Economic Development Minister Phil Twyford today said 138 government departments and agencies will need to consider using more sustainable building materials when constructing new buildings.
Verry, whose business operates the country’s biggest sawmill, says previous work by Deloitte suggested a policy like that adopted by the Government could generate up to 5,000 jobs and increase log processing by about 1.7 million tonnes a year.
It also had the potential to sequester 918,000 tonnes of CO2 and improve the country’s trade balance by about $500 million by reducing imports of steel and cement.
Verry says wood is being used across all building types globally and new mass timber products, such as cross laminated timber, can be cost-effective and faster to build with.
“New Zealand also has many specialist wood engineers and construction firms,” he said in a statement.
“This government procurement policy will introduce more of them to clean green construction systems, and those experts will then be able to offer those skills to the private sector.
“This combined volume will provide a step-change in demand that will trigger global-scale investment in wood solution factories based in New Zealand. That will in turn will support growth in high-value engineered wood exports, instead of raw logs to China.”
Today’s announcement was part of a wider statement on government procurement aimed at directing the $42 billion departments and agencies spend annually on goods and services toward contracts with job creation potential, particularly for Maori, Pasifika, women and people with disabilities.
Twyford says that for construction, agencies should also choose options with the lowest upfront carbon emissions.
“The use of raw materials such as wood offers a chance for the government to reduce its carbon emissions, boost our wood processing sector, create jobs in the regions and utilise a sustainable resource – our forests,” he said.
Forest Owners Association president Phil Taylor welcomed the policy, noting that it had been promised before the last election.
He says it complements a government commitment in July that building codes for all construction will increasingly place a priority on protecting the environment.
Taylor says the initiatives should encourage those specifying materials for construction to seize on the new timber technologies, such as cross laminated timber and laminated veneer lumber.
“Mid-rise construction is now possible with these high-strength construction materials. And they perform well in earthquakes,” he said.
“The two new policies, one for government construction, and the other for construction in general, are over time going to benefit both the forest industry and the domestic timber processing industry as well.”
-BusinessDesk
