Standing up for Douglas fir
Andrew Karalus
New Zealand Tree
Grower August 2007
It seems as if it were only yesterday that a coalition of the willing
formed the Forestry Industry Action Group to submit against the
Building Industry Association leaky homes proposal to treat virtually
all construction timber. The
challenge of representing Douglas fir as a specialist structural
framing timber with qualities differentiating it as ‘more than orange
radiata’ had begun.
Until that time, the Douglas fir industry had not considered separate
representation beyond research as necessary. The leaky homes crisis
drew attention to the loneliness to which a minor species can be
subjected within a wider industry body where the consequences of change
were less for the majority. The need to represent Douglas fir as a
specialist structural framing timber is no
less important today than it was then.
The Douglas fir supporters, once described as the South Island mafia,
have been active since 2003 and the strengthening working relationships
between members paved the way for the incorporation of the Douglas-fir
Association in September 2005. Other wood industry participants comment
on our Association’s strength being the working relationships between
producers and processors based on clear boundaries between commercial
activities and programmes for general promotions, education, and
research and presenting a
coherent and credible voice for Douglas fir.
The objectives of the
Douglas-fir Association are to –
- Stimulate increased demand for Douglas fir through a process
of education and promotion of the benefits of Douglas fir across awide
range of uses
- Promote the sustainable, technical and economic benefits of
Douglas fir sawn timber to the consumer
- Create an awareness of the chemical free potential of Douglas fir
construction timbers in appropriate building components
- Ensure
that the appropriate research is carried out and technical information
is available to support promotional and educationalefforts
- Lobby
government departments and ministers to get untreated Douglas fir
re-instated in building regulations as suitable for external wall
frames and in all applications previously endorsed by NZ Standard 3602
prior to its review in 2003
- Promote cooperation between
Douglas fir growers, processors and manufacturers to ensure that the
needs of the industry are being met, that resources are being wisely
used and fairly allocated and that duplication of effort is being
avoided
- Provide a credible and inclusive voice to
promote the collective interests of Douglas fir growers, processors and
manufacturers ata national and regional level.
The current Chair is Scott Gibbons, general manager of Waimea
Sawmillers in Nelson. Other company members include Blakely Pacific,
City Forests, Ernslaw One, Blue Mountain Lumber, Findlater Sawmilling,
Naseby Lumber, Gibson Timber, Taylor Timbers, Sutherland & Co,
Selwyn Plantation Board and Weyerhaeuser NZ.
The association is managed on a day to day basis by Andrew Karalus at
Weyerhaeuser NZ. The workload is distributed amongst members in such a
way that the Association is now well bedded down and settling in for
the long run. The progress made has raised the profile of Douglas fir
and of industry representation in general.
Promotion and education
In 2005 our initial programme was one of survival. We concentrated on
raising the awareness of the the alternative solution for untreated
Douglas fir in external walls within the South Island and research into
timber performance in moisture managed external walls. The promotions
programme was developed with the assistance of market research which
clearly identified large building companies and chemical free as the
key targets. While the audiences were supportive of Douglas fir and the
untreated chemical free message it was obvious
that there was a legacy of caution throughout the building supply chain
as a result of leaky homes that continued to create barriers to the use
of untreated Douglas fir.
Wider benefits of Douglas fir
It became apparent that in order to stimulate the uptake of Douglas
fir, the wider benefits of the species, namely stiffness, strength and
stability, would need to be promoted more aggressively alongside the
treated and untreated options. Such a programme would need to reach the
builders, architects and consumers in the supply chain and call them to
action. Media advertising, although targeted and within a small budget,
was seen as critical to this as was a website in step with the
programme. The costs of a programme that would reach out to the
influential people in the supply chain were beyond members without
significant funding support.
The Forest Industry Development Agenda (FIDA) programme offered by MAF
provided the much needed and appreciated support. The Douglas-fir
Association market development programme was approved for FIDA support
in May 2006. The programme includes direct mail, print and outdoor
media advertising, website development as well as new substance in
building systems and solutions research.
The primary target is the South Island domestic market but the
programme also provides opportunity for export markets. The cornerstone
proposition of the programme is that wood is the environmental champion
among building products and that Douglas fir offers benefits
underpinning superior performance in structural applications. Wood’s
environmental message is already reasonably well understood in the
building industry, but it is a message that has seldom been promoted
until the Douglas fir promotions began.
While Douglas fir provides natural advantages that should be identified
and promoted, the Association members are very much aware that no one
will prosper when species within the wood family act in self interest
alone. All members have investments in both radiata pine and Douglas
fir. The promotions programme and the larger generic wood promotions
programme
NZWood are aware of
each other’s plans as Andrew Karalus is a member of the NZWood
management team. The two programmes are aligned and will add strength
to each others messages.
Douglas fir capability research
We also manage the following research and engineering development
programmes –
- Establishing timber durability performance in moisture
managed walls at BRANZ with significant support from Mick Hedley of
Ensis
- Confirming pith to bark shrinkage and qualitative warp research
with University of Canterbury
- Confirming strength and stiffness characteristics with Ensis
- Building solutions with Powell Fenwick Consultants in
Christchurch.
The BRANZ research is already providing some useful support to the
Douglas fir alternative solution by confirming the principles of
moisture management in building design. Two significant outcomes are
anticipated for publication later this year.
One is the confirmation of the relative hierarchy of the four Ds for
moisture management in buildings.
- Deflection of water away from timber through eaves and well
constructed walls
- Drainage of any liquid water that doespenetrate the cladding by
providing a drainage pathway behind the cladding
- Drying of any moisture that moves beyond the drainage pathway and
into the timber
- Durable materials for parts of construction that have a high risk
of staying wet.
The second outcome of importance is the relative performance of Douglas
fir in this research. The research results already confirm that Douglas
fir offers superior performance by being able to prolong the effects of
any leaks on
structural capability even in areas where water does penetrate. This
confirms the proposition that Douglas fir should be separately and
differentially regulated and
in particular not inclusively with radiata pine.
Can you treat Douglas fir?
The website provides a full explanation on product options together
with technical support and contacts for supply. Questions are often
raised about treatment of Douglas fir. Douglas fir is available in
green or kiln dried and in untreated or boron treated to H1.2 standard.
The boron treatment meets all the requirements of NZ Standards
3640:2003. You can contact sawmill and forest owning members or you can
send an inquiry to the manager of the Douglas-fir Association via the
website page for more information.
Looking forward
The Douglas-fir Association is action orientated. Members were
disappointed with the regulatory knee jerk reaction from the leaky
homes crisis, but the Association is determined not to be a one issue
body. There is an underdog’s spirit that has been pricked into action
and a broad plan of action has already shown that rewards for wood and
Douglas fir are worth fighting for.
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