The University of Tasmania’s Centre for Sustainable Architecture with Wood (CSAW) is offering free podcasts covering many of the fundamental aspects of using or producing timber and wood products.
CSAW Director, Associate Professor Greg Nolan said that this means that CSAW has racked up another first in timber education and skills to offer in conjunction with its Graduate Certificate in Timber (Processing and Building), which is part of the School of Architecture & Design’s continuing timber education and skills program.
“We want to start with an immediately useful subject so this first podcast is about using a moisture meter. We also wanted the information to be accessible to everyone so it is available on YouTube and as a free download from CSAW’s website,” said Nolan.
“The idea of timber podcasts really came from industry colleagues, especially builders and those in hardware stores. They wanted clear information about timber use for their staff and their customers. We hope our podcasts can provide that. They will be short, only deal with a single topic and be available for free at any time online. This podcast is an example of that approach.”
A series of monthly podcasts are planned with several already in production. The next podcast, due for release in early June, will be on assessing moisture content by oven drying.
Podcasts on basic wood products: poles, sawn timber and engineered wood products will follow.
The podcasts complement CSAW’s other major educational activities on timber production and use in building: its online Graduate Certificate in Timber (Processing and Building), and its regular Master Classes.
“Our aim is to continue to build confidence and skill with wood in Australia’s building and design community and this will lead to more efficient and sustainable building practice,” said Nolan.
The podcast is available at YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/WoodArchitecture
