Re-frame your expectations: Australia’s timber crisis
“Timber shortage” is a term you would have heard throughout the last few years across Australia, more specifically in Victoria. The construction industry has taken hit after hit; however, the timber shortage is one of the most significant challenges builders and owners are currently facing.
How the Australian timber shortage started: the basics
Anyone who has built their home, renovated their home or driven past a house being constructed knows just how important timber can be. Over the last five years, Australians have built over 200,000 new homes per year on average, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics- with timber being one of the most used materials in the industry. Roof tiles can be replaced with roof sheeting, masonry veneers can be replaced with compressed foam sheets and floorboards can be replaced with carpet, with most of these substitutes being cheaper. However, timber framing’s alternative, steel framing, is typically avoided in residential construction due to a significant increase in costs. A suitable, accessible and economical alternative does not exist.
The demand and supply of building materials in Victoria have stayed relatively consistent across the years, with new home builds and renovations becoming increasingly popular- especially in the last decade. The timber shortage in Victoria began with the recent 2019/2020 bushfires which devastated and destroyed tens of thousands of hectares of softwood plantations, which typically supply the Australian construction industry. The supply continued to dwindle with the import/export restrictions placed across the world as a result of the global response to the COVID19 pandemic. These factors meant that, as our home-grown supply of softwood timber in Australia diminished, our access to timber in neighbouring countries to come to our aid was significantly reduced.
As a response to the economic effects of the global pandemic, the Australian Federal Government announced a Homebuilder stimulus package. This stimulus was an attempt to boost the construction industry, which is often referred to as one of Australia's largest industries The Homebuilder stimulus provided a $10,000 grant to eligible Australians who signed into a new building contract/major renovation after 4 June 2020.
An extra $10k in your pocket sounds great, right? Realistically, in any other time or situation, it would be brilliant. However, this scheme simply added to the strain on the already scarce supply of timber in Australia. All while the country saw a major surge in new building contracts, leaving our supply of Australian timber severely depleted.
So, what can we do to fix the shortage?
To put it bluntly, there isn’t a quick fix that will help aid the shortage in the near future and be as cost effective as timber. Australia's initial response to the shortage was to import timber from abroad with most of it being sourced from the United States. However, the USA Government also announced at the time that they had implemented several incentives and schemes around the building industry meaning that most of their previously available supply would be used domestically.
Many of the broader communities' response to the bushfires was to “just plant more trees”, but it isn’t that simple. Softwood timber is the most common timber used for homes and a typical softwood tree can take up to 25 years to fully mature. Therefore, additional planting would not be a quick fix at all.
Another common response is to use hardwood timber. However, the supply of hardwood is also spread quite thin currently and is also more expensive (adding to the spike in the cost of building and renovating). Hardwood trees also take four times longer to fully mature, compared to softwood trees.
An alternative, which is currently being employed, is steel. Steel is more durable than timber; however, steel is significantly more expensive to manufacture and use. While some elements (such as timber roof and ceiling battens) can be easily swapped out for steel counterparts, the use of steel in most cases would require a complete redesign of the structure. Steel is also more labour intensive, and consequently, trades and builders charge more to work with it.
The way of the future: New materials and construction methods
In response to the bushfires and the shortage of softwood and hardwood trees, the federal government granted 1.3 million dollars to The Green Triangle Forestry industry to aid in its attempt to find a new material option. This forestry industry spans parts of western Victoria and the Limestone Coast in South Australia. The grant will enable them to explore creating new engineered wood options for the future using softwood and hardwood pulp. The idea behind this method is to try to convert low-grade timber into wood products suitable for construction.
Another new alternative to traditional framing is 3D concrete printing. This method hasn’t seen much use in Australia yet; however, it has seen an increase in use in the United States since the pandemic started. 3D printing involves the use of a large machine to print a house layer by layer, using a special concrete mixture. An apartment building in Germany was the first large habitable structure to be made from 3D printing. The building was manufactured in 2020, sparking new interest in the applications of 3d printing within the building industry.
Although the cost of this process isn’t yet in the realm of timber framing, it brings many positive features along with it for builders. Given that the printing machine will create the home from concrete, it will eliminate the need for timber framing as well as traditional masonry veneers, and combine the house all into one element. Additionally, the machine will take nowhere near as long to complete as traditional methods, as it can be left printing around the clock (24/7). This option may potentially be a long-term solution for builders if another solution to the timber shortage does not present itself, or a quick fix for shortages in the future. Unfortunately, 3D printing is still (at least) several years off from being a viable option, with many more hurdles to be cleared before mass production/use can occur. These hurdles include the availability of the printing machines and approval by the regulating bodies. 3D printing would also need to be introduced delicately, to avoid making skilled labourers and trades redundant.
Where does that leave us now?
A report by Forest and Wood Products Australia claims ‘demand for new housing will climb from 183,000 new dwellings per year to 259,000 by 2050’. This same report estimates Australia needs an additional 468,000 hectares of softwood plantations before 2050 to cope with demand. This insight means that, regardless of the current crisis we face of timber shortages, the need for timber will only increase over time.
An immediate response that can help for the future of supplies is to get more trees in the ground. Many organisations have called on the Federal and State governments to develop a national plan that encourages new plantings of “the right types of trees at the right scale and in the right places” to avert a long-term crisis.
Building or renovating can be such an exciting time in your life; however, it often comes with its own trials and tribulations. If you are considering building or renovating a home, do some research or speak to a builder about the availability of materials before you commit to a contract. Hundreds of builders and sole traders across the Australian building industry have been forced to shut their doors and no longer trade as they have had to decide between paying more for different materials or paying large sums in liquidated damages to homeowners, whose contractual obligations have not been met.
How can we help?
With everything going on with the shortage of materials and builders substituting materials where needed, it’s more important now than ever to ensure the structure of your home is sound. At Arbiter Group, our structural engineers inspect and provide flexible designs and in-depth reporting to provide you with peace of mind. If you suspect there are structural issues with your home or need a structural design, don’t wait, get in contact today to find out how we can help you.