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| CSIRO | SOLVE | Issue 7 | May 06 | |
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ARTICLE
BUILT ENVIRONMENT:
A Boost for Timber By David Adams
A new software tool will demonstrate wood’s credentials as an environmentally and economically attractive building material. The capacity to know in advance the likely life-cycle performance of building materials could give the timber industry a new competitive edge in its efforts to increase the use of wood in construction. A new software tool called TimberLife tells asset managers, designers, engineers and builders the likely lifespan of a timber construction, in any climatic zone, enabling them to predict with accuracy the performance of new or planned buildings. The design and assessment software is based on a world-first set of service-life models, which have been developed in a collaborative national research program that has been running over the past 10 years. Dr Greg Foliente, leader of the Asset Performance and Sustainability team at CSIRO Manufacturing and Infrastructure Technology (CMIT), says the scenario-based software allows a user to estimate the likely lifespan of timber according to the mix of materials being used, the type and location of construction and, in some cases, the type and frequency of maintenance.
He says the 10-year project – which was partly prompted by a growing trend within the regulatory environment in Australia and overseas to implement durability requirements in future building codes – is the first of its kind in the world. Funded by the timber industry through the Forest and Wood Products Research and Development Corporation (FWPRDC), the project’s research partners have included CSIRO, Timber Queensland, Forests NSW and private consultants. It has involved researchers from different fields and experts in three states, contributing knowledge and data from field exposure experiments (some over a 30-year period and estimated to have cost $10 million), laboratory tests and actual construction. Other national and international experts have also been consulted on timber degradation. Statistical techniques have been used to develop models for predicting how long timber will last in a construction. “It can be a pergola, a bridge, a house or a utility pole anywhere in Australia,” says Dr Foliente. FWPRDC executive director Dr Glen Kile says the ability to predict timber’s lifespan is a key to increasing its use in construction. “It’s becoming more important for the building industry to predict product quality and lifespan,” he says. “Having this tool enables builders and designers to do this, which increases their confidence in timber use.” The long-running research program has also included the development of timber degradation and fastener corrosion hazard maps (for Australia) and various engineering models that take into account differing conditions in terms of ‘exposure to the elements’. Different conditions have differing consequences for timber decay. These models include the effects of termites and marine borers, as well as how different environmental conditions affect the metal fasteners that hold timber together. As well as the TimberLife software (due to be on the market soon), the CSIRO team, working closely with industry partners, has used the service-life model to develop a series of prescriptive recommendations or guidelines that can be used to determine a timber’s lifespan in relation to a set series of applications. The software comes with a sophisticated set of asset management tools that can be used to balance the risk of non-performance or failure against cost and maintenance over a specified time period. Colin MacKenzie, Timber Queensland’s technical manager, who ran the project, says the project outcomes and final products will form the basis for timber service life prediction for decades to come. “It will raise the confidence of designers and specifiers in the durability and performance of timber, which in turn should lead to increased and more efficient use of timber and wood-based products,” he says. The project has already received international recognition. Dr Jerry Winandy, of the Forest Products Laboratory at the USDA Forest Service in the US, says the predictive models are the first of their kind for timber and are a milestone for wood engineering. “Engineers in every structural material around the world are now demanding that serviceability and durability be given equal consideration as structural integrity.” He says the Australian research has been the first major step within the wood engineering community to specifically address this demand. APPLICATION TimberLife tells asset managers, designers, engineers and builders the likely lifespan of a timber construction, in any climatic zone BENEFIT The software tool will demonstrate wood’s credentials as an environmentally and economically attractive building material For further information contact: |
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Dr Foliente says the TimberLife software
incorporates data on 80 species of timber, with distinctions between sapwood and outer and
inner heartwood, as well as the effects of wood
preservatives.
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