‘Leading building professionals participate in landmark Cross Laminated Timber (CLT) Tour’
ALBURY, NEW SOUTH WALES – 28/11/2019
Finding 20 of Australia’s leading architects, engineers, builders and developers in a Tumbarumba plantation forest, in the heart of the Forestry Corporation of NSW softwood pine plantations is not an everyday sight.
But with motivated architects, engineers, builders and developers increasingly looking to timber as the ultimate building renewable, Tumbarumba and, indeed, the Victoria / New South Wales twin cities of Albury-Wodonga play important roles in building and construction of faraway cities.
Hosted by the Timber Development Association (TDA), Australia’s leading building professionals embarked on a two day ‘CLT and Mill Tour’ which involved visiting the XLAM production facilities in Wodonga, a pine plantation and Hyne Timber’s Tumbarumba Sawmill.
For TDA CEO Andrew Dunn, the convenor of the trip, the tour provided building professionals with a rare opportunity to explore CLT up close – capturing the complete cradle to cradle supply chain, from the forest, through the sawmill and the production facility.
‘Building professionals are always astonished when they seeing the science and precision that goes into the production of timber products.
‘They see the precision and science commencing in the forest, through the sawmill and then to the CLT manufacturing,’ Mr Dunn said.
Xlam is the first CLT manufacturer in the southern hemisphere and, through its Wodonga production facility, has capacity to service the growing demand for CLT in Australian building and construction industry.
In attendance Sean Bull, Xlam Business Development Manager for NSW and QLD, emphasized the value of CLT in delivering a range of bespoke building solutions.
‘While CLT is a prefabricated building system, every project XLam delivers is unique, something generally not associated with prefabrication.
‘With CLT having similar strength properties to reinforced concrete, but then being 80% lighter, it opens the door to tremendous opportunity.
‘XLam is supplying fast, sustainable, efficient mass timber solutions for all sectors,’ Mr Bull said.
In Tumbarumba, attendees were given a guided tour of the softwood pine plantations and Hyne Timber’s sawmill.
When it comes to capturing the journey from the forest, in the pine plantation, forest certification plays an important role in demonstrating and verifying the sustainable origins of building materials.
Participating on the tour, Responsible Wood Marketing and Communications Officer, Jason Ross, stressed the importance of building professionals specifying Responsible Wood and or PEFC claims for forest products.
‘Insisting PEFC and/or Responsible Wood claims are on product is an important step in supporting forests,’ Mr Ross said.
‘The claim provides assurance that timber has been sourced from forests and suppliers committed to sustainable forest management.
‘During the course of tour, the pine plantations, sawmill and the CLT production facility are all certified under the PEFC forest certification scheme.
‘For architects, engineers, developers or building professionals committed to sustainability, PEFC claims is a powerful commitment to sustainable forests.’
For more information about the Timber Development Association (TDA) please visit the TDA website.
For more information about Responsible Wood and PEFC forest certification please visit the Responsible Wood website.
