News

Timber is the ‘ultimate renewable’ and carbon storage solution for Tassie construction.

Embodied carbon emissions in materials used in Australia’s building and construction sector are the next frontier to significantly reduce carbon emissions, according to a new report released by the Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC).

The research shows expanding timber use in construction will significantly cut carbon emissions in the building and construction sector, CEO of the Tasmanian Forest Products Association (TFPA).

The CEFC’s report titled: Australian buildings and infrastructure: Opportunities for cutting embodied carbon – shows that the more engineered timber used in new office and mixed-use buildings, the better its embodied carbon reduction.

The CEFC report reinforces that Australia can do more to reduce carbon emissions in the built environment.
The report provides real case studies showing that building with timber reduces embodied carbon up to 75 per cent. Its modelling also shows that replacing 50 per cent of a building’s traditional steel and concrete materials with engineered timber would result in an 11 per cent reduction in the building’s embodied carbon.
The CEFC report reinforces that Australia should build more medium and high-rise buildings from engineered timber. In some cases, it’s possible to replace up to 60 per cent of steel with engineered timber in new buildings.
TFPA represents forest growers, harvesters, and manufacturers of timber and paper products.
The report’s findings underscore the urgent need for Australia to grow our timber plantation estate to ensure that we have enough wood to meet our future housing and building needs.
In addition the federal and state governments should recognise the climate change mitigation benefits of Aussie timber and provide policies that incentivise greener buildings that maximise timber use.

Share

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Ut elit tellus, luctus nec ullamcorper mattis, pulvinar dapibus leo.