MY INVENTION REASONS: to provide building construction market with precast concrete system that satisfies variety demands of people’s life styles from poor to rich, to find the marvellous blend of building design and new technology to give architectural and structural building requests together with design freedom and construction quality, speed and economy, to overcome some drawbacks in current construction methods, by changing the way of the building construction, Some drawbacks are: using a large number of small individual components, popular called “ stick construction “, time consuming and expensive methods, a lot of on-site labour, noise, dust and waste, significant labours’ effort and skill to bring to completion of even small building, poor acoustic, fire resistance and thermal properties, poor quality in sense of strength, durability and accuracy in dimensions, vulnerable material properties towards termites, rottenness and moisture.

SOME ILLUSTRATED DRAWBACKS Lot No: 4 Malvern Road, GLENWOOD NSW 2148, BLACKTOWN COUNCIL, Date: March 2001

SOME ILLUSTRATED DRAWBACKS - continue Lot No: 4 Malvern Road, GLENWOOD NSW 2148, BLACKTOWN COUNCIL, Date: March 2001 POOR CONCRETE QULITY & EXPOSED STEEL REINFORCEMENT

SOME ILLUSTRATED DRAWBACKS - continue Lot No: 4 Malvern Road, GLENWOOD NSW 2148, BLACKTOWN COUNCIL, Date: March 2001

SOME ILLUSTRATED DRAWBACKS - continue Lot No: 4 Malvern Road, GLENWOOD NSW 2148, BLACKTOWN COUNCIL, Date: March 2001

SOME ILLUSTRATED DRAWBACKS - continue Failure of Brick Facing on High - Rise Buildings Bed joint at shelf angle Typical cavity wall and veneer

Extra job - Turning of panels Aerial view of erecting at narrow site. SOME ILLUSTRATED DRAWBACKS - continue

MY INVENTION REASONS - continue I chose concrete because concrete: is in tune with the environment, (concrete helps protect our natural resources and affords unique benefits to consumers), ingredients (water, aggregate and cement) are abundant in supply and take a lesser toll in their extraction than other construction material, is an ideal medium for recycling waste or industrial byproducts (blast furnace slag, recycled polystyrene and fly ash), has another environmental plus as energy efficiency payback material is modest in its energy needs, (the only energy intensive demand is in the manufacture of portland cement, typically a % component of concrete, is suitable for waste minimization and long life (it is used on and as-needed basis and leftovers are easily reused or recycled), Conclusion: Concrete has a future.

I chose precast concrete because precast concrete : gives freedom in design to create a unique identity (design flexibility), provides Thermal Comfort because thermal mass gives thermal lag, gives opportunity to perceive a construction and use of a house as a machine with multiple functions to better satisfy every day the more sophisticated needs of public, has no wastage and harm impact on environment, helps to have affordable, cost – efficiency private and public housing, helps to builders to save enormous amount of time by avoiding weather delays and builders do not have a congestion on building site. Conclusion: Precast concrete is eminently suitable material for innovations in building construction and MY INVENTION REASONS - continue

Precast Concrete Characteristics and Performance: - Energy Efficiency How does Thermal Mass Work? Offset of peak temperature is approx. 6 hours and known as the thermal lag. It means the maximum indoor temperature will not occur until 6 hours after the maximum outdoor temperature has been reached. Thus thermal mass tends to 'iron out' (settle) the outdoor variations in temperature, providing a more uniform and pleasant indoor living environment MY INVENTION REASONS - continue

Precast Concrete Energy Efficiency - continue: MY INVENTION REASONS - continue

This is a typical supporting arrangement for a non- loadbearing (cladding) panel, using a corbel and dowel. MY INVENTION REASONS - continue

In a loadbearing situation, panels bear upon and are connected, generally by dowels to the panel below. MY INVENTION REASONS - continue

Numerous connection options are available MY INVENTION REASONS - continue

Some Precast Concrete Characteristics and Performance: PC owners Frame owners MY INVENTION REASONS - continue

Wood and Concrete Price Comparison Cost Competitive: Over the last ten years, concrete prices have been remarkably stable. Recent price increases in other materials have generated interest in concrete building systems as never before. MY INVENTION REASONS - continue

The Construction Industry, is seeking a competitive edge over others in the same line of business worldwide, Speed, Quality, Economy; Customers demands – the precast concrete industry prides itself on being able to deliver all three, most of the time, Sustainable Construction (Efficient recycling becomes a survival requirement – a “Licence to Operate”), Declining Skill Levels (In Japan average age of skilled workers on building site is over 50 years), Robotics and Automation (Laser on the shuttering table - saving time, avoiding defects and aims to reduce the labour content), Fluctuating Interest Rates (Forced to speed of construction), Globalisation (Innovative uses of precast can be an effective counter to the global marketing of steel building systems. Conclusion: Innovation in the Construction Industry is never easy, but fortunately market forces the Industry to seek new solutions to survive. THE ROLE OF PRECAST CONCRETE AS A CATALYST FOR INNOVATION By Gest Speaker Mr. Len McSaveney, Golden Bay Cement, New Zealand. CONCRETE CONFERENCE: “CONCRETE IN THE 3 RD MILLENNIUM”, Brisbane, July, 2003