October 15th, 2021Building revolution

THERE’S a building revolution happening – in Daylesford – and it couldn’t have come at a more opportune time.
Structural Panels Australia owners Per Bernard, Tibor Hegedis and Martin Bird have worked together for years specialising in energy efficient building systems. But the more efficient the buildings became, the more they cost, putting them out of the reach of most people, as Per explains. “The more efficient buildings become, the dearer they get and whilst we can design and build a house that needs no heating or cooling, it costs a lot of money, and most people can’t afford that.”
A couple of years ago the trio started looking at a new product, structurally insulated panels (SIPs), and when Victoria’s main manufacturer decided to retire, they took over the business and moved it to their premises in East Street, Daylesford.
“SIPs creates a really high insulation level that is also affordable. It does that by taking away most of the timber in a building, including the studs and trusses, so you are down to using about 10 per cent of the timber you would normally need.
“And because you don’t have a normal timber frame stud wall, which is how most buildings are done here, even those with brick veneer, there are no thermal breaches in the walls or floors or even roof, if you use it for all of those areas.
“If you take an infrared photo of a new house that is supposed to be working efficiently you will see every single stud is a heat leak. You can see them as a red patch through the side of the building. But because a SIP panel hardly has any timber you see a completely different picture of insulation.” And alongside the great insulation properties of the panels it also resolves a current worldwide shortage of building materials including timber. A win, win.
Per said the company was looking to upscale their factory, which already employs two people, and within the next year start producing a complete pre-fab system, building entire walls onsite with doors, windows and cladding, ready to be put together in a couple of days. The trio also works with professional engineers, building designers and architects and can offer a one stop shop for a complete building package.
There are also discounts being passed on of up to 30 per cent, thanks to some savvy shopping, and a genuine wish to create sustainable, affordable projects for their community. “We are achieving comparably efficient buildings like we have done for a number of years, however using SIPs, we can now offer a much less complicated, less expensive system. This really is a game changer. And pretty cool.” Advertorial