enhanced user experience and a fast return on investment for the consumer (within their tenure in the building) or risk being eroded by market competition. This is hugely significant, as it will be the margin that the market is willing to support that will dictate the pace of growth or recovery for most operators in the sector.
My own view is that assuming a “level playing field”, as the next code supersedes its predecessor, it will be difficult to justify a premium over the previous generation in terms of market acceptance and we will have to engineer new products to ensure that the first version of the next code level costs no more on a like-for-like basis than the last version of the old code level.
Timber itself is the only truly sustainable building material we have, being one of the lowest embodied carbon raw materials around, providing the structural kits for high quality homes. Timber frame will meet the Government regulations with ease and, indeed, is already doing so with Code Level Four being met by Stewart Milne Timber Systems’ Sigma II product, which is already in production and being delivered commercially to the market.
As well as the feel-good factor of using a natural and sustainable material, timber as a building material is proven – it works, has been around for hundreds of years, is in common use and it is low maintenance. In addition to its environmental credentials, it is commercially economical, supports improved health & safety, offers design flexibility, provides high quality buildings as a result of being manufactured in a controlled factory environment and benefits from rapid speed of build.
The argument for choosing timber is becoming increasingly apparent but despite the growing popularity of timber frame as a build solution, there remains a need to move it up the agenda and establish it on the psyche of
the industry. With the growing need to shorten the cash- to-cash cycle - and speed of build being a key enabler of this - the industry must be receptive to change.
And let us not forget the consumer. With recovery forecast in the medium term, house buyers and tenants will have more influence than ever before, and choice, shorter lead times and fast delivery are all key motivators. Again, timber frame comes into its own in providing all of these at the same time as meeting the challenges of private sector sales models based on concluding off-plan, leaving around only 12 weeks to deliver a new-build product. Closed panel, “fabric first” build systems are already well on the way to meeting the much-vaunted need for energy efficiencies and the ability to tailor production to market demand provides cost-effective flexibility.
So for any architects sharpening their pencils to design a modern housing development, any developers looking for assured solutions for contented customers, and any consumers looking for energy-efficient homes that are easy to change and can be extended painlessly, timber frame really does what it says on the tin.
ENVIRONMENT INDUSTRY MAGAZINE |75|
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