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After a turbulent two years of dealing with lockdown orders, shortages of labour, supply chain disruptions and financing strains, the building and construction industry now sees a positive future on the horizon. These issues have challenged the industry to innovate and produce competitive new ideas and products.
Looking forward, new technology continues to change the construction site, improve the ability to win projects, and increase profit margins. Read on to discover seven visionary trends for 2022 that can help you stay competitive.
Over the past two years, homeowners have experienced life indoors more than ever before. So, it’s no surprise that a comfortable and healthy home life is high on homeowner’s radar in 2022.
Daikin has been heating and cooling Australian homes for over 50 years, which makes them experts in dealing with the extremes of our harsh climate.
Alira X is the latest addition to Daikin’s comprehensive range of split-system air conditioners. It delivers the perfect fusion of whisper-quiet comfort, industry-leading energy efficiency and indoor air-quality technology.
A highly effective three-layer filtration system, including Daikin’s patented Streamer technology, offers advanced air purification that takes home comfort and health to the next level. This system removes bacteria, allergens, mould, pollen, traffic pollution, dust, odours and indoor air pollutants such as formaldehyde from the indoor environment.
To further ensure optimal indoor air quality, its Mould-Proof Operation mode activates at the end of cooling or drying operations to dry and sterilise the unit before powering off to prevent mould growth on internal components.
Other advanced features include:
Multiple factors have coincided to bring about the current problems in timber supply, in ways that are unlikely to ever be repeated. The Black Summer fires in 2019–20 removed 130,000 hectares of commercial plantations, as well as destroying nearly 3000 homes. This was followed by the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. This kicked off before most of those homes were rebuilt. Then came the seemingly sweet sugar hit of Homebuilder.
On the global market, the US started competing internationally for wood, which drove up prices. Just as that distortion began to ease a little, the disruptions to global shipping became apparent. Along with exorbitant price hikes and port jams, competition for space on shipping boats became a pressured race with no winners. Locally, importers have always operated with practical just-in-time models, holding large inventories, which have been eaten down to nothing over the past 12 months. The perfect storm, perhaps? The thunder just kept on rolling.
Leon Quinn, national sales and marketing manager of Tilling Timber, says, ‘The leading distributors are good at what we do, but we’re all in the same boat: we have supply chain issues we’ve never faced before. This took place at the same time as having a boom in demand – this comes from across the sector and across the country. So we’ve had to think differently to control what we could.’
One approach Tilling has taken is to look at speed of supply. By installing specifically designed freight container slip-sheets at their Kilsyth site in Victoria, the ability to unload faster than ever is now a reality. Sydney and Brisbane’s slip-sheets will follow shortly.
‘We feel the pressure everyone is under. However, by seeing a container unload in 10 minutes, we know we’re getting stock to our loyal customers as soon as we can,’ say Leon. ‘We look forward to easing the strain in 2022 and beyond in any way we can.’
Australia’s building industry is very familiar with constructing low-rise timber-framed homes, but go above three storeys and, for most, the familiarity fades. WoodSolutions Mid-rise Timber Demonstration Model is a simple way to become informed of the requirements of taller timber projects.
As timber, both traditional stick framing and the newer mass timber systems, becomes more popular for cost and environmental reasons, builders who are familiar with the requirements of the material will gain a competitive advantage.
The WoodSolutions Mid-rise Timber Demonstration Model shows a range of NCC compliant solutions that optimise the benefits of timber.
The three-storey model is based on the requirements of a seven-storey building and details virtually every feature of the construction. Where there are multiple options, the most common one is usually shown. Cut-away sections and details expose the design and construction solutions.
The ground floor shows a staggered double LVL stud wall, laterally restrained by OSB. The wall is lined with two layers of 13mm fire-resistant plasterboard. Look up and you’ll see an example of a cassette floor, as used between two sole occupancy units. Other features shown on the ground floor include a nib wall, hold-down and shear brackets, corner details, an intumescent cavity barrier and various external wall and cladding options.
The structural core of the model has been designed as a stair shaft but could be a lift core or services rise. Finishes are purposefully kept to a minimum to show the connections between the elements. The CLT elements in this section are perfectly cut to size and held together with high-capacity screws and connectors. The stair flights are completely prefabricated.
At a higher level, the LVL option is shown. Structural cores have also been designed with stud frames in some mid-rise projects.
Examples of connector types, services installation, wall truss braces and fire-rated penetrations, bathroom floor set downs, acoustic solutions, balcony details and roof cassettes are also shown.
This article was compiled with contributions from Daikin, Dincel, Dulux, Earthwool, Tilling Group, VENT-A-ROOF® and WoodSolutions.
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