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TAFE Timber Education Newsletter 2009 #3 |
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16-Sep-2009
In this issue of the newsletter:
2009 #3
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Welcome to our third newsletter for 2009. It was a pleasure to meet many of you at the Midlanders Conference in July but geez - those resources went fast!
Please contact me for assistance with obtaining resources or any aspect of teaching timber related units or to update your contact details.
Stephen Mitchell
Co-ordinator, National Timber Education Program - ACT, NSW & SA
p: 02 9279 2366
e:
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Queensland's Tom Casey Awarded Australia's Best Carpenter
Queensland's Tom Casey has been awarded the national winner in the inaugural National Carpenter of the Year competition. The NSW and SA state winners of the awards where Gregory Bennett and Mark Van Eck respectively.
Tom, a qualified carpenter and joiner who has been building for the past 28 years, was chosen as the national winner from 300 entries because of his commitment to his local community and love of his trade.
Tom was instrumental in organising a successful community appeal to restore St Paul's Uniting Timber Church in Mackay, one of the largest timber churches in North Queensland. Tom helped restore the unique 100 year old timber church to its original beauty and prevent the historical and cultural asset from being demolished. In addition to recruiting and training volunteers and carpenter apprentices to donate their time, Tom also donated his labour and skills to restore the church to its original beauty.
For his efforts, Tom received a Hitachi Power Tools megapack valued at $2,500 and Wood Naturally Better merchandise.
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Flooring Design - Secret Timber Guru Trade Secrets
The question is often posed - "how are the sizes and spans for T&G flooring derived"?
The Timber Framing Code AS 1684 Parts 2, 3 and 4 give allowable spans for different timber species and thicknesses for both end-matched flooring and flooring butted over joists. These requirements (as well as those that were in the original "Light Timber Framing Code" back in the 1970's) were based upon empirical design equations developed by Joe Mack which in turn were derived from extensive laboratory tests (Boyd and Mack) carried out by CSIRO in the 1960's and 1970's. These tests evaluated both the puncture strength and stiffness of typical domestic T&G flooring. For a stiffness limit, it was found that a constant limit of 0.17mm/100 Newton of concentrated load provided flooring with an acceptable level of comfort and performance.
This level was established by assessing a survey of human reaction to a range of flooring of different stiffness's and spans. (The human sample comprised about 250 CSIRO staff that were requested to walk over the sample floors and rate them!). For domestic applications, the derived equations and limits have stood the test of time. Copies of the design procedures can be made available to those that may be interested.
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Timber Design Awards Presentations
The presentation nights of the Australian Timber Design Awards are likely to be particularly well attended this year, so be sure to book your tickets early. The timber design community has already been showing a lot of interest in our guest speaker for the presentation nights: Andrew Waugh of Waugh Thistleton Architects. Andrew and his team designed and constructed the world's tallest residential wooden building (in Hackney, London), a marvel of timber design - so it's no surprise that tickets have been flying out the door. The presentation nights are below. I've included details for the awards nights in Perth and Melbourne for our South Australian readers.
ACT & New South Wales Awards Night
Australian Institute of Architects,
"Tusculum", 3 Manning Street,
Potts Point, Sydney
5.30pm - 8.30pm
Wednesday 21st October 2009
South Australia & Western Australia Awards Night
Cullity Gallery, University of WA,
Cnr. Clifton & Stirling Rds,
Nedlands, Perth
5.30pm - 8.30pm
Friday 16th October 2009
Tasmania & Victoria Awards Night
The Salon Room, Melbourne Recital Centre,
Cnr. Southbank Blvd & Sturt St,
Southbank, Melbourne
5.30pm - 8.30pm
Tuesday 20th October 2009
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Progress of AS 1684 Revisions
Standards Australia have completed the public review and postal ballot for the revisions and all negative votes and public comment technical issues have now been resolved. Properties for the MGP grades have been amended in the Timber Structures Code AS 1720.1, so amended span tables for the MGP grades are also included within the current revision to AS 1684.
It is still anticipated the new editions of AS 1684 will be called up in BCA 2010.
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Plywood Tie-down at sides of openings
In the current revisions being undertaken to AS 1684, the confusion in the market place surrounding the interpretation and application of plywood for tie-down (top plate to bottom plate) is being addressed. Table 9.21 will be amended to include
these details
which clearly indicates that this method of tie-down is not applicable for use at sides of openings.
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Timber is tops for environmentally friendly commercial buildings
Increasing the amount of timber used in large-scale commercial buildings can decrease some environmental impacts of the building, according to a New Zealand Ministry of Agricultural and Forestry (MAF) study.
The research project, Environmental Impacts of Multi-Story Buildings Using Different Construction Materials, modelled the life cycle energy use and carbon dioxide (CO2) equivalent emissions of four similar office building designs that used different materials as their main structural element: concrete, steel, timber and 'timber-plus'. The latter also used wood-based non-structural elements.
Results indicated that of the four, the 'timber-plus' building had the lowest net environmental impact, producing 4571 tonnes CO2 equivalent while the steel building had the highest net impact producing 6,789 tonnes of CO2 equivalent. Timber was second lowest (5,454 tonnes), followed by concrete (6,627).
The study considered the full life cycle of the buildings including the initial embodied energy of the materials used, maintenance, transport, operational energy and end-of-life scenarios. All four buildings were designed for a 60-year lifespan and were based on the design of an actual six-storey concrete building.
The research used Life Cycle Assessments which measure the environmental impacts associated with a product, process, or activity by identifying energy and materials used and wastes released through the course of a product's life-span.
The project reports can be found on MAF's website
www.maf.govt.nz/forestry/publications.
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Even More Educational Resources
The web site
www.timber.org.au
has a large range of resources for use in education relating to the use of timber in buildings.
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Teaching Resources - information for teachers including downloadable PowerPoint presentations on applications, properties, production, AS1684, multi-residential timber framing, cladding as well as timber stairs manual.
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Learning Resources - information for students including applications, properties, production, durability, specifications, manufactured wood products, connections as well as 18 case studies of timber in use.
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Reference Resources - for teachers and students including timber flooring (installation guide), timber construction in bushfire prone areas through to structural timber design guides.
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The following educational resources are available through the Timber Development Association at no or small
cost. We also have a more extensive list of publications available from our website,
www.timber.net.au, which may aid your teaching.
Acceptable Standards of Domestic Construction
This excellent resource has been revised to address the most recent developments in construction and timber
design. The recommended retail price is $25. For bulk purchases of one box (30 books) we are offering the books at the reseller price.
Australian Hardwood and Cypress Manual
The Hardwood and Cypress manual is a must have for all specifiers and for anyone teaching timber
related subjects. The Manual is split into four sections: an introduction, a technical and detailing
guide, a set of species guides, and application guides.
We have recently found a few more hardcopies and CDs of the manual when we moved our storage unit. Contact me if you'd like a free copy. It is also available for free download from
www.timber.net.au.
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Timber Framing Multi-Resource CD
This free all-in-one CD contains teaching resources for the following topics:
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Format
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Introduction to timber framing (video)
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Video
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Timber framing
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Interactive construction game
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Bracing and Tie-down Desin - 4 case studies
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PowerPoint
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Using AS16884.2 span tables
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PowerPoint
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Introduction timber construction
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PowerPoint
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Timber stairs, balustrades & handrails manual
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PDF
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Timber wall cladding systems
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PowerPoint
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Ecologically Sustainable Development (ESD)
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PowerPoint
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Occupation health & safety (OH&S)
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PowerPoint
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Timber truss installation (update)
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PowerPoint
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This program is funded by the timber industry through Forest and Wood Products Australia
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