Mass timber elements can be highly vulnerable to moisture – leading to an increased risk of biodeterioration during construction. However, with better stormwater protection, moisture can be minimised – by crucially targeting prefabrication assembly and on-site moisture monitoring.
That is, according to Dr Marcus Strang, technical lead at HIP V. HYPE – the sustainability consultant now working with MODEL to solve Melbourne’s housing shortage by building mid-rise and high-rise build-to-rent towers out of cross-laminated timber.
Dr Strang, who in 2023 secured a Gottstein Fellowship – European Studies for Multi-storey Mass Timber for Moisture-safety and Energy Efficiency – said that standards like the ByggaF method guarantees, documents, and communicate moisture safety for all stakeholders in the construction process – from planning right through to construction management.
Moisture damage can occur in buildings for several reasons: “Such as an ambiguous allocation of responsibilities, unclear requirements, lack of monitoring, unrealistic schedules, unclear communication, a lack of skills, inadequate procedures, or new types of structures, materials and components, which the standard aims to highlight and design out.”
“There must be a strong focus on training contractors about moisture risks to mass timber buildings and stormwater management strategies.”
Travelling to Sweden, Norway and Germany in 2023 – where he visited several mass timber sites, including the Viking Hamar and Hakons Hammar – both used during the 1994 Olympic Games – Dr Strang was one of 43 Australians who attended that year’s World Conference on Timber Engineering (WCTE), where he presented, Validating Moisture-Safe Energy Efficient CLT Assemblies in Hot and Humid Climates Using Experimental Testing.
Last week, Wood Central spoke to Professor Keith Crews, Chair of this year’s WCTE and a past Gottstein fellow, who said that Australia has taken European technology and applied it to local settings: “We haven’t sought to reinvent the wheel, but we’ve done well with innovating, consolidated the engineering or the scientific basis, and engaged with architects and developers as practitioners.”
Set to be one of the largest timber conferences on record, the Gottstein Trust is now offering six places for early-stage engineers to participate in this year’s WCTE: “We already have some applications, and interested people have until midnight March 30 to apply through the online form,” said Helen Murray, Principal of Kurrumbene Projects & Advocacy, whose team manages The Gottstein Trust.
- To learn more about the World Conference on Timber Engineering in Brisbane, click here for Wood Central’s report last year. To learn more about Professor Keith Crews Gottstein’s Report, click here.
