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News Item
3 days 7 hours ago

Responsible Wood Award highlighted for UQ Civil Engineering & Architecture Students

Timber building materials produced from sustainably-grown local plantations and the benefits this brings to reducing carbon output are the thrusts of prize-winning projects by four University of Queensland students, two from the School of Civil Engineering and two from the School of Architecture.
Duncan Hossy and William Webster were awarded Responsible Wood Civil Engineering prizes for Excellence in Timber Design for two bridges at the Brisbane Valley Adventure Rail Trail.  Dylan Francis and Simin Louei were awarded the Responsible Wood Architectural Prize for Excellence in Timber Design for their research paper and model on the construction of a fire observation tower in the Brisbane Valley region. 

News Item
2 weeks 3 hours ago

Passive solar design versus Passive House: why we need both for healthy homes in Queensland

Very thoughtful article by Chief Investigator of the ARC Future Timber Hub, Dr Paola Leardini, who is CI for Hub Project "Pathways to Net Zero Energy for Engineered Wood Multi-storey Buildings in Australian Tropical and Sub-Tropical Climates [eWoodZEB]". Dr Leardini describes the essential elements of a comfortable house for the subtropics. “Passive House” works in all climates: hot, cold, humid and dry.

 

News Item
1 month 3 weeks ago

Future Timber Hub leading response to industry research needs in the (mass) timber industry

The Centre for Future Timber Structures (CFTS) / Future Timber Hub (FTH) held a Strategic Collaborative Workshop on the 15 April 2021 which was attended by the ARC Future Timber Hub's current Project Leaders, Industry Partners and Institutional Partners, along with representatives from other major national universities and industry.  The purpose of the Workshop was to bring Academics and Industry together to define the research needs in Australia and the Pacific Region.  50% of the 90 plus attendees were from Industry which highlights the want (and need) for further research in the use of Timber in the Construction Sector. 

 

News Item
1 month 3 weeks ago

First mass-timber fire station in Australia

A contract to deliver Maryborough’s new $12.1 million fire and emergency services station has been awarded to timber manufacturer, and Hub Partner, Hyne Timber and building firm Hutchinson Builders. This will be the first mass-timber fire station in Australia. The UQ Centre for Future Timber Structures (CFTS) and the ARC Future Timber Hub are very proud to be involved in getting this project off the ground. See Timberbiz Article

News Item
1 month 3 weeks ago

Mass Timber Fire Station Revealed

The Queensland Government have announced they will be building the replacement, state-of-the-art Maryborough Queensland Fire and Emergency Services (QFES) Complex from Hyne Timber engineered timber solutions. The UQ Centre for Future Timber Structures (CFTS) and the ARC Future Timber Hub are proud to be involved in getting this project off the ground.

News Item
3 months 4 days ago

The Wood from the Trees: what we all need to know about nature’s gift

The ARC Future Timber Hub is featured in this special feature article by The Fifth Estate "The wood from the trees: what we all need to know about nature’s gift". It showcases the issues we need to tackle if we are to grasp the full potential of this most beautiful and natural of our building materials. Thanks to Hub Chief Investigators Joe Gattas and Rob McGavin who contributed to the article. Special mention to Hub Partners Hyne Timber, Arup, Lendlease and Department of Agriculture and Fisheries (Queensland). 

Event
12:00pm 9 Feb 2021

ARC Future Timber Hub Research Showcase - Day 2

Department of Agriculture & Fisheries Showcase

To view recordings of the webinars please click on title below: 

  1. Impact of continuous drying on key production and performance criteria of engineered wood structural elements
  2. Non-destructive evaluation of elastic material properties and acoustic characterisation of wood based massive panels
  3. Pathways to Net Zero Energy for Engineered Wood Multi-storey Buildings in Australian Tropical and Sub-Tropical Climates [eWoodZEB]

 

News Item
5 months 1 week ago

Continuous drying kiln (CDK) technology trial is underway

The ARC Future Timber Hub project "Impact of continuous drying on key production and performance criteria of engineered wood structural elements", led by Dr Chandan Kumar is currently completing a large scale trial with the Forest Product Innovation team at Queensland Department of Agriculture and Fisheries to investigate the impact of continuous drying kiln (CDK) technology on various quality parameters of Australian Southern Pine timber. 

News Item
5 months 1 week ago

Report emphasises the importance of research of engineered timber in the built environment

In 2020 the ARC Future Timber Hub (FTH) commissioned the Australian Institute for Business and Economics (AIBE), to undertake an analysis of the potential economic, environmental and social impacts of four of our current marquee ARC FTH research projects. AIBE engaged Tulipwood Economics to assist with the preparation of the report. The conclusion of this report emphasises the need for, and opportunities in, continuing engineered timber focused, industry relevant research projects that specifically target resolution of performance gaps and development of commercially viable, safe and sustainable timber-based solutions.

 

Event
5:00pm 9 Dec 2020

Webinar: Timber Construction - Resource-Adaptive Digital Design

This webinar held on 9 December 2020 covered significant opportunities within the current timber supply chain to utilise our natural timber resource in a more efficient, and valuable, way. Researchers from The University of Queensland and ARC Future Timber Hub presented new computational design approaches for resource-adaptive timber construction, and designer-led development of resource-efficient building products and systems. 

  • Harry Mills - Resource-responsive design strategies for under-utilised timber
  • Caitlin Reid - Lamination heuristics for utility-grade nail-laminated timber
  • Dan Luo - AI defect identification for timber resource recovery
News Item
7 months 3 days ago

Utilising underutilised timber: timely study flags opportunities for Australia

The ARC Future Timber Hub is very proud of Harry Mills, ARC Future Timber Hub PhD student at The University of Queensland, who's Gottstein project: "Underutilised Timber (UUT) Acceptance through North America and Europe" has featured as cover story of the Timber & Forestry Enews, issue 634.
In 2019 Harry was awarded the Gottsten Fellowship. The fellowship enabled Harry to travel to leading areas of timber manufacturing and design in the Northern Hemisphere, where he was able to meet with professionals from forestry and manufacturing, design, research and education. The grant was used on Harry's project 'The Potential for Underutilised Timber in the Built Environment' and enabled him to investigate and bring back new ideas, learnings and insights which he developed into this report. 

Event
12:00pm 25 Nov 2020

UQ Webinar: Assessing fire safety of timber - a 21st century building material

The University of Queensland (UQ) held a free Leaders of Influence Webinar on  25 November 2020: 'Assessing fire safety of timber - a 21st century building material'. Hosted by the UQ's School of Civil Engineering, the webinar showcased the state of the art fire safety research of timber products, unravelled some myths about the fire performance of wood products and discussed the challenges arising from building with timber. This webinar featured UQ’s Dr Felix Wiesner, who has been involved in large scale timber fire research in multiple countries.

To view recording click here.
 

News Item
7 months 6 days ago

New mass-panel product research aims to optimise connection design, performance

The Queensland Government Department of Agriculture & Fisheries (DAF) scientists working with the Future Timber Hub, at the DAF Salisbury Research Facility, are highlighted in the article "New mass-panel product research aims to optimise connection design, performance" on page 8 of the latest edition of Timber & Forestry Enews, Issue 633. DAF scientists are currently involved in three areas of research within the Future Timber Hub – optimising wood-based, mass-panels for Australian building systems; the impact of continuous drying on engineered wood; and the structural behaviour of reinforced timber composite products.

See Hub Projects:

  1. The optimisation of wood-based mass-panels for Australian building systems
  2. Impact of continuous drying on key production and performance criteria of engineered wood structural elements
  3. Non-destructive evaluation of elastic material properties and acoustic characterisation of wood based massive panels
News Item
7 months 1 week ago

Gottstein Fellowship Report on Underutilised Timber (UUT)

In 2019, Harry Mills, ARC Future Timber Hub funded PhD student at UQ, was awarded a Gottstein Fellowship. The fellowship enabled Harry to travel to leading areas of timber manufacturing and design in the Northern Hemisphere, where he was able to meet with professionals from forestry and manufacturing, design, research and education. The grant was used on Harry's project 'The Potential for Underutilised Timber in the Built Environment' and enabled him to investigate and bring back new ideas, learnings and insights which he has developed into a report. This Gottstein Fellowship Report by Harry Mills, on Underutilised Timber (UUT) Acceptance through North America and Europe, covers the findings from this research project.