australian timberman

A U S T R A L I A N

T I M B E R P R O C E S S I N G , P R O D U C T S A N D S U P P L I E R S

November 2012, Issue 7 Vol. 20 Ph: (03) 9888 4820 Fax: (03) 9888 4840 Email: [email protected] Web: www.timberbiz.com.au

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INNOVATION l TECHNOLOGY DESIGNl

TIMBERMAN, November 2012 – 2

19-21 October 2012Melbourne Working With Wood Show, Melbourne Showground. Australia’s largest showcase of products and services for the woodworking and timber industries. See the best in the industry share their expertise, come and try new techniques and tools and experience some of the world’s finest timbers. Join internationally renowned wood experts for free demonstrations and workshops.

30-31 October 2012 ForestWorks Industry Development Conference, Canberra

31 October 2012 R&DWorks seminar Oberon NSW. http://www.fwpa.com.au/upcoming-events

1 November 2012R&DWorks seminar Sydney NSW. http://www.fwpa.com.au/upcoming-events

3 November 2012Queensland Timber Industry Awards Night – Victoria Park Function Centre, Brisbane. The awards are an important means of highlighting excellence in the industry and rewarding organisations that are leading the way in terms of service, innovation and commitment to improving both their business and the industry as a whole.

29 November 2012R&DWorks seminar Hobart TAS. http://www.fwpa.com.au/upcoming-events

14-16 January 2013Digital Fabrication with Timber Studio. The UTAS School of Architecture and Design is continuing its long tradition of learning-by-making with two exciting workshops this summer in Launceston, Tasmania. This three-day intensive studio offers participants hands-on experience of digital design and fabrication processes with timber. www.utas.edu.au/csaw/ . Email [email protected]. Phone +61 3 6324 4470

February 2013 Australian Timber Design Workshop. The UTAS School of Architecture and Design is continuing its long tradition of learning-by-making with two exciting workshops this summer in Launceston, Tasmania. In the two-week Australian Timber Design Workshop (ATDW) participants will design, fabricate, construct and install a small timber building from a controlled timber-rich palette in 11 days. www.utas.edu.au/csaw/ Email: [email protected]. Phone +61 3 6324 4470

9-11 April 2013The 8th Dubai International Wood & Wood Machinery Show, to be held at the Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Centre. 6-10 May 2013LIGNA Hannover.

9-11 May 20132nd Guangzhou International Wood & Wood Products Trade Show (Wood Guangzhou 2013), at the China Import & Export Fair Pazhou Complex.

5-8 June 2013 ElmiaWood - Jonkoping, Sweden. http://www.elmia.se/en/wood/

September 2013WoodEXPO, Albury

September 2013WoodEXPO,Rotorua.

25-28 September 2013VietnamWOOD. Saigon Exhibition & Convention Center (SECC). Drying equipment, joinery equipment, joinery and moulded products, equipment and instruments for furniture industry, abrasive and cutting instruments, equipment and wood waste treating devices, machinery and equipment for primary wood treatment, pneumatic instruments, machinery and equipment for timber, furniture components, raw material, related industry goods.

November 201313th International Specialised Exhibition Woodex. Woodex is the largest specialized trade fair introducing the leading international manufacturers of timber and woodworking equipment. For 15 years Woodex have been the leading woodworking forum in Russia attracting more participants and visitors every year.

Dates for your DiaryPromote your events in this publication (and also on our electronic Daily Timber News). Lodge details at [email protected] or phone (08) 7127 6370.

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3 - November 2012, TIMBERMAN

We have good joiners, but our advanced-fabrication capacity is very underdeveloped

CO N S I D E R A B L E CHANGE is occurring in the forest

and wood products industry, and this extends to industry education and training, says Associate Professor Gregory Nolan, director of the University of Tasmania’s Centre for Sustainable Architecture with Wood (CSAW).

“The forestry side of the wood products industry (WPI) has traditionally been well-serviced,” he says. “A skill pathway links it from end to end: from training at harvesting sites to post-graduate-level study. However, only in the last year has the non-forestry sector had an under-graduate or a university course that dealt with wood products or building with timber.”

CSAW’s Graduate Certificate in Timber (Processing and Building) is largely delivered online through recorded lectures, readings, quizzes, notes and videos of operations. The increasing use of online education and training shows great potential for a regionally located, dispersed industry like the WPI. “Bringing people together in sufficient numbers to train them economically has traditionally been difficult,” says Nolan. “However, online learning enables you to concentrate expertise into top-class educational packages that can be used anywhere. There’s potential for a student to watch a video with an explanation of how something works in their own office or home, and then see a discussion with highly experienced people from across the country.”

The four-unit graduate certificate course has been well received, but is facing a number of challenges as it grows. Nolan comments that while people in the WPI are very capable, many left formal education early. Getting them accustomed to the idea and process of additional education can be challenging. “If you bring a 30 year old back into the educational system, you must prepare them for the process before they can settle down and become comfortable with it,” he says. “We’re going through the process now of learning exactly how to do this well: good educational material on its own is not enough.”

Critical change

A quite critical change being forced federally in all industries that will eventually impact training in the WPI, is the drive to break down barriers between education and training. This recognises that people undergoing training often seek further tertiary education, simply because not every 18 year old knows what they want to do for the rest of their life.

“People have to be able to move easily from one to the other,” says Nolan. “The person who starts out running a machine may advance from the shop floor to management, something that happens a lot in the WPI. This person is obviously capable and should be encouraged to move into tertiary education, and have their existing skill and training recognised.”

Universities and training providers are being encouraged to work more closely, but while this is easy to say, says Nolan, it’s much

harder to implement. “Each side has its own ways for doing things, and its own jargon, so it’s reasonably difficult to get the two to speak the same language and to see ways of creating pathways from one to the other.”

Providing raw materials

Nolan comments that one thing not commonly discussed is that the WPI actually makes building materials. “Essentially, any wood product that’s not paper or cardboard is likely to be used as a building product. So people who run forests provide raw materials in the same way those who run iron ore mines do, and so are affected by changes in the building industry”.

Looking then at the trends in the building industry, the critical gap for the Australian forest industries obviously lies in the space between the sawmiller and the builder, Nolan continues. “This is where the frame-and-truss manufacturers sit, but in Australia they predominantly service the house-building market. While they do a good job at this, their focus on housing means they don’t take up opportunities in multi-residential and commercial construction.”

In the US, Canada and Europe, an increase in skill has occurred in both the sawmilling sector and the sector that manufacturers wood elements: joinery; furniture; floor systems; wall systems; or entire building facades. This is not the case with Australia, says Nolan. “We have good joiners, but our advanced-fabrication capacity is very underdeveloped. Our education and training capacity reflects this

underdevelopment, especially in fabrication.”

Carbon accounting

“Some people would say the industry is well-

developed and works very nicely, but I can’t see this position maintaining itself through the changes occurring in the building industry, notably the demand for improved thermal

performance and carbon accounting in buildings,” says Nolan.

Because huge amounts of carbon are generated

Training for the industry of the future: CSAWBy Rosemary Ann Ogilvie

Professor Gregory Nolan

continued on page 4.

NEWSTIMBERMAN, November 2012 – 4

making and operating buildings, major builders are investigating ways to offset this by using more wood in buildings: storing carbon

in the wood rather than emitting it with alternative materials.

“In Melbourne, Lend Lease is constructing Australia’s first cross-laminated timber (CLT)

building, their 10-storey Forté apartment block,” says Nolan. “The wood is in large panels cut to the correct size, which means the building can be erected very quickly, with a small onsite work crew. This gives the company significant benefits over the construction of similar steel-and-concrete buildings.”

According to Lend Lease, the construction of Forté is 30% faster than its material counterparts, and will reduce carbon-equivalent emissions by 1400 tonnes when compared to concrete and steel.

The negative is that these CLT panels are imported from Austria. Currently, no one in Australia makes them – and it may be some time before any local company has the required technology, skill and experience to do it reliably. “So if architects want to do this exact same thing with wood from Australian suppliers, we’d have to tell them: sorry, come back in a couple of years,” says Nolan.

So from a building-industry point of view, wood can provide really significant benefits because it can be constructed more quickly in a cleaner, easier build because the product is lighter and much easier to work. It is also perfectly suited to prefabrication.

“If a building like Forté is

prefabricated off-site, you may only need six or eight months on site rather than two years. With fewer people required to erect it, the chances of a major disruption are also much lower.”

Another factor is that builders are being asked to erect buildings in constrained sites that don’t suit the traditional steel-and-concrete systems. These sorts of timber solutions provide an alternative option.

“The WPI in Australia is in a bind but needs to take a long view,” says Nolan. “The technology and skill that have given the Europeans the lead have taken decades to develop. We can adapt these approaches for Australian conditions, but it will take years.

“So while the commercial building sector appears to hold considerable promise for the WPI into the future, it can be embraced only if the capacity to properly service this market is developed. This will require investment, and an increased focus on training and education from the mill through to the design and prefabrication of timber buildings.”

A U S T R A L I A N


November 2012, Vol.20, No.7

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Australian Timberman is delivered with Australian Forests & Timber News, which is a member of Circulation Audit Bureau (CAB).

Front page photo: Cutting edge technology, pages 12-15.

Training for the industry of the future: CSAWLend Lease CommentAccording to Lend Lease, the construction of Forté is 30% faster than its material counterparts, and will reduce carbon-equivalent emissions by 1400 tonnes when compared to concrete and steel.Following on from Forté in Victoria Harbour, due for completion in October, Lend Lease is aiming to develop 30% to 50% of its apartment pipeline using CLT, and sees application elsewhere across the organisation.Regarding local production of CLT, Lend Lease says given the forestry and timber industry resources in Australia and the significant benefits CLT offers, it is highly probable that local manufacture of scale will eventuate.“A local supply option is preferable to importing materials from Europe. Small-scale production has recently commenced in New Zealand by XLam NZ Ltd, and there appears to be widespread interest throughout that country to invest in local production of CLT,” a spokesperson said.Lend Lease’s focus with CLT to date has been on its core capabilities of design, engineering and delivery of the best places for people to live. “As a leader of the introduction of CLT into Australia, we’re keen to work with local industry to establish production.”

continued from page 3.

CLT manufacturing overseas.

Forté walls.

Forté building soon after work started.

NEWS 5 - November 2012, TIMBERMAN

DON’T SIT back and wait for the economy and the

timber industry to get back to a better place – that was the message from Stephen Dadd, Executive General Manager of Boral Timber during an Australian Timber Flooring Association seminar.

You could be waiting a while, and in the meantime while you’re sleeping things could be changing rapidly, so much so that when you wake up you may find a different landscape.

While Dadd started his talk with the current global situation I want to start my discussion of his presentation mid way through because that’s when I really pricked up my ears. I heard some news that would potentially change how timber flooring is bought and laid.

You would have to have been in a coma over the past few years to not recognize the enormous shift to large-scale hardware chains, most notably Bunnings and now Masters. These stores, backed by huge companies like Wesfarmers, are

enticing mums and dads everywhere to browse the aisles and DIY.

Even if you go in to buy a light bulb you can’t help but browse the aisles and toy with the idea of sprucing up your home; new blinds, a bathroom vanity, even a kitchen make over.

Now DIY is a wonderful notion but if you lack any trade skills there are some things that would be daunting and probably best left to experts. One of these is the installation of timber flooring.

Currently an array of timber flooring is available from Bunnings and Masters and I would suggest – though I must admit I don’t know for certain – that in order to make a sale the store would assist with arranging installation or at the very least finding you a tradie.

“Masters, Bunnings are looking to double their business. They’ll probably have, within 3-4 years, 40-50% of the hardware sales in this country. It creates risks and possibilities,” said Dadd.

With that in mind you

Installing the new order in flooringBy Mandy Parry-Jones

continued on page 6.

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NORSKE SKOG has announced a new strategic direction

in Australasia aimed at transforming the business from being wholly a newsprint producer to being the Australasian leader in publication papers and renewable energy

As part of this, Norske Skog will close one newsprint machine in New Zealand and, with the support of the Australian Federal and Tasmanian State Governments, convert a machine in Australia to the production of coated grades.

Andrew Leighton, Norske Skog’s Regional President, said the new strategic direction would see $84 million invested at the Boyer Mill over the next two years to enable the conversion of a newsprint machine to the production of coated paper suitable for catalogues. The Federal Government will

contribute $28M in grants to help fund the project and the Tasmanian Government is providing a $13M loan. All the catalogue paper used in Australia is currently imported from overseas.

Leighton said the decision to close one of the two newsprint machines at

the Tasman Mill in New Zealand had been driven by the growing capacity surplus in the region. He said implementation arrangements and timeframes were subject to an ongoing consultation process with employees and other stakeholders. He said the mill would continue to produce newsprint for the New Zealand and Australian markets and was ideally

situated to help lead the company’s diversification into renewable energy and bio-fuels.

He said the Albury Mill in New South Wales would continue to focus on the production of newsprint for the Australian market. He said the current cost reduction,

continuous improvement and energy efficiency programs would continue to ensure the ongoing strength of that operation.

Leighton said this announcement followed a comprehensive review by the regional management team over the past eight months. He thanked all employees for their various contributions to this process.

“We have had to make some tough decisions in the long term interests of the business, but we now have a clear strategic direction and exciting growth prospects.

“We plan to drastically transform our business over the next 3-5 years. The journey starts in earnest today,” Leighton said.

He thanked the Federal and Tasmanian Governments for their support of the machine conversion at the Boyer Mill. He said this project was a key component of the overall new strategic direction for the business.

“This project will support Boyer’s current 330 direct and 900 indirect jobs, with 8-10 additional jobs being created in the coating operation and in the mining and transportation of fillers. It will improve Australia’s Balance of Trade by around $130 million per annum

and create 100 construction jobs.

“Detailed engineering work has been completed and the project will proceed immediately. Completion is targeted for the first quarter of 2014.”

Leighton said the need to review newsprint production capacity at the Tasman Mill in New Zealand was disappointing but unavoidable. He said exports to Asia had provided a short term solution, however, falling demand and unfavourable exchange rates meant that exports at current volumes were not sustainable.

“We will now focus our attention on future growth opportunities for the mill in the area of renewable energy. A major investment in geothermal energy is well underway at Tasman and further investments in other projects are planned over the next few years,” Leighton said.

could almost bank on the store helping you to arrange installation to get the sale but what about if you could buy the installation at the same time.

“In the US you’ll find stores like Lowes, Home Depot offering not just products, but installed full solutions,” said Dadd.

“You can pick a product off the shelf at Home Depot, possibly flooring, there’ll be two prices. You can buy it as a product and you can buy it installed.

“At the check out you can say I want this installed and they’ll organise all the trade and the labour behind the scenes.”

How easy is that? I’ll take a few rooms worth please!

Once that type of sale comes to fruition in Australia it will sorely affect the timber flooring industry because it

will impact traditional sales.“We should not assume

that these channels are not going to compete with us,” said Dadd. “These guys are strategically very smart – they have trade brands, consumer brands and they are looking to dominate this space.

“When you think about what our fragmented industry typically lacks it’s our ability to reach the consumers with strong branding, strong marketing and professional distribution. These guys certainly bring all that.

“The note of caution is that these guys drive … have very powerful purchasing departments. Unless our suppliers and unless competitors are organised we could see some casualties.”

Match this type of offering to a market place that is increasing focussed on instant everything and the changes to the timber

flooring industry could be huge.

“[Consumers] want instant gratification, no mess; they want you in and out in a day. They want it done quickly,” said Dadd. “There is a trend towards engineered products, prefinished solids and even composite products. They are increasingly going to be in vogue.”

If the industry can’t move quickly enough to satisfy the changing consumer then he or she will turn to other flooring and with a high Australian dollar the lure is to tiles and carpet, to imported products.

“What’s happened to timber, the market pricing of timber has steadily increased (the installed cost of timber flooring),” said Dadd.

“Tiles and carpet have greater exposure to the Australian dollar as the vast majority of timber is sourced locally.

“Our exchange rate has been on a roller coaster ride. You can see that the exchange rate has had a dramatic impact.”

On top of that there’s the proverbial elephant in the room – the Greens. Not all Greens are an anathema but certain groups do not shy away from doubtful promotional strategies.

“Green consumer campaigns have focused on the retail end. Consumers are an easy mark for some of the rhetoric that is coming from the green groups. I don’t think our industry has the clout to respond to this,” said Dadd.

He pointed to a campaign waged by Markets for Change targeting Harvey Norman’s product range, which was Boral product. It concerned a dead koala, a forest and a bulldozer.

“The assertion was that this product was destroying koala habitat. The photo of the dead koala was taken five years earlier 20 kilometres away

from the logging coupe that was identified by Markets for Change as the koala habitat,” explained Dadd.

“It was killed by dog not a bulldozer. Harvey Norman’s product range typically excludes the species of timber that is koala habitat.”

So to sum it up, beware the elephant in the room and be prepared to explain the benefits of wood to consumers in terms of renewable resource, carbon friendly and even koala friendly.

Be aware of the pricing of alternative products as they change with a fluctuating dollar.

Finally, beware of the hardware giants and be prepared for new ways to market.

It all boils down to one thing; marketing, and according to Dadd and many others in the business, it’s one thing that the timber industry is not quite up to speed with yet.

Stephen Dadd, Executive General Manager of Boral Timber.

Installing the new order in flooringcontinued from page 5.

Norske Skog to restructure Australasian operations

We plan to drastically transform our business over the next 3-5 years

The 2012 Australian Timber Design Award was presented to Paul Haar Architect for Candlebark School Library, an earth-covered library built into the side of a hill in Victoria’s Macedon Ranges. The Australian Timber Design Awards are a national competition to promote and encourage outstanding timber design in the built environment professions. The judging panel was impressed by the expert use of engineered timber within the Candlebark building structure.

The broad-span timber roof of the library supports a 500-600mm layer of earth - a significant engineering challenge - and is made of LVL billets and massive exposed portal frames. The design is remarkable also for its careful detailing and timber selection. Like many of this year’s finalists, Candlebark makes excellent use of recycled and salvaged timbers.

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A TIMBER milling operation has been established for the first time in a remote part of Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory. The Gumatj Aboriginal Corporation has set up a timber mill and carpentry workshop.

Funds came from an agreement that was signed with a nearby mine and from the actor Jack Thompson’s philanthropic fund.

The corporation’s CEO Klaus Helms says the mill uses timber that would have needed to be cleared from the mining site

anyway, and it was an opportunity to create employment for local indigenous people.

Indigenious workers from the Yolgnu people are working in the mill and carpentry workshop after receiving training from experienced carpenters and mill operators.

“Now we’re starting to get a lot of orders in to utilise the hardwood as furniture - tables, hard chairs, outdoor furniture - which is now commercially viable,” Helms said.

THE WEAKEST link in timber supplies is between the forest and

the sawmill, where stolen timber can be added to legitimate wood. In sawmill yards, too, logs from illegally cleared forests can be mixed with legal timber. DNA testing can overcome this, say DoubleHelix and their oldest customer, Simmonds Lumber, one of Australia’s largest timber importers.

Double Helix Tracking Technologies, is a Singapore company that has developed and commercialized DNA testing for wood, the only firm in the world to do so.

Simmonds imports merbau, a much-sought-after hardwood, from Indonesia, where illegal logging accounts for nearly half the timber cut in Indonesia, according to the World Bank study.

Using DoubleHelix’s system, each shipment of merbau logs is tracked from forest to sawmill by taking DNA samples to ensure no other timber has been added. These DNA samples are then matched up with pallets of

finished timber decking from the awmill to Simmonds’ warehouse in Australia.

Simmonds, however, has been unable to charge a premium for its DNA-tested products because of intense competition in the timber trade.

“DNA is about marketing and gaining share rather than gaining extra margin,” current chief executive John Simon said.

As a forklift loads pallets of decking into a container at a sawmill near Surabaya, Indonesia, Paul Elsmore, Simmonds’ former chief executive and now a consultant to the Australian firm, explains that each container-load is worth around $45,000.

The cost of DNA testing and verification services was $250 for a container, equal to about 0.5 percent of the wood’s value.

DoubleHelix says the ultimate goal is to make DNA testing so cheap all companies will do it.

Doing so would help tackle one of the perversities of the illegal timber trade: An

abundance of stolen timber depresses prices, slashes margins and can deter investing in better due diligence of their wood supplies.

Arguably the biggest push for DNA testing are new laws in the United States, Europe and Australia, which will make it easier to prosecute timber criminals.

“One of the real values of this genetic marking is its ability to gather better quality evidence and therefore aid prosecutions,” said Davyth Stewart, criminal intelligence officer at Interpol.

DNA testing was already having an impact in prosecutions, said Shelley Gardner, illegal logging program coordinator for the United States Department of Agriculture Forest Service.

Right now, nobody really knows the amount of illegal timber products in the market. So the detectives are going undercover. Working with an international non-governmental organization, they plan to conduct spot tests in stores in Australia and then Europe and the United States.

DNA testing is the ultimate timber tracker

New import conditionsTHE DEPARTMENT of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry Biosecurity has detailed new import conditions for plywood and veneer articles. The changes came into effect on 7 September.

In a notice to commercial importers of plywood and veneer articles, the notice said that all articles made solely of plywood or veneer that were assessed under the ‘Wooden Articles – Manufactured’ ICON case would now be a separate ICON case for these articles.

“If plywood or veneer articles contain solid wood components then they will need to meet the import requirements for ‘Wooden Articles – Manufactured’.

“If the articles are manufactured outside 90 days of export then these products will require an inspection to verify freedom from biosecurity risk material, or treatment as necessary.

“Brokers and other commercial importers will be required to provide evidence in the form of a manufacturer’s declaration that the plywood or veneer articles were newly manufactured and exported within 90 days.

Old conditions New conditions

All plywood and veneer articles were required to meet the import conditions as per ‘Wooden Articles – Manufactured’ ICON case.

Plywood and veneer articles will now be assessed under ICON case ‘Plywood and Veneer Articles’

All plywood and veneer articles required either treatment or inspection (depending on the country of manufacture)

Plywood and veneer articles can be released based on a manufacturer’s declaration that states the date of manufacture.

Jack Thompson and ForestWorks chief executive officer Michael Hartman.

Aussie actor’s vital role in mill establishment


WITH THE growing interest in man-made composites, it is worth re-evaluating the first composite material - wood. Like man-made composites, wood consists of fibres (cellulose) bonded together in a matrix, in this case of lignin. Used in its strong direction, wood has a strength-to-weight ratio which is better than mild steel.

The fast growing softwoods, such as our familiar ‘Christmas tree’, have about a tenth of the strength of mild steel, but with only a twentieth of the weight – and this explains wood’s popularity for structures where weight matters, such as roofs and aeroplanes.

Of course the average strength of wood is actually rather more than a tenth of mild steel, but the variability of the material means that for engineering applications it is necessary to use a lower safe design value. The recent history of wood in construction has therefore been an attempt to turn this natural variable material

into something with better and more reliable strengths, as well as larger and more stable dimensions. Glulam (literally ‘glued laminated timber’) is well-known and relies on statistical

averaging of the knots and other natural defects within the wood when boards are glued together. More recent innovations are LVL (laminated veneer lumber) and CLT (cross-laminated timber). LVL is built up from thin peeled veneers giving a more powerful averaging effect (and therefore higher strengths) than the thicker boards used for glulam. In CLT, as the name suggests, the boards are laminated in two perpendicular directions creating giant plywood-like sheets, with strength and stability in both directions.

Wood is currently undergoing a renaissance in the building industry and it is worth exploring the reasons why to understand whether it has potential in other fields of engineering.

First is the ease of forming and machining, enabling increasingly complex forms, epitomised by structures such as the Timber Wave at last year’s London Design Festival made from

American red oak. In no other material would it have been possible to form 1000 pieces, each with a different geometry, within the tight budget. Second is the lightweight nature of the material which lends itself to prefabrication and rapid construction. The eight storey Stadthaus in London, in which all the floors and walls are built from solid CLT panels of European spruce, is currently the tallest timber building in the world and demonstrates wood’s ability to compete in a market previously dominated by steel and concrete. Wood’s final benefit is its sustainability credentials, not only as the only renewable construction material (it literally grows on trees!), but also as a material which grows using solar energy and which ultimately at the end of life can be turned into biomass. As the energy price increases so wood is becoming increasingly competitive compared with its more industrially produced competitors. Furthermore, despite the increasing use of softwood in construction, the forests in Northern Europe and

America where it is sourced are still increasing in area.

However, there has been a major hurdle to wood’s renaissance and that has been a lack of education. Engineers are much happier

working in steel or concrete than in wood, which for many years was seen as old hat. Many engineers make the mistake of joining wood with bolts in a similar way to steel, but of course the fibrous nature of material means it is much better to rely on glue, to avoid splitting behind the bolts. The UK WoodAwards (www.woodawards.com) have been a major force in

sharing good practice in the design and detailing of wooden structures. It has been amazing to watch designers find new ways to use the material and to break out of the mould

of the two dimensional arched structures that were common in the 70s.

It has been amazing to watch designers find new ways to use the material.

And so now it is time for me to throw open the challenge to the other engineering disciplines to explore where wood might have potential to replace some of its more energy- and resource-intensive

competitors. There will be a steep learning curve, but the potential benefits are huge.

Source: Arup.Timber Wave, London (Structural Engineer Arup, Architect AL_A)

Andrew Lawrence is the leading timber specialist at Arup and a judge for the UK WoodAwards. He was writing as a guest blogger for the UK-based The Engineer. In 1946, philosopher and engineer Ove Arup set up his consulting engineering business in London. In the more than 60 years that have followed, the business has grown into an international consulting firm of unparalleled scope, owned in trust for its employees and using the business principles that Arup first set out.

Wood’s final benefit is its sustainability credentials

THE AMERICAN Hardwood Export Council (AHEC)

has published the ISO-conformant report on the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of rough-sawn kiln-dried hardwood lumber. The report, which has been prepared by sustainability experts PE International after an intensive process of data collection, analysis, and critical peer-review, is the first stage of AHEC’s LCA project.

The report uses a comprehensive set of environmental impact measurements to cover the environmental life cycle of hardwood lumber from point of harvest in the US through to delivery at the importers yards in major export markets, including Australia.

It provides quantitative data on Global Warming

Potential, Acidification Potential, Eutrophication Potential, Photochemical Ozone Creation Potential, and Ozone Depletion Potential. It also provides a qualitative assessment of toxicity, biodiversity, land use and land use change, and water resource impacts. The report includes a sensitivity analysis to show how environmental impacts vary according to key factors such as species, lumber thickness, and transport distance and mode of transport.

The report demonstrates the credibility and reliability of the LCA data that AHEC will be making available to manufacturers, designers and retailers through formal Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) and AHEC’s own on-line species guides and

environmental profiles. It also underpins on-going collaborative work by AHEC and PE International to develop innovative computer-based systems for modelling environmental impacts of wood material choices in product design.

The report has been commended by an external panel of independent LCA experts, a key requirement for compliance to ISO standards that have been achieved.

According to the final statement of the Panel who reviewed the report: “The study has been carried out in compliance with ISO 14040 and ISO 14044. The critical review panel found the overall quality of the methodology and its execution to be excellent for the purposes of the study. The study is reported in a comprehensive manner and

includes appropriate and transparent documentation of its limitations in scope”.

“We find that markets such as Australia and New Zealand are rightly demanding of environmental data when evaluating their use of hardwoods. We recognise a number of misconceptions exist regarding the environmental credentials of hardwood products in each of those markets,” said Roderick Wiles, Director for AHEC (Oceania).

“It is often assumed, for example, that because hardwoods are usually derived from managed natural forests and ‘slow to grow’ that their use contributes to forest degredation or deforestation. Another common assumption is that because American hardwoods have to be

transported considerable distances to Australia or New Zealand then they must have a higher carbon footprint than locally produced materials. Both of these are misconceptions that the publication of this report will address.

“It is one thing to say that you have an environmentally sound product, quite another to actually prove it and to have met the exacting standards set by ISO. At AHEC we are focused on providing those considering American hardwoods with totally transparent, easily accessed and scientifically proven information to assist them. This report is a valuable step in that commitment.”

The full report is available at: www.amer icanha rdwood.org /sustainability/ l ife-cycle-assessment/

WOODSOLUTIONS sponsored a group of 15 engineering students to attend the World Conference on Timber Engineering (WCTE). Held in Auckland, New Zealand, WCTE 2012 provided a forum for the exchange of the latest technological advances, research results and design innovations from around the world.

Conference delegates came from 36 countries. During the conference, more than 300 presentations and 450 abstracts were presented.

The undergraduate and graduate engineering students were awarded the sponsorships after winning an essay contest on: Why is wood naturally better as a construction solution from an

engineering and environment perspective? Departments from 25 universities across Australia participated in the contest. They advertised and ran the competitions internally and then put their finalists forward for national judging.

The student feedback was that they were inspired to learn more about timber, look for more ways to use it in their projects and stay in touch with new developments.

For the Australian wood and wood products industry, events such as this highlight the importance of increasing the visibility of timber and engineered wood products in university curricula. FWPA is active in this area through the provision of scholarships and educational materials to TAFE and universities.

AHEC announces release of Life Cycle Assessment report on U.S. hardwood lumber

Roderick Wiles, Director for AHEC (Oceania) ... “it is one thing to say that you have an environmentally sound product, quite another to actually prove it.”

FWPA sends students to WCTE

Wood is undergoing a renaissance in the building industryBy Andrew Lawrence


ANY WAY you peel or slice them, timber veneers are attractive, versatile finishes that provide the finishing touches to some of Australia’s highest profile projects.

Now there’s an opportunity to be inspired by some experts in the field, chat over drinks and nibbles and build your knowledge of veneer and its many applications.

A special function on 14 November will consist of brief talks by a respected interior designer and experts in ‘Tusculum House’, home of the Australian Institute of Architects. Winners of the Australian Timber Design Awards interiors categories will be shown and a new Timber Veneers Guide will also be launched on the night. Speakers will be Graeme Hadenham - Director Group GSA (Hadenham merged his former practice ‘WHOdesign’ into GroupGSA in 2010 and is now Director of GroupGSA Interiors. Since joining GSA Graeme has generated outstanding design results including the AIDA and PCA commended fitout for Credit Suisse Head

Office, Origin Head Office Melbourne and Nestle Head Office Rhodes, and the soon to be completed Investec Bank Headquarters in Sydney) and Criswell Davis - Mighty Oaks Consulting (a renowned speaker and expert in all aspects of US hardwoods having been in the business for 25 years. Since 2010, he has made over 3,000 presentations in America, Middle East, India and Asia Pacific to architects, and interior designers regarding the beauty and sustainability of US sawn hardwoods and hardwood veneers. Criswell Davis sponsored by American Hardwood Export Council.)

Function details are:Time: 5.00 drinks/canapés for 5.45pm

start. Date: Wednesday, 14 November. Place: Tusculum House, 3 Manning

Street, Potts Point NSW. Cost: Free.Registration: Jane Letteri Ph: 02 8424

3700 e: [email protected]. RSVP: Friday, 9 November.

THE UTAS School of Architecture and Design is continuing its long tradition of learning-by-making with two exciting workshops this summer in Launceston, Tasmania.

Run by the School’s Centre for Sustainable Architecture with Wood (CSAW), the summer workshops are designed to provide students, building professionals, and timber industry professionals with an opportunity to learn about the cutting edge use of timber in design and construction in a practical and hands-on setting.

Co-organiser Dr Jon Shanks says that “the multi-day learning-by-making

sessions in these workshops provide participants with a unique opportunity to work with experienced timber design professionals and make full use of the fantastic facilities available at UTAS”. The facilities include sophisticated modelling software, computer-controlled routers, and more traditional workshop facilities.

“The skills participants learn will be useful in architectural, engineering and design practice. They are equally relevant to students of these and similar disciplines,” he said.

CSAW has two summer workshops on offer, each with a varied and exciting program:

Digital Fabrication with Timber Studio: 14-16 January 2013

This three-day intensive studio offers participants hands-on experience of digital design and fabrication processes with timber. Participants will conceive, parametrically model, prototype, fabricate and erect geometrically complex wooden structures in full size.

Australian Timber Design Workshop: 4-15 February 2013

In the two-week Australian Timber Design Workshop (ATDW) participants will design, fabricate, construct and install a small timber building from a controlled timber-rich palette in eleven days. The building is for a local school, and its students are developing the design brief and will be the workshop’s ‘client’.

Speaking about the ATDW, workshop co-organiser Dr Mark Dewsbury said that “the beauty of this workshop is that participants will be working on a real problem and have to produce a real building for a real community client”.

Dr Shanks added that learning would be through both practical hands-on tasks and online. Participants will have access to on-line lectures and learning resources before both workshops. These will provide a background into the design project brief, timber material characteristics, precedents.

Students from other universities attending can have the ATDW recognised as part of their course. The work is the equivalent of one academic unit and documentation will be provided to students to allow

verification of this with their host university.To learn more or register your interest for the Studio or Workshop go to: www.utas.edu.au/csaw/[email protected] +61 3 6324 4470

AS T O N UNIVERSITY’S entry into this year’s Shell

Eco-Marathon may look a little low-tech, but that didn’t stop the hydrogen-fueled cardboard and plywood flat-pack car from scooping the Eco-Design award at the European event in Rotterdam.

Their innovative car, which runs on hydrogen, has a body made from cardboard sandwiched between plywood certified by the British Forestry Commission. Its tyre covers are made from bio-

resin, infused with hessian fibres.

Aston student’s team aim was to create a hydrogen fuel cell car that would leave a ‘lasting impact’ on the judges. Designed as an urban car of the future, the concept offers exceptionally high fuel efficiency with unusual car materials

capable of creating a truly sustainable design.

Aston University and Oxford University were the only UK universities to compete in the Shell Eco-marathon challenge.

The Aston designed and built body is designed to for flat-pack shipping and assembly, allowing for more efficient shipping.

Flat-pack plywood and cardboard car

Aston University’s hydrogen-fueled, flat-pack cardboard and plywood creation.

Prototyping.

Experts set to inspire

Summer workshops in Design and Digital Fabrication with Wood

Dr Jon Shanks.

BriefsNorth America: EWP output still much higher than 2011The North American production of Engineered Wood Products (EWP) continued to climb in the first and second quarter of 2012, showing significant increases in most instances both compared to the respective quarter last year and to the respective previous quarter. However, when it comes to LVL the uphill trend has softened again in the second quarter, as production volumes in Canada were significantly lower than in the first quarter. Overall second-quarter LVL production of 365,300m³ was the same as in the first quarter. In the first quarter, North American LVL producers had boosted their output by 37% compared to the fourth quarter of 2011. Meanwhile, North American I-Joist production continued to increase across both regions in the second quarter.

Growth in production of structural panelsThe uphill trend observed for some time in North American structural panels production has intensified in the second quarter of 2012. APA-The Engineered Wood Association reports an overall year-on-year production growth of 7% to 6.287 million m³. The output thus was also 5% higher than in the first quarter, when North American producers made 5.984 million m³. Like in the first quarter, this growth was solely due to higher OSB output. North American manufacturers produced 3.811 million m³ of OSB in the second quarter, which equates to an increase by 11% compared to last year and 7% compared to the 3.565 million m³ produced in the first quarter. Softwood plywood production at 2.476 only was a little higher than last year and 2% higher than the first-quarter output.

Ramping up MDF moulding productionSetzer Forest Products announced plans to ramp up capacity at its MDF moulding facility in Sacramento, CA by 33%, while concurrently mothballing its Oroville, CA fingerjoint and solid lineal pine moulding plant by mid-October. The company will also consider an additional 50% increase in MDF moulding capacity by mid-2013. Headquartered in Sacramento, CA, Setzer has been producing wood products including mouldings, MDF, jambs, frames and veneer.

Forest to massive woodMore than 22,000 trade visitors from Central and South East Europe attended the 51th Edition of International Wood Fair and met to 452 exhibitors from 22 nations. The unique profile of the “International Wood Fair Klagenfurt” is judged as positive by the visitors because only in Klagenfurt the entire value chain is represented by the “forest to massive wood”.

FINANCE/ INSURANCE/ BUSINESSTIMBERMAN, November 2012 – 10

EIGHT YEARS is a long time to specialise in a particular

industry sector for insurance, however, specialising in the industry has opened our eyes to great deficiency in client’s insurance coverage for property, liability and business interruption, also making us experts in getting it right,” says Paul Wright, National Manager, Cabinet Makers Insurance Brokers.

“Our customised facility for the cabinet making, joinery and shop fitting industries means we can provide the appropriate coverage at competitive pricing,” he says.

Wright said plenty of client’s over the years form relationships with their insurance representative and although relationships were important in business the insurance representative you deal with may not necessarily have access to the same cover and or pricing as a customised industry facility provided by Cabinet Makers Insurance Brokers.

“As such you are more than likely paying too much for too little,” he says.

Most clients choose to reduce cost by underinsuring their businesses, understandable considering the Government taxes loaded onto insurance premiums

primarily Fire Service Levy in Victoria and New South Wales pushing the total cost upwards of 110% of the base premium (the component actually paid on the declared values and sums insured).

One issue with underinsurance lies in the average or coinsurance clause of the insurance policy wording, something that most clients are not aware even exists.

Where a business’s insurance policy is subject to average, underinsurance can result in very high liabilities on the owner. For example, if a flood or fire causes $3M of partial damage, the building is insured for $5M, but its true value is determined to be $10M, the payout will be

Payout = Claim x Sum Insured / Current Value = $3M x $5M/$10M = $1.5M

This would leave the business owner with an underinsurance shortfall of $1.5M. In the case where a building is listed and has a mandatory rebuild order, it could be ruinous.

Under certain conditions, if the sum insured is 85% or more of the current value, no deduction is made for partial loss.

So what does this mean for you?

“It is important to review your insurance every year,

taking time to have buildings, machinery, tools and other items compared to current new for old replacement costs then insuring your risk for full replacement value. We understand that this could see your insurance premiums soar however as mentioned above unless you shop the market and look at specialised insurance facilities and risk terminating long standing relationships you are not going to get the best price for the appropriate cover.

“Special care also needs to be given to business interruption coverage. The lifeblood of a successful business is a healthy cash flow. Products are produced and sold, or services provided; wages and other overheads and expenses paid; profits made.

“Impede or stop the process, even temporarily, and like a plant denied water, or a heart of blood, the business suffers. If the interruption is severe enough the business may never recover if there is not sufficient capital to call on during the lack of cash flow,” Wright says.

“Business Interruption insurance is not a guarantee of prevention and cure of all the calamities that can beset a business, but it is

the means of ensuring that the policyholder will have the security of available money to pay ongoing business expenses, retain trained experienced key employees, recover any additional expenditure on loss mitigation and to receive payment of the net profit which the business would have earned had the interruption not happened.

“Therefore, if insurance is not arranged on the basis of insuring ongoing expenses which are those which cannot be avoided and which have to be paid whether the business operates at 10% or 100% capacity then the business may fail.”

Wright said that research conducted on businesses that suffered a major fire (not necessarily a total loss) show that 43% of businesses never re-open for trading despite having some form of insurance in place, 28% of businesses fail within three years of the loss and ONLY 29% survive.

“It’s best to have an expert assist you to put together your Business Interruption insurance which will give your business the best chance of survival when an insurable major loss occurs.

“Further consideration should be given to other areas of cover that may be

required for your business, for example: Contract Works Insurance, Home Warranty Insurance, Work Cover, Life and Income Protection, Transit Insurance for stock and customers goods, machinery breakdown and Management Liability Insurance.

“Don’t know what the

above covers you for? Then just maybe you are not insured correctly. All of the above are important insurance covers available and required in most cases for your industry.

“The time to get your insurance policy right is right now and we are available to assist,” he says.

THE NSW Opposition has introduced a Private Member’s Bill which, if enacted, would increase the powers of small businesses in respect to their dealings with banks, franchisors and other large corporates, along the lines of current consumer protections available to individuals in respect to unfair contracts. The proposed legislation could significantly increase the regulatory burden for banks and other large businesses in their dealings with small business operators.

The NSW Goverment proposed to create a Small Business Commissioner in July 2011 and the public consultation period in respect to the proposal closed on 23 August 2012. The NSW Opposition has now introduced a Private Member’s Bill entitled the Small Business Commissioner and Small Business Protection Bill 2012 setting out its proposed regime.

The stated objects of the Bill are broadly as follows:• To create and empower the position of

Small Business Commissioner as an independent statutory office.

• To ensure that small businesses are treated fairly in their dealings with other businesses and Government agencies through enforceable codes of practice.

• To enable small business to obtain relief under the Contracts Review Act 1980 in respect to unjust contracts.The foreshadowed Act, including the

proposed amendments to the Contracts Review Act 1980, would apply to all

contracts in force at the time the Act commences operation.

Obviously, given that the Bill has been tabled by the Opposition, it is unlikely that it will have the Government’s support in its current form. However, the Bill may be an indication of the Government’s legislation to come.

What is a “Small Business”?

The Bill defines a “Small Business” as a business enterprise, whether operated by a natural person, sole trader, partnership, corporation or other entity with:• no more than 20 full-time equivalent

employees; or• an annual income or expenditure of

between $10,000 and $5 million,• but does not include a Government agency.

The Small Business Commissioner

Interestingly, the NSW Government appointed former ACCC Associate Commissioner Yasmin King to the post of Small Business Commissioner in July 2011, notwithstanding the fact that legislation providing for the powers and obligations of the role was not yet enacted.

The Bill proposes a number of functions for the Commissioner, including:• To be an advocate for small business

generally• To handle complaints made by small

businesses regarding their dealings with other businesses and Government agencies

• To refer cases to other bodies• To assist small businesses in their dealings

with other businesses or Government agencies

• To disseminate information to small businesses

• To administer codes of practice• To advise and report to the Minister on

matters affecting small businesses

Codes of Practice

The Bill provides for regulations to prescribe codes of practice with respect to the fair treatment of small businesses in their commercial dealings with other businesses, and that any such code may, without limitation, provide for good faith obligations in commercial dealings.

The Bill empowers the Supreme Court, on application by the Commissioner, to grant injunctions in circumstances involving actual or potential contravention of a code of practice. Such injunctions may be granted on an interim basis without the requirement of any undertaking as to damages or costs.

Extension of Contracts Review Act 1980 to Small Business

The Bill proposes to extend the operation of the Contracts Review Act 1980 to small businesses and provides that an operator of a small business may apply to the Consumer, Trader and Tenancy Tribunal (CTTT) or the Supreme Court of NSW for an order in relation to any contract that the operator considers to be harsh, oppressive, unconscionable or unjust. The Contracts Review Act 1980 would be amended accordingly.

Remedies available to the Court and CTTT would include powers to:• refuse to enforce any or all of the

provisions of a contract• declare a contract void (in whole or in

part) or vary any provision of a contract• make orders with respect to

consequential matters including orders for the payment of money to a party to the contract and orders for the supply of services.

Upshot

The Government’s proposed legislation is yet to be released. However, if the Opposition’s Bill is any guide, it can be expected that:• the Small Business Commissioner will

be empowered to broadly represent the interests of small businesses; and

• a regime will be introduced to protect the interests of small businesses in their dealings with big business and Government along the lines of current consumer protections available to individuals in respect to unfair contracts.At this stage, watch this space.DibbsBarker is a commercially focused

law firm comprising leading legal advisors to five key industries – energy, resources & infrastructure, financial services, insurance, medical & pharmaceutical, and property. The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances. Specific Questions relating to this article should be addressed directly to the author.

Insurance - Cost versus cover(Cabinet Making, Shopfitting & Joinery Industry)

Paul Wright, National Manager, Cabinet Makers Insurance Brokers.

Proposed extension of consumer laws to small businessesBy Ross Rydge DibbsBarker

FINANCE/ INSURANCE/ BUSINESS 11 - November 2012, TIMBERMAN

MANY BUSINESS owners are unaware that the

asset protection outcomes they sought to achieve by implementing a particular corporate structure may have been rendered ineffective by the introduction of the Personal Property Securities Act 2009 (Cth) (PPSA)

In this factsheet, senior associate Tim Scanlan discusses the impact of the PPSA on certain business structures, and outlines what business owners should do to ensure that structures designed for asset protection remain effective.

What effect does the PPSA have?

The PPSA establishes one Australian register, the Personal Property Security Register (‘PPSR’), which records all security interests in personal property,

including assets that are used in businesses. The security interests that are regulated by the PPSA include:• traditional security

arrangements such as charges and mortgages (excluding in relation to land); and

• many arrangements not previously considered security interests, such as retention of title arrangements, hiring arrangements, and other arrangements where the party that owns the property no longer possesses it.Example: structuring for

asset protection purposesA business owner might

establish two separate entities so that:• one entity holds all of the

assets; and• the other entity (‘the trading

entity’) uses those assets (under a formal or informal lease or hire arrangement) to conduct a business.

The trading entity is exposed to the risks inherent in running a business. The asset holder, on the other hand, is simply a passive

owner (and hirer) of assets, and is therefore not exposed to a large amount of risk.

If the trading entity went into some form of insolvent administration, the lease or hire arrangement could be terminated, and the asset holder would be entitled to retake possession of the assets as the owner. The assets could then be leased or hired to a new entity that might be established to operate a new business going forward.

Commonly, the trading entity has possession of the assets, while the asset holder retains ownership of those assets.

What is the impact of the PPSA?

Before the introduction of the PPSA, the arrangement outlined above would have been an effective way to insulate the assets from the risks of running a business, provided the arrangement was properly documented. The asset holder’s interests in the assets (as owner) would have been recognised at law.

This position changes under the PPSA. To protect its interest in the assets, the asset holder must register that interest (now a security interest under the PPSA) on the PPSR. The registration is against the trading entity as ‘grantor’ of the security interest in favour of the asset holder, and it must take place

within certain timeframes and before any insolvency event occurs to the trading entity. Registration ‘perfects’ the asset owner’s interest in the assets and means that interest will be protected if the trading entity becomes subject to any form of insolvency administration.

What are the consequences of not registering a security interest?

If the asset holder fails to register its interest in the assets under the PPSA, there is a risk that those assets will be available to the creditors of the trading entity if the trading entity becomes insolvent. The fact that the asset holder is the owner of the assets is irrelevant if its interest is not recorded on the PPSR or perfected in some other way allowed by the PPSA (though registration is the easiest and most common).

What should you do now?

This is just one example of how the PPSA may reduce the effectiveness of a structure that has been put in place with asset protection in mind. Business owners concerned about asset protection should seek advice on the operation of the PPSA, and ensure that interests are registered on the PPSR.

In the example above, this would involve:• putting a formal agreement

in place between the asset holder and the trading entity to establish the relationship between the parties in relation to the assets; and

• registering the asset holder’s interest as a security interest on the PPSR.Award-winning law firm

HopgoodGanim offers c o m m e r c i a l l y - fo c u s e d advice, coupled with reliable and responsive service,

to clients throughout Australia and across international borders. The asset protection advantages of particular structures are discussed in more detail in our factsheet Common structures used in private businesses. The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances. Specific Questions relating to this article should be addressed directly to the author.

BEFORE YOUR business engages workers, you need to check whether they are employees or contractors by examining the details of the working arrangements.

It is important that you get the decision right as you will need to meet different tax and super obligations depending on whether your workers are employees or contractors, according to the Australian Tax Office.

Many businesses are getting the employee or contractor decision wrong as they are not checking whether they have set up their arrangements correctly. A significant number of businesses the ATO visited last year to check their contractor arrangements got it wrong.

The ATO Employee or contractor home page offers comprehensive, easy to understand information you can rely on to determine if your workers are employees or contractors.

The homepage has all the information you need in one place to help you determine if your workers are employees or contractors, including: • the basics – things every business needs to know • the common reasons businesses get the employee or

contractor decision wrong • industry specific information • an Employee/contractor decision tool which will give an

answer businesses can rely on • summary of the obligations businesses need to meet for their

employees or contractors. You are responsible for correctly determining if your

workers are employees or contractors and meeting the required tax and super obligations. If you get the decision wrong, you risk having to pay penalties. For more information visit www.ato.gov.au/EmployeeContractorEssentials

Business Succession Factsheet: How the PPSA might reduce the level of asset protection afforded by your corporate structureBy Hayden S Delaney, Tim Scanlan, Laura Hanrahan and Michele Davis HopgoodGanim Lawyers

Employee or contractor – helping you make the right decision

Quick, easy and

targeted industryemployment Now you can target qualified and experienced personnel in the

forest and timber industries with www.timberbiz.com.au

All jobs are listed for 3 days on Daily Timber News

for even greater market coverage.

Post your job online at www.timberbiz.com.au/timberjobs

its the service with a touch of a button!

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TIMBERMAN, November 2012 – 14

CUTTING EDGE learning for cutting edge technology

... it’s all available from specialised Registered Organisations, and there’s flexibility, too!

Take, for example, a Certificate III in Sawdoctoring. There is a blended delivery of this full qualification with face-to-face blocks, distance study and assignments; Skill sets of units of your choice to suit your job role or career path; RPL by distance or face-to-face (conditions of third party validation are required).

As Ian McLeod (principal of McLeod Training Organisation which is based in Cairns) pointed out, to become a saw doctor you usually have to complete

an apprenticeship in Sawdoctoring or Engineering - Fabrication Trade.

“Entry requirements may vary but employers generally require Year 10 as an entry pre-requisite but experience and knowledge may allow enrolment. Contact the RTOs listed to ask about the possibility of starting some of this training in school.

“Course participants could be new to the industry and industry sector or already currently employed within the industry or this sector. Participants would enroll in this program for employment security and career development. This qualification provides capacity building with positive career pathway opportunities within industry,” he said.

Such a certificate would open up the opportunities to work in the following forestry industry jobs:• Saw manufacturers• Saw service and machine

shops• Woodworking factories• Large timber mills • Forest Industry

m a n a g e m e n t opportunities

• Sawmilling management opportunities

• Other industries that use sawing equipmentSelf-employment is

possible, particularly in saw blade and cutting tool maintenance.

The Sawdoctor

Qualification has a total of 26 units of competence that must be completed for the qualification. Individual units can be chosen for flexibility according to the qualification packaging rules. This comprises 10 compulsory core units and 16 Elective units.• Work within a team safely

in the forest industry with an appreciation of the forest industry

• Communicate and interact effectively in the workplace

• Implement safety, health and environment policies and procedures

• Prepare and interpret sketches and drawings

• Apply principles of blade design to sawing procedures

• Sharpen and align knives and blades and cutting tools

• Manufacture and maintain sawdoctoring and cutting tools

• Swage and shape saw blades, replace saws, blades and guides

• Assess and maintain saw and cutter performance

• Sharpen band, tipped circular saws, circular saws and file and set saws

• Recondition guides, align sawing production systems and level and tension circular saws

• Produce templates, weld and join saw blades

• Hard face saw teeth, replace tungsten and stellite tips

• Maintain wide band saw blades and profile saw blanks

• Recondition band mill wheels and maintain frame saw blades

• Conduct oxyacetylene, gas tungsten and gas metal arc welding

• Perform brazing and silver solderingBy gaining a Certificate

III in Sawdoctoring you receive:• Formal Qualification

of Certificate III in Sawdoctoring

• Statements of Attainments for units completed

• Recognition in industry of this sought-after qualification in Australia and Internationally

Get your teeth into cutting edge technologyFor enrolments for the Qualification of FPI30705 Certificate III in Sawdoctoring contact any of the three joint venture alliance contacts listed:

MTO Group Pty Ltd National Provider No: 32493McLeod Training Organisation Pty Ltd National Provider No: 31087Ian McLeod07 4033 [email protected]@industrytraining.orgwww.mtotraining.comPO Box 957N North Cairns QLD 4870

LITA Logging and Investigation and Training Association Inc Mount Gambier South AustraliaNational Provider No: 0577Andy Cusack 08 8735 [email protected]://www.lita.org.auPO Box 9172 Mount Gambier West SA 5291

Southern Training Organisation Pty Ltd (STO) Eden NSWNational Provider No: 91378John (Charlie) Waites02 64961 9741300 659 [email protected]://www.southerntraining.com.au/PO Box 251 Eden NSW 2551Units 15/16 38 Hopkins Street Eden NSW 2551

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MAIJA LIIRI, who is about to graduate as a Master of Science (Technology) from the School of Chemical Technology, has written a thesis that examines the properties of a new plywood product, which is claimed to be the most revolutionary innovation in the plywood industry for 30 years

The new product, UPM Grada, which has

been designed for such uses as furniture industry, is like ordinary plywood but easier to shape. The veneers have been put together using a new type of glue joint, which means that when heated the product can be bent into desired shapes. The new product is also more resistant to moisture than ordinary plywood. Maija hit on the topic of her thesis on a course where the CEO of UPM

was giving a visiting lecture. Liiri heard that UPM was launching a new plywood product. She wanted to know more and realised that the product could be an interesting topic for her Master’s thesis.

“I felt lucky because my dream had come true. The best thing about writing the thesis was that I was able examine a new innovation. I was able

to see the whole product development process.” UPM Grada plywood has already been used in chairs made by Isku. According to UPM, the positive publicity resulting from Liiri’s thesis has also prompted other contacts requesting more information about the product. Maija Liiri is still interested in working with UPM Grada even though she has already found work elsewhere.

Plywood innovation

During the Cutting Days in Illertissen (Germany), Weinig showed an impressive demonstration of its technology. The highlight of the event was the presentation of the by now biggest Weinig cutting line ever for a company in Chile. Heart

of the installation are the four cross-cut saws OptiCut 450 FJ+ II with a feeding via high-speed scanner CombiScan C 600+. Visitors from all over Europe, China and South Africa came to get an overview about the latest developments on the field of cross-cut saws and gluing presses on the Weinig DimterLine.

Impressive high-speed cutting line Super-cross-cut-line.

Austrian glulam construction specialist Wiehag has secured the contract to build the landmark timber grid shell roof for Foster + Partners’ Canary Wharf Crossrail station, East London.

The spectacular 300m long roof will comprise 1,500

spruce glulam beams (about 1,000m3), with west and east ends cantilevering 30m out over water. It will cover a park area above the four-level £500m station. Wiehag said the roof was probably the biggest glulam contract in the UK to date.

They’ve got you covered!

HOUSINGTIMBERMAN, November 2012 – 16

BLEAK HOUSE was more than the name of a Charles Dickens book it could well have been the title of this

year’s HIA forecast for housing starts. Little in the way of good news came out of the recent HIA breakfast to announce the HIA Housing 100 Report.

HIA has reported that after revisions by the Australian Bureau of Statistics, the 2011 calendar year saw housing starts in Australia fall by 11.3 per cent to a level of 150,788.

In the March 2012 quarter, housing starts sank to a quarterly level below that experienced during the global financial crisis. This compounded an already weak housing outlook, and combined with continued deterioration in the majority of the leading indicators for housing activity, has led us to a downgrade of forecasts.

The HIA Economics Group’s housing starts forecast for calendar year 2012 is 133,416 starts and for calendar 2013 the forecast is 143,633 starts.

The numbers don’t look any better for the financial years. In 2011/12 the numbers stand at 135,284 starts, and for the financial year 2012/13 it is forecast to be 141,867. So no matter which way you roll the dice it’s a bleak outlook.

According to the HIA the primary factors behind Australia’s residential building industry downturn include cautious consumers, tight credit conditions, previously

too-high interest rates, and an excessive taxation burden on the new home sector.

If that’s not bad enough, renovations have also showed signs of a slightly weaker profile in recent quarters, notwithstanding that, total renovation investment was up by 1.5% in 2011. HIA is forecasting renovation investment to fall by 1.5% to $29.5 billion in 2011/12 but to grow by 1.3% to $29.9 billion in 2012/13.

“It is the case and I don’t think it will be surprising to anybody … when we look at

the Housing 100 for 2011-12 the large body of builders did not commence as much housing as was the case in 2010-11,” said Harvey Dale, chief economist for the HIA Economics Group.

“So in 2011-12 the largest 100 builders started 48,130 homes across Australia that’s a 7.3% decline relative to 2010-11.”

A figure less than 50,000 starts for the largest 100 builders in Australia is unfortunately highlighting the fact that the new home building sector is very weak

“I’ve been saying for some time now in my view that the home building sector is the weakest sector in the Australian economy in this current point in time,” said Dale.

“It was a challenging year and it was highlighted by the fact that 48,130 starts is the lowest level of housing starts for the top 100 since 1997-98.

“The total number of new home commencements in the 2011/12 financial year fell 11.7% to 138,852.”

There have only been two periods in the last 15 years where the total number of dwelling commencements in a 12-month period has been lower than they are now. The first was at the time the GST was introduced and the second was in 2009 during the worst of the financial crisis.

The healthiest new building market is

Victoria but even that is in a considerable decline with almost 50,000 new homes however, NSW struggles to build 30,000 and Queensland fails to reach even 30,000 in a year.

There are some results this year that are very strong and highlight the fact that even in a challenging building environment the high volume builders have found a way to maintain a reasonable level of high level of housing starts.

For the second consecutive year Metricon

homes has taken the spot for number one homebuilder in Australia.

The top five homebuilders for this year are the same as they were in 2010/11 but with a change around in numbers four and five – now Hickory at number four and Simmons in fifth spot.

The vast majority of the large volume builders have retained their positions in the top 20 over the two years.

There are four new entries in the top 20 for 2011/12 those are Meriton apartments operating across New South Wales and Queensland, Pinden in Western Australia, Eden Brae in New South Wales and the Summit Group in Western Australia.

With respect to the multi unit market there is a modicum of good news.

“What’s been driving that is not the detached house market, what we refer to in the report as the multi unit market, which is any residential housing start that is not a detached house. It’s been driving a lot of movement in the 2011-12,” said Dale.

“The key sign coming out of all this despite some good movement within the list is that overall volume for detached housing and aggregates were down.

“It was a softer year for new home building reflected mainly in detached housing.”

If we look at the top 20 multi unit builders

there are the same two as the previous year in the top spots - Hickory Group at number one for third consecutive year and Brookfield Multiplex holding on to the second ranking for the second consecutive year.

There were a few new entrants in this group with Hotondo Homes, WSH Group and Eden Brae Homes.

“Against this backdrop of strong aggregate economic conditions, Australia’s new home building sector entered 2012 with momentum still clearly heading in the wrong direction,” said Dale.

“The contemporary environment that we find ourselves in is quite challenging … from a construction perspective we have certainly faced healthier conditions than is currently the case.”

Forward indicators of new home building activity point to further weakness.

In assessing 11 leading indicators of new housing activity as of early July 2012 the HIA has found that seven are pointing to further declines in new housing starts.

On the positive side, the two new housing finance updates – the number of loans for new owner occupier dwellings and the value of residential investment for construction - are both up modestly, while the leading visual relationship between the Westpac-Melbourne Institute Time to Buy a Dwelling Index and housing starts is heading in the right direction.

THE ANNOUNCEMENT of a new unit called the Housing and Infrastructure Delivery Office to drive housing delivery and report on housing supply has been welcomed by the Housing Industry Association.

“HIA supports any measures that are aimed

at removing barriers and drive the delivery of the new housing supply New South Wales so desperately needs,” said HIA Executive Director, NSW, David Bare.

“The new structure which includes a new Housing and Infrastructure

Delivery Office is a positive step towards achieving this.

“HIA has been calling on the Government for some time to demonstrate a collective will and strength to create a ‘can do’ mentality in the provision of planning outcomes that

support housing supply. This will remain the critical challenge,” he said.

HIA looks forward to working co-operatively with the Minister and the Department of Planning and Infrastructure to ensure the success of these new reforms.

Planning overhaul welcomed by HIA

Bleak house for Australian residential constructions

The home building sector is the weakest sector in the Australian economy in this current point in time Dr. Harley Dale.

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CANADIAN RESEARCHERS have discovered other uses for beetle killed pine. Sorin Pasca, a graduate student at the University of Northern British Columbia, found that rain and snow conveniently washed out sugars and other organic compounds from dead pine trees. By grinding up the dry BKP and adding it to normal cement, he created a hybrid material that is waterproof, fire-resistant and pourable like concrete but that can be worked, cut and nailed or drilled like wood. The material, dubbed Beetlecrete, has already been used to make countertops, benches and planters.And, on the other side of the world, designed

entirely in Australia, Timbercrete bricks and blocks have been generating widespread interest within the construction industry around the world. Timbercrete products are made from recycled timber waste such as sawdust from sawmills and other cellulose materials from plantation timbers with no trees cut down for the production. The timber waste is combined with other raw materials to produce bricks, blocks and panels of various shapes and sizes. The single skin Timbercrete range features an attractive and versatile finish inside and out, allowing homeowners to dispense with internal cladding. They’re also widely used in landscaping.

SU B S T I T U T I N G JUST 1% of tropical timbers

with sustainably grown radiata pine would be a significant opportunity for New Zealand. Scion’s wood processing scientists are developing and preparing to commercialise a technology platform with New Zealand-based companies that can deliver new applications for wood. The technology is protected by international patents.

The Scion team has successfully developed “dewatered” wood from radiata pine. The dewatered wood is not an end product. It is a superior material that relies on downstream modifications to achieve a high-value, wood-based material that meets a range of market needs not currently met by radiata pine.

An early application of this platform technology demonstrates that the resulting modified wood

product has similar physical and appearance properties to tropical hardwoods such as teak.

The research is developing a transformative technology using supercritical carbon dioxide. Supercritical fluids behave like both a gas and a liquid and have been used in commercial applications to remove chemicals from a substance without distorting the original structure of the material.

Dewatered wood looks and feels like any other piece of timber, but is slightly heavier as it contains 40% moisture content, compared with about 10% in kiln-dried timber.

Dr Elspeth MacRae, General Manager Manufacturing and Bioproduct Development, says the technology gives radiata pine another mechanism to compete with high-value hardwoods thus

increasing export earnings for New Zealand.

She emphasises the new technology is not a drying technology; rather it results in wood properties which are fundamentally different. This enables further modification to a range of exacting stability, hardness, colour and durability requirements. Mostly, these subsequent modifications will occur by impregnating transforming agents into freshly dewatered wood.

In addition to new wood products, liquid extracted from the dewatering process has been analysed by Scion’s Nuclear Magnetic Resonance spectroscopy team and a range of biochemicals identified. There are potential revenue streams from these extractives.

To date, research in New Zealand has been limited by the availability of a dewatering supercritical fluids facility that can

process larger amounts of wood. In addition to continuing to work closely with companies interested in licensing the technology, Scion has commissioned

Transfield Worley to design a Supercritical Pilot Plant. This would be located at Scion’s Rotorua campus to produce sufficient volumes of dewatered material

to further the research program on the process and assist potential licensee firms complete market and economic evaluation of prototype products.

A new kind of wood adds value

Talk about value-adding!

A PORT Alberni forest company with a new engineered wood product that uses one of the world’s most sought-after lumber species – Western Red Cedar – is at the cutting edge of a rebirth of British Columbia’s value-added forestry sector.

Coulson Lumber Manufacturing is taking the best of the best – clear cedar boards – cutting them down to an eighth of an inch in thickness and then laminating them to a plywood core. In the process of making a new product,

Coulson has taken a step away from the commodity lumber business that is the staple of the B.C. forest industry and moved into the world of high-valued wood products where aesthetics, not price, rules.

Coulson’s engineered cedar was one of the highlights at a value-added wood products conference and trade show at Whistler. The show attracted global buyers seeking innovation in forestry.

More than 1,000 value-added products were showcased at the conference, called Global

Buyers Mission. Hawrysh said B.C. has developed a value-added industry worth $4.8 billion a year and employing 19,000 people by seeking out niche markets for wood products that have global appeal.

John Gillis, general manager of lumber and exports for Taiga Building Products, one of Canada’s largest building products distribution companies, said the same forest resource was now providing both commodity products and value-added products.

Thousands flock to value-adding showcase

Timbercrete blocks provide an easy to install and aesthetically pleasing finish.

ENGINEERED WOODTIMBERMAN, November 2012 – 18

THE EXTREMES of Australia’s diverse climatic conditions

can now be overcome by the world leading technology of Accoya® wood, which has been successfully tested on several high profile construction projects in India’s challenging climate.

Accoya wood, manufactured by Accsys Technologies, is one of the most advanced wood products on the market, using the best in wood modification technology to deliver outstanding levels of performance, stability and durability.

It is created by using a proprietary non-toxic process called acetylation on sustainably sourced woods. This results in an attractive wood that matches or exceeds

the properties against tropical hardwood, which is perfect for a variety of uses from windows to doors to external cladding. Most notably, Accoya has been selected by one of India’s leading shipping companies, Link Shipping Private Ltd, to meet the demands of its prestigious downtown commercial building in Mumbai. The organisation wanted to create a decked area on the top floor of the 16-storey building, which would create a marine atmosphere providing visitors with spectacular views over the Arabian Sea.

Construction materials, however, needed to address India’s challenging climate. The site endures over two metres of rain during the monsoon season meaning the

materials used must be able to withstand high levels of precipitation as well as provide suitable drainage solutions.

To address this, Link Shipping looked to local suppliers RitikaaWood to recommend the ideal material, which resulted in the use of Accoya wood due to its durability, stability and high performance

capabilities - making it perfect for any demanding outdoor application.

“I was hesitant to use wood in a high humidity, high rainfall location like Mumbai, but I have been extremely pleased by both the performance and look of Accoya’s decking solution,” said Kiran Kamath, managing director, Link Shipping Private Ltd.

RitikaaWood has also provided Accoya to several private residences throughout the country including a luxury suburban house in Central Pune. The owners required a premium wood finish, which would complement the luxury interior wood finishes, while withstanding the difficult climate conditions. As a result, Accoya was chosen for a two-track sliding door and a combination of both

two and four shutter windows with casement frames in a modern three-storey suburban bungalow.

Stability and durability were also key factors in the modernisation of a 5000sq ft. farmhouse in Panvel in the state of Maharashtra. The tropical climate, combined with heavy winds during the monsoon season, meant any

timber product used had to be exceptional. Around 150m2 metres of Accoya was used to make 20 windows, louvers and walls, and all items were pre-engineered and fixed within a matter of hours in order to avoid the challenging monsoon weather.

The finished product is clear evidence that not only does Accoya provide the house with durability and stability, but it complements the natural surroundings of the property.

Accoya’s 50-year durability and stability guarantee meant the modified wood was the obvious choice to replace timber window frames which had split after just two years because of India’s extreme climate. The Balinese style property in Khandala in the Western Ghats near Mumbai now benefits from easy and fast drainage of surface rain

water from the tracks to prevent any further damage.

“Accoya is becoming more and more popular in India, because it can withstand the challenges posed by the difficult climate. We’ve received positive feedback from each development with the owners delighted with the benefits Accoya provides,” said Bryan Crennell, director

of sales and marketing at Accsys Technologies.

“Like India, areas throughout Australia endure a challenging climate, with high temperatures and high rainfall combined with seasons of little rainfall. Accoya is the ideal solution for external solid wood cladding, windows and doors without worrying about the threat of extreme weather.

“Accoya is able to withstand the humid and seasonal weather. It offers consumers, architects and builders a new wood solution, which combats the rising energy costs, dusty environments and desire for European sourced materials and designs.

“Accoya matches or exceeds the properties of the best tropical hardwoods, lasts for at least 50 years above the ground and reduces shrinkage and swelling by at least 75%. Accoya is also aesthetically pleasing and can be used for the most intricate designs.”

Mathews Timber is the Australian distributor of Accoya. Based in Vermont, Victoria, since 1959 Mathews Timber is a leading national Australian stocking distributor, supplying quality timbers to furniture manufacturers, stair builders, joiners, shopfitters, builders, cabinetmakers and hobbyists. Mathews Timber currently has four locations across Australia including two kiln drying and machining distribution facilities, one component manufacturing operation and a sawmill.

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FINLAND’S LARGEST wooden multi-storey building comprising 104 flats has been

completed in Viikki, Helsinki. Based on the Metsä Wood Multi-Storey System, the block is composed of five wooden buildings, each with three to four floors, with a total gross floor area of 6,300 square metres.

“The project proved that wood is an excellent alternative for industrial construction of multi-storey buildings. Many of the traditional challenges associated with the construction of wooden multi-storey buildings were solved. The residences in Viikki are state-of-the-art in terms of fire safety, soundproofing, and energy-

efficiency,” says Ari Tiukkanen, Senior Vice President Building Products, Metsä Wood.

Plenty of new information and research results were collected and obtained during the construction. While the project was in progress, VTT Expert Services Ltd carried out a carbon footprint assessment, among other measurements, for the site. Tampere University of Technology assessed the building’s air-tightness, and Helimäki Acoustics carried out acoustic measurements.

The housing is equipped with an automatic fire-extinguishing system, which gives an unsurpassed advantage when compared with the fire safety of the traditional

construction method: in the event of a fire, the automatic system prevents the fire from spreading, the temperature will not rise, and there will not be a decrease in the level of oxygen in the room. If the system is activated, the amount of water needed is very small, thanks to the spray technology used (1.4 l/min). This prevents any significant water damage.

The Metsä Wood Multi-Storey System comprises a Kerto-structured beam-and-post frame, intermediate floors, roofing panels, and exterior walls delivered as timber frames. The balcony structures and awnings of the houses were created with Kerto and glulam elements. The impressive 42-millimetre-

thick King Panel, made from Metsä Wood’s King Beam glulam, crowns the wooden multi-storey buildings. A façade panel that is up to 12 metres long creates a harmonious and clear line for the housing.

The Metsä Wood Multi-Storey System fosters cost-effective construction of multi-storey buildings, because it significantly reduces the construction time needed, decreases on-site labour, and minimises loss of materials.

“The frame and intermediate floor phase in Viikki was accomplished very quickly, because no drying related to concrete construction was needed and construction work could continue without delay. Viikki also taught us how the construction

process can be improved further,” says Tiukkanen. Construction began with foundation work in the summer of 2011.

The Metsä Wood Multi-Storey System has been developed over several years through a network of leading experts in the construction industry, and the system has been used in the construction of wooden multi-storey buildings in a number of countries including Germany, France, and Italy. Finnish developers have also expressed a keen interest in wood-based construction, with almost a dozen new areas of wooden multi-storey buildings being planned, in locations all over Finland, including Espoo, Turku, Rauma, Tampere, and Ylivieska.

STORA ENSO Building and Living has won the coveted Achievement in Engineered Timber Award at this year’s Timber Trade Journal (TTJ) Awards in the United Kingdom. The award is in recognition of the complex cross-laminated timber (CLT) engineering solution in the construction of Bridport House, an eight-storey social

housing building in the London Borough of Hackney.

According to the TTJ award judges (an independent panel of industry experts), Bridport House has contributed greatly to furthering the advance of cross-laminated timber in UK construction.

“Bridport House was the main project when launching our CLT into UK

markets. Bridport presented several difficult challenges which we were able to overcome with CLT, and we worked closely in Bridport with specialist timber contractor Eurban, whose in-depth knowledge of CLT engineering provided a perfect complement for Stora Enso’s high quality wood products,” says Wayne Probert, UK Sales Manager, Stora Enso Building Solutions.

Bridport House has been in use since 2011 and achieved excellent feedback not only from the residents, but also from architects, city representatives and contractors. Altogether some 1,600m3 of CLT was used in the structure of the residential building, which has 41 units.

Stora Enso employs some 30,000 people worldwide, and its sales in 2011 amounted to ÷€11.0 billion. UK-based TTJ is owned by World Market Intelligence, a premium information and marketing solution company focused on the provision of high quality information and software solutions to drive business success.

WIND POWER generators can be made from timber, according to German company TimberTower GmbH. The company has a 100m high tower made from wood that saves around 300 tonnes of steel. Additionally, emissions generated in the manufacture of the towers are offset by the wood which acts as a carbon sink.

TimberTower’s wood turbine towers offer logistical advantages. In some places the height of a tower is governed by physical restrictions relating to roads and rules for transporting oversized loads. The TimberTower components can be transported to a site in shipping containers and the system allows for towers of up to 200 metres high to be constructed. The tower is made from

glued laminated timber panels assembled on-site into a closed, hollow body with a hexagonal, octagonal or dodecagonal cross section. The raw wood material is sourced from sustainably managed forests and is PEFC certified. The manufacturing costs of the timber tower are reportedly substantially lower than those of steel structures. TimberTower is constructing the first 100m wooden tower in Hannover, Germany that will produce electricity for about 1000 households. The company says its solution meets all current requirements for insurance, certification and fire protection regulations and guarantees a minimum serviceable life of 20 years. All materials used in the tower can be recycled.

Finland’s largest wooden multi-storey building completed

Timber turns it on!

Prestigious award for CLT engineering solution

ASSOCIATION NEWSTIMBERMAN, November 2012 – 20

GOLD SPONSORS

SILVER SPONSORS

BRONZE SPONSORS

www.ftmaaustralia.com.au FOR MORE INFORMATION

CONTACT KERSTEN GENTLE:

0418 226 242


Australasia

By Kersten GentleExecutive OfficerFTMA Australia WHEN A Work

Cover Authority declares it is going

to shine the light on your industry and conduct a review it sends shivers up your spine. Not because you are concerned your industry is doing anything untoward as we all recognise the importance of safety but simply because it is a Government Department and of course it is Work Cover!

Work Cover NSW has developed a Consultation draft industry action plan for their Focus on Wooden Structural Component Manufacturing which they have been focusing on this year. To say I was impressed with what was presented is an understatement and I take my hat off to Work Cover NSW for their excellent report.

The report gave an overview of the industry looking at the size of businesses, the demographics of the policy holders and the claims. From here they broke the claims in to specific areas which they would like to focus on as part of an industry approach.

The report found:• As at February 2010, 47,500

persons (approximately 5% of the manufacturing workforce) were employed in the wood product manufacturing industry in NSW.

• Of all manufacturing industries, wood product manufacturing had the

greatest percentage of male workers (89% compared to 73% in manufacturing as a whole).

• 89% of workers were employed full-time.

• The median age of workers in the wood products manufacturing industry was 39 years (as at 2009).

• Work Cover NSW has 1816 policy holders in NSW in the wooden structural components manufacturing industry and the report identified the sizes of the businesses as:

• Micro (<5 workers) 62%• Small (5 – 19 workers) 31%• Medium (20 – 199 workers)

7%• Large (200+ workers)

0.02%As stated they the broke

the policy holders down in to Work Cover regions which found;• Hunter – 6%• South East – 10%• Metro – 66%• North Coast – 7%• North West – 3%• South West - 6%• Unknown – 1%

The worrying part of the report was that claims in our sector have increased by 39% between 2006/2007 and 2009/2010. This is a massive increase and represents 1968 claims which can be broken down to:• Major Claims – 843• Fatalities – 2• Permanent disabilities –

223• Temporary disabilities > 6

months off work – 74

• Temporary disabilities <6 months off work – 1669These figures are

frightening not only to the employer but to employees and their families. As a partner of someone who had a permanent disability after a log rolled on his back I know the pain and suffering this causes and I am proud that from what I have seen in the Frame and Truss sector that businesses consider safety a high priority.

Some of you may be thinking, here we go again, another Government study providing statistics but nothing else. Well, in this case Work Cover NSW is doing something. They are engaging with industry and asking industry to take a lead in securing healthy, safe and productive workplaces.

This isn’t just about raising awareness but putting programs in place for mentoring, training, increasing rebates for safety improvements and taking a collaborative approach ensuring the right people are delivering the programs.

There have been great studies and reports produced over time but the key is ensuring they are not left on the shelf in the Government department of in the bottom of someone’s draw. We need to ensure when guidelines and / or procedures are developed that they are distributed through the industry Associations.

FTMA Australia looks forward to working with the wider industry to reduce

the number of claims and ensuring our industry provides world class safety standards for employees.

Corporate Travel Insurance benefiting your employees

FTMA Australia Silver Sponsor, Austbrokers has secured a Corporate Travel Insurance policy that will not only save your business money but will also provide an added bonus for your workers, especially in the lead up to Christmas as the policy covers Business Travel, Leisure Travel and all Travel for your employees.

Travel Insurance can be costly. I know of a family of five who recently went to the USA for 6 weeks and their travel insurance was in excess of $580.00 and the policy did have restrictions.

The new Corporate Travel Insurance for FTMA Australia members covers:• All trips over 100

kilometres from home are automatically covered

• No need to advise employer or insurer of dates or details of travel

• All trips up to 180 days are covered

• Policy includes cover for all directors, employees including accompanying partner and dependent children

• Policy includes all travel whether business or leisure only

• Age limit of 85• No exclusion for pre-

existing medical conditionsBetter still the costs are

extremely competitive, if not downright cheap! The premium, like FTMA Australia membership is based on the number of employees and as stated above not only covers the business for all corporate and leisure travel but covers every single employee.

Premium costs are:

No of Employees

Total Premium

0-15 $450

16-40 $780

41 plus $1,170

This policy automatically saves FTMA Australia money as our premium was $450.00 and covers all my travel. Furthermore I no longer need to take out the ‘premium hire car insurance’ when hiring a car. We all know the hire car insurance rates are ridiculous where we have to pay up to $23 extra per day to ensure the excess is covered on your car. Under this policy the $5,000 excess on the hire car is covered providing great savings.

This would provide a great bonus for your employees in the lead up to Christmas knowing they are covered when going on holidays. For further information please contact me on 0418 226 242 and if you are not a member, consider joining as this is not the only benefit FTMA Australia can provide you and your business.

Impressed with ‘focus’ on industry

THE KNOCK on Wood Roadshow showcased the latest developments in scanning, optimisation and timber processing from all aspects of the process, together with case studies and Q&A time on specific areas of interest.

Organised by Acora Reneco, the roadshow proved a hit to many in the industry.

The first function was held at the Sandringham Yacht Club where attendees were given expert insight to the activities of the overseas company.

Roger Timms – Acora Reneco … MiCROTEC - The company features systems for: Dry sorter for treatment; Back log control;. Spray booth; auto stacker; stick robot system, among many others. Then there’s the MiCROTEC Golden Eye that “sees” two boards a second; X-ray and vision scans, 200x75 scanned at 450m per

minute; 100x25 scanned at 540m per minute. One of these systems is installed at AKD Softwoods, Colac, Victoria.

Jurgen Schmidt – SPRINGER - Founded 1952, Springer operates in Austria, Italy, Canada, Russia and Australia and is a world leader in machine and plant design and manufactures its own components for quality control.

Thomas Lang – EWD – Founded in 1862 the sawline company offers specialist bandsaw, edger optimizer, circular saw and profiling. Its Flying Bandsaw has magnetic guides which replace pressure guides, resulting in a 30% increased feed speed.

Norbert Oberaigner – MiCROTEC Italy - Based in Northern Italy and founded 1980. A world leader with camera sensors, infrared scanning, shadow scanning, laser scanning, X-ray scanning, radio and microwave technology.

Leading lights in a demanding fieldFrom Norm Nelsen

Norbert Oberaigner of MiCROTEC.

Thomas Lang of EWD, Rudy Colorio and Norbert Oberaigner of MiCROTEC, Roger Timms of Acora Reneco and Jürgen Schmidt of Springer at the Melbourne presentation.

Norm Nelsen of Timberman with Thomas Lang of EWD.

ASSOCIATION NEWS

JANUARY

FEBRUARY

MARCH

APRIL

MAY

JUNE

JULY

AUGUST

SEPTEMBER

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1 Bank Holiday (QLD)

Picnic Day (NT)

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1 Melbourne Cup Day (VIC)

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3 Queen’s Birthday (WA)

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(except WA)

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26 Christmas Day Holiday

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26 Anzac Day Holiday

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27 Boxing Day Proclamation Day (SA)

26 Australia Day

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AU

ST

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LI A

N


2013

EVENTSCALENDAR

630 Regency Rd, Broadview, South Australia 5083

P +618 8369 9555 – F +618 8369 9501 – www.timberbiz.com.au

INDEPENDENT & AUSTRALIAN OWNED

MonTues

WedThur

FriSat

SunMon

TuesWed

ThurFri

SatSun

MonTues

WedThur

FriSat

SunMon

TuesWed

ThurFri

SatSun

MonTues

WedThur

FriSat

SunMon

Tues

2 - 4 The Australian International

Furniture Fair, Sydney Exhibition Centre.

14 - 18 Wood Science Course,

University of Melbourne

and CSIRO – Melbourne.

Contact Silvia Pongracic

0418 764 954 or visit

www.gottsteintrust.org

19 - 20 Rockhampton Home &

Lifestyle Expo, Rockhampton

Showgrounds.

1 - 4 WoodMac CHINA.

www.hannoverfairs.com.au

30 - April 1 3rd China Wooden House and

Wood Structure Exhibition 2011,

China Import & Export Fair Pazhou

Complex, Guangzhou, China.

5 - 7 Safety In Action. Melbourne

Exhibition Centre.

www.thesafetyshow.com,

email [email protected]

or phone Australian

Exhibitions & Conferences Pty

Ltd on 03 9654 7773.National Carpenters Day.

[email protected]

5 - 7 Forestry & Wood Industries

Festival, Rotorua,

New Zealand.

25 - 27 The Safety Show and Sydney

Materials Handling, Sydney

Showground. www.thesafetyshow.com,

email [email protected]

or phone Australian Exhibitions

& Conferences Pty Ltd on

03 9654 7773.

21 - 24 Furnitex, Melbourne

Convention and Exhibition

Centre, Melbourne.

15 - 17 Building & Home

Improvement Expo,

Melbourne Convention

and Exhibition Centre.

Melbourne, Victoria

29 - 30 HIA Home Renovate &

Build Expo, Brisbane

Convention & Exhibition

Centre, Brisbane.

10 - 13 Appita Annual Conference & Exhibition.

Energy Events Centre,

Rotorua, New Zealand.

4 - 6 MBA Building Home

Improvement Show, Perth

Convention Exhibition

Centre, Perth, Western Australia.

19 - 21 RadioWest Bunbury Home

Show, Eaton Recreation

Centre, Bunbury,

Western Australia.

12 - 13 Woodturners of the Goulburn

Valley Woodturning, Woodworking,

Craft & Furniture Show Eastbank,

Shepparton VIC

20 - 22 Brisbane Timber & Working

with Wood Show

RNA Showgrounds,

Brisbane QLD www.eee.net.au

17 - 19 Sydney Timber & Working

with Wood Show

Entertainment Quarter,

Moore Park, Sydney NSW

www.eee.net.au

23 - 25 Adelaide Timber

and Working With Wood

Show, Royal Adelaide

Showgrounds

2 - 4 Canberra Timber &

Working with Wood Show

Budawang Building,

Exhibition Park,

Canberra ACT www.eee.net.au

21 - 23 Melbourne Timber &

Working with Wood Show

melbourne Showgrounds,

Epsom Rd, Ascot Vale VIC

www.eee.net.au

A U S T R A L I A N


Ryan Media is dedicated to providing current, must-have information to its readers. If you have any event coming up in 2013 you wish to have considered for inclusion in the 2013 Australian Timberman Wall Planner, please email your details to: John Hudswell at [email protected] by 23rd of October.

With only limited advertising space available for this invaluable reference tool, please contact:

Norm Nelsen on 03 9888 4820 or email [email protected] further details.

Will your date show up in 2013?

BE SEEN BY THOUSANDS IN 2013


THE NSW Government recently announced substantial cuts in education funding, especially

funding for the placement of trainees and apprentices. This is a very disappointing decision that will have enormous ongoing ramifications. The Group Training Association of NSW & ACT (of which TABMA is a member) has prepared a response to the Government that basically states:

At only $1.7 million per annum, the NSW Government’s small investment in Group Training

Companies through the Joint Group Training Program (JGPT) represents excellent value for money.

Group Training Companies, such as TABMA, have been working in partnership with Government for over 30 years to deliver employment and training to thousands of apprentices and trainees.

Currently there are more than 7,000 small to medium sized businesses using Group Training throughout NSW as well as hundreds of larger employers. If it were not for Group Training these companies wouldn’t take on the risk of employing and training unskilled workers.

More than 100,000 apprentices and trainees have been employed and trained by Group Training

Organisations over three decades. These graduates now have skills, their own businesses and are champions of our world class apprenticeship system.

Group Training Companies employ approximately 8,000 apprentices and trainees across NSW.

Who will miss out as a result of the stopping of funding to a low cost, high return program that delivers apprentices and trainees to small to medium businesses in many regional areas?• Women – especially those who want

to work in construction, tourism and the automotive industry

• School leavers from disadvantaged backgrounds

• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders

• People in Regional NSW especially those in remote areas

• Young School Based Apprentices• Migrants and people from

culturally and linguistically diverse communities

• Mature Age people who are having to reskillWhat will happen without the

efforts of the Group Training Network ?

It will be more difficult for young people to secure an apprenticeship or traineeship

Apprentice drop out rates will increase as GTO’s will no longer provide “rotations” to assist completions

Employment costs will increase for small businesses

Small businesses will not train new entrants because of the increased cost and risk

Record numbers of 16-24 year olds are out of work. More people than ever are in part time jobs because they cannot find full time employment. NSW youth unemployment and disengagement is up there with the worst youth unemployment globally. Group Training Organisations provide a cost effective tool for Government to get our young people off welfare and into meaningful work. So why is the NSW Government destroying this lifeline to support disadvantaged, unemployed, unskilled young people?

Education funding cuts will have widespread ramificationsBy Colin FitzpatrickChief Executive OfficerTimber & Building Materials Association (Aust.)

Colin Fitzpatrick

PLANNING FOR WoodEXPO 2013 during the last month has really stepped up a gear. Australasia’s first ever dedicated show for sawmilling, panels and wood manufacturing operations is already attracting international interest.

Running in September 2013, this new event builds on the very successful series of independent technology programs run by the Forest Industry Engineering Association over the past 13 years. “Already we’re fielding enquiries from local companies and a wide cross section of major technology providers from throughout North America and Europe,” says FIEA director Brent Apthorp.

A well-established German company involved in major international woodworking fairs has just been contracted to work with FIEA to encourage major equipment and product suppliers throughout Europe to come down for this new series.

“We’re finding the interest is being triggered by WoodEXPO 2013 being quite different from any other show or event in this part of the world, the Expo being run in both countries over a two week period and FIEA being the driving force behind the September 2013 series,” he said.

In mid-October, FIEA staff will be travelling to North America’s new Timber Processing & Energy Expo that will be running in Portland over 17-19 October. Around 200 exhibitors will be showcasing the very latest machinery and services for primary producers of lumber, plywood, engineered wood products and wood energy. Sawmill scanning, mill optimization, machinery alignment, sawing systems, wood manufacturing, panel processing and product technologies will all be profiled at this year’s Portland Show. A number of companies exhibiting at Portland have already expressed an interest in being involved in next year’s WoodEXPO 2013 event.

At this stage, WoodEXPO 2012 Exhibition and Sponsorship Packs have been sent out to around 5000 potential exhibitors. Opportunities open to those supplying the industry in New Zealand and Australia can be found on the event website, www.woodexpo2013.com

International interest for Wood EXPO 2013

ASSOCIATION NEWSTIMBERMAN, November 2012 – 22

T IMBER INDUSTRY employers would be aware of the growing

concerns being expressed about the flaws in the present industrial relations system in both the business and wider community in general. It comes as no great surprise that the Federal Government commissioned review of the Fair Work Act (FWA) largely concluded that the Act was achieving its objectives.

Politically this ensures that the Government maintains the support and funding of the trade union movement and endorses their current approach to industrial relations in the Fair Work Act.

In any case, TTIA was one of the organisations that lodged a submission

on behalf of members detailing a number of flaws in the legislation and pressing the need for change.

The result of the review and the more significant recommendations to be considered by the Federal Government are detailed below. Some of these recommendations place even further requirements and red tape on employers in employment matters. This is unfortunate and untimely given the current economic and employment environment. In addition, other recommendations appear an attempt to address the unintended consequences and confusion on employment entitlements that have occurred since this Act was introduced. • Extending the right to

request flexible work arrangements to a wider range of caring and other circumstances;

• Requiring employers who do not agree to requests for additional unpaid parental leave or flexible work arrangements to meet with the employee to discuss the request;

• Stipulating that taking unpaid special maternity leave does not reduce an employee’s entitlement to unpaid parental leave;

• Extending good faith bargaining obligations when bargaining for a new agreement commences prior to 90 days before the expiry of an existing agreement and to variations of agreements;

• Empowering FWA to intervene for conciliation and arbitration (including final offer arbitration) of greenfields bargaining disputes;

• Requiring employers to provide accommodation when employees are taking protected industrial action (where

this is already provided;• Giving FWA greater

power to resolve disputes over right of entry issues;

• Amending the FWA to make it clear that fixed term/specified task contracts do not exclude workers from making unfair dismissal claims if the employer relies on the expiry time or completion of the task to avoid the unfair dismissal provisions;

• Requiring employers to notify FWA of the details of individual flexibility arrangements;

• Expediting a national long service leave scheme to come into operation by January 2015;

• Unfair dismissal applications should be able to be made within 21 days, not the current 14;

• Strike ballots be allowed to be conducted over the internet;The limited

r e c o m m e n d a t i o n s

outlining a number of genuine employer concerns about the legislation are confined to:• Non-monetary benefits

can be included in the boot for individual flexibility arrangements provided that the benefit foregone is insignificant, the benefit is proportionate and specified in writing;

• FWA to have power to award costs against a party unreasonably pursuing unfair dismissal claim;

• Annual leave not be accrued while on workers compensation;

• Protected action ballot order applications can only be made once bargaining has commenced (to counter the JJ Richards decision). However, the report also recommended that bargaining has begun even where there is disagreement over the scope of the agreement;

• Amending s90 that annual leave loading is not payable on termination of employment unless expressly provided for in an award or agreement;The report has also

recommended that FWA and the Fair Work Ombudsman take on the task of educating employers about productivity, with the promotion of “appropriate” agreement clauses and education.

TTIA will report in future articles if indeed any of these recommendations are adopted by the Federal government before the upcoming federal election in 2013. If you have any queries about the potential changes, or the Fair Work Act in general, please contact the TTIA Office on (02) 9264 0011.

By Brian BeecroftChief Executive OfficerTimber Trade Industrial Association

Brian Beecroft.

Review of Fair Work Act 2012 – Industrial Relations Reform

Fortunately, sub-standard treated timber product represents only a small percentage of the total treated timber produced for and sold in the Australian marketplace. However, TPAA and other interested parties are concerned that badly-treated timber reflects on the whole market and our current action is designed to make suppliers aware of the requirements of Australian standards for preservative treated timber products.

The purpose of the initiative is to convey to the market channel for treated timber, the importance of selecting treated timber products which are fit for end-use purpose.

“Over the next several months, there will be a concerted effort to inform the major group timber merchants as well as wholesale, trade and retail timber merchants about the importance of stocking and selling treated timber products

which comply with TPAA’s treatment process guidelines.”

Trade media information is being supplied urging treated timber suppliers to ensure that the treated timber products that they source have been treated suitably for the appropriate end-use hazard level.

Australian outdoor timber and infrastructure market

Forest & Wood Products Australia (FWPA) has published a report entitled “Australian Outdoor Timber and Infrastructure Market”. The principal researcher was well-known Andrew Dunn of the Timber Development Association of NSW (TDA).

This report examined the current national market size and priorities for outdoor and infrastructure timber such as agricultural rounds, outdoor structural and landscaping products, and poles, bridge and wharf timbers. The sector represents approximately 37% to 52% of the consumption of sawn and round wood.

It is certainly significant to our timber treatment sector of the industry, as the following extracts more than amply demonstrate!• Over the last 10 years the

overall market volume has increased considerably, with sawn treated plantation pine seeing the largest growth, particularly as landscaping sleepers.

• The agricultural round wood market on the other hand has declined to half the size it was when last measured in 2007.

• The most dominant product in the outdoor and infrastructure timber market by volume is treated plantation pine (such as radiata, slash and hoop pine), which represents between 84% and 86% of the entire market.

• The key component of treated plantation pine is sawn treated pine, representing between 70% to 76% by volume of the entire market.

• Fencing, landscaping, and structural products are the main uses of sawn treated pine.

• Preservative treated plantation pine such as radiata, slash and hoop pine, completely dominate this market accounting for around 90% by volume.

• Plantation pines are sourced locally and radiate pine is

also imported in finished and untreated form from New Zealand and Chile.

Trends over previous 10 years

Roundwood• The softwood roundwood

market has seen a collapse in volumes occurring in recent years.

• The reason for this collapse is attributed to the reduction in demand for agricultural and horticultural poles due to a decade of drought, particularly in key markets of Victoria and South Australia.

• Adding to the collapse is the glut in wine grape production with fewer new vineyards being established in recent years.

• Also during the last decade the latter has also seen the marketplace learn to damage fewer poles, recycle and repair poles as well as, to a lesser extent, use non-wood products.

Sawn fencing & landscaping timber

• This market segment has

been the fastest growing market segment in the outdoor timber and infrastructure markets.

• Of this segment, production of treated landscape sleepers appears to have exploded in volume.

• Production of treated pine fence palings and fence rails has also increased.

• Sales of fencing are closely correlated to increase new home construction and growth and demand in Victoria and Queensland has been strong.

• There are also increased fence renewals due to degradation of old hardwood fences.

Sawn structural and other timber

• The volume of sawn structural pine has also increased, but not to the same degree as treated landscape material.

• H3 LOSP product market segment figures vary. However, there is strong evidence to suggest there has been significant growth in this market segment with a continuing steady growth

and this is likely to continue.• Another reason for the

growth in LOSP is the APVMA restrictions on certain applications of CCA treated timber.

• Government’s procurement policies have seen a trend away from CCA to that of LOSP, ACQ and copper azole.

• Added to this is the fact that the LOSP treatment process is friendlier to finger-jointing adhesives, does not need to be re-dried after treatment, and that it remains stable in transporting and storing in merchants’ racks.

• There was a noticeable trend towards H3 LOSP.Complete report from the

FWPA website at p://www.fwpa.com.au/%20Australian_O ut d o o r_Ti mb e r_ a n d _Infrastructure_Market%20

Putting the record straight on complianceBy Doug HowickSecretaryTimber Preservers Association of AustraliaTPAA Market Awareness Initiatives

Visit www.timberbiz.com.au/dtn to sign up today.

Log on Today!

Doug Howick.

ASSOCIATIONS NEWS 23 - November 2012, TIMBERMAN

TIMBERMAN ClassifiedsTo advertise in the Timberman Classifieds call Norm Nelsen on: (03) 9888 4820

Log on Today!Visit w

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.timberbiz.com

.au/dtn to sign up today.

Call Norm Nelsen on (03) 9888 4820

to advertise in the Australian

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A U S T R A L I A N


August 2012, Issue 5 Vol. 20 Ph: (03) 9888 4820 Fax: (03) 9888 4840 Email: [email protected] Web: www.timberbiz.com.au

XLAM NZ LTD

57 Beatty Street

Nelson

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5/42 Clinker Street,

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Ph: 07 3715 7722

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• Forte story building

• Purpose built plant

• Innovation is key

• CNC technology

The same industry-leading news, views and ad’s you’re reading in this issue are now available on-line as well. While we know print is the most convenient form for reading in the cab, lunchroom or highlighting an important point for the next reader, we also know that many of our readers want to go straight to websites or send emails from the articles and ad’s they’re reading.


TIMBERMAN, August 2012 – 6

JOHN MITCHELL, chairman of buildingSmart Australasia looked around the room at the FRAME

conference in Melbourne and asked if anyone knew what BIM was. Did anyone use BIM? The silence was telling.

Certainly there were people in the audience who had some knowledge while some like Claudelle Taylor of the Leighton Group had experience with BIM but mostly the audience was struck dumb.

As Mitchell went on to say, the building industry is not renowned for its affinity with and use of high tech computer software programs but it is time. Other industries have already embraced similar systems, and other countries are embracing Building Industry Modelling (BIM).

So what is Building Industry Modelling?“BIM is 3D object model that is like

a building database, easily visualized,” said Mitchell. “We can extract significant intelligence out of it.”

Currently there is a lack of integration along the supply chain linking parties and between project phases but it’s not impossible to fix. As Mitchell said other industries such as the Australian Air Conditioning Manufacturers Association has already started supply chain integration.

Other issues that plague the building industry are its reliance on the lowest bid strategy rather than a value for money proposition. There is poor understanding of optimized and properly documented designs. According to Mitchell the “Getting it Right” study in Queensland in 2005 identified this problem. That was seven years ago and it still lingers.

There is also inadequate and ineffective use of technology and a lack of appreciation of the benefits of open communication.

In 2010 Mitchell’s organization commissioned a survey with the Commonwealth’s help that looked at adopting BIM in the Australian construction sector.

“The economic potential is extraordinary, extraordinary, a $4 billion potential per annum - $4 billion productivity potential per annum, this mirrors many other studies around the world,” said Mitchell.

“We do need it, we need to build better, we need to make better use of resources, we need to be more efficient and deliver higher value for money.”

The lessons from the 2D CAD current technology are clear, after 20 years there are still no common guidelines, no consensus in either government or industry and the documentation instead of improving is deteriorating.

“There is significant risk if we do not align with international BIM developments – it’s a worldwide turn to BIM,” said Mitchell.

buildingSMART Australasia was commissioned at the end of 2111 to undertake the development of a BIM

Implementation Plan. The starting point was the outcomes of the MESH conferences in Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney in early 2011.

The roadblocks are these:• Lack of model building protocols • Little product data for BIM object libraries• Legal and insurance impediments

• Poor standards for information exchange• Inconsistencies in information handover

protocols• Skills gaps• Lack of strategic research focus• Industry resistance to process change

The participants at the stakeholder consultation workshops conducted by buildingSmart proposed key recommendations. First and foremost was that a BIM adoption roadmap should be completed.

Commonwealth, State and Territory governments should be encouraged to require full collaborative BIM for their building procurements and they should develop procurement processes and assistance packages to encourage its adoption.

Legal and technical instruments needed to support the introduction of BIM should

be developed and aligned with relevant international codes and standards. We must think globally.

Education is a must to enable the industry to meet the demands of technology for new workers and re-training for those already in the industry.

Easy access must be facilitated to building product manufacturer’s certified information for use in all types of model-based applications through an Australian on-line BIM products library.

Open standard data exchange protocols should be established that support collaboration and facilitate integration of the briefing, design, construction, manufacturing and maintenance supply chain throughout the entire life of a built facility.

Governments around the world are seeing the advantage of BIM as it can be used to support automated code checking, ensure buildings meet environmental and energy performance requirements, make certain asset and management information is available at all tiers of government for operational, maintenance, fiscal and strategic planning.

The global construction software industry is well advanced in the change to BIM.

All the major vendors Graphisoft ArchiCAD, Nemetscheck Allplan and Bentley Triforma have IFC certification, and now Autodesk Revit has committed to IFC compliance.

Only by adopting BIM, by accepting new processes and by sharing information will the building industry stay competitive.

We do need it, we need to build better, we need to make better use of resources.

FRAME AUSTRALIA

buildingSmart with BIM7 - August 2012, TIMBERMANFRAME AUSTRALIA

AFTER LISTENING to Andrew Neiland from Lend Lease it was difficult to understand why it has taken so long for

Australia to embrace CLT, and even harder to understand why it has taken the major construction companies this long to make it all add up.

Initially it seemed odd that Neiland, who comes from the accounting side of the Lend Lease business, was presenting to a timber-oriented audience at the Frame Australia conference.

That soon passed as he recounted the reductions that Lend Lease faced through the use of CLT in its new multi-storey Forte apartment building in Melbourne.

Admittedly it won’t be just reduced costs – but that’s the main take-away point, the other reductions relate to significantly lower construction noise, less occupational health and safety issues, and a smaller environmental footprint.

The big cost reduction will come courtesy of reduced construction time, reduced truck movements, less labour, reduced building weight leading to reduced foundation requirements and more.

“It’s lightweight, timber is roughly a fifth the weight of concrete,” said Neiland. “[with pre-cast concrete] you only get a couple of pieces on a truck and that’s about it, you can truck a vast number of CLT panels in one go, so get a huge reduction in truck movements.

“In terms of how the site looks the general comments we have from our construction teams is clean, and how quiet and how orderly the site is,” said Neiland.

“One mobile crane, a couple days of CLT ready for installation and a crew of four guys putting it into place - very quiet and efficient process.”

Victoria Harbour was the instigator

Melbourne’s Victoria Harbour has been a development hot spot for some time and Lend Lease was trying to make the most of the limited land available. On North Wharf the company was faced with a problem.

“The building conditions are not great, it’s on silt so we looked for a lightweight construction solution and came up with CLT,” said Neiland.

“That was most viable option and we found a lot more benefits than just light weight. So they assembled a team of designers and engineers to go and have a look at it.

“They saw the opportunity immediately – for an all expenses paid trip to Europe.”

It paid off, representatives from Lend Lease visited 14 projects in Europe, they visited the CLT producers and met with architects who had worked on similar projects and came away very impressed.

“They came away very impressed that it was a proven solution where the owners and occupiers really enjoyed the outcome, and really enjoyed living in these buildings,” he said.

Due diligence on the project took three years to complete.

What Lend Lease did discover and what the company has brought into play with the Forte construction in Bourke Street, Melbourne – only a few doors down from Lend Lease HQ – is that using CLT is a design process.

“It’s not taking a concrete building and replacing concrete with timber, it’s a new process. It’s about completing all your design up-front rather designing as your going,” said Neiland.

“It’s about a factory process where you sign off on the drawings, you work out all the crane movements, you work out the logistics, the truck movements then you manufacture. By doing

this we are minimizing waste and reducing errors and building faster.

“If you design it well it will last, if you design it poorly it won’t.”

Australia’s building code doesn’t take into account timber buildings taller than three storeys so for Forte Lend Lease had to undertake a fire engineered solution and that’s not something that everyone can do. It may be a barrier to high-rise CLT construction in Australia unless it is addressed.

Forte is nine storeys tall (with a ground floor retail area) with 23 apartments and four townhouses.

Lend Lease was faced with a certain amount of dismay when it came to fire approvals.

“Melissa Chandler who is our building codes expert said it was the most interesting conversation she’s ever had with the fire brigade in her life.

“Saying we’re building 10 storeys of timber, the lift well, the fire stairs and we’re leaving the fire stairs exposed timber. The look on their faces was priceless. We convinced them it was a good idea,” said Neiland. “We did the fire testing of the CLT panels with the CSIRO to achieve our approvals.

“While it is not of a size that requires sprinklers we are installing sprinklers for this one,” he added.

As the ground floor is to be a retail space that floor is designed very differently to the apartments and so it is mounted on a concrete slab which was laid in February this year. The CLT installation started in June and it is anticipated that it will take eight weeks to put up and should be finished in August.

The whole building should be finished in October this year.

Neiland said that for his company it wasn’t just about building a building in CLT it needed to be a step change in sustainability and that is

certainly what has happened. This will be the first 5-star green star building built in a residential environment.

Each apartment is dual aspect and will take 25% less energy to heat and cool compared with a typical apartment, which equates to roughly $300 a year saved. All apartments will have a smart meter to link to an in-home display, which shows real time and historic data on energy consumption.

Not only that, but simply by using timber 1451 tonnes of carbon is saved (cradle to site).

Like every new idea there were challenges, the biggest was the logistics of shipping a building from Europe to Australia. KLH in Europe is the manufacturer of CLT for the Forte construction and so the panels had to be shipped to Australia and then stored awaiting installation.

Out it came – 485 tonnes of timber, 759 CLT panels shipped in 25 containers in two ships.

Lend Lease then did some other due diligence on the project, at 32.17 metres tall was it the tallest timber building in the world?

“We came across Nikolai (Sutyagin) who was friendly old chap in Russia who was lonely and in 1992 he started to build a timber house for himself. He went a couple of storeys up and just kept going and he didn’t stop until he got to about 44 metres.

“So we couldn’t go out with the claim that it is the tallest timber building so we modified it with a clause that it’s the tallest apartment timber building,” said Neiland.

For the future Neiland said that Lend Lease is considering building up to 50% of its residential apartments using CLT.

“For us Forte is not a one-off demonstration building,” he said.

You can see live webcam vision of the Forte building under construction at http://www.forteliving.com.au

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