Aurecon says it has committed $200,000 for the $16.5 million ARC Industrial Transformation Research Hub to Advance Timber for Australia’s Future Built Environment, administered by the University of Queensland.

The research hub aims to develop the resources, enablers, and drivers to advance timber as a natural resource and be the material of choice, leading towards a net zero future for Australia’s built environment.

As a Principal Partner of the Hub, Aurecon is involved in various research nodes including Performance of Building Components, Manufacturing Innovation, Towards a Low Carbon and Circular Economy, and Building Performance for Occupants.

Timber has a key role to play in decreasing both embodied and operational carbon as we move towards a net zero future, says Aurecon’s major project director, Ralph Belperio, who is on the Hub’s Executive Board.

“Several of the research nodes that the Hub is tackling are directly relevant to the decarbonisation pursuits of many of our key clients,” Belperio says.

“We have assembled a team of our most eminent practitioners to focus on each of the relevant nodes that can help guide the research strategies to ensure that the outcomes remain industry focussed and meet the needs of the broader construction community.

“Our significant investment is key to our desire to remain at the forefront of innovation, both in the efficient and effective use of timber in our efforts to decarbonise the built environment, and in our broader drive for more sustainable outcomes”.

Aurecon has designed and delivered several mass engineered timber structures, including Murdoch University’s Boola Katitjin, which won the 2023 Engineers Australia Project of the Year; 25 King St, Australia’s tallest mass engineered timber commercial building; and Gaia, one of the largest mass engineered timber buildings in Asia.

Aurecon’s involvement in the ARC research hub is the latest in a series of R&D commitments that the company has taken up, including the development of sustainable alternatives for sand in shotcrete, improving design through AI-assisted stakeholder engagements, and reducing wastage through a circular economy approach to building retrofits.

Image: https://www.aurecongroup.com/projects/education-research/murdoch-university-boola-katitjin