fire-resistance

Fire and burn out resistance of timber columns

Data on the cool down phase for timber structures is something designers and regulators need to consider when it comes to load carrying capacity of CLT structures. This thinking comes about after noting an interesting paper in the recent issue of Fire Safety Journal highlighting the critical aspect of the cool down phase for timber…

treated-timber

How will treated timber be treated with the ‘wood first policy’?

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…

multistorey-building

Study shows cast-in-place reinforced concrete more affordable than cross laminated timber in a US-based 10-storey building

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…

fire-explosion

Research and evidence gaps on fire performance challenged

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…

kim-troy-barbara-christin

Ep. 30 | Barbara Nebel, Christin Schaller & Troy Coyle – Calculating carbon footprint

Jul72020 Listen on iTunes Listen on Spotify Listen on PodBean 8 July 2020 | Ep.30 – Calculating carbon footprint In this episode of Stirring the Pot, we talk about a subject that might be a bit unfamiliar to our industry – and that’s calculating carbon footprint. It’s a part of a journey toward SSC Certification that…

tc-chair-wdc

Our CEO is announced as Chair of the WDC Interim Board for Manufacturing, Engineering & Logistics

We’re excited to advise that our CEO Dr Troy Coyle has been elected as Chair of the Tertiary Education Commissions (TEC) Workforce Development Council (WDC) Interim Board for Manufacturing, Engineering & Logistics. This WDC initiative follows a successful Expression of Interest (EoI) process, with 249 applications which resulted in a strong group of interim Establishment…

fern

HERA is now Sustainable Steel certified!

We’re proud to advise that HERA has now gained SSC Certification. HERA recently underwent the task of assessing our carbon footprint and have also been assessing our sustainability credentials as part of the process of achieving Sustainable Steel Council (SSC) Certification. This is part of our commitment to positively serve our community responsibilities. From our perspective,…

dhconstruction-audit

Notice – NZ’s first sustainable steel certification program

We’re calling for members interested in being certified via New Zealand’s first ever sustainable steel certification program – a new initiative being driven by the Sustainable Steel Council (SSC). The Sustainable Steel Council is a group of industry leaders committed to a circular economy, the long-term viability of the industry and its contribution to inter-generational…