TDs and Senators have been told that wooden-frame homes are the way forward at an Oireachtas housing committee session on Tuesday evening.
They heard that a timber frame home produces eight tonnes less in emissions during construction than a regular concrete house.
Pre-built timber frames are six times faster to make offsite for a new home and there is massive room for expansion of the sector as the model is only used in 25% of new homes at the moment.
READ MORE: Doonbeg makes final preparations for Donald Trump's arrival to 5-star golf resort
This compares poorly to Scotland where up to 80% of new homes are now being built using this method, while the Scandinavian countries are famous for nearly all of their new homes being timber-framed constructions.
Chiefs from the national housing agency, Coillte, were before the committee to discuss alternative methods of construction, also known as MMDs (Modern Methods of Construction)
They say they can vastly increase the output of the timber frame model with the right assistance from Government.
Mark Carlin, Managing Director of Coillte Forest, said: “Ireland’s built environment currently represents 37% of overall annual greenhouse gas emissions, with 14% of this being ‘embodied carbon’, that is the carbon required to construct our buildings.
"Timber products have a dual advantage over traditional building products in that they have a lower embodied carbon, and a higher level of stored carbon. A recent COFORD report looked at both the ‘embodied carbon’ and the ‘carbon stored’ in building materials.
“This report clearly identifies a net carbon saving of 8t CO2e when we build a timber frame home rather than a traditional one.
“This equates to a 2.5 times net carbon saving for each new home built.
“The benefits of building with wood for mitigating climate change are well understood, but we can do so much more in Ireland.
“Today, only about 25% of housing units are built with timber-frames, whereas this figure is closer to 80% in Scotland and even higher in Scandinavia.
“Therefore, there is an opportunity in Ireland to embrace timber based Modern Methods of Construction at a meaningful scale.”
He added: “Prefabrication significantly reduces onsite waste , thereby supporting our circular economy. Using prefabrication is also much less labour intensive, enabling us to build our homes faster than traditional methods of construction.
“For example, a typical timber frame home is over 6 times quicker to build onsite, taking only 1 week to construct the main structure.”
Meanwhile, experts from the OPW (Office of Public Works) were also at the committee and they outlined the exciting prospects for 3D-printed homes.
The report they presented outlined the following advantages: greater programming certainty; complete factory finished homes; reduced site work, enabling works only; improved health & safety; high standard of quality control; fully portable housing and reduced wastage.
However, this technology is still some way off producing homes on a mass basis.
READ NEXT:
- Ian Bailey given more time to find new home after eviction notice but still cannot find a house
- Tyrone crash deaths: Funeral held for two siblings killed in road tragedy
- Protesters gather outside Taoiseach Leo Varadkar's home
- Seamus Coleman suffers horror injury during Everton's clash against Leicester
- Gardai seek assistance in locating missing 15-year-old boy from Dublin
Get news updates direct to your inbox by signing up to our daily newsletter here
