The CEFC plans to incentivise businesses to choose timber for their mid to high rise building projects. The funds will likely be distributed over the next three years in amounts ranging from $20 million to $75 million.
“We are pleased that the federal government is funding an incentive to encourage builders and developers to use timber in their projects and reduce embodied carbon. The market is headed toward the increased use of wood and wood products and this incentive aligns Australia with other countries such as France and Japan that have similar policies,” said FWPA CEO, Andrew Leighton.
“The funding also supports FWPA’s ongoing involvement with Wood Encouragement Policies which, through Planet Ark’s Make It Wood campaign, have already been adopted by both state and local governments.”
Industry appetite for using wood and wood products in construction is steadily growing. Though this past year local industry only used 12,000 cubic metres of CLT, due to COVID delays, this number will rise when planned projects like Hine’s Melbourne office tower and Atlassian’s 39 storey tower commence.
Compared to products like concrete, bricks and steel, timber’s embodied carbon — the emissions produced when extracting, manufacturing, transporting and maintaining a product — is significantly lower. Choosing wood and wood products for projects helps lower the carbon footprint of the construction sector, which contributes 28 per cent greenhouse gas emissions globally.
In addition, WoodSolutions cost comparison design guides show that when buildings are designed for timber and CLT from the onset, they are cheaper than alternatives like concrete.
“Timber can deliver significant cost advantages to developers and builders if projects are appropriately designed and managed,” said Leighton.
