In the age of Industry 4.0 and advanced quality control systems, Longveld has become the first New Zealand stainless steel fabricator certified by HERA Cert. This process has seen them meet the requirements of the International Institute of Welding Manufacturer Certification Scheme IIW ISO AS/NZS 3834 Part 2 – Comprehensive. A drive to expand…
While critical technical aspects associated with treated timber in construction remain unsolved, the ‘wood first policy’ is the wrong decision at the wrong time. There needs to be better science based understanding of fire safety and health and environment issues. We need only look at treated timber data in New Zealand, issues associated with treated…
HERA is pleased to report the release of our updated Living Standards Framework assessment and supporting resources. This comes following our work which started in 2018 when we commissioned BERL to assess the metal industry’s contribution to the NZ economy using the Living Standards Framework (LSF). That was a pivotal publication as it was the…
Please note that this report has since been updated 19 January 2022. For the updated report, click here. Our recently commissioned HERA Report R5-89 shows steel plays a key role in the circular economy. The study was undertaken by thinkstepANZ and showed an impressive 72% of steel scrap in New Zealand is recycled, and that…
Aotearoa New Zealand’s construction industry reached over $15 billion in 2019, making it a major contributor to GDP and employment, as well as developer of critical national infrastructure. Despite this, it’s an industry that requires radical transformation and has long been criticised for its low productivity, inefficiencies, and contribution to New Zealand’s carbon emissions. It requires…
Having just held our Annual General Meeting last week – we’re pleased to report that FY21 was a celebratory year full of validation. Covid-19 proved that our focus on preparing our industry for digital disruption was justified… we just didn’t anticipate it would be for a global pandemic! MBIE’s focus on Building For Climate Change and…
HERA is pleased to announce the publication of HERA Report R4-152, authored by Nandor Mago, HERA’s Finite Element Analyst. The report checks the validity of the simpler structural design methodology for steel framed carparks using detailed sequentially coupled thermal-stress analyses, which models a 17m x 30m composite floor system supported by steel framing. The steel…
A recent technical study has come to HERA’s attention as it highlights our stance that you should choose infrastructure material based on design parameters. The technical study that we refer to was performed by the structural engineering firm Cary Kopczynski & Company in Seattle, WA. It compared the affordability of a hypothetical 10-story residential building…
A recent John Hopkins University Report validates our concerns at HERA around the lack of data and baseless assumptions relating to mass timber performance in high rise buildings. This is not a new conversation for HERA. We have previously raised concern about the lack of research relating to the fire performance of building materials generally…
We want your ideas – because our HERA sustainability fund is now open for ideas from our members! 2021 is going to be an exciting year for us at HERA in the space of sustainability. Even more so, because we’re so very excited to announce a $80K research fund for projects aimed at improving steel’s…
HERA is pleased to announce the publication of HERA Report R4-153 – Steel building guide to NZS 3404:1997 amendment 1 and 2 worked examples. Authored by Dr Amir Yousefi, Dr Gary Djojo and Dr G. Charles Clifton of the University of Auckland. It’s primarily intended to be used as a learning resource for undergrad and…
Have you introduced robotics into your business to improve productivity? HERA has an opportunity to help you enhance this offering! Spot welding of car bodies was the first welding operation performed by automated robots in a production scenario. That was back in 1962, some 58 years ago. Since then, robots have become commonplace in the…