Environmental Impacts of Multi-Storey Buildings Using Different ...

- 14 -3 Background3.1 Research goals and objectives – MAF RFP POR/7811.The broad Research Goals and Objectives for this project were set out in the Ministry ofAgriculture and Forestry (MAF) Request for Proposal POR/7811 issued in April 2007. TheUniversity of Canterbury responded with a proposal (Operational Research Proposal Form –Part Two) which formulated a collaborative research programme bringing together a numberof specialist and academic resources together with building industry consultants.The Research Project proposed to design three comparable commercial buildings in Timber,Concrete and Steel and to conduct a full Life Cycle Assessment to determine environmentalimpacts associated with the buildings throughout their lifetime.The research needed to achieve the following objectives (as identified by MAF);• Fill the information gap about what is the greatest amount of wood that can be used inthe construction and fit-out of commercial and large-scale residential buildings in NewZealand.• Provide Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) information about the benefits of maximising theuse of wood in sustainable buildings.The research was supported by the rationale that;• The Government has stated its wish to pursue policies that will move NZ towards beingtruly sustainable.• Modern engineered wood products, recent advances in structural timber engineering andinnovative designs now position timber as an alternative material (to concrete and steel)for multi-storey buildings.• Wood is a renewable, low energy resource; there is a plentiful, sustainably-grown supplyin NZ. Modern timber construction produces little waste and the manufacture of buildingmaterials from wood is generally non-polluting at all stages.• Increased use of wood would provide national benefits over the long term (reduced fossilfuel energy consumption and CO 2 emissions; an increase in the pool of carbon in woodand wood products; and the potential for displacement of fossil fuel by burning of woodwaste materials).• To understand long-term sustainability, full LCA of building materials must beconsidered.Over the past few decades there has been very little commercial and large-scale residentialbuilding utilising predominately wood and wood products. Whilst there is no technical orfinancial reason for this, a major barrier could be the conservatism of building owners and