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CEO Christmas message |
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Thursday, 20 December 2012 00:00 |
Andrew Dunn, TDA CEO, wishes all TDA members, staff, friends and their families a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
Please note that the TDA offices will be closed from Friday 21 December until Monday 7 January, 2013. |
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Tallest modern residential building -- Forte Living Melbourne now complete |
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Thursday, 20 December 2012 00:00 |
Forte Living Melbourne.
Forte Living Melbourne, the current tallest modern residential building in the world, is now complete. However, Forte will not hold its #1 spot for long: There are buildings already planned or under construction in Austria and Germany that will be taller than Forte.
We use the term modern here as many old hardwood wool stores buildings still survive that are taller than Forte. However, timber buildings haven’t reached this height for around 100 years.
TDA was instrumental in the development of this building. Our involvement began in 2009 with a request from the developer’s architect for guidance on constructing 10-storey timber buildings. TDA was fresh from a site visit of Andrew Waugh’s nine-storey CLT project in London; the rest is history.
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Expan opens new commercial building markets to timber |
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Thursday, 20 December 2012 00:00 |
TDA is assisting in the introduction into the market of Expan, a new timber technology for commercial buildings. Expan was developed by the Structural Timber Innovation Company (STIC), comprising representatives from academia -- Auckland and Canterbury universities and UTS -- and industry. The technology includes connectors for portal frames, glulam rivets, timber concrete composite floors, and long-span timber cassette floors. Public interest has centred on Expan’s post-stressed timber-framed system. This system allows timber to span the large distances often required by commercial buildings.
Guides and test reports to support this technology will be available in the second quarter of 2013. A roadshow will simultaneously be rolled out to present Expan to the design community.
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Timber industry prepared for Illegal Logging Prohibition Act |
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Thursday, 20 December 2012 00:00 |
TDA's recent interviews with twenty-eight timber importers and domestic sawmillers across Australia has revealed that many are already exercising due diligence to minimise the risk of purchasing illegally logged timber.
This is good news, as from 29 November 2012 the Illegal Logging Prohibition Act 2012 is law in Australia. Very substantial penalties --up to five years jail and/or fines and/or confiscation of timber -- apply to those who are found to have knowingly, recklessly or negligently imported illegally-harvested timber products or processed illegally-harvested Australian logs. More information at
www.daff.gov.au/illegallogging
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Disposal of H2F Bluepine offcuts - costs of disposal the big issue |
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Thursday, 20 December 2012 00:00 |
Bluepine offcuts.
TDA has finalised a comprehensive survey of frame and truss manufacturers around Australia to see if they have any problems with the disposal of waste generated from using H2F-treated "bluepine".
Sixty-three fabricators responded to the survey, 29% of whom had faced H2F-treated timber disposal problems. Fabricators with problems were located in New South Wales, Victoria and Western Australia; only one fabricator in Queensland reported problems. Waste off-cuts and sawdust generation averaged 7% of volume of wood purchased for the surveyed frame and truss manufacturers.
The main difficulty facing fabricators is costs of disposal. Some fabricators also noted that local landfills would not accept H2F waste.
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2012 breaks all records for the Awards |
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Thursday, 20 December 2012 00:00 |
2012 Overall Winner :: Paul Haar Architect :: Candlebark School Library
As predicted, 2012 was the best year to date for the
Australian Timber Design Awards.
We received a record number of entries from
a wide range of contestants, with all states well represented. And public interest this year was through the roof!
The top prize went to Architect Paul Haar for Candlebark School Library, an earth-covered library built into the side of a hill in Victoria's Macedon Ranges.
The judging panel was greatly impressed by the expert use of engineered timber within the Candlebark building structure. The design is remarkable also for its careful detailing and timber selection. And like many of this year's finalists, Candlebark makes excellent use of recycled and salvaged timbers.
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Taking timber online |
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Thursday, 20 December 2012 00:00 |
Some examples from our portfolio of websites
Web development is one of the most important services that TDA offers its members. Our in-house web development team combines strong technical skills with a deep understanding of the timber industry. This unique combination has helped many of our members grow their brands and their sales online.
Andrew Dunn, our CEO, started building our web development team eight years ago. Andrew believes that online communication is a business role that we should not outsource: it should be one of TDA's core competencies. His investment in our web team reflects this.
That investment has paid off in many ways. In particular, the Australian Timber Design Awards brand has achieved strong online recognition. This has seen healthy growth in entry numbers for the Awards. And our web design services, contracted out to industry, contribute positively to the TDA bottom line.
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Take advantage of our #1 Google ranking |
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Thursday, 20 December 2012 00:00 |
Our timber.net.au website still holds the #1 spot for a Google Australia search on "timber". As a result, links from that website confer very considerable page rank benefits to a timber-related website. And with over 21,000 unique visitors per month to
timber.net.au, you should at least consider listing your company on our Suppliers Guide, the most popular section of that website.
Standard plans start from as little as $240 pa (+GST) and display your logo, all contact details (with hyperlink and email) and 3 category classifications.
Enhanced and Premium listings include further information about your company, such as products and services, and other business locations.
We also have pay-per-month and pay-per-click advertising available on both
timber.net.au
and the
National Timber Product Stewardship Group website.
To find out more:
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
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Why 2012 may be the biggest year yet for the Awards |
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Wednesday, 28 March 2012 00:00 |
2011 Overall Winner :: Circa Morris-Nunn Walker :: Saffire
The TDA team believes that 2012 will see a record number of entries into the
Australian Timber Design Awards.
And we expect the Awards to receive more publicity this year than ever before.
Why the optimism?
This prediction is based on twelve years of entrant data. Our surveys and our website statistics have proved to be good estimators of entry numbers and public interest in the Awards—and they're more favourable this year than ever before. Moreover, we've received a record number of early entries. If this trend continues, we expect to beat our entry tally for 2010, our best to date.
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Bluepine disposal -- What's happening? |
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Wednesday, 28 March 2012 00:00 |
Bluepine cutoffs
TDA is working in conjunction with
Forest and Wood Products Australia
to find out if there are any systematic issues with disposing of and recycling H2F treated softwood ("bluepine") framing. Anecdotal information suggests that some frame and truss manufacturers are having difficulties disposing of and recycling H2F treated offcuts and sawdust.
TDA has written an
online survey
to quantify the extent to which this problem exists—if it exists at all. The survey will also reveal whether problems vary either between regions or according to size of manufacturer.
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