENTIAL CONSTRUCTION
Defined as mid-rise mainly three to five storeys and
predominantly built with concrete, however timber offsite
systems are being used the same as in detached dwellings
with ‘open’ timber framing, and the new “jumbo ply” offsite
panel material Cross Laminated Timber (CLT) now appearing
in the market with major advantages in construction time,
occupant liveability, and more environmentally sustainable
outcomes.
COMMERCIAL RESIDENTIAL CONSTRUCTION
Defined as mid-rise three to eight storeys and high-rise
above eight storeys predominantly built with concrete
and steel, however recent major property developments in
medium and high rise apartment buildings have used offsite
CLT construction, and more are currently in progress.
In the decades ahead these systems will change the way
we build to take advantage of the many opportunities such
as faster construction and lower cost, and we will join the
rest of the world in greater utilisation of our renewable
timber resource.
And as international architect Michael Green stated:
“Wood is arguably one of the best tools architects and
engineers have for reducing greenhouse gas emissions…
and introduces a major opportunity for systemic change in
the building industry. For the last century there has been
no reason to challenge steel and concrete as the essential
structural materials of buildings.”
Contact:
Kevin Ezard is a marketing consultant with 30 years’
experience specialising in the engineered timber,
prefabricated frame and truss, and building materials
industries. Contact Kevin at
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