Homeownership is the largest single financial commitment most people will ever make, and it also provides the greatest long-term financial and emotional security.
Higher density housing options, like apartments and townhouses, are gaining popularity among would-be homeowners as a result of the rising costs of homes and land. For this reason, the need for business services has slowed over the past five years.
Australia’s insatiable housing demand over the past five years has been supported by the country’s booming population and historically low home loan rates.
You can get help from Hitch Property Constructions in a wide range of service areas with their specialised selection of home renovations.
What are the different types of construction?
Masonry
Masonry is a type of construction in which bricks, blocks, and stone are the main building materials.
When it comes to lightweight blocks, Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (AAC) is a common choice because of its durability, excellent insulating properties, and ability to dampen outside noise.
Render, stone veneer, or cladding can be used to give it a clean look at a low cost. You have the choice between each of these alternatives.
Brick houses usually have a block interior wall and an exterior wall of brick or stone veneer.
Wood Framing / Brick Veneer
Wood framing is the primary structural component of any wall, floor, roof, or ceiling, formed by nailed or screwed-together prefabricated panels and trusses.
It can be built in minutes with minimal effort, and it comes in at a very reasonable price with a number of customizable options.
One of the problems with wood is that it can deteriorate if it isn’t treated properly, leading to problems like rot, swelling, mould, and termite infestation.
As a result of its low density, it makes for a poor sound insulator; however, when combined with other insulation, it can prove to be remarkably effective at keeping out the cold and the noise.
Exterior cladding of low-cost homes can be either brick or wood siding (brick veneer).
Steel Framing
There are many similarities to wood framing, but the long-term durability and lack of defects make this a superior option.
It’s a little more expensive than wood, but it has a more consistent finish, which means your walls will be straight and your house will be built more tightly.
Although steel framing has a high thermal conductivity, this can be overcome by paying close attention to detail.
Concrete
Cast-in-place concrete, precast panels, and insulated concrete forms with integral insulation are all viable options for using concrete in the construction of residential buildings.
Regardless of the method you use to build a concrete home, you can count on it to be extremely strong and durable over time, while also requiring next to no maintenance. Repairing a concrete building is a specialised skill, but it is often necessary for older, more historically significant buildings.
The restoration process can be challenging, but the benefits of using this method include protection from fire and pests, as well as resistance to high winds and severe storms.
It is common practise to employ specialised builders when constructing a home out of concrete, which can add to the cost and often necessitates a higher budget than would be used for a more conventional building material.
Green techniques
Home construction techniques that are easier on the environment include earth mounds, straw bale, and mud brick.
Those who are willing to put in a lot of personal effort can build one of these houses on the cheap and still maximise their home’s energy efficiency.
There is a lot of potential in the eco-friendly and long-lasting design of strawbale homes.
Earth mounds, such as those used for adobe houses or for homes that are actually dug into the ground, are another approach to producing environmentally friendly buildings.
One of the most popular sustainable building materials is structural insulated panels, or SIPs for short.
Two sheets of aluminium, steel, plywood, or fibre cement sandwich insulating foam sheets to form the framework of these panels.
When these panels are used to build a house’s walls, floors, and ceilings, the resulting structure is not only completely watertight but also highly energy-efficient.
SIP homes are more energy efficient than conventional houses because they are better insulated and less likely to experience draughts.
You’ll be able to save money and help the environment by reducing the size of your heating and cooling system as a result of this.
What are the construction systems?
What we call “construction systems” refers to the various ways in which materials are put together to build our homes’ structural elements like the ceilings, walls, and floors.
There is a wide variety of options to choose from, each with its own set of benefits and drawbacks depending on particulars like the local climate, the distance from the supply source, the available funds, the level of maintenance required, and the desired style or appearance.
The environmental performance of a construction system is measured by its overall impact on the environment, and this is in turn determined by a life cycle or “cradle to grave” analysis of the impact of the individual materials used in the system.
It is common practise to make initial selections for the building systems to be used in a project during the planning stages.
However, it is not until the stage of detailed specification that their impact on the environment is typically assessed. The ability to achieve mutually beneficial outcomes for the environment and the bottom line is constrained when decisions are made in this sequence.
Similar substances can have vastly different impacts on the natural world depending on where and how they were produced.
Origin and processing methods for raw materials have the greatest bearing on their environmental impact.
It is important to give careful thought to your choice of construction system early on in the project because making a change later in the design or construction process can be costly, especially if it requires alterations to the structure of the building.
Most new houses in Australia are built using a standard formula with minor adjustments for things like climate, location, and the preferences of the people who will live in them.
Almost all brand-new houses are built using a relatively uniform blueprint, with only slight modifications needed to accommodate local building codes and zoning restrictions. The formula works well in spite of the vast variations in Australia’s climate, geography, and cultural norms.
There are a number of factors that contributed to the formula’s development, such as the ease and speed with which it could be built, the popularity of the end product, the general public’s perception of the product, and the preferences of specific individuals or groups.
When it comes to meeting Australia’s housing needs, this approach almost never yields the best or even the least expensive solutions. It makes keeping our homes in good condition more expensive and taxing on the environment, and it often doesn’t improve our lives very much.
The emphasis is often placed on “borrowed style” and larger dimensions, at the expense of convenience, functionality, and overall performance. Selecting the best home constructions company in Melbourne is a crucial decision.
Looking for the best home constructions? Look no further! Hitch Property Constructions has the ultimate list of home designs for you to choose from.
Thermal performance of construction systems
An important way to tell different building systems apart is by their respective mass. Depending on:
- where they are used (inside or outside), whether or not passive heating and cooling methods are available, and how they are intended to influence the local climate are all factors to consider.
Mass can only aid thermal performance if it is accessible from the inside and protected from the elements on the outside. When employed as thermal mass in this manner, it can smooth out diurnal temperature swings by absorbing or emitting heat as needed.
This calls for a minimum of 6°C in temperature difference between night and day, as well as the availability of passive heating and cooling. Low-mass solutions generally perform better in inaccessible situations.
Using high mass systems externally, such as in brick veneer construction, can have other benefits; however, they do not improve thermal performance. Sure enough, they can make bad designs even worse.
High mass systems
- materials that have a higher embodied energy can offset their impact by lowering a home’s overall heating and cooling needs.
- can be a problem in tropical regions where cooling systems consume the vast majority of energy. are most effective when there is a large temperature difference between the day and the night.
- need more extensive footing systems, cause more site disturbance, and have a greater environmental impact when extracted and processed.
- need a thorough weighing of pros and cons, especially when dealing with outlying areas that incur high transportation costs.
Lightweight systems
- have an average lower amount of energy contained within them can reduce total life cycle energy use, especially in environments with a small diurnal range.
- quickly cool down at night in both mild and hot climates are often favoured on far-flung sites due to the high costs of transporting materials.
- Buildings in high diurnal range climates typically need more heating and cooling energy than those in low diurnal range climates because of the inability to moderate diurnal cycles.
- can benefit from the addition of thermal mass provided by the incorporation of water-filled containers or phase change materials.
- can have less of an effect on production if it’s obtained in a responsible way.
Mixed mass systems
In most cases, the best economic and ecological outcomes can be achieved by combining low and high mass construction.
In milder climates, the best results can be achieved with concrete slabs set directly on the ground and lightweight walls. In hot, humid climates, building materials with a low mass are preferable. It helps to have a lot of mass if you live in a cool climate.
It is important to strategically place low and high mass components of the building for optimal performance in both cold and hot arid climates.
Combining low-mass upper stories with high-mass (earth-bermed precast concrete) lower stories improves both embodied energy and operational energy efficiency.
What are the elements of the construction system?
Footing systems
Footings are structures that are used to transfer the weight of a house to the foundation material, which is typically soil. The wind classification of the site dictates how the footing system should be designed to ensure adequate tie-down for the building structure and allow for adaptation to varying geotechnical conditions (soil conditions).
To meet these criteria, a system should use fewer high-embodied-energy materials (like concrete and steel) and cause less disruption to the site.
Lightweight framed systems have the smallest environmental impact and embodied energy. Lightweight steel footing systems come in many forms, including screw piles, steel piers that can be adjusted on top of a concrete pad or bored columns, pole and space frame systems, and many others.
Any terrain that isn’t perfectly flat will necessitate extensive excavation to accommodate the integrated footings made of concrete slabs, which only serves to heighten the impact.
In regions with mild slopes and climates that allow earth coupling to substantially offset additional embodied energy over the life of the building, these buildings may reduce construction costs.
Due to geotechnical considerations, it was necessary to use waffle pod slabs, which are an efficient structural solution. However, they should only be used on locations with moderately reactive to highly reactive soils.
This is due to the fact that on stable sites, the extra steel and concrete used represents a waste of embodied energy. Used car tyres stuffed with compacted fill can be used to create pods.
Contrast this with systems made of cardboard and expanded polystyrene (EPS) foam, which do not maintain earth coupling, and you’ll see the benefit of keeping a connection to the ground.
When compared to carbon dioxide, the embodied energy in glasshouse gases found in EPS foam is much higher. This adds even more energy to the total embodied.
Using detached strip footings and load-bearing brickwork up to floor level can reduce the amount of excavation needed.
However, when this system is used with brick dwarf walls, the embodied energy increases.
These days, you can get engineered steel pile systems that are designed to hold up masonry walls. They cut down on construction time, the amount of excavation required, and the overall disruption to the site.
It’s more expensive than strip footings, though the exact amount depends on the specifics of the application. When you work with HP Constructions, your dream home can become a reality because we provide the widest range of options in premium home building.
Floor systems
High mass floors
The most common type of high thermal mass floor system is concrete slabs set directly on the ground. When the temperature of the ground is between 16 and 19 degrees Celsius at a depth of more than three metres, earth-coupled slabs perform optimally.
Anywhere outside this range, such as Darwin or Tasmania, the underside should be insulated.
The use of precast concrete beams with lightweight infill and concrete topping, or slabs that are suspended from above, are two other examples of systems.
In order to improve the thermal performance of a building, the underside of suspended floors, including subfloor spaces, must be insulated if they are exposed to the outside air.
Lightweight suspended concrete floor systems are more affordable than slab floors and on par with the price of wood and metal subfloors.
Lightweight suspended concrete floor systems can also lessen the effects on the actual site. It is necessary to insulate the bottom of the slab.
More rarely, flagstone, rock, or compacted earth are used. Nonetheless, it is equally efficient when built in accordance with local conditions.
The transportation impact of these systems is minimal, if any at all, and their embodied energy is low or nonexistent. Costs are low in most cases.
Low mass floors
The most common layout for a lightweight floor consists of a lightweight steel or wood frame covered in particleboard, wood, plywood, or compressed fiber-cement sheeting. Because it is built to be disassembled at the end of its useful life, this flooring has a lot of potential for recycling (for example, when it is screwed instead of glued).
Although the embodied energy of lightweight steel framing is greater than that of wood, it is easily recyclable after its useful life has ended. Steel framing provides greater durability in termite-prone areas, while transport costs for comparable steel and wood structures are typically lower.
Preventing rust in corrosive environments by galvanising the metal increases the energy “embodied” in the material. As a rule, the price is higher than that of timber.
Lightweight timber framing made from sustainably harvested plantation timber is an effective carbon sink because it reduces the amount of energy needed to construct the building.
While engineered timber bearers and joists make excellent use of resources, the adhesives used to join them together can be hazardous to occupants’ health and the environment.
Although termite proofing can lessen the likelihood of a termite infestation, it often involves the use of chemical treatments that have their own environmental impacts. As for cost, it’s reasonable.
The use of SIP and ECP systems (structural insulated panel and engineered composite panel) is on the rise. Most of the time, high structural efficiency and naturally high insulation levels can be achieved by bonding low-mass insulation materials to lightweight steel or ply sheeting.
The levels of insulation produced by this method of building are usually quite high. The price may be relatively low, moderate, or high, depending on the setup.
Many of these low mass floor systems offer lower embodied energy, increased structural efficiency, and reduced resource depletion when manufactured in a sustainable manner using environmentally prefered materials.
Composite mass floors
The following are typical examples of composite mass floors:
- lightweight systems with inserts that can be filled with water to provide thermal mass lightweight structures made of light materials that have concrete poured on top of them
- Phase change materials, such as those found in autoclaved aerated concrete (AAC) (see Autoclaved aerated concrete) floor systems, are encased in low-mass materials to create a floor covering that is both simple to instal and effective at retaining heat (see Thermal mass; Mud brick).
Wall systems
High mass walls
Common high thermal mass wall systems include those made of stone or brick. You can think of brick, concrete block, and precast concrete when you imagine masonry wall systems. The use of rammed earth and mud bricks are two other common building methods.
Embodied energy is measured in terms of the amount of energy required to create one unit of the finished product.
When compared to mud brick, rammed earth has a higher embodied energy cost because it requires a greater amount of cement, the proportion of which is determined by the type of earth used.
All high-mass wall systems must have their exteriors insulated and their interiors left exposed to improve thermal performance. The effectiveness of insulation is measured by the degree to which it reduces the temperature differential between an enclosed space and its surroundings.
Increases in insulation thickness are required whenever there is a large temperature differential.
Thicker walls, such as those made of rammed earth or mud brick, have a greater capacity to retain heat or cold, which can reduce the amount of insulation needed in mild climates.
This is a common misconception about the differences between these frameworks. Large amounts of exterior insulation are necessary in cold climates, but they should be avoided in hot and humid regions.
Insulation levels and whether or not a climate is suitable are both calculated through thermal performance modelling.
Low mass walls
Non-structural cladding and linings like fibre cement, plywood, and steel are typically installed on top of a lightweight timber or steel framing in the most common type of low-mass wall construction.
Most homes today have walls built in this way because of how lightweight they are. Insulated lightweight walls can have low heat loss and low embodied energy depending on the cladding used.
There is little concern for the environment when using sheet cladding systems like plywood, fibre cement sheet, and others. Even though it is necessary to perform routine maintenance on any painted surface, they last for a very long time and look great while doing it.
Composite (mixed) mass walls
These systems have a density that is somewhere in the middle of the two extremes, with a high mass, as in the case of AAC, where high mass concrete is used to trap tiny air bubbles with no mass, or a low mass, as in the case of straw bale, where the straw itself has a low mass and the render finish has a high mass.
Autoclaved aerated concrete (AAC) is a lightweight and energy-efficient material because of the sealed air pockets within the concrete’s aggregate.
Log walls
Log wall construction, one of the oldest methods, is a low mass system that has been around since prehistoric times. Furthermore, this building technique is extremely ancient.
As a result of an abundance of tall, straight timber that could be simply cut, worked, and transformed into building components, the city expanded.
With this method, the wood could be used for structural elements. Tall pines and other trees with slender, vertical trunks are traditionally associated with these areas.
The method is thought to have begun in northern Europe and spread to the rest of the world as a result of European colonisation, especially to North America, where the plentiful pine forests provided the ideal raw material.
Australian log homes are constructed with real wood logs. At least one vendor uses laminated Scots pine and Norway spruce from overseas when wider logs are needed.
Some other vendors use Australian white cypress, while others prefer Monterey pine (Pinus radiata), a species of pine tree indigenous to the central coast of California that is now widely planted in Australia.
The use of composite “logs,” which are made of timber planks with a layer of rigid insulation sandwiched between them and a face or veneer of the natural log on the outside, is not yet commonplace in Australia.
Composite “logs” are used in these methods of constructing log walls. Cladding made from lengthwise-cut logs is used to cover the exterior of insulated stud frames that feature timber panelling on the interior. This strategy is a variant on the log facing method typically employed in homes with log veneer.
Roof systems
High mass roof systems
Roofing systems cannot increase their thermal performance as a function of thermal mass unless they can be exposed on the inside and insulated on the outside.
Outside of multi-story buildings, it is unusual to find a building with an exposed roof mass because ceiling insulation is so crucial.
Low mass roof systems
Lightweight roofing systems with a timber or steel framework perform similarly to walls and frames.
Variations in embodied energy are caused by cladding systems that do not add to thermal performance.
Your new house can be constructed using any of several popular methods.
Most Australian construction workers are more familiar with brick veneer than the more traditional masonry (double brick) method used in Western Australia.
It is deeply ingrained in the Australian psyche to construct a home from the ground up, but for first-time buyers in particular, the construction process can be puzzling.
Check out our Melbourne home repairs to help you to build your dream house.
Understanding the building process is a great way to calm your nerves and start having fun with the project. Understanding the what, when, and how of upcoming events is crucial.
Conclusion
In the last five years, less business has been done, so fewer services have been needed. Apartments and townhouses, which are examples of higher density housing, are becoming increasingly popular. Whether it’s a wall, floor, roof, or ceiling, wood framing is the mainstay of any building’s structural integrity. Steel framing’s high thermal conductivity can be mitigated with proper insulation and ventilation. Earth mounds, straw bale, mud brick, and greener options like structural insulated panels are all examples.
Repairing a concrete structure requires specialised knowledge, but it is sometimes necessary, especially for historic structures. The environmental performance of a building system is evaluated according to its total environmental impact. The raw materials’ environmental impact is most strongly influenced by their origin and processing methods. A standard formula is used to construct the vast majority of new homes in Australia, with minor modifications made to account for regional and seasonal differences, as well as individual tastes. The only way mass can improve thermal performance is if it is both accessible from the inside and protected from the outside.
To mitigate the effects of temperature fluctuations throughout the day, it can be used as thermal mass to absorb or release heat as required. To achieve this, there must be a day-to-night temperature swing of at least 6 degrees Celsius. For optimal performance in both cold and hot arid climates, it is important to strategically place low and high mass components of the building. Energy efficiency is increased in both the embodied and operational phases when low-mass upper stories are combined with high-mass (earth-bermed precast concrete) lower stories. Concrete slabs installed directly on the ground are the most common type of high thermal mass flooring system.
Particleboard, plywood, or compressed fiber-cement sheeting is typically laid out over a lightweight steel or wood frame to create a lightweight floor. The structural insulated panel (SIP) and engineered composite panel (ECP) systems are becoming increasingly popular. Low-mass insulation materials can be bonded to lightweight steel or ply sheeting to achieve both high structural efficiency and naturally high insulation levels. Thermal performance modelling is used to determine optimal levels of insulation and whether or not a climate is suitable. Heavy exterior insulation is essential in cold climates, but it should be avoided in hot and humid areas.
Depending on the cladding, insulated lightweight walls can have low heat loss and low embodied energy. Composite “logs” consist of timber planks sandwiching rigid insulation in between, with a veneer of the natural log on the outside. Insulated stud frames with timber panelling on the interior are clad with cladding made from lengthwise-cut logs.
Content Summary
- Australia’s insatiable housing demand over the past five years has been supported by the country’s booming population and historically low home loan rates.
- Home construction techniques that are easier on the environment include earth mounds, straw bale, and mud brick.
- One of the most popular sustainable building materials is structural insulated panels, or SIPs for short.
- The environmental performance of a construction system is measured by its overall impact on the environment, and this is in turn determined by a life cycle or “cradle to grave” analysis of the impact of the individual materials used in the system.
- Selecting the best home constructions company in Melbourne is a crucial decision.
- High mass systems materials that have a higher embodied energy can offset their impact by lowering a home’s overall heating and cooling needs.
- It is important to strategically place low and high mass components of the building for optimal performance in both cold and hot arid climates.
- The most common type of high thermal mass floor system is concrete slabs set directly on the ground.
- Lightweight suspended concrete floor systems are more affordable than slab floors and on par with the price of wood and metal subfloors.
- Lightweight suspended concrete floor systems can also lessen the effects on the actual site.
- Many of these low mass floor systems offer lower embodied energy, increased structural efficiency, and reduced resource depletion when manufactured in a sustainable manner using environmentally prefered materials.
- All high-mass wall systems must have their exteriors insulated and their interiors left exposed to improve thermal performance.
- Australian log homes are constructed with real wood logs.
- The use of composite “logs,” which are made of timber planks with a layer of rigid insulation sandwiched between them and a face or veneer of the natural log on the outside, is not yet commonplace in Australia.
- Composite “logs” are used in these methods of constructing log walls.
- Your new house can be constructed using any of several popular methods.
- It is deeply ingrained in the Australian psyche to construct a home from the ground up, but for first-time buyers in particular, the construction process can be puzzling.
- Understanding the building process is a great way to calm your nerves and start having fun with the project.
FAQs About Home Construction
What Is a Residential Construction Definition?
Construction of dwellings, such as houses, apartments, and flats, falls under the category of residential construction, whereas commercial construction encompasses the building of industrial facilities, warehouses, and commercial establishments.
What Type of Construction Are Most Residential Houses?
Only one of the five distinct kinds of building construction-a wood-frame structure-has walls that can easily catch fire on the outside. This is the typical approach taken when building a single-family dwelling. These structures are constructed using studs measuring 2 by 4 or 2 by 6 inches, load-bearing walls made of wood, wood floor trusses or wood floor joists, and roof framing made of wood.
What Is It Called When You Build Houses?
A person whose job it is to construct new homes and other buildings, as well as repair existing ones, is known as a builder. The roofing work has been completed by the construction crew.
How Many Types of Construction Are There?
Buildings, infrastructure, and industrial construction make up the three primary subfields of the construction industry. In the industry of building construction, projects are typically classified as either residential or commercial.
What Does Class a Mean in Construction?
Class A buildings are the most prestigious buildings in the world. They offer the most conveniences and are located in the most desirable areas. In general, these are the most appealing structures available because of the superior craftsmanship and top-notch components used in their construction.
