This year for the first time the Institute of Wood Science opened up its annual conference to architects and specifiers and it was an approach that was rewarded by the results: about a third of the delegates were from this new audience.

The initiative was part of an acute awareness that, while the construction sector is the largest user of wood, architects need more information about timber and the timber industry needs to supply it.

Under the convention theme of “How does wood help to sustain the built environment?”, this idea of partnership ran through many of the conference papers.

Sharing responsibility

Dr Penny Bienz, head of environmental affairs at The Timber Trade Federation, picked up the idea in her paper ‘Responsible timber purchasing’.

Responsibility for timber purchasing, she said, should be shared by everybody along the supply chain from forest manager to consumer, but only some of the players could be regulated.

Architects and specifiers had a role to play in responsible timber purchasing but they needed to be educated about choosing the right species for the right job and the timber industry had, generally, failed to provide “a high level of information”.

Architects could include a timber specification clause in their contracts but they must make a commitment to it and ensure that the information was passed down the purchasing chain to subcontractors, said Dr Bienz.

Improve links

Michael Dickson, chairman of Buro Happold, picked up this thread of partnership: “To achieve sustainability and competitiveness, the timber industry has to continue to improve its links through the supply chain,” he said.

As a specifier, Mr Dickson said he believed he was not alone in “fully understanding the opportunities presented by the wood supply chain either as an international business or as a material supply process”.

Competitive and sustainable construction required an holistic approach through the supply chain.

“All players in the supply chain need to be aware of the whole process, from planting to manufacture of engineered products so that the best features of timber can be exploited at all stages of production,” he said.

As an example of partnership, he cited the Jerwood Gridshell at the Weald and & Downland Museum where Buro Happold was the engineer. Each planning stage involved the whole team and now, unusually, everybody involved described it as “my building”.

The timber industry was well placed to meet the needs of sustainable construction, as long as it harnessed “the benefits of collaborative working”, said Mr Dickson.

Timber window repairs

&#8220All players in the supply chain need to be aware of the whole process, from planting to manufacture of engineered products so that the best features of timber can be exploited at all stages of production”

Michael Dickson, chairman, Buro Happold

Des Raj, managing director of Window Care Systems Ltd, said that partnering also influenced the quality and durability of timber repairs.

“Where the ‘partnership’ approach has been established, case studies show that the timber repairs can last in excess of 10 years,” he said.

Traditionally, wooden windows have been discarded rather than repaired but Mr Raj said the best way timber could help to sustain the built environment was for wooden windows to be repaired and maintained.

The average cost of repair was significantly lower than the cost of replacement but education, communication and training needed to be improved.

Market perceptions

Also on the theme of durability, Gordon Ewbank, general manager of Osmose, emphasised the need to market timber’s attributes.

“Marketing is all about perception and we must not allow our competitors to promote the perception that wood is not effectively protected,” he said.

Industrial pre-treatment had formed the bedrock of some markets for timber, such as construction, joinery and the growing outdoor leisure sector. There was criticism of the chemicals used in treatments and, while R&D was motivated by environmental concerns, systems must remain effective.

Heat treatment had a lot of potential, said Mr Ewbank, but it was not a replacement for pressure treated wood. Also, it required large amounts of energy and Mr Ewbank warned against using “environmental simplicity” when assessing new treatments.

The theme of partnership was picked up again by Geoff Taylor, technical director of Akzo Nobel Woodcare, who promoted partnering as a means of effecting environmental change. Timber could be promoted as the best environmental option through creating an integrated product policy, identifying the environmental impact of the supply chain and simplifying it.

Using life cycle assessment (LCA) as an approach to an integrated product policy enabled producers and decision makers to accept their share of responsibility for the environmental impact beyond their direct control.

Environmental impact

Suzy Edwards, principal consultant in the BRE‘s centre for sustainable construction, explained how LCA could illustrate the environmental impact of various timber products compared with competing materials.

The BRE has developed several tools based on LCA which help specifiers to assess the environmental impact of products. These include Ecopoints, the Green Guide to Specification and Envest. These can be used to create environmental profiles of building components which a company could use in an ‘environmental product declaration’ – a valuable marketing tool.

While their products scored relatively well in life cycle assessment, Ms Edwards warned that the timber industry must stay ahead of the game, especially as manufacturers of competing materials are trying to cut the amount of toxic materials they use.

“Don’t rest on your laurels because there’s not that much of a difference,” she said. “PVCu manufacturers are working to reduce the environmental impact of their products so timber can’t afford to stay still.”