Wood needs to make its voice heard

New Zealand's forestry and wood industry needs to better communicate its products and their capabilities - starting with getting the message out to the construction sector.

NZ Wood chief executive Jane Arnott told the Bay of Connections Forest and Wood Action Group in Rotorua on Monday that the sector had good stories to tell and it was time to start telling them and raising the industry's profile.

"We have got to communicate. We need to have a bit of attitude and personality.

"It is about lifting our profile and showing we have commitment to our industry."

She pointed to infrastructure and growth within the industry, innovative products and the performance of wooden buildings in the Canterbury earthquakes as examples of positive messages that needed to be passed on to architects, quantity surveyors, engineers and the public.

NZ Wood was set up by the Wood Council of New Zealand to promote forest and wood resources. Arnott has been at the helm for six months and is keen for the industry to pass stories to her to build up the brand.

She wants to make connections with professionals involved in decision making in the domestic residential construction sector and has been building relationships with the Auckland University School of Architecture and Planning, sponsoring the school's annual end of year presentation of students' work.

"How better to influence the next generation - and the mums and dads and the architects who come to listen?"

She is also using reports generated by students to identify barriers to the use of wood so these can be addressed.

NZ Wood surveyed punters at the Canterbury A&P show in November and on the streets of Christchurch to boost the case for wood as the preferred material for the rebuild of the city. Of those questioned at the show, 98 per cent stated a preference for wood.

"It has been judged in the court of public opinion and they want wood."

Advertisements in trade and lifestyle magazines carry photographs of wooden constructions with slogans such as "Who said it couldn't be done with wood?" to get across the versatility of timber and engineered wood.

 

The brand was also instrumental in bringing groups together to develop the Quakestar system for rating a building's earthquake performance.

"About 50 people turned out to that first meeting, sponsored by NZ Wood. There were people from the Department of Building and Housing, architects, engineers, consultants etcetera and NZ Wood was thanked for making it happen. You cannot put a price on that level of connection."

 

Arnott wants the industry to be more approachable and said it was also important to encourage stronger connections within the industry.

While questions from the floor raised other issues to be addressed, she said the board had set her mandate for the domestic construction market.

"You cannot do everything at once, but there are avenues where the industry, if it makes a commitment, will have scope to further develop."