Climate Emergency Declaration

On 2 December the government declared a Climate Emergency.

  The Declaration includes setting a goal for government activities and the government sector to reduce its emissions and to be carbon neutral by 2025.  There is also a call for the public sector to achieve carbon neutrality by 2025 as well – the public sector meaning businesses that are not directly controlled by central government including hospitals and DHBs, school boards, Kainga Ora – Homes and Communities among others.

One of the three major target areas where potentially the greatest gains are to be made is in building and construction.

Green building presents the greatest opportunity for the timber industry.  Under this policy, government buildings will need to meet a new energy efficiency standard by 2025 and new buildings will have to achieve green building standards.  Timber of course has the best green credentials of all structural building materials.  Timber is a sustainable product that stores carbon instead of emitting it.  Additionally timber and wood products used in construction creates less waste that other products and of course the raw material for timber, trees, does itself have amazing environmental credentials in terms of being a renewable resource that is sustainable and sequesters carbon.

Our expectation is that the targets imposed on the public sector under the Declaration will be an influential factor in determining the design of homes and other buildings.  Our expectation is that the private sector will, over time, pursue similar goals.  

The pursuit of low carbon designs is good for timber as a building material. 

15 December 2020