Architects can access a growing range of resources to gain an understanding of the environmental, performance and aesthetic advantages of designing with sustainably sourced wood including design and construction guides.
There are five guides in the series:
#01 for townhouse buildings Class 1a: For timber-framed construction, this guide demonstrates compliance with targeted fire safety and sound insulation performance requirements in the Building Code of Australia for Class 1a attached buildings and associated Class 10a buildings.
#02 for multi-residential buildings class 2, 3 & 9c: For timber framed-construction, this guide demonstrates achievement of targeted fire and sound performance requirements in the Building Code of Australia for Class 2, 3 and 9c buildings. In this context, the guide provides certified construction details that utilize the Building Code of Australia’s (BCA) deemed-to-satisfy provisions. Specific areas of performance addressed include:
Sound insulation of wall, floor and ceiling elements relevant to sole occupancy units and surrounding construction
Fire-resisting construction of wall, floor and ceiling elements relevant to sole occupancy units and surrounding construction
#03 for Class 5, 6, 9a &9b: For timber-framed construction, this guide demonstrates achievement of targeted fire performance requirements in the Building Code of Australia for Class 5, 6, 9a and 9b buildings. It focuses specifically on fire-resisting construction of wall, floor and ceiling elements.In this context, the Guide provides certified construction details that utilize the BCA’s deemed-to-satisfy (DTS) provisions. This guide does not deal with other aspects of BCA fire safety performance; refer to Appendix B of this document for further details.
#04 Building with timber in bushfire prone areas: Written for those designing or building new homes requiring bushfire protection, this guide will help you continue many traditional building practices and learn new ones needed to meet the requirements of the Australian Standard AS 3959-2009, Construction of buildings in bushfire-prone areas requirements in each of the six bushfire attack levels (BAL).
#05 Timber service life design guide with Timberlife software: A guide designed to help improve the safety and performance of timber in construction. The result of ten years' collaboration between scientists at CSIRO, state forestry agencies and the timber industry, the guide uses structural engineering criteria and predictive modelling to assess how long timbers used in Australia will last. It includes consideration of natural variation between timber species, the effectiveness of timber treatments and climatic conditions.