Project

Improving Resource Availability and Utilisation for Residential Timber Manufacturing and Construction

Project Description

This project aims at (1) developing a better understanding for the current utilisation of structural timber fibre in the residential market and quantifying how efficiently machine graded pine (MGP) grades are utilised, and (2) identifying opportunities for fibre with lower mechanical properties than MGP grades to offer alternative solutions to meet high market demands combined with timber shortages nationally.

The project expects to quantify how efficiently timber fibre is currently used in residential construction and provide solutions to better use our timber resources. This project will maximise impact through using data obtained from local sawmills.

The main expected outcome of this project is identified opportunities for maximising the available resource allowing the timber industry to continuously meet market demand.

Objectives

  1. Objective 1: Perform a literature review on fibre utilisation and the potential opportunities for low value fibre in residential constructions.
  2. Objective 2: Define truss and frame manufacturer’s expectations on timber quality for alternative solutions to MGP grades by identifying which utility characteristics currently downgraded from MGP would be acceptable by the manufacturers, especially in high demand market.
  3. Objective 3: This objective is articulated around two parts:
    (a) From actual industry data (Multinail’s cornerstone software), understand the current use of timber fibre in the residential construction by quantifying how efficiently the fibre is structurally used  and how that application varies per construction type (single-storey, double-storey, narrow built, etc.), element location within build (first storey, second storey, internal and external walls, etc.) and types of elements (load and non-load bearing studs, trusses, top and bottom plates, etc.).
    (b) Use previous data to define applications where “low value fibre” can offer alternative solutions to timber shortage in high demand markets.
  4. Objective 4: Understand how the findings of Objectives 2 and 3 can be applied to the industry partners sawmills to optimise fibre recovery.
  5. Objective 5: Identify and design a residential system using the alternative low value fibre solutions and provide such material to one or more frame and truss manufacturers to build the system, or build the system at QLD DPI/Griffith. Test and use the built system as a show case to the industry and communicate results.

Targeted industry focused outcomes

The main expected outcome of this project is identified opportunities for maximising the available resource allowing the timber industry to continuously meet market demand.

Targeted industry focused outcomes include:

  • Potential sawn timber “grade(s)” that could be used by industry to meet high market demands combined with timber shortages nationally.

Impact will be measured by:

  • Objective 4 is aiming at measuring the impact quantitatively to understand the potential volume of this/these alternative solutions to be commercially viable to meet high demand markets

Featured image courtesy of the State of Queensland

Objectives/Deliverables

  • A detailed presentation of the literature review to the steering committee.
  • A report or journal article on the combined outcomes of Objectives #2 and #3.
  • A report or journal article on the outcomes of Objective #4.
  • A demonstration product.
  • Targeted presentations to industry showing the outcomes of the overall project.

Project Leader/s

Benoit Gilbert

Chief Investigator; Project Leader

Griffith University

Project Staff

Bill Leggate

Principal Research Fellow in Timber Engineering

Griffith University

Project Investigators

Benoit Gilbert

Chief Investigator; Project Leader

Griffith University

Hong Guan

Node Leader - Performance of Building Components; Executive Board Member

Griffith University

Hassan Karampour

Chief Investigator; Project Leader

Griffith University

Shanmuganathan Gunalan

Chief Investigator

Griffith University

Joe Gattas

Theme Leader - Innovative Solutions; Node Leader - Manufacturing Innovation & Value-Chain Innovation

The University of Queensland

Adam Faircloth

PhD Candidate & Affiliate Investigator

Queensland Department of Primary Industries

Chandan Kumar

Project Leader; Partner Investigator

Queensland Department of Primary Industries

Mateo Gutierrez

Partner Investigator; Executive Board Member

AKD Softwoods

Harrison Brooke

Partner Investigator

Engineered Wood Products Association of Australasia (EWPAA)

David Zhang

Partner Investigator

Multinail Australia Pty Ltd

Lead Project Partner Organisation

Project Partners