Ember Guard Project at Yarra Ranges Special Development School.
Eucalyptus trees and native wattle trees are the predominant tree species on the campus causing significant debris build up in gutters. ScreenTech’s installed TuffMesh Emberguard on a number of campus buildings in Victoria in conjunction with our Victorian installation partner Aussie Gutter Protection.
Summary
Project
Yarra Ranges Special Development School
Installation Locations
- Library and recreational campus
- Reception area, multipurpose room
- Campus classrooms
Roof types
- Klip-Lok® with large box gutters
- Trimdek® with large box gutters
- Roof-to-roof fixtures
Project Time Frame
- 2 weeks over the summer school holidays
- Aussie Gutter Protection
Gutter guard solution
- TuffMesh® Emberguard mesh with a hole size of 1.9 mm
Challenge
Yarra Ranges Special Development School is located in Mount Evelyn, Victoria, in a BAL-29 rated area of the state. The site is at risk of ember attack during the Summer months. The location is also prone to heavy downpours in winter and spring. The low pitch roofs and oversized box gutters are prone to blockages from leaves from overhanging gum trees and finner debris from native wattle trees, which has caused water build up in their guttering systems and contamination in their tank water.
As a school, the oversized box gutters were also exposed to blockages from play equipment – including balls and other sporting equipment. This meant maintenance staff were consistently getting on the roof to collect play and sports equipment lodged in the box gutters or downpipes. The maintenance team wanted a solution to minimize constant gutter cleaning and maintenance. A gutter guard would also reduce members of the facilities maintenance team from climbing on the roofs and cleaning out getters once a fortnight – reducing the risk of falls.
The project also had a short timescale to completion due to the school’s budget requirements needing the project complete before the end of the fiscal year.
Solution
Our TuffMesh Emberguard has a 1.6mm aperture size that complies with the area’s BAL-20 ratings and was installed on numerous buildings throughout the campus. The school is located in a rural bushfire area and needed an Ember guard solution to meet AS 3959/1999 BAL29 rating for ember guard. We achieved a colour match with the gutters and roof, having several colour variations between the newly refurbished areas of the school and the older campus.
TuffMesh Emberguard is an unrivalled product in Australia with a 1.6mm aperture hole to ensure bushfire protection against the smallest embers. We also swaged the mesh to ensure optimal water flow and catchment as the school wanted to improve their tank water quality.
Our installation partner Aussie Gutter Protection (AGP), installed the gutter protection system within the required time frame. ScreenTech’s commercial installation manager worked closely with AGP and the school’s onsite maintenance manager to advise on bracing and installation techniques for the box gutters and roof-to-roof fixtures.
TuffMesh® EmberGuard Profile
applications
Ember guard is designed for bushfire prone areas subject to heavy ember attack with the smallest appeture size at 1.9mm aperture. The small hole size also makes it ideal to filter fine debris including pine trees and jacarandas. The mesh strength makes it ideal for possums, bird and vermin proofing, but still works during heavy downpours to ensure maximum water collection.
Features and benefits:
- Strongest aluminium guard
- One way mesh with added trough for maximum water collection
- Complies with AS3959–1999
- Australian Bushfire Standards
- CSIRO tested flammability index of zero
- Suitable to BAL 29
- Akzo Nobel D1000 powder coating.
- Powder coated in Australia
- 25 year material warranty
Specifications
- LWG: 6.0mm
- SWG: 3.0mm
- Aperture: 1.6mm (average hole size)
- Plate thickness: 0.8
- Strand width: 1.2mm
- Aluminum mesh
Colour Options:
Basalt®
Classic Cream®
Cottage Green®
Deep Ocean®
Dune®
Evening Haze®
Gully®
Ironstone®
Jasper®
Manor Red®
Monument®
Night Sky®
Pale Eucalypt®
Paperbark®
Shale Grey®
Surfmist®
Wallaby®
Windspray®
Woodlands Grey®
Zinc
Supply
This product is produced in a panel of 103cm allowing for overlaps and provided with joining screws, it can be cut to any width in 25mm increments and supplied in a kit.
