Tree Talk with Peter Harington Woodmetrics Regional Manager

Government bodies, be they local or central government, are rarely known for bold decisive or innovative decisions.

This is a great shame because sometimes opportunities present themselves and brave innovative thinking is required to take advantage of these opportunities.

A perfect example is the rebuild of Christchurch after the two tragic earthquakes. The CBD has been laid to waste and is now a blank canvas just waiting for a rebuild plan. To its credit, the local government has called for ideas on how this can be done and is suggesting they have an open mind on what the city can look like.

One of the really exciting opportunities is to rebuild the city out of wood. The technology exists to build low rise multi-storey buildings up to 10 stories or so using locally made LVL (Laminated Veneer Lumber) beams instead of the traditional steel and concrete beams. The post tensioning building system is much the same.

The advantages of using wood to rebuild Christchurch are enormous. Wooden buildings have only 20 per cent of the weight of their steel and concrete equivalent. This is a lot less weight shaking and waving during the next inevitable earthquake event. Wooden buildings can be carbon neutral or even carbon positive as they store carbon indefinitely within the building structure.

Obviously, the spin-offs to the forest and timber industries would be invaluable. This would be the ultimate value-added use for our timber, which would otherwise leave the shores for Asia in unprocessed log form.

If this innovation is going to happen it will take some courageous decision-making by the powers that be. Politicians and bureaucrats like to hide behind the traditional safe options, rather than expose their rear ends to any potential hot irons if it goes wrong. This is one time, however, when a bold stand could really make a difference. Just as Napier became a showcase for art deco architecture when it was rebuilt after the 1931 earthquake, Christchurch could become a showcase to the world as it pioneers modern timber building technology.

Go on politicians and bureaucrats – be brave.