The Green Apartments

The Green, a recently completed five-storey apartment complex utilising the latest timber frame construction methodology by Australand in Melbourne, heralds a new era of affordable living for Australia’s medium-density housing needs.

The Green Residential Apartments facade in Parkville Melbourne, has the appearance of a traditional, rendered; multi-level building and is the first five-storey timber framed constructed building completed with Exsulite^®-Kooltherm^® Thermal Facade System in Australia. It is developed and built by Australand using its ‘hybrid’ construction methodology that combines commercial disciplines with a domestic trade base.

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To provide a lightweight thermal efficient walling system to be installed over timber frame construction on a five-storey building that would meet Australand’s fast track construction criteria and timelines.

Developed jointly by Kingspan Insulation and Dulux^® AcraTex^®, the Exsulite-Kooltherm Thermal Facade System is a proprietary CodeMark^TM accredited non-load bearing, lightweight walling system. It includes high performance insulation characteristics, lightweight rigidity, exceptional thermal efficiency, Fire Rated Level (FRL) solution and assists with acoustic requirements.

Kase Jong, Senior Estimator from Australand says “Benefits and savings associated with the use of prefabricated technologies and building techniques are significant, allowing for greater design flexibility, ease and speed of installation and excellent thermal and acoustic performance. Interestingly, hybrid buildings are more labour intensive in terms of manpower than those associated with a concrete based construction of similar scale; the real savings are derived by extracting the cost benefits of engaging the domestic labour force and supply chain to deliver hybrid buildings.”

Australand’s hybrid building construction methods apply to approximately 50% of their medium-density houses/apartments. It’s about finding the right solution to the right site for each situation.
The Exsulite-Kooltherm Lightweight Cladding System helped to reduce construction times when installed over timber framing at multi storey heights versus conventional building systems.
The Exsulite-Kooltherm Facade System offered a high insulation performance (R4-R7 thermal ratings).
Hazards associated with the construction of floor joists for instance, are mostly averted through the use of ‘drop in’ floor cassettes, which have a direct positive effect on worksite safety. This level of safety will only be improved as more complete prefabricated units, including full walling systems such as the Exsulite-Kooltherm Thermal Facade System, are more commonly used in the Australian market.
The Exsulite-Kooltherm Thermal Facade System helps buildings achieve exceptional thermal efficiency, achieving RT4.6 in a timber-framed wall with a 20mm cavity using just 80mm of Kingspan Kooltherm K5 External Wall Board and no added wall batts.
Total system R-values of up to RT7.0 (heat flow in) can be achieved by adding R2.5 wall batts. Australand confirm that apartments in The Green have an average performance rating of 7 Stars. High performance glazing (10.38mm) also enhances acoustic and energy efficiency.

The Exsulite-Kooltherm Facade System provided a fast and efficient installation process than conventional building systems. This lead to faster construction times, reducing the time required for scaffolding on site.