As we take on a tough year for the timber trade my main thought is that we have to get some positive energy flowing and discover where the upsides are.
One silver lining opportunity should be to focus attention on the many improvements in timber products that can be introduced and promoted now for greater use as the market recovers. Right now there is the capacity amongst designers, specifiers and developers to consider how new and interesting innovations can be applied as housebuilding volumes return.
Marketing forums such as the highly successful Ecobuild + Futurebuild exhibition and conference attract high quality audiences hungry for new ideas to give them a competitive edge. True, there’s never enough time in today’s fast paced world but there’s surely no better time to stop and think about how to build better buildings than now.
A typical example is the introduction of a pre-insulated treated or untreated wall stud which combines an engineered I-joist with the use of natural wood fibre insulation material in the space between the web and the flange. It means there is no need to profile insulation on site and the studs can be handled in the same way as solid studs. The result offers reduced thermal bridging and provides good winter and summer insulation as well as contributing to acoustic performance.
I’m sure every company in the industry would do well to take a moment to focus on how it can exploit the unusual opportunity afforded by the slowdown in actual construction.
Quite apart from the tangible benefits of better specified and often healthier houses, this approach adds the vital positive impetus that every company needs today just to counter all the gloom and ‘talking down’ of the economy as a whole.
Enthusiasm can be as infectious as its opposite. It drives anticipation, expectation and success. We can’t change where we are already, but we can resolve to deal with the challenges by searching for the opportunities which lie beneath the surface.
