The Forest and Wood Products Research and Development Corporation has provided funding for and contracted the University of Tasmania to test the actual thermal performance of light-weight timber framed solutions through the 5 Star thermal performance Project. The project has two components:

• the thermal performance test cells at the University of Tasmania's Launceston Campus. You can find out more about the test cells here.

• the 5 Star test houses being built in Hobart in association with prominent Hobart building company, Wilson Homes.

The test houses, currently under construction, are:

• A Compact 5 Star Timber House – a compact, affordable but well detailed house that includes a timber framed floor and achieves at least a 5 Star rating when assessed under AccuRate

• A Compact 5 Star Timber Frame and Concrete Slab House – a house with an orientation and general building fabric identical to the 5 Star Timber House, that achieves at least a five star rating and has a standard concrete slab on ground

• A Compact 4 Star Timber House – a compact, affordable but well detailed house that includes a timber framed floor and achieves a four star rating when assessed under AccuRate.

To ensure results are directly comparable between the buildings, the orientation, and floor plan of the three houses will be identical. Except for the inclusion of the slab, the external fabric of the two 5 Star houses will also be identical. The external fabric of the 4 Star house will be similar but necessarily altered to achieve this rating.

The thermal performance of each house will monitored by an extensive sensor array. The information gathered will be used to assess the accuracy of methods used to determine the ‘energy efficiency’ of Australia's housing.

The specific research objectives of the project are to:

• validate the AccuRate software in a full building

• compare the thermal performance of a building with a timber framed floor with  that of a building with a concrete slab on ground floor

• measure the thermal performance of a range of timber assemblies individually and as systems.