Bearded tv botanist David Bellamy did a sketch for TTJ news editor Stephen Powney at Interbuild last month. It was a diagrammatic representation of his view that man-made global warming is a myth. The earth, he says, is just going through a natural climactic cycle and we can’t do a thing about it.
But before the timber sector groans en masse, having put so much energy into highlighting the climate-change alleviating benefits of wood in building, it should be pointed out that Dr Bellamy also advocates that houses are energy efficient and use sustainable materials. He maintains we need them because we’re running out of fossil fuel, destroying natural habitats and facing greater natural climactic extremes. And, opening the ‘eco-village’ at Interbuild, he said he’d like nothing more than to retire to a pod-home built using Ty Unnos, a home-grown Welsh wood panel system.
So whatever the root cause of climate change, it seems environmentally-sound building is here to stay and timber is potentially in pole position to benefit.
This gave added weight to TTJ’s recent Wood Futures conference, looking at the UK’s drive to sustainable, zero carbon construction and the possible implications for the timber sector. Speakers gave their perspectives on how this brave new construction world will look and what businesses involved must do to keep pace. That included supplying commercial, practical building systems and products, eradicating waste and developing long-term relationships down the supply chain. They also stressed how important upgrading the eco-performance of existing housing will be and that only homes people actually want to live in will be truly sustainable.
But while all this forward thinking is vital, of course, we’ve also got to deal with a market downturn that threatens the industry’s ability to supply the volume of sustainable building material the UK will need as it emerges from the slump. And this week TTF National Panel Products Division chairman Nigel Williams pointed out that the situation is being made more difficult by a squeeze on credit insurance for the sector. This is clearly an area for the government to exert some pressure. After all, it does now own a chunk of the UK’s financial industry. And if credit insurers don’t immediately get it, maybe Chancellor Darling could take a tip from Dr Bellamy and draw them a diagram.
