MEDIA RELEASE
Tasmanian Forest Products Association
The Tasmanian Forest Products Association welcomes the Clean Energy Finance Corporation’s (CEFC) $300 million Timber Building Program that will turbocharge a new era of green buildings using low-emission engineered timber construction in Australia, Chief Executive Officer Nick Steel said today.
“Timber is the ultimate renewable and low-emission building material for the 21st century, so it’s terrific the Federal Government through the CEFC is backing forest industry jobs and innovative timber construction to reduce the carbon footprint of the construction sector,” Mr Steel said.
“This commitment has the potential to drive the growth of Tasmania’s thriving engineered timber manufacturing sector and our timber plantation estate, which already replants 11 million trees a year and needs to continue to grow over the next decade to meet Australia’s future timber needs.”
“As Australia and the world looks for ways to reach net zero by 2050, Tasmania’s forest products industry needs to be part of that plan. Wood products store carbon in the built environment over their lifetime meaning that our built environment can become a massive positive carbon sink,” Mr Steel said.
The CEFC’s own research released last year shows that replacing 50 per cent of a building’s traditional steel and concrete materials with engineered timber reduces embodied carbon by 11 per cent. In some cases, it’s possible to replace 60 per cent of steel with engineered timber in new buildings.
“The Federal Government’s recognition that timber is the ultimate renewable and the building material of the 21st century underscores the importance of securing our future timber needs.
With research showing that our plantation estate has not kept pace with Australia’s timber needs, and as demand for renewable, sustainable products increases, it is critical that the federal and state governments support policies to deliver the 1 billion extra trees we need to build the low-emission buildings of tomorrow,” Nick Steel concluded.
Media enquiries:
Stuart Harris
Media & Public Relations Manager
M: 0491 205 627