$0.00 (0 items)
$0.00 (0 items)

Innovation House 2.0 – Townsville, Smart Home of the Future

Innovation House 2.0 in Townsville is a smart home in the making. It sets out to challenge the 'how it's always been done' mindset by presenting future home owners with better solutions. They relate to smart technology, design, health, products, energy, water management, and in particular, ongoing cost efficiencies in an environmentally responsible way.

This empowers independent, informed choices on the design, build and ongoing lifecycle costs of new homes.

Once completed in early 2018, Innovation House 2.0 will be a unique display home that makes it easy for families looking to invest: to see, touch, smell and learn about innovative solutions that may suit their family's ongoing needs and values including through the use of an industry first App.

Innovation House 2.0 Finlay Homes Builder with Hyne Timber T2 Red Framing. Image Courtesy of Roslyn Budd

According to Hyne Timber's Marketing Manager, Jeremy Mead, T2 Red framing was specified. Why? Simple! Because timber is the only material to naturally store and lock carbon away by removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere as the pine trees grow.

"When a tree is responsibly harvested at around 30 years old, the carbon is locked in the wood and remains there for the life of any products made with that timber. In fact, up to half of the weight of timber framing is carbon that's been removed from the atmosphere." he said.

In a report by Fabiano A. Xiamenes and Tim Grants titled, 'Quantifying the greenhouse benefits of the use of wood products in two popular house designs in Sydney, Australia', 2013, it found that the use of a 'timber maximised' design offset between 23 and 25% of the total operational energy of the houses with a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions of between 40 - 60%. (The final publication is available at link.springer.com).

By building Innovation House 2.0 with Hyne Timber T2 Red framing, along with other energy saving and innovative solutions, it is likely to achieve a Green Star rating of 9, which is significantly better than the compliance rate of 6 for standard new homes, again, demonstrating the projects' ability to take housing to the next level.

Mr Mead said with environmental credentials and construction methods which meet or exceed Townsville's cyclone requirements in place, the remaining factor to address is termites.

"We all know termites are more aggressive up north and it's a fact some species enjoy timber.

"But what many home owners don't realise is that home insurance doesn't cover termite damage. And that's a problem because you can't see what's happening inside your walls until it's too late.

"That's why treated timber is essential and ours actually comes with a comprehensive, fully transferrable, 25 year termite guarantee.

"With over 350,000 Australian homes built and protected over almost two decades, we haven't had a single termite failure yet!

"Ensuring the use of termite resistant timber in your home is an extremely reliable and cost-efficient solution to a surprisingly common problem, which, according to a 2012 industry study commissioned by Australian Environmental Pest Managers Association, costs the housing industry billions of dollars every year." Mr Mead concluded.
Hyne Timber T2 Red product information can be found here.

Innovation House 2.0 will become the Stockland Land Sales Office early in 2018.

More on Sustainability

Sawdust is collected and used in Hyne Timber's own kiln drying process with excess sold to Altus Renewables who manufacture this into pellets. The compressed timber pellets are highly sought after in countries such as Japan who use them instead of coal to generate power. Chip is collected and sold to Laminex for their range of benchtops, doors and other building products.

At our Southern operation in Tumbarumba, NSW, sawdust is sold to pulp and paper manufacturer Visy, whose tag line is 'For a better world'. Full chain of custody of responsibly sourced, certified wood is carried right through the local supply chain.

For more technical information, the Australian Softwood Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) can be found here.

Recent Posts

Hyne’s Continuous Drying Kiln Officially Operating

Sod Turned for Mass Timber Fire Station

Hyne Community Trust Delivers New Roof for the Golf Club

Hyne Timber Encourages More Women to Consider Careers in Manufacturing

Hyne Community Trust – Supporting Initiatives to Deliver Long Term Benefit

Twice Around the World - Hyne Timber’s Processed Burnt Log Volumes

Two Maryborough Families Unite to Support Jobs and Growth

Mass Timber Fire Station Revealed

Hyne Scores Skilled Experience from Closed Sugar Mill

Hyne Softwood Mill Expansion and Jobs Creation