Week 6 Tute Exercise

Composite Construction

New Construction Methods - how they merge.

This article is actually a review for the book "Surveyors' Guide to Modern Methods of Construction'. However it made me realise the path through which new methods of construction must go to be widely accepted.
With a shortage in housing and projected population boom, the development of 'more for less' construction techniques is inevitable. This is already evident in our study of the portal frame system in low rise, long span buildings. However, when new methods are introduced, 'they have at the same time been required to make the resulting dwellings resemble conventional construction as closely as possible'. That is, not only the representation of these designs, but the absorption of them into exisitng legal systems and standards.

Surveyors' Guide To Modern Methods Of Construction

As more and more dwellings are built using modern methods of construction (MMC), surveyors are increasingly being required to assess dwellings of markedly different construction to the conventional masonry structures they are used to. With this in mind the BRE Trust has published a pocket guide to MMC specifically for surveyors.

Modern methods of construction: A surveyor's guide introduces surveyors to the range of constructions currently being used, thereby enabling them to produce more meaningful and informed reports for their clients.

Keith Ross the author of the guide says, 'Pressure from Government to increase the rate of housing supply, a diminishing skills base and higher performance requirements for dwellings have resulted in the introduction of a wide range of innovative components and construction systems into house construction. The planning system, on the other hand, has remained conservative and in general has restricted the introduction of visually different finishes to the exterior of dwellings. The result has been that, while builders have begun to introduce innovative components and systems into their product, they have at the same time been required to make the resulting dwellings resemble conventional construction as closely as possible - it can be very confusing for surveyors.'

Sustainable use of Steel?

This article was sourced from the BlueScope Steel website, therefore there is an obvious agenda to sell BlueScope products. However, it is interesting to note where steel construction fits into the environmental conscious consumer.
In this Queensland home, steel sheeting was used for the watertank. Within the house itself, steel was used for roofing and was particularly a useful surface to fix polystyrene. This is probably due to its thin and light nature, therefore the polystyrene could probably be screwed to the cladding.
However, this was not very clear in the article, further highlighting that you should be careful of anybody claiming to offer sustainable solutions. In many cases, this is a marketing device and should be investigated further.

Sustainable Innovation

10 April 2008

Innovation House at the Ecovillage in Currumbin uses COLORBOND® steel and has a 17,000 litre WATERPOINT CLASSIC® water tank.

Location:	Currumbin, Queensland
Country:	Australia
Builder:	Landmatters
Products Used:	WATERPOINT® COLORBOND® steel
Awards:	Development Institute of Australia national award for Excellence in Sustainable Development

Billed as the Gold Coast's most sustainable house, Innovation House 3 at the Ecovillage in Currumbin will be among the first homes in Australia to carry a five star building and energy rating.

The house has a 1.2kW photovoltaic solar power system, energy efficient fixtures and fittings, and an Ecovision resource system which monitors the consumption and supply of gas, energy and water. It is also fully water self sufficient, thanks in part to three 17,000 litre WATERPOINT CLASSIC® rural water tanks manufactured by BlueScope Water.

Stratco Corrugated Iron made from COLORBOND® steel is one of the featured wall cladding materials used, while the Ritek® Custom Roof Panels incorporate COLORBOND® steel for the lining of the roof and ceiling.

These layers are bonded together with an inner section of thermally efficient polystyrene, creating a roof system that significantly reduces the amount of heat radiated into the home. The external layer of COLORBOND® steel is in the colour Dune®, which helps deflect the hot Queensland sun.

"The concept behind the Ecovillage is sustainable living and development practices," Chris Walton, Managing Director of Ecovillage developer Landmatters, said. "It was important that every aspect of the home reflected this concept, and the Ecovillage is the perfect location to showcase such innovation."

Other best practices include using Australian made products and recycled products.

No PVC, chemical paints or toxic glues were used in the development. High ceilings were introduced for effective air flow, and 'clean' site construction processes were followed.

Ecovillage is a Queensland State Government initiative which has won several awards, including the Urban Development Institute of Australia national award for Excellence in Sustainable Development.

Week 5 Tute Exercise

Concrete panel construction - end wall detail

Article, The Age online

This article highlights the importance of safety on construction site. In this case, steel girders and scaffolding collapsed. The building project was further ravaged by the strong winds that followed that day in 2nd April. Such incidents can be avoided by good organisation and layout on site and not leaving jobs unfinished.

We've already touched upon some safety issues, including capping of protuding elements, safety mesh and common-sense in the running of a building site.

Rigger dies in building site collapse

April 2, 2008 - 11:22AM

WorkSafe is investigating the death of a 47-year-old rigger on a building site in Melbourne's southeast this morning.

The workplace authority said it would look at structural and engineering issues after steel girders and scaffolding collapsed from a warehouse being built, crushing the Langwarrin man.

Although Melbourne is expecting 120km/h plus winds today, it is believed conditions were relatively calm when the man was killed at 7am in Dandenong South.

"Our priority is to make this site safe so there are no secondary incidents and our experts will determine the best way to do that," WorkSafe Construction and Utilities Director Chris Webb said.

"Our engineers and demolition people potentially may make a choice to pull it down to make it safe."

Three-quarters of the massive 100 metre by 200 metre warehouse has fallen down and the site has turned into a dust bowl as strong winds picked up.

It is owned by property developer Australand.

Graham Whedlock, a former co-worker and friend who helped build an adjacent warehouse, paid tribute to his mate who he called Johnny.

"He was a great guy, the best, he was always first to work each day and willing to help you," Mr Whedlock said.

"He was a keen fisherman, we used to go fishing on Port Phillip Bay together.

"He recently sold his boat, what a waste."

Johnny was married and had one adult son.

A workmate was with the man when the accident occurred while 15 in total were working around the site, Sergeant Pam Hawker, from Springvale police, said.

She said the man's son worked nearby on another building site.

© 2008 AAP

Tutorial Exercise Week 4

Concrete Panel Construction

'Construction 2020'

From the 'National Building News Magazine'
Key issues addressed for the future:
-sustainable development
-business and working environment
-design and communication
-process and manufacture

Also, highlights the importance of research and innovation in the construction industry geared towards these issues. Personally it seems desirable to have overshadowing research over such a broad and diverse industry. It would be good to establish some grounding principles, such as sustainable development.
The proposed research is also focused towards gained Australian construction an international international edge and competition in a business sense.
Therefore, I am a bit sceptic as well, at the broad aims of this research move, that appear to want to please too many people but could end up being contradictory

Week 3 Exercise

Steel Portal Frame, End Wall Detail
21/3/08

Week 2 Photos

Portal Frame Building
Location: EPIC, Canberra
This steel portal frame building is used as an exhibition and functions centre, thus the column-less structure is very suitable.
The walls are finished in plasterboard and the interior surface of the roof is clad with corrugated sheet metal for a neat finish.
The bracing is exposed and constructed from circular steel tubes.
Both the roof beams and columns feature a thickening web at the knee joint.
There is cross bracing on alternating spaces between the roof beams made of z-shaped steel girts.
At the apex, the two steel beams are bolted together with a plate inbetween.