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New Innovative Wood Products Challenges and Opportunities

Dr Keith Crews

Professor of Structural Engineering Associate Dean – Faculty of Engineering & IT

University of Technology Sydney

Background

• A number of both local (FWPA) and international studies highlight the lack of timber usage in the non residential building sector

• Sector value currently approx $16b p.a. These studies also identified: • potential opportunities to improve market

share for the timber industry in medium rise commercial and multi-residential construction

• a number of specific obstacles which need to be addressed in order to realise this potential

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Residential Construction

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Market segment

2011-12 $billion

% of total revenue

New single-unit housing 22.7 75

Apartments & townhouses

2.3 7.5

Alterations, additions & repairs to existing dwellings

4.5 15

Speculative property sales

0.8 2.5

Total $30.3 billion

Source: IBISWORLD

Total Industry revenue

Commercial & Industrial Construction

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Total Industry revenue

Market segment

2011-12 $billion

% of total revenue

Office 4.8 30.4

Retail 4.5 28.2

Warehouses 1.9 12.1

Entertainment & recreation facilities

1.8 11.5

Factories 0.9 5.6

Other 1.9 12.2

Total $15.8 billion

Source: IBISWORLD

Opportunities for Timber in the Non Residential building sector

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• Over the past few decades there’s been a decentralisation of employment away from CBD areas of cities to inner precincts

• Demand for high-rise CBD office spaces has reduced due to the decrease in employment in insurance and financial services

• This means more low-medium rise buildings and this presents opportunities for structural timber

• Structure is a larger portion of construction costs – large amount of timber use – ability to value add – maximise gross margins through integration into

fabrication, design etc

Background - Challenges

• Steel and concrete products are well established and accepted in these markets by designers, contractors and developers.

• The market is highly competitive • Timber will not be able to increase market

share without targeted investment in both R&D and “value adding”

• The potential value of market penetration is estimated to be $0.5 to $1billion p.a.

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Background - Needs

• Development of efficient and innovative engineered products & systems for application in these types of buildings

• Develop structural / building systems – that can take advantage of prefabrication

manufacturing techniques & precision – are commercially competitive to construct – meet the relevant performance criteria (e.g.

structural, occupational safety and comfort, fire and durability) for non residential buildings

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New Developments in Europe

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7 storey building - Berlin

New Developments in Europe

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M-M Kaufmann Glulam & CLT

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Binderholz headquarters Fugen, Austria 4 storey office building

New Developments in Europe

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FMO Tapiola Espoo, Finland 4 storey office building

New Developments in Europe

New Developments in Europe

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4 storey building - Munich

New Developments in Europe

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KLH - Austria

New Developments in Europe

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Up to 6 storeys – Switzerland

New Developments in Europe

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9 storey building - London

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Open Academy Norwich, UK

3 storey building Area: 9 500sqm Cost: £20 million Timber use: - CLT & glulam structure - superstructure took 16 weeks (saving of 14 – 18 weeks)

New Developments in Europe

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New Developments Overseas

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Up to 6 storeys – Canada

New Developments Overseas

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NMIT – Nelson NZ

New Developments Overseas

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MOTAT Aviation Hall Auckland, NZ

Area: 3000m2

Timber use: - 42m span LVL - 15.8m in height

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Cross Laminated Timber (CLT)

• Ability to utilise lower quality, fast grown plantation softwoods

• Prefabrication under factory conditions

• Floors, walls & roofs • Quick to construct • Significant uptake &

development in EU

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Prefabricated Building Systems

• Factory Fabrication – Excellent QA / QC

• Use of CAD / CAM / CNC • Modular structural system

– material combinations

• Efficient Erection • “Green building” strong

driver in terms of carbon store, process and operating energies

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Opportunities in Australia & NZ

• Current R&D projects are “enablers” for timber solutions

• Considerable interest amongst developers & builders of Commercial Buildings

• Potential for – Utilising timber as a part of a

“green solution” in new building projects

– Engineered, prefabricated timber based building systems

Market Drivers

• Strong international demand for low to medium-rise residential and commercial buildings as a result of demographic changes.

• Demand for sustainable buildings, renewable materials and reduced CO2 emissions.

• Stated government objectives for carbon neutrality in the building industry and wider economy.

• Industry demand for prefabrication and integrated construction of long-span buildings which can be dis-assembled and relocated at the end-of-life.

• Increasing importance of rapid reparability and re-use after extreme seismic and weather events.

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www.stic.co.nz

Current R&D Enablers • FRST (NZ) • Seed funds an R&D company

– Co- funded model

• Matching funds “dollar” for “dollar” from NZ government and industry ($10m NZD over 5 years)

• Research Consortia of Industry and three Universities

– Partnership of industry & research providers (commercial focus)

• R&D commenced January 2009

Market Development Focus New Zealand:

– 6 to 8 storey timber framed buildings – Seismic performance requirements – Large spanning floors & roofs for commercial

& industrial

Market Development Focus Australia:

– 2 to 3 storey timber framed buildings – Gravity & Wind performance requirements – Large spanning floors & roofs for commercial

& industrial, perhaps in combination with precast concrete systems

Objective 1 – Roof systems & connections

Roof Analysis and Design – Long span Roof Systems – Fasteners – Portal Frame connections

and connection systems – Durability – Roof construction & costs

Objective 1 – Roof systems & connections

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Objective 2 – Floor Systems

Commercial / Industrial Floors: – Floor analysis and design – Concrete composite floors – Non concrete floors – Fire, Acoustics and Vibration – Long term performance – Fabrication, construction &

installed costs + LCA issues

Objective 2 – Floor systems

Objective 3 – Wall & frame systems

Multi storey Frame Systems – Analysis & Design – New EWP frame systems

• seismic & non seismic • MRC’s

– Walls & bracing systems – Fire – Sustainability – Multi-storey construction &

costs

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Timber Framing Systems

• Recent work at UC • Use of column &

beam frames for multi-storey buildings

• Post tensioned LVL frames that are “self healing”

• Particular application in seismic regions

Unbonded post-tensioned tendon

Internal or external dissipation devices Rocking motion

θimp

U

Post-tensioned timber frames

Post-tensioning can solve the problem of moment connections for heavy timber

Post-tensioned timber walls

U

U

U

Objective 3 – Wall & frame systems

Floor diaphragm

Frames Walls Post-tensioning tendons

Energy dissipation

Beam-column

Prototype Buildings

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NMIT – Nelson NZ

Aurecon - Engineers, ISJ - Architects

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Challenges

• Most timber materials (particularly engineered wood products) are produced as generic products (commodity approach), rather than “value added” building solutions

• Fabrication capacity in Australia to produce the sort of building elements required for commercial buildings is extremely limited

• There is a lack of integration of production, prefabrication, design, supply and construction

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Vertical Integration “Solutions approach”

“Competition based on Operational Effectiveness (OE) alone is mutually destructive, leading to wars of attrition that can be arrested only by limiting competition” Michael Porter, 1996

Upstream vertical integration - either through ownership or alliances New collaboration and ‘Solution provider’ models

will help ensure: - reliable supply - greater cost control & pricing power - ability to maximise gross margins

The BIG Challenge:

INNOVATION is required • To shift from a mass

production OE focus • To a vertically integrated

“Building Solution” focus • That is the critical

enabler to meet the challenge and realize the opportunity that exists

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Summary

• Business models need to be developed,

• Investment is required and alliances need to be formed,

• To produce integrated building solutions that are a “one stop shop” for high quality building solutions, such as are now available in Europe

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Thank you for your attention

Significant challenges, but also Significant Opportunities

to build a brighter future for timber products

thank you for your attention