Building construction is a vast subject, ranging from the construction of a small individual home to tall skyscraper commercial complexes and huge malls. The construction of non-residential buildings like hospitals, courts, schools, etc. require specialised design knowledge and use of different type of building materials. The building materials required will have a wide variance according to the size and the budget of the said construction. Even between two individual homes of the same size, there can be a huge difference in the materials used, depending on the budget allocation. A simple home can be constructed with a few building materials, while a similar home of the same size can use a large variety of materials if there is no constraint on the budget.

The January 2003 amendments to Building Code of Australia have specified measures and regulations on building construction and the type of building materials that can be used in Australia. This has been done with the intention of achieving minimum energy requirements of new buildings and major refurbishments and energy efficiency measures are completely met with. The inclusion of energy efficiency measures is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The Australian Building Codes Board (ABCB) is a subsequent initiative of the Australian government to include all the levels of the government and representatives of the building industry.

Read the rest of this entry »

Until recently, Australian architects and builders have been building designs similar to that of their counterparts all over the world. They have extensively used high performance glass with reflective coating and insulating glass in their high-rise commercial buildings and residential apartments. However, the introduction of the new building regulations is set to change the scenario drastically. Since these regulations are meant to make the buildings more energy efficient, the construction industry has to include low emissivity glass, higher performance toned glass and Solar Low E glass, etc. in their building designs.

Read the rest of this entry »