You may consider it a cutting-edge design presenting the UK as a 21st century dynamo of a country, or a doodle on a post-it note. But whatever you think of the London Olympic 2012 logo, one thing everybody can agree is that its launch this week signals that preparation for the Games is well under way and that any business wanting to get involved in Olympics development projects has to gird its loins.
The timber sector as a whole is already making its pitch to be a major player in the construction of the sports venues, residential building and infrastructure work. Wood for Gold, the coalition of key industry organisations, is lobbying politicians and putting timber’s case to the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA).
Recently the campaign also lined up timber businesses for talks with the latter. Dr Peter Bonfield, the ODA’s construction products leader, said they went well. He was impressed with the companies’ presentations on what timber could bring to the Games, both in the detail and in terms of broader sustainability and delivery strategy. Now we need more of the same and other companies to follow suit.
Dr Bonfield is also the author of our Wood Futures article this week. He does not specifically mention the Olympics here, but what he says about the need for the timber industry to respond to changes in the global market and the demands of customers, government and new construction standards clearly has relevance to the Games too.
While the sector has a real edge in the sustainability of its products, it cannot just rely on this. As Dr Bonfield says, “it is not enough to be ‘renewable’”. It has to apply the benefits in the market place; provide facts and figures on embodied energy; explain how its products rank in the Green Guide and how they can aid compliance with, say, the Code for Sustainable Homes).
Fundamentally it’s about educating the client on what timber can deliver. This is the central role of Wood for Gold and it emerged this week that the campaign is looking for more cash from the industry to take its efforts to “the next level”. Looks like it might be money well spent.
