“We are living in an exciting time for timber when the opportunities and prospects have never been better.”

That was the rallying call from Andrew Abbott, chief executive of TRADA at the outset of its Timber Industry Conference.

The event was targeted at timber industry directors and managers and planned as a forum to discuss the sector’s key challenges and opportunities and to evaluate its performance against that of the competition. The conference pre-publicity also promised that this serious business would be conducted in a “relaxed, comfortable environment”, hence the choice of venue, the Oak Room at the award-winning Kindersley Centre in Berkshire – an inspiration to anyone working with wood.

Mr Abbott continued his opening address by saying that sustainability was now a key market driver. It was an issue that was close to the construction industry’s heart, thanks in no small part to the government’s recognition of the importance of sustainable development which has become a central theme of its social and economic programme.

However, he challenged delegates, while timber had “excellent environmental credentials… why is it that timber is often caught on the back foot when it comes to the wider environmental debate? Why do steel and concrete, both requiring enormous quantities of energy to produce and recycle, even get a look in when it comes to sustainability”?

The answer, he said, was that the timber industry should have “put the environmental debate to bed a long time ago; putting timber out of reach of all other competing mainstream materials”.

Issues that had not been adequately addressed included the accusations that timber rotted, lacked strength and that its sources were sometimes less than impeccable. The latter point was particularly damning, said Mr Abbott. “We proudly claim that something like 90% of all wood coming into this country is from sustainably managed sources; which really means that 10% of wood isn’t. And this is what the competition concentrates on.”

All these accusations could be rebutted, said Mr Abbott, if the timber industry had the sustainability debate on its own terms. But with the steel and concrete lobbies also playing the sustainability card and enjoying huge financial backing, “clearly the timber industry has much to do”.

Commercial implications

Jiggy Lloyd, a member of the government’s Sustainable Procurement Task Force and an adviser to the support services and construction business Morrison plc, outlined the commercial implications of the government’s sustainable procurement agenda and congratulated TRADA on recognising its relevance. “Many businesses fail to understand how public policy impacts on their commercial success,” she said.

The government’s strategy consisted of five principles, at least three of which had direct relevance to the timber industry. These three key principles were sustainable production and consumption; natural resource protection and environmental enhancement; and international action to develop sustainable development. “International action and sustainable development are closely knit,” said Ms Lloyd. “You are part of Jack Straw’s foreign policy because, in future conflicts, battles will be fought over natural resources.”

Government policy had an immediate effect because central government spent £13bn a year on goods and services and the public sector as a whole spent a whopping £125bn. Statistics revealing the amount spent on timber were “rather shaky” but were estimated at around £20m for 2003/04. A figure that “is only going to go up” with government programmes focusing on social housing, the health service and schools.

“In the Schools for the Future [programme] every secondary school is to be rebuilt or renewed over the next 10-15 years and timber is coming up again and again as the material of choice,” said Ms Lloyd.

“The timber industry already knows what it’s like to be scrutinised,” she continued. “You’ve been there at the sharp end of the debate. The difference now is the government is now giving it [sustainable procurement] a huge amount of attention and timber will benefit. Those who believe it has been lip-service to date may now begin to see more action.”

In short, the profile of sustainable procurement would be raised. “The heat will be turned up and public sector buyers will be asking more questions and seeking more assurances,” said Ms Lloyd.

Barriers to building

Architect Craig White, a partner in White Design, a practice which has a strong environmental conscience, warned delegates that the barriers to building in timber “are all about the process, not whether the buildings can be constructed”. He added that of the £42bn to be spent on schools, 25% would be built under the Public Finance Initiative (PFI) and that Zurich would not provide insurance for timber framed school/PFI programmes: “Insurers still see a lot of perceived risk in building in timber,” he said.

However, on a more positive note, he said, with the advent of carbon trading in Europe in January this year “soon everyone will know the value of a tonne of CO2 [currently £7]; it’s the new currency”.

“We can sequester carbon into our buildings,” he said. “Designing green buildings isn’t rocket science, but the industry needs to join up its thinking and start looking from individual products to the whole.”

Joined up thinking is exactly what the wood. for good promotional campaign aims to achieve and project manager John Fletcher told delegates that, while many people believed they had no impact on climate change or on sustainability as individuals, the reverse was the reality. “The issue of sustainability affects everything from housing, to taxation, to health, through to the school run,” he said. And he added that there were huge opportunities for timber as it played a major role in combating climate change – a fact which is recognised in the government’s “Securing the Future” sustainability agenda.

Health and well-being were moving up the political agenda as it was recognised that people performed better in certain environments. Mr Fletcher cited Kingsmead Primary School, featured in the summer edition of TTJ sister title Timber Building, as a shining example of this, but said more “demonstrable” buildings were necessary in order to carry the message through.

He also warned that, as timber took more market share, its competitors would become more aggressive in their marketing. “We need to take more note of our competitors, organise our industry better and know where we should be in 2010.”

Dr Paul Newman, manager of site-based services at TRADA Technology, agreed that “the competition” was well resourced and organised and urged the timber industry to support initiatives such as wood. for good. “Be mindful of the competition – although it struggles with value for money, steel focuses pretty well on delivering service and quality,” he said. “We don’t have the field to ourselves. We are at the forefront, but must continue to stay there.”

In his presentation on trends in off-site construction, Dr Newman said that it was encouraging that the industry was moving away from open panel systems towards SIPs and closed panels. And, he said, the government was determined to address the housing shortage, with £22bn earmarked for new housing by the end of 2006. “John Prescott is in the driving seat and a lot of the changes are attributed directly to his personal enthusiasm,” he said.