On September 8.9.2020, 15, the Ministry of the Environment published its quantitative targets for the market share of wood construction in public construction. The figures are staggering: for example, in residential apartment buildings, the ministry plans to increase the market share more than XNUMX times from the current situation in just five years.
Representatives of Kivirakentijen of Rakennustuoteollisui RTT Jussi Mattila ja Tiina Kaskiaro consider the ministry's goals incomprehensible.
"The ministry's goals are dizzying, someone familiar with industrial activity could even say blatantly unrealistic. It is not possible to multiply the production capacity of any industry in just a few years", says Jussi Mattila.
If you want to maintain quality, you also need to find professional designers and implementers for all construction sites. The ministry does not say where all these professionals come from.
"Strong growth is often known to reduce the quality of the end result. Now the government is aiming for growth, the likes of which has probably never been seen in construction. However, the Ministry of the Environment's 2018 strategy does not even mention the quality of construction," Mattila points out.
The Ministry of the Environment justifies the strong increase in public wood construction with climate reasons. Mattila and Kaskiaro challenge the view and demand facts.
"While claiming that wood construction is an effective way to combat climate change, the ministry has not cited the available factual information on the matter, for example the recently published report on wood and concrete construction in Helsinki's Kuninkaantammi. Based on its results, it can be stated that wooden construction is an extremely ineffective and expensive way to combat climate change. The price of a ton of carbon dioxide saved will be around €2.500, when it moves from a few euros to €30 per ton of carbon dioxide in the purchased UN-approved emission compensations and the EU's official emissions trading system," says Tiina Kaskiaro. Against this background, it is difficult to understand the ministry slipping into being an advocate of one material, Kaskiaro continues.
According to Mattila and Kaskiaro, the ineffectiveness of wooden construction in combating climate change is indicated by the fact that even if half of all apartment building construction were immediately converted to wooden construction, Finland's climate emissions would decrease by less than 0,3%.
"In a smartly functioning society, politicians set goals for the end result, and the business world strives to find the most effective means to achieve them. Now the ministry has decided to promote the spread of an expensive and climate-inefficient solution with state support. The realization of the Ministry's goals, even half, will cause an unimaginably large market disruption for the entire industry. It is also apt to make it difficult to implement investments that promote effective emission reduction measures", Mattila and Kaskiaro state. "Especially in the current economic situation, I would like the ministry to take cost-effective measures also in terms of combating climate change."
For more information:
Jussi Mattila, CEO, Betoniteollisuus ry
tel. 040 063 7224
jussi.mattila@rakennusteollisuus.fi
Tiina Kaskiaro, product group manager, Rakennustuoteollisuus RTT ry
tel. 050 466 0297
tiina.kaskiaro@rakennusteollisuus.fi
Betoniteollisuus ry is responsible for the operation of RTT's concrete division of Rakennustuoteollisuus. Its mission is to promote the technical and economic operating conditions of the concrete industry in Finland. Betoniteollisuus ry's membership consists of 47 companies that manufacture concrete products (by group) and 27 supporting members working in the concrete industry. The combined turnover of the member companies is around 1 billion euros.