The world is changing – fast. And the pace of change is ever increasing. These changes will impact more and more on your businesses over the next period and the timber sector will need to prepare to deliver to changing demands.
Societal demands and dynamics are a key driving force. The way we live, learn, heal and work, places new demands on the buildings we occupy.
For example, the overwhelming priority is to take healthcare into the home and to embed new technologies for communication, sensing and monitoring. In housing, it’s not just about the new ‘zero net carbon’ home agenda; it’s about creating communities where people feel safe, secure, healthy and part of the community.
In the work place, the changing dynamic of jobs, with more home working, increasing demands for workplace productivity, and the intense ‘war for talent’ (employing and retaining the best staff, through attractive, facility-rich offices), is creating very different office spaces.
Economics and the changing business landscape are driving change. Globalisation means that for many companies, the UK is just part of the European ‘region’. The rise of the economies in the Far East and India is changing the business dynamics.
Climate change
And the environment is perhaps providing the most compelling and focused driver for business change as there is an overriding imperative to mitigate against climate change. The government has fully embraced it, so have big corporates and enlightened clients. The big corporates are really driving a pace and many are huge owners of corporate real estate, with large refurbishment and new build programmes. The investor communities have also identified climate change as a likely issue and growth opportunity for future business and are responding by demanding better environmental performance from their capital investments. In fact some of these corporate clients have to look behind them now to see some environmental NGOs running to keep up with their high levels of ambition.
Finally, technology. The technology providers are only too happy to respond to our insatiable appetites for new technology by providing ever more sophisticated, attractive and good value products. Embedding new technologies in our buildings and ensuring adaptability and flexibility for future innovation is an absolute requirement.
You may ask “what’s it got to do with me, way down the supply chain?” Probably quite a lot! Especially if you are looking to future proof your business or to grow. How well do you understand the changing demands up the supply chain? How do your products enable others to integrate new technologies? How can you help your customers and theirs on environmental aspects?
It is not enough to be ‘natural’ or ‘renewable’. Those single issue assertions may have worked in the past, but not now. What are your product’s embodied environmental impacts? How does this affect ratings of building elements in the Green Guide for construction professionals? And what does this mean for credits in BREEAM, the new Code for Sustainable Homes and similar environmental design standards. You will benefit from knowing where your business is positioned.
Sourcing
On sourcing products, there is a lot to be gained, providing the timber sector can respond. Responsible sourcing is a parameter that affects all products on construction projects now and will grow in the near future as more significant clients demand it. There are also credits to be won in BREEAM and the new Code for responsible sourcing of all materials. The timber sector has invested mightily in this area over the last 20 years and, hopefully, there is now enough capacity to deliver to major projects. However upstream, your clients need to understand better that as a sector you can deliver this to them.
It may worry you to know that in London, several contractors have been doing all they can to design timber out of their projects, rather than risk falling foul of the mayor’s requirement for FSC-sourced timber. Although in the housing sector, use of timber is increasing and the quantity of timber that has been independently certified for sustainability with chain of custody is also increasing.
Are you ready to meet these demands? The market place is more ready than ever for your products, but you will need to provide the right evidence to help them.
