AUSTRALIAN HARDWOOD AND CYPRESS 1

A U S T R A L I A N H A R D W O O D & T H E E N V I R O N M E N T

EN

VIR

ON

ME

NT

AL

G

UID

E A Good Choice for the Environment

Area 162,680,000 ha

Percent of Australia’s total forest area 99%

Percent of Australia’s land area 21%

Percent of forest cover in:

closed forest 3%

open forest 27%

woodland 62%

Percent of native forest contained in:

public forests (multiple use including timber production) 7%

public conservation reserves 13%

privately managed forests 70%

Percent of public forests

available for timber harvesting 25%

harvested annually 1%

unavailable for harvesting 29%

conservation reserves 46%

Australia’s native forest estate: The facts

Source: National Forest Inventory (2003), Australia’s state of the forest report 2003. Bureau of Rural Sciences, Canberra.

Protection for native forests is provided byRegional Forest Agreements (RFAs) betweenCommonwealth and State governments, whichestablish a national reserve system (CAR ReserveSystem). These reserves safeguard biodiversity, oldgrowth, wilderness and other natural and culturalvalues of forests. Forests outside these reserves areavailable for wood production, subject to codesof practice (such as Integrated Forestry OperationsApprovals), that will ensure their long-termsustainability and contribute to the conservationof their natural and cultural values.

BEST PRACTICE INITIATIVESBest practice in any industry involves constantimprovement. The timber industry plans tocertify best practice in forest managementthrough the introduction of the AustralianForestry Standard (AFS) and the adoption ofgreen labelling for timber products.

FOREST USE & MANAGEMENTAustralia’s native forests are sustainably managedto protect and enhance the environment, toensure the long term supply of timber products,and to provide on-going local employmentthrough value added processing of the timberresource and import substitution.

The total area of Australian native forest is about163 million hectares (or about 21% of thecontinent). The most common forest types arethose dominated by Eucalyptus and relatedgenera (80%). Today’s distribution of forests inAustralia represents about 60 per cent of thecover which existed before the arrival ofEuropeans in 1788.

The total area of public forest in Australia isapproximately 46million hectares. Only 25%percent of this area area is available for timberharvesting according to strict management controlswith only 1% of the area harvested annually.

EN

VIR

ON

ME

NT

AL

G

UID

E

AUSTRALIAN HARDWOOD AND CYPRESS2

A U S T R A L I A N H A R D W O O D & T H E E N V I R O N M E N T

Stationary Energy

Transport

Fugitive

Industrial Processes

Agriculture

Forestry and Other

Waste

Land Clearing

Mt CO2

-50 0 50 100 150 200 250 300

1990

1999

AUSTRALIAN GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONSSource: Australian Greenhouse Office :www.greenhouse.gov.au

TIMBER & GLOBAL WARMINGActively growing forests can help mitigate theeffects of increasing levels of atmosphericcarbon dioxide. Increased levels of carbondioxide and other greenhouse gases in theatmosphere are believed by most climatescientists to be leading to a gradual warming ofthe planet. Australia and other developedcountries have undertaken to limit greenhousegas emissions from human activities such aselectricity generation, industrial processes,burning of transport fuels, and agriculture.

Trees and other plants take up (or sequester)carbon dioxide from the atmosphere as theygrow. The carbon is stored in the leaves,

branches, stem, bark and roots. Sustainableforest management, including selectiveharvesting, can have a neutral effect on carbondioxide in the atmosphere, if measured overthe growth and harvest cycle of an existingmanaged forest. Following harvest, carbondioxide may be released into the atmospherethrough the natural decay of vegetation notremoved from the forest and through theburning of sawmill waste from timberprocessing. However, depending on the enduse, harvested wood such as constructiontimber can store carbon for many years,keeping it out of the atmosphere.

AUSTRALIAN HARDWOOD AND CYPRESS 3

A U S T R A L I A N H A R D W O O D & T H E E N V I R O N M E N T

EN

VIR

ON

ME

NT

AL

G

UID

E

HARDWOOD & EMBODIED ENERGYIndustrial processing of all natural resourcesinto forms useable by people requires energy,most often in the form of fossil fuels. In burningfossil fuels to release energy, carbon is alsoreleased into the atmosphere. A measure of theamount of energy used to prepare, forexample, building materials from iron ore,bauxite or forests, is embodied energy.Embodied energy is a useful way to comparethe environmental friendliness of buildingmaterials.

Compared with other common buildingmaterials such as steel, aluminium andconcrete, hardwood timber not only storescarbon it uses up to 85-times less energy inprocessing. In simple terms, a concrete slabfloor uses 60% more energy than a timberfloor, double brick walls use almost 5-timesmore energy than weatherboards on timber

framing, and an aluminium window uses 45%more energy than an equivalent timberwindow. The substitution of timber elementsfor more energy expensive products in thebuilding process results in a worthwhile energysaving. Even highly processed timber products,such as glue laminated timber, store morecarbon within their structure than is releasedby their manufacture.

Buildings are seldom constructed of a singlematerial, so the embodied energy of a structuredepends on the mix of materials used.Research continues to refine the measurementof embodied energy of buildings. One analysissuggests that construction of a brick-veneerhouse with timber framing gives savings ofabout 8.8 tonnes of CO2 per house comparedwith double brick construction (Attiwill et al 2001).

Insitu concrete

Kiln dried hardwood

Kiln dried softwood

Clay brick

Plasterboard

Cement

Particleboard

Plywood

Laminated veneer lumber

Glue-laminated timber

MDF

Glass

Galvanised steel

Acrylic paint

Plastics – general

Copper

0 50 100

Embodied energy MJ/kg

150 200

Aluminium

EMBODIED ENERGY OF COMMON BUILDING MATERIALSSource: Adapted from www.yourhome.gov.au

EN

VIR

ON

ME

NT

AL

G

UID

E

AUSTRALIAN HARDWOOD AND CYPRESS4

A U S T R A L I A N H A R D W O O D & T H E E N V I R O N M E N T

VISIT:

Forest Resources www.rfa.gov.auwww.affa.gov.au

Forest conservation, management andharvestingwww.forest.nsw.gov.au www.dipnr.nsw.gov.au

Greenhouse gas induced global warmingwww.greenhouse.gov.au

Australian Forestry Standardwww.forestrystandard.org.au

Embodied energywww.yourhome.gov.au www.fwprdc.org.auwww.tradac.org.au

For a detailed, independent analysis of theenvironment and timber production see:Attiwill P., England J. and Whittaker K. (2001) Theenvironmental credentials of production,manufacture and re-use of wood fibre in Australia.A report prepared for Agriculture, Fisheries andForestry – Australia. September 2001.

Timber-frame brick veneer saves 8.8 tonnes of CO2 perhouse compared with double brick construction.

So remember, when selecting materials for your next project, timber is processedfrom a renewable resource – an actively growing, sustainably managed forest –

making it the material of choice for environmentally aware consumers.

FOR MORE INFORMATION ON THE TOPICS RAISED IN THIS BROCHURE

ROOFWINDOWS

WALLSFLOOR

Concrete tile, timber frame

Concrete tile, steel frame

Aluminium

Timber

Timber weatherboards

Brick veneer

Cavity brick wall

Concrete slab on ground construction

755

870

1595

410

410

1060

1975

740

1235

kg/CO2 for an Average House

Hardwood timber with off ground bearers and joists construction

CO2 PRODUCTION FROM CONSTRUCTION MATERIALS USED IN AN AVERAGE AUSTRALIAN HOUSE

Sponsored by the NSW Native Timber Industry Marketing and Development Fund

T D AFor additional assistance please contact theTimber Advisory Service

1800 044 529or visit the following websites:

www.timber.net.auwww.australianhardwood.net

Timber DevelopmentAssociation (NSW) Ltd