Timber confirmed as the best
The New Zealand Timber Industry Federation (NZTIF) has welcomed confirmation that timber is the best construction
material for coping with New Zealand’s seismic conditions.
Experiments carried out in June by BRANZ, (Building Research Association of New Zealand) on behalf of the Ministry of
Education, have shown that timber framed buildings can cope with stresses three times that of the Christchurch
earthquakes, and still remain standing.
The Ministry of Education commissioned the tests in order to establish how much force its school buildings could
withstand in an earthquake.
Ninety percent of the ministry’s 37,500 school buildings are timber framed and the outstanding performance of timber in
these tests has saved the ministry hundreds of millions of dollars in earthquake strengthening costs.
“This just confirms what Kiwi’s have known for generations” said Brent Coffey of the NZTIF “timber framed housing is the
safest and best choice for the family home.”
“Timber is the kindest construction material to the environment, comes from a plentiful and renewable source and is
incredibly cost effective. It is hard to understand why you would build with anything else.”
“There are building companies out there who are not offering timber framing as an option and their customers should
really be asking why.”
ENDS