Sustainable wool carpet for state housing
Hundreds of state homes around New Zealand are to be fitted with wool carpet.
Kāinga Ora has awarded a two-million-dollar wool carpet contract to locally owned Bremworth carpet manufacturers. The deal will see around 95 tonnes of
wool, which is the annual fleece of more than 25,000 New Zealand sheep, used to help provide warmer, healthier and more fire-resistant homes for some of the country’s most vulnerable.
The move has been hailed as a turning point for the natural fibre sector and looks set to help expand the use of wool in private residential and commercial developments.
Over the three-year contract, Bremworth will supply wool carpet for Kāinga Ora’s newly constructed and renovated homes, to be installed in around 900 planned state housing projects annually.
Bremworth chief executive Craig Woolford says the win has far-reaching implications for both public sector procurement, the rural community, and the broader property development industry.
“It’s a signal to the entire construction sector that wool carpet meets the durability, safety and sustainability standards expected of any high-traffic housing environment.
“Government agencies like Kāinga Ora are seen as setting the benchmark for the wider industry,” he says. “The inclusion of wool is a win for the environment, for New Zealand’s farmers and future tenants of these homes.”
Beyond the public housing triumph, Bremworth is already seeing positive movement in the private sector as a result of the announcement.
“We’re now actively being invited to present wool carpet solutions to property developers and construction firms involved in Kāinga Ora builds, and those working on private developments. It’s giving us access to projects that had previously defaulted to synthetic solutions… it also opens the door for broader adoption in schools, commercial fit-outs and private homes.”
He says wool’s natural properties, including its flame resistance, air purification capabilities, thermal and acoustic insulation and biodegradability, make it uniquely suited to New Zealand’s sustainability goals.
“This is an important milestone, but also just the beginning of a much bigger conversation about the role of New Zealand wool in our built environment.”
