The 2008 Australian Timber Design Workshops are on again and will be held in more locations than ever this year.

These workshops have been presented by the University of Tasmania's School of Architecture since 1997. This year, they will be hosted in Melbourne, Perth, Hobart, Brisbane and Sydney in June and July.

This year's intensive, accredited program will focus on achieving economic success in sustainable timber design and construction, with specialised case studies and technical sessions discussing how to achieve this.

Each workshop series will follow a similar format: the first day offers general discussion about timber construction and sustainable supply local to each state, and the second day is a presentation of case studies and technical issues to provide 'real world' examples. This format gives attendees an idea of the possibilities for timber design and the tools to use timber in their daily practices.

The workshops feature a combination of local and national experts and will be hosted by a leading University design school in each state. The local presenters offer expertise based on local conditions and circumstances, while the national experts offer broader knowledge of Australian best practice that they will present at each workshop.

National experts include Associate Professor Gregory Nolan, of the Centre for Sustainable Architecture with Wood, Hamish Crawford, a representative of FSC certification body, Fabiano Ximenes, leader of NSW government's Greenhouse footprint of wood products project, Nick Livanes, a structural engineer with Frame and Truss Manufacturers Association Australia, Simon Dorries, from Engineered Wood Products Association of Australasia, and two experts from nail-plate producer, MiTek.

The workshops boast broad industry accreditation and have attracted support and sponsorship across industry and learning centres.

Timber building itself is gaining more and more support in Australia. In fact the recent release of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's Fourth Assessment Report has stressed the need for timber use in Australia: Building codes and other government policies that ... can promote substitution of use of sustainably harvested forest products wood for more energy-intensive construction materials may have substantial potential to reduce net emissions.

This is potential that has long been a focus for CSAW's Associate Professor Gregory Nolan.

'The report by the IPCC supports our long-held beliefs and research: sensible, sustainable use of timber as a building material can have a positive impact on the environment in the long-term, as well as providing highly effective building solutions,' Mr Nolan said.

'These courses are designed to provide practitioners with the expertise to use timber successfully and sustainably in their practices.'

Additional information

The specific workshop details are as follows:

Melbourne: June 10-11. Hosted by the Melbourne School of Design at the University of Melbourne with speakers from Third Ecology Architects, Tim Gibney & Associates, Spower Architects, and the Victorian Government.

Perth: June 16-17. Hosted by Advanced Timber Concepts Research Centre at the University of Western Australia with speakers from Wrightfeldhusen Architects and the University of Western Australia.

Hobart: June 24-25. Hosted by the School of Engineering at the University of Tasmania, with speakers from Robert Morris-Nunn and Associates, Gandy & Roberts, Stuart Hall Architects, DIER and the Centre for Sustainable Architecture with Wood.

Brisbane: July 1-2. Hosted by The School of Architecture, at the University of Queensland, featuring speakers from Donovan Hill Architects, James Pierce and Associates, and Gall & Medek Architects.

Sydney: July 8-9. Hosted by the University of Technology Sydney, with speakers form Tobias Partners, Warwick Donnelly and Associates, Timber Development Association, and the University of Technology Sydney.