Being invited to become chairman of Wood for Good is a personal honour, and represents a bold move by the timber industry’s promotional campaign to pick an ‘outsider’ to oversee its affairs. This reflects two very important things about wood’s current standing in the world of construction and its future role.
Firstly, I think my appointment is rooted in the industry’s new found self-confidence that it no longer needs to fight so hard to justify the central pillars of timber’s sustainability and practicality argument.
The work Wood for Good has done to raise awareness of the central narrative around lowcarbon production and carbon storage, complemented by the ever increasing portfolio of innovative, high profile timber-based design in the UK, means it is now accepted wisdom that wood is one of the most sustainable building materials available.
So why wouldn’t you ask an architect – one who has a track-record of using not just timber but a range of other materials to achieve sustainable designs – to be your figurehead? As perceptions have shifted, the debate has evolved. Now it has won the argument to justify its place at the table, Wood for Good has to help the sector develop the detailed evidence base it needs to compete in an ever more data-driven built environment – something our external affairs director David Hopkins touches on, also in this issue of TTJ .
The second point I take from my selection is that there is a certain maturity to the organisation’s outlook that understands that timber’s advancement will only be achieved by articulating its role within the array of construction materials available.
Amid the furore sparked by the launch of last year’s Wood First campaign in the broader construction press – something which did wonders to promote timber’s cause to a huge audience – the organisation has been at pains to stress that this does not mean ‘Wood Only’. More and more of my colleagues in architecture are turning to timber, to help improve the environmental performance of buildings, as well as build times and overall aesthetics, but also because of its versatility with steel, glass, and yes, concrete.
I’m not a timber purist, but I do think it is a wonderful material which, if used more widely, could improve the environmental profile of the built environment in the UK. To do this, it needs to be a viable part of the mainstream materials mix, not a radical wholesale alternative.
This standpoint allows us to rise above the temptation for timber to become embroiled in a slanging match with other materials lobbies and to articulate a sensible and workable vision for bettering the way we build. My role is to be timber’s champion within the worlds of architecture, construction and also government.
I’m not someone who earns their living from timber, but someone who can speak from first-hand experience about how it has, time and time again, proved itself to be a sustainable super material.
This is an exciting time for Wood for Good, and I’m now proud to be an ‘insider’.
