WoodSolutions announces the addition of three new titles on thermal design to their Technical Design Guides collection.

Thermal mass is an important aspect of residential design; however, in practice, it is poorly understood and applied, especially in timber design and construction. The correct application of thermal mass is one of the many issues addressed in the three new free publications from Wood Solutions, funded by Forest and Wood Products Australia Ltd.

WoodSolutions has published over twenty Technical Design Guides, which were among the 34,000-plus documents downloaded from the Wood Solutions website during 2014-2015.

Created to simplify the design and construction of energy-efficient and comfortable environments, the new thermal design guides are essential reading for architects, building designers, engineers and professionals concerned about maximising the thermal efficiency of timber structures.

Eileen Newbury, Marketing and Communications Manager for Forest and Wood Products Australia Ltd (FWPA) commented that the thermal guides have been among their most extensively researched and consulted technical titles, with the content and structure based on feedback from both specialists and potential users, and matched to their needs.

Wood Solutions Technical Guide 22 Thermal Performance in Timber-framed Buildings provides a simple step-by-step overview of housing design for greater thermal comfort and serves as an introduction to Guide 23, Using Thermal Mass in Timber-framed Buildings, and Guide 24 Thermal Performance for Timber-framed Residential Construction.

Guide 23 is based on analysis of both real-world and computer simulations of thermal mass in typical project homes and experimental structures in several Australian climates.

Guide 24 explains the principles of thermal performance and focuses on ways to enhance the performance of residential timber-framed buildings. While the guide focuses on detached or semi-detached dwellings, many of these principles are useful for larger timber-rich commercial and multi-residential buildings.

Copies of the three Thermal Design Guides are available for free download from the Wood Solutions website.

On Wednesday 5th August at 11:00am AEST Mark Dewsbury (School of Architecture and Design, University of Tasmania) will be presenting a webinar ‘Thermal Performance for Timber-framed Residential Construction: Wood Solutions Guide 24’.

Registration is open for the webinar.