Abstract
There is currently a limited use of timber products in residential development in Australia due to the dominance of heavy materials such as concrete, steel and brick. This dominant use of heavy materials is a reversal of the traditional material choice that was based predominantly on timber products. Technological advances and efficiencies drove the change to heavy materials to use in residential construction. The emerging issue with this reliance on heavy materials is the impact of their use on the environment. The carbon impact and problem of finite resource depletion associated with concrete, steel and bricks need to be addressed due to the increasing pressure from national and international requirements and legislations. The construction industry needs to reduce its negative impact on the environment and the renewable nature of timber presents a material solution to the problem. Timber from sustainably managed forests and plantations can be utilised as lumber or manufactured into engineered products for residential development. This paper examines the benefits of timber used in building envelopes when compared with conventional high-density materials such as brick and concrete when construction is designed with equivalent thermal performance. Multiple case studies were used to demonstrate the reduced life cycle energy and costs, and the time of construction benefits of timber when used as an alternative to heavy materials. Results revealed that Life cycle energy and time of construction showed noticeable differences between timber construction and heavy materials and cost showing marginal differences.
Highlights
Timber has been used in a single dwelling and multi‐residential construction for many centuries throughout the world depending on the available resources, technologies and skilled artisans (Kolb2008)
In summary the analysis reveals that timber requires approximately 18% less life cycle energy (LCE) than brick for the 50 years of service when based on equivalent thermal performance
The analysis revealed that a timber envelope can provide benefits over conventional design of brick and concrete in LCE and construction time the Life cycle costing (LCC) comparison is less significant on a 50‐year period
Summary
Timber has been used in a single dwelling and multi‐residential construction for many centuries throughout the world depending on the available resources, technologies and skilled artisans The case studies will include the redesign of typical residential brick and concrete houses into a timber structure alternative with equivalent thermal performance to allow for a comparative study. The analysis will be carried out to ascertain the effect of a thermally equivalent timber design on aspects of LCE, LCC and time of construction when compared to the conventional heavy material design using a concrete and brick envelope. Concrete has dominated ground floor structure in the last 20 years with 80‐85% usage in new houses (URS Forestry 2007; IBISworld 2011) These two material choices for floor and wall elements have become standard in most volume construction companies’ typical products. Based on the AccuRate thermal star rating results of the brick designs, these projects have been redesigned to match the thermal performance through changes in the structural components of the floor and sub‐floor, external wall and lining, and roof. Timber design (Timber clad envelope) Concrete piers Galvanised steel piers‐braced 19mm timber cladding wall enclosure Ground floor: 140mm Treated pine bearers, R3.1 insulation, 90‐120mm treated pine joists & 12mm Ply under floor covering First floor: Timber I‐beams & chipboard Ground floor: 19mm Hardwood flooring or Ceramic tiles on 15mm fibrous cement sheeting First floor: Carpet with underlay Structure: 145mm Treated pine framing, R3.1 insulation batts, vapour barrier & 38mm air cavity/vertical battens Lining to the inside: 10mm Plasterboard External cladding: Painted timber cladding & timber architraves Structure: MGP 10 Pine Timber frame/truss, R3.5 insulation to living areas Covering: Roof sarking & concrete tiles
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