Panels & Furniture Asia January/February 2023

MATERIALS
sell a unit because timber has more appeal
to people in the society. Higher rent is also
possible. We have heard of companies
fetching a premium for the rent of 5-10% —
and people are obviously willing to pay for it.”
Adding onto this cost-competitiveness
are the aesthetic qualities of mass
timber. Compared to the cold and sterile
environment of a steel or concrete building,
timber imbues a warmer and more
welcoming environment to a building.
2
Legend
1 Ashburton Civic
Centre in New
Zealand, made using
NelsonPine LVL
2 GoldenEdge MDF
used for kitchen
furniture
3 The interior of the
Nelson Airport
Terminal, the timber
structure made using
NelsonPine LVL
STANDARDISATION
With a global footprint, Nelson Pine often
provides advice to architects about specific
design requirements. This is because
buildings need to be designed in compliance
with country-specific building codes and
other regulations — Singapore will have
different building codes than New Zealand,
Australia, North America or China. To help
architects or designers, Nelson Pine provides
them with a range of information relevant
to the specific design requirements for a
particular building project.
“For instance, to ensure that a building can
last for 50-100 years, the structural engineer
will have to take into consideration aspects
like the dimensions of the LVL, so as to
connect to the different parts of the post,
beam, column, or rafter, or aspects like
the types of connections to fit the LVL, so
that it can meet load-bearing and -bracing
requirements in a building structure,” said
Kruse.
building’s foundation can be constructed
at a reduced cost as compared to building
with concrete and steel, which are naturally
heavier — meaning to say, they need a
bigger and costlier foundation. LVL and
other engineered mass timber are also
typically erected much faster, requiring
less of the expensive time for a crane.
They have performed much better when it
comes to earthquakes which is important
for countries with high risks of earthquake,
such as Japan and New Zealand in
3
particular, but also for other countries like
the Philippines and Indonesia, countries
within the Ring of Fire. Well-designed
timber buildings also often perform better
in high winds.”
He added: “Also, if you look at the overall
building, for the investors and real estate
companies, it is a positive selling point
to construct a building using timber as
it often results in higher occupancy. It
becomes easier for them to rent out or
There is no question as to how each country,
with its own specific climatic, geographical
and demographical challenges, needs to
have its own building codes and regulations.
However, Kruse argued that there needs
to be standardisation about the uses of
connections — such as joints, dowels,
and nails — and also building codes and
regulations to reflect updates about using
LVL, CLT, or glulam, as well as to reflect
new design developments, such as in fire
resistance or acoustics. In doing so, the
regulations can give architects and engineers
a clearer idea of how to use and manage
mass timber resources efficiently, and in
turn, encourage them to use more mass
timber. P
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