26 THE CLIMATE CHALLENGE Clearing the path to timber


The Government’s roadmap for increasing timber use in construction is here, but how is the industry tackling the obstacles? James Parker spoke to Andrew Carpenter, chief executive of the Structural Timber Association.


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THE SKILLS ISSUE IS “PROBABLY THE ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM”


THE SEVEN ‘PRIORITIES’ IN THE TIMBER ROADMAP


1. Improving data on timber & whole life carbon


2. Promoting the safe, sustainable use of timber as a construction material


3. Increasing skills, capacity, and competency across the supply chain


4. Increasing the sustainable supply of timber


5. Addressing fire safety and durability concerns to safely expand the use of engineered mass timber


6. Increasing collaboration with insurers, lenders, and warranty providers


7. Promoting innovation and high performing timber construction systems


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industry associations like the BF, the wide-ranging and influential voices on the panel meant the issues were vocally expressed, and ownership guaranteed. ith 2050 net ero looming ever larger, and the Future omes Standard 2025 imminent, the ST contributed research and data to the working group to help understand the impact its widespread use could have on reducing CO2


in


ow can structural timber, the ultimate sustainable material option, regain its place on the specification agenda Facing a combination of a long-standing stigma around fire safety on sites, misconceptions around moisture issues and buildability, and recently supply, inflation and the post-Grenfell war on combustible materials, the timber industry was feeling somewhat unloved.


There has been widespread cynicism from homeowners since media coverage in the late 1980s of poor practice in masonry plus timber housebuilding. The timber industry has been repairing its reputation ever since, such as Barratt Homes (the subject of a seminal 80s World in Action timber expos doing an internal exercise among its younger staff to look at the appetite for timber frame. ith the 10s now a distant memory but the climate crisis now front of mind, those staff advocated a return to timber frame.


THE ROADMAP


aving spent months lobbying government, the Structural Timber ssociation (ST celebrated when efra launched the Timber in Construction (TiC Policy oadmap in ecember a practical framework for increasing the use of timber in construction. It was the result of close collaboration between the industry and the overnment to identify the steps needed to drastically increase adoption in the race to net ero 2050. The working group behind the document included LC, the epartment of Business and Trade, and the Forestry Commission. The construction and supply chain sectors had passionate advocates in ndrew Carpenter, chief executive of the ST, plus Timber evelopment s ave opkins, and ndy Leitch of the Confederation of Forest Industries. ugmented by


housebuilding. owever the group also looked at barriers to adoption, and ways to overcome them. Seven key recommendations emerged to make up the roadmap, labelled Supply, emand, Building Safety, Labour  Skills, Carbon, Insurance, and Innovation. Carpenter said that with the recommendations now in place, the roadmap gives clarity and reassurances to stakeholders throughout the construction industry. owever, have we made any progress down the road The agenda behind the roadmap, which traces back to COP2 in lasgow, was to safely use more timber in construction. The two major drivers were the climate crisis and the safety agenda following the ackitt report on building safety, post- renfell. ndrew Carpenter of the ST says that within the working group, the imperative was that you dont choose a net ero solution thats not safe, and you dont have a safe solution thats not net ero. Carpenter praises the overnments approach to grappling with the need to pursue ways to enable timber to form part of the specification agenda They have played a blinder.


SUPPLY & DEMAND


ndrew Carpenter says that the working group identified the need for the  industry to use more homegrown timber. e says that according to the STs research, around 50 of the carbon emitted from timber supply in the  is from transportation. Its still considerably less than steel and concrete, but if we want to improve, its the transport side thats the biggest problem. Carpenter believes that quite an education process was required to meet the groups goals  firstly the Forestry Commission needed to grow the right species, and increase forestry from its current 1.5 cover to 1.5 in the . owever, to enable this to occur, he says we need to create a market, and


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