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Timber Framed Construction goes to the next level |
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Friday, 30 April 2010 00:00 |
The new Multi-Residential Timber Framed Construction manuals
Multi-Residential Timber Framed Construction (MRTFC) has been an ongoing program of the Australian timber industry for more than two decades. There has been extensive research and development of this method of construction, similar to that which has been used extensively overseas, particularly in North America, for many years.
MRTFC design manuals and structural engineering guides, available since the mid 1990s, were all updated in 2000/01. These have played a major part in getting timber framed buildings in residential projects up to 4 storeys (3 storeys of timber frame over a masonry or concrete based garage type ground floor) now commonly available.
As with all construction applications, research into new materials, changing regulatory requirements and building methods, continue the need to review and upgrade all of these resources. To this end, the timber industry has again developed a new series of these manuals and guides.
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Read more... [Timber Framed Construction goes to the next level]
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Industry consumer surveys |
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Friday, 30 April 2010 00:00 |
Earlier this year, TDA coordinated a series of surveys intended to gain an overall understanding of the use and reliability of timber and environmental credentials, and to identify “timber decision makers”.
These national surveys included three different stakeholder groups: timber merchants, builders, and specifiers. By the conclusion of the project, two of the four survey topics – “timber in alterations and additions” and “decking” –had become the focus of the outcomes.
Although the questions varied depending on the stakeholder group, the general aim was to see how each group related to the various topics and how their views, likes or dislikes flowed up and down the chain of specification, use and supply. Also of interest was the influence which stakeholder tastes had on others in this chain.
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Read more... [Industry consumer surveys]
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Cypress promotional program |
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Thursday, 01 April 2010 00:00 |
In February this year, TDA concluded the promotional program it had been conducting on behalf of Cypress NSW. The final outcome of the program was the publication of a much anticipated Specifiers and Consumers’ Guide.
A significant milestone in the development of the program since its inception in early 2008, was a very extensive market research survey. Also significant was the launch of the branding image, a logo developed by members of the Cypress NSW producers’ alliance.
The program’s primary focus was the repositioning of the two major product ranges of NSW saw-millers: tongue and groove flooring, and structural framing. The aim was to turn these into the products of choice for builders, designers and consumers seeking sustainable, quality assured, locally manufactured timber products.
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Read more... [Cypress promotional program]
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Life cycle assessment project |
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Friday, 30 April 2010 00:00 |
TDA continues to work with the other major material groups (i.e. concrete, steel, brick, plasterboard, windows and roof tiles) through the Building Products Innovation Council (BPIC) on life cycle assessment. The main goal of the project is to establish an Australian database of all Australian produced building materials and rules for comparing the environmental impacts of buildings, building elements and products.
The plasterboard and brick associations have completed their survey of their Australian manufacturers and have placed the information in a database set up by the CSIRO as part of the project. The survey of Australian manufacturers of most wood products (sawn wood, particleboard, MDF, LVL and plywood) has been completed, and the data is undergoing some road testing by LCA practitioners at RMIT in Melbourne. Some of the rules around interpretation of the inputs and outputs and the relationship to environmental impacts have been challenging for timber. For example, the categories land and water use are particularly tricky for timber, as Australian impact assessment models are at very early stages of development. The use of European models, commonly utilised by LCA practitioners, can result in very misleading results if inputs and outputs are reported out of context. TDA is working hard to make possible the development of Australian models in these two critical areas.
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Read more... [Life cycle assessment project]
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New product stewardship projects |
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Friday, 30 April 2010 00:00 |
TDA has started two new product stewardship projects. One project is a trial using wood waste to produce meat chicken (broiler) bedding. The market for broiler chicken bedding is over 300,000 cubic metres per year in NSW; non-treated pine offcuts from frame and trusses manufacturing and waste wood packaging are perfectly suited to this application.
A second project involves developing an online calculator to show the greenhouse gas benefits of reusing and recycling pallets as well as helping increase the reuse and recycling of waste pallets in Sydney. Waste packaging is produced in large quantities by timber importers, merchants and other industries. Both projects are funded by the NSW Department of Environment, Climate Change and Water (DECCW) and in-kind contributions from industry.
Developing alternatives to landfill for wood waste is an important step in protecting the customers of wood products from current and future large waste disposal fees. State Governments around Australia are increasing waste disposal levies with a large increase recently announced in Victoria (a 591% increase over 5 years) following large increases in NSW (250% increase over 8 years) and WA (300% increase in 1 year). |
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Wood Solutions 2010 |
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Monday, 26 April 2010 20:20 |
Wood Solutions 2010 is a one day forum, sponsored by
Wood. Naturally Better,
for building design professionals. It features innovative and inspirational presentations by leading international and local speakers on the structural and aesthetic use of wood. Visit the
Wood Solutions 2010 website
and be sure to pencil these dates into your diary:
- Wood Solutions 2010 Sydney: September 7, 2010 @ Dockside, Darling Harbour
- Wood Solutions 2010 Melbourne: September 9, 2010 @ Melbourne Convention & Exhibition Centre
- Wood Solutions 2010 Brisbane: September 15, 2010 @ State Library of Queensland
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Web design for the timber industry |
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Friday, 30 April 2010 00:00 |
Some examples from our portfolio of websites
If you’re running a business these days, you need to be online – and if you’re running a timber products business, there’s no better organisation to establish your online presence than TDA. We know timber and we know web design: we’ve got the datasheets and images your site needs, the expert advice that our bird’s-eye view of the timber industry affords – and we’ve got the contacts to push your search engine ranking towards that elusive #1 spot.
Whether you need a basic corporate website (such as tdansw.asn.au), an attractive gallery site (see, for instance, timberawards.com.au) or a large information warehouse (such as timber.net.au), TDA can get you there. All our sites are packaged with a content management system that allows you to easily add news, events, documents and images to your site. We can provide a simple PayPal shopping cart or an extensive e-commerce solution. If you need an online newsletter, a slideshow or an image gallery, we can do that. Want to leverage the marketing potential of social networking? We can do that too. Whatever it is you need, talk to us. We can build it – and they will come!
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Read more... [Web design for the timber industry]
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