Ian Massey, founder-director of Ismart Building Group is passionate about building, with his career having taken him from the green fields of Ireland to the deserts of Dubai. He is now in Western Australia where his company is building the first multi-residential German Passive Haus project in the Southern Hemisphere.
Mr Massey also has a mission to debunk the preconception that all offsite manufactured housing projects result in “unattractive, low-quality, flimsy-looking, donga-type buildings”.
Ismart Building Group, formerly known as Insulation Systems, imported some of the most advanced and globally recognised building performance test equipment available on the market to carry out tests on their completed buildings to prove their performance. He is confident that the sheer volume of high-performance buildings they plan to build in the coming years will put Perth on the global map as one of the leaders in sustainable building.
Armed with a wealth of knowledge and years of experience along with a degree in construction management and technology, Mr Massey has dedicated himself to creating buildings that last, using a number of products and services, including the Finished Wall.
A low-energy residential wall system, Finished Wall is manufactured offsite and erected in days. According to Mr Massey, most of the technical research for their system was carried out by their business partner Daniel Kress at top German and Canadian universities where 600 simulations were performed to create an optimal building system for WA.
Mr Massey spent two years designing the system for the Perth climate. A timber steel composite framing system, it can be used for buildings of any size, from one storey to six storeys, in any shape or style.
Mr Massey said there were numerous benefits to framing a building, including double glazing making the building airtight as well as controlling the environment, eliminating the possibility of cold air leaking out, and utilising naturally occurring temperatures.
He says the system helps reduce heating and cooling cost by 90 per cent – an important factor in an environment of rising energy costs.
Under the leadership of Mr Massey, Ismart’s systems allow the building process to be broken down into a few easily manageable stages, eliminating the stress of dealing with multiple contractors and complicated building processes. As the building systems are manufactured in workshop conditions in Yangebup, they are cost-effective as well.
Mr Massey’s passion for building and innovation is clear but he is quick to praise his suppliers, especially CSR for its role in aiding Ismart.
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