26 May 2008
The results of the first market test of NZ Wood have shown that the key wood message of renewability is getting through to consumers.
An online survey of 200 people show 87% agreed that wood is a renewable and sustainable resource, while 84% agreed that growing and harvesting wood was beneficial for the environment.
NZ Wood has developed a range of information resources detailing, among other things, the environmental benefits of using wood in construction, and has run advertising across trade publications, television, billboards and selected internet sites. The television campaign has been highly successful; more than 70% recalled seeing the advertisement, which screened for the first time on 4 February.
“We are trying to tell the wood story as clearly and as often as we can, and the story is very simple,” says NZ Wood program manager Geoff Henley. “Wood is our most renewable raw material. It stores carbon both in trees and in wood products. It is a key defence in the fight against climate change.
“Now that we have established in the public mind that wood do these things, we now have to convince people that these are very good reasons to use wood and those messages will be at the heart of the next stage of the program.”
This online survey will be taken every three months to check progress. Other testing will also be undertaken over the next two years as the program rolls out.
Consortium Boosts Timber in Construction Research
A trans-Tasman multi-million-dollar research consortium has been formed to advance the use of timber in construction.
The Structural Timber Innovation Co, or STIC, will receive $10 million including matching funds over the next five years from New Zealand Government and industry. The funds will be used to run research programs in Auckland’s Faculty of Engineering, the University of Canterbury, the University of Technology in Sydney and the Building Research Association of New Zealand.
The programs will develop innovative ways of using timber in large commercial and multi-unit residential structures, such as open-plan industrial buildings, and multi-rise buildings up to six stories high. The research will focus on improving the earthquake, fire and wind resistance, durability and flexibility of timber to compete with traditional materials like steel and concrete.
“We believe that developing multi-storey, earthquake-resistant timber buildings is going to put New Zealand at the leading edge of international timber research,” says Professor Pierre Quenneville, the chair in timber design at Auckland’s Faculty of Engineering, a consortium partner.
“Timber has many advantages as a building material; it is light, easier to transport, reduces construction time, and it is sustainable,” Quenneville said.
The Faculty of Engineering has been extending its capability in timber and, with the support of Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, recruited Quenneville from Canada a year ago. His world-recognised expertise in timber connections will play a major role in the initiative.
The University of Auckland research program will concentrate on large-span timber roofs and timber connections. Researchers will use new methods to improve timber materials, fabrication methods and connections in engineered timber roof structures.
The STIC initiative has significant economic aims. It seeks to add value to New Zealand’s timber industry and export markets by using timber to develop new high-technology products. This is expected to have secondary environmental outcomes of encouraging more forest development and associated carbon off-setting.
STIC’s funding is from The Foundation for Research Science and Technology, Building Research and Forest and Wood Products Australia, and industry partners including Carter Holt Harvey, Nelson Pine Industries, Wesbeam (Australia) and the NZ Pine Manufacturers Association.
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