Two things struck you at the recent OFFSITE2005 show held at the BRE.
First was the government’s commitment to modern methods of construction (MMC) as a way of meeting the shortfall in new housing, speeding up construction and improving quality.
An animated John Prescott, the deputy prime minister, was the keynote speaker and challenged the construction industry to “embrace change” and work faster, cheaper and more efficiently.
The second impression was timber’s obvious potential in the MMC sector.
The inside exhibition area at the BRE‘s Watford site featured a strong representation from timber frame and related companies, ranging from volume house manufacturers to suppliers of structural insulated panels, engineered timber and roofing systems.
The display provided ample evidence that timber-based building systems are positioning themselves to benefit from the growing MMC market. But they clearly face a serious challenge from other building materials.
In the large outside show area, steel and concrete were more prominent, with Kingspan-Century Homes the sole timber frame industry exhibitor.
This disparity seems to be due to the mismatch between marketing budgets – a point flagged up before OFFSITE2005 with both the UK Timber Frame Association (UKTFA) and wood. for good saying it was symptomatic of a promotional funding problem in the timber industry (TTJ March 5/12).
But the positive thing to remember about the government’s MMC initiative is that it does not discriminate between materials. Kingspan-Century Homes’ exhibit and two other houses, made of concrete and steel, will remain on site as the BRE’s new Innovation Park trialling emerging building technologies.
The detached three-bedroom home is an “entry-level” property, as well as providing a mass market, energy efficient solution to the social housing shortage.
The “Synergy” house is also one of the entries into Mr Prescott’s Design for Manufacturing challenge – which asks the construction industry to design houses with a build cost of just £60,000.
Kevin Scobell, chief executive of SmartLIFE, which co-hosted the exhibition with BRE, said a big prize awaits MMC manufacturers and it is not restricted to housing.
SmartLIFE, set up by Cambridgeshire County Council to learn how MMC can make up the shortfall in the county’s housing, is embarking on several pilot projects. This includes a scheme to build 80 homes to assess the performance of MMC compared to traditional construction methods. The project, being undertaken by Warden Housing, will feature timber, steel and concrete homes.
During OFFSITE2005 a new partnership was announced between SmartLIFE and BRE to help the industry meet increasing housing demand and learn from the example of other European countries.
Dr Ashley Lane, director of Westbury Partnerships, said the country was facing the lowest housing production level in 100 years, with about 150,000 built annually compared to a demand of 225,000.
Mr Lane is leading a steering group drawing up a government-commissioned report looking into MMC.
The report, co-ordinated by the House Builders Federation and involving 50 stakeholder groups including the UKTFA, was commissioned following the Barker Review of housing.
The cross-industry initiative has found that in 2004 most housebuilders used MMC to some extent but 90% of output was still on-site construction methods.
Mr Lane highlighted communication and education as important areas for progressing MMC and said a culture change was needed within the construction industry supply chain: “Customers are not really bothered what the construction is. It’s the lifestyle, not whether it’s steel, concrete or wood. Builders are selling lifestyles now, not a particular product.”
Mr Lane said the cost comparisons between an MMC house and a traditionally built home could vary from anything to a 5% saving to a 25% increase. But he said comparisons should bear in mind the “higher performance” of an MMC building.
The steering group’s report, now at consultative stage, will be released at Housebuilding 2005 in September.
But the government already seems very positive about MMC. “Modern methods won’t replace brick and block, but they can provide a proven, cost-effective and reliable alternative which will allow more people to buy or rent a home,” Mr Prescott told OFFSITE2005.
He added: “The lesson we learn again and again is that we have to embrace change and find new opportunities to build better homes, more efficiently.”
