AV Jennings Limited announced it recently entered into a Joint Venture with Pro9 Global Limited (Pro9 Global) to utilise Pro9 Global's technology to manufacture the highly durable and energy efficient Pro9 walling system (Pro9 walls) in Australia. Once the Australian manufacturing facility is established, the Joint Venture will be capable of producing over 1000 homes annually on the basis of a single shift. Multiple shifts will enable production capacity to be further increased to at least 2000 homes annually.

The Pro9 walls combine a strong, galvanised steel frame with a dense foam insulation core that reduces energy usage and thus, energy costs significantly for purchasers as well as increasing thermal comfort. Dwellings built with Pro9 walls can readily achieve the forthcoming NCC standard of a 7-star NatHers energy rating without further modification. Combining the Pro9 walls with their factory installed double glazed windows results in an even higher rating of a minimum of 8 stars out of 10, with a 9.4 rating already obtained on two AV Jennings homes in Queensland.

The NatHERS energy ratings achieved utilising the Pro9 walls are considerably better than those typically achieved in homes constructed utilising traditional stick-built methods, where 6 stars is the current standard. In addition to energy efficiency, the Pro9 walls cannot rot, warp or be eat by termites, and are highly fire-resistant due to the construction materials used. Once an Australian manufacturing facility is operational, the Pro9 walls will be able to be delivered to site and erected in a few days.

This will bring considerable time saving to achieve lock-up stage, increased certainty of delivery, and higher quality to the home-building process. The AV Jennings Pro9 homes, called the Stellar Collection, will be built this year at Aspect in Mernda Victoria, Lyndarum North at Wollert Victoria, and Argyle at Elderslie in NSW.