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New figures from AMA Research are forecasting that contractors’ output is expected to be down by 20% in 2020. As a result of this downward turn, the panelised modular building systems market will also experience a decline in 2020 as the two are not mutually exclusive. This will result in a drop of 15% decreasing the market value to £636 million. The panelised modular building systems market in the UK was worth £753 million in 2019. “Offsite manufacturing, including panelised modular building systems may recover faster as it is more conducive to Covid-19 safety measures such as social distancing. The adaptation of the working environment has been an easier transition than a traditional construction setting, due to it being less labour intensive and requiring fewer personnel on-site. With all construction work carried out on a production line, activity can be planned and monitored to ensure that social distancing is adhered to.
“More importantly there is now a strong likelihood of an increase in the use of volumetric and other types of offsite construction method to help meet the chronic housing shortage, cope with the lack of traditional construction skills within the construction industry and help meet the government’s pledge to be carbon neutral by 2050. “Offsite construction, with open panel timber frame systems the most widely used type, could very well be the solution to delivering much needed affordable homes and to deliver them quickly. It is anticipated there will be a significant increase in offsite production capacity with many leading housebuilders and RPRs declaring their intentions to substantially increase their use of offsite systems to build new homes. “Timber frame systems is the largest sector, with a share estimated to be 70%, due to a larger supply base and extensive usage in the Scottish housebuilding market and self-build sector. Timber frame houses can be built on average eight weeks faster when compared with traditional construction methods. A close eye will need to be kept on how quickly the economy, and the construction industry in particular recovers, however; there is now a glimmer of hope with the announcement from Pfizer of their successful initial vaccine trial. Over the next few years, the growth of this market will be greatly affected by how long the Covid-19 pandemic lasts.”
New Joinery Network resource live
As the growth of The Joinery Network continues, a new website has been launched to support UK joinery manufacturers looking to manufacture PAS 24:2016 Document Q ready timber windows and doors. The new website has information on The Joinery Network’s range of fully tested, accredited timber windows and doors, Lignum. Owen Dare of O T Dare Joinery Consultants, and one of the founder directors of The Joinery Network, says: “We launched the new website to make it easy for joinery manufacturers to see the range of fully tested timber windows and doors that are available, exclusively, for them. “There is also lots of information on which tests our product range has passed. With this information, joinery manufacturers can choose the products they need, get licences for each product against each test result, and cascade the data to use as their own. This transparency means that both big and small joiners, offering a full or selective range, can fully comply with regulations without worrying about falling foul of the law. “Lignum is the exciting new window system for the timber window and door industry. Fully accredited and designed for UK homes, Lignum is perfect for joiners as a low-cost entry system through The Joinery Network licences. They also don’t have the expense of spending upwards of £60,000 on testing products themselves as The Joinery Network has already made that investment. It’s an easy way for joiners to show that their products comply with Building Regulations and win more sales. Joinery manufacturers can also find information on each of The Joinery Network’s founder partners and affiliates. We’ve carefully selected our founder partners and affiliates to offer expertise through every step of the supply chain.” The new website comes after the launch of the exclusive Lignum range from The Joinery Network. Lignum is the first complete UK timber window & door system with full PAS 24:2016, Document Q, BS 6375: 1. Document L1B, and Document M certification, available to joinery manufacturers.
More at www.thejoinerynetwork.co.uk
Time for Timber campaign highlights net zero
With the threat of missing critical environmental targets a very real danger in the post Covid-19 economy, the Time for Timber campaign has launched a new drive that directly targets the financial and insurance sectors – one of the biggest stumbling blocks in the path of sustainable development. With ambitious targets set for the UK to reach net zero by 2050, combined with an increasingly urbanised population, there is an urgent need to change how we build high density and single-family housing. The obvious solution is using renewable, sustainable and environmentally positive materials such as timber but, historically, the insurance industry has been unwilling to support such initiatives. Misconceptions around timber’s suitability as a major project construction material have meant that this versatile solution is considered a risk by many insurers and finance houses. This basic misunderstanding of the facts could be jeopardising the future of the economy and the environment. Bringing together leading voices from around the construction industry, the Time for Timber campaign has been founded with the express intention of challenging these misconceptions within the financial and insurance sectors. The campaign launched with a major advertising campaign at Bank underground station, in the heart of London’s financial district. The bold move will see the hard-hitting campaign message dominating the advertising space within the station, in a bid to kick-start engagement with this important issue. A programme of webinars with financial sector media partners and a new whitepaper will follow, to begin strengthening the dialogue between the timber construction industry, insurers and investors. Underpinning the communication campaign is a groundswell of support that is building throughout the industry, which is showcased in a new Time for Timber documentary. The film features compelling interviews with figures such as: British Green Party economist, Molly Scott Cato, architect and Chair of the Good Homes Alliance, Lynne Sullivan, Technical and Innovation Director at Barratt Homes, Oliver Novakovic and Chief Executive of the UK Sustainable Investment and Finance Association, Simon Howard. Andrew Orriss from the Time for Timber campaign commented: “We are at a crossroads in the UK and on a global basis: we need to act now if we are going to meet our environmental obligations and timber is the primary building material that will help us do this. As well as being sustainable, replenishable and easily recycled, the adoption of timber within offsite construction and MMC techniques would have a profound effect on the wider construction market and a demonstrable reduction in the carbon footprint of projects. “This is in harmony with the Government’s agenda of Building Back Better, with its emphasis on green initiatives, which clearly recognises that there is a need to create jobs to avoid a financial downturn. But we should be creating those jobs to ensure the green transition happens as quickly as possible, to propel us towards net zero carbon – as well as protecting communities from future environmental and economic hazards.”
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BoKlok gets NHBC Accepts approval
BoKlok UK, the sustainable, quality, and low-cost home provider jointly owned by Skanska and IKEA, has received an official welcome to NHBC Accepts. Launched this summer, the NHBC warranty and insurance provider for new homes in the UK, granted approval for BoKlok to ‘NHBC Accepts’ — an all-inclusive, end-to-end service that helps to build confidence in innovative construction and also enables MMC systems tobe fast-tracked for NHBC warranty. BoKlok is jointly owned by Skanska and IKEA, originated in the Nordics and has now built more than 12,000 homes throughout Sweden, Finland and Norway. It launched its UK business early last year and is on course to build over 400 homes throughout the South West of England. BoKlok homes are completed offsite in a safe and dry environment using a smart and industrialised process. This enables high quality, low and predictable costs, and minimum waste. The homes are then transported to the construction site for assembly with high quality IKEA products fitted throughout. The completed homes are manufactured using BoKlok’s Flex UK volumetric timber frame system. As BoKlok uses wood as its primary source material, carbon emissions are lower in comparison to the average amount of a newly built apartment or house. Other environmentally friendly measures are included throughout all housing developments, such as community air source heat pumps and water saving methods. Noel Sheehan, BoKlok housing delivery director said, “We are very pleased to have been given a seal of approval for NHBC Accepts. BoKlok use quality materials and build with well-proven methods to ensure sustainable homes. We hope that this additional accreditation will provide further confidence in our home development to our customers and the wider industry.” NHBC is the leading warranty and insurance provider for new homes in the UK. NHBC’s ten-year Buildmark warranty covers c. 75-80 per cent of new homes built in the UK, currently protecting around 1.5 million homes. NHBC is a non-profit distributing organisation with no shareholders. NHBC’s, innovation manager, Richard Lankshear said: “Following a thorough review process we are delighted to welcome BoKlok to NHBC Accepts. An NHBC Accepts certificate is a way of demonstrating that innovative products or systems have already been reviewed by NHBC thus reducing the risk of delays on site. NHBC Accepts will play a critical role in ensuring developers, manufacturers, lenders and consumers have faith and confidence in MMC quality as the industry delivers more innovative new homes for the country.” Helen Robinson also recently has joined BoKlok UK as new general counsel. Helen was formerly a partner at Pinsent Masons LLP specialising in housing-led regeneration schemes and has worked for both public and private sector clients throughout her career. In her new role as general counsel, Helen will continue to guide BoKlok UK through the highs and lows of the public sector regulatory framework, oversee all legal transactions and provide legal and commercial support to the team. She will also be responsible for governance and compliance and managing BoKlok’s legal panel. Helen said: “I am really excited to join BoKlok and have the opportunity to help shape such an innovative and progressive organisation. BoKlok is at the forefront of the modular manufacturing revolution and is forging great partnerships and building a really strong brand. They are rightly focused on delivering high quality homes at affordable levels and most importantly, building long term, sustainable communities. I thoroughly enjoyed working with the BoKlok team when they were a client and am delighted to become part of the company.”
Big ‘thanks’ for Robertson Construction
The Robertson Construction team behind the new Merkinch Primary School received a socially distanced ‘thank you’ from around 350 pupils and staff following the handover of the building. The new primary school, which was procured through Major Works – Scotland, part of the Scape National Construction framework for Highland Council, is the first primary school in the Highlands, and the largest school in Scotland, to be built using a cross laminated timber (CLT) frame.
The extension to the original Merkinch Primary School building includes 14 new classrooms, ancillary teaching area, threeroom nursery, nurture rooms, a four court games hall and an external multi-use games area. All of the works were carried out whilst the school remained operational from modular accommodation that occupied the former playing fields. Jillian Kean, head teacher of Merkinch Primary School, said: “We wanted to take this opportunity, ahead of the October holidays, to come together and thank each individual who has been involved in the extension of our primary school. The coronavirus pandemic has meant our young people, and the rest of our school community, have had to adjust to changes within our school when we returned from lockdown. The extension will not only provide us with extra space and facilities but will help us to focus on our school’s future during these challenging times.”
The school has been designed with the well-being of pupils and staff at its core. The original school has served the local community in Inverness for over a century and the new state-of-the art facilities are a welcome addition to the community.
Frank Reid, regional managing director, Robertson Construction, said: “We are proud to have completed the largest CLT frame school in Scotland, much of the timber has been left exposed and this has been proven to positively impact the learning environment. Merkinch is setting a benchmark for sustainable education facilities. It was an honour for the team to receive this personal thank you today from some of the pupils and staff and we look forward to continuing our work in phase 2 as we refurbish the existing facility into new dining and community facilities.” Councillor John Finlayson, chair of Education Committee, Highland Council, added: “It is very exciting to see the fantastic new school building. This will open up opportunities for the school, its staff and its young people, who it is great to see, come out yesterday to show their appreciation for the hard work which has gone into its construction.”
More at www.robertson.co.uk
TTF & TRADA moving towards merger
The Governing Boards of the Timber Trade Federation (TTF) and the Timber Research and Development Association (TRADA) have announced the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to align the strategies and activities of each organisation with a view toward a merger of the two organisations. The MOU was signed on 6 October 2020 and work has begun to conduct due diligence on both parties and propose a new operating structure for the merged organisations. Commenting on the signing, David Hopkins, chief executive of the Timber Trade Federation, said: “This is a strong positive step for both our organisations and for the timber market in the UK. It has been fragmented for far too long. This will allow us to build a single supply chain organisation representing all points from sawmill to importer to manufacturers through to designer, specifier and contractor. It will give timber a much more powerful voice in the market and at a political level, while enhancing services for members. The past year has been tough for everyone in our sector, but this announcement makes the future look far more positive.” Nick Milestone, chair of TRADA, added: “This is an historic step forward for timber in the UK. Bringing the two oldest, biggest names in timber together like this can only be good news. It will combine the lobbying and communications power of the TTF with the technical know-how, insight and design guidance from TRADA to make timber the first-choice product for designers across the country. I’m looking forward to working with Dave and other colleagues to make this a success from day one.”
The two organisations will continue to run operations in parallel under a common management plan for at least the first year before starting to merge activities, ensuring that no aspect of current member services is neglected or lost from either. BM TRADA, which has run TRADA’s operations under a contract arrangement for the last 25 years, is in discussions with the two organisations regarding the role that it will perform under the new arrangement proposed. Further progress towards these common goals will be announced in due course.
All enquiries on this merger should be directed to David Hopkins at
BSW expands further into forestry sector
The BSW Group has acquired Dick Brothers Forestry Ltd, the UK’s largest timber harvesting company. Established over 25 years ago and headquartered in the Scottish Borders, the business boasts state-of-the-art forestry equipment and market leading capabilities to harvest some of the largest and most complex forests in the UK. Dick Brothers represents a cornerstone acquisition for the BSW Group, strengthening its vertical integration of the timber supply chain and securing in-house harvesting capabilities for its forestry and harvesting management division Tilhill. Davy Dick, managing director of Dick Brothers, said: “We are delighted to be joining the BSW family. Whilst it is very much business as usual, we are excited to be working with the BSW team to continue the growth of the business and enhance the services we can bring our customers. We would also like to thank our previous owners, Faro Capital, for their support and investment in the business over recent years.” Tony Hackney, CEO of BSW, commented: “This is fantastic news for BSW. Dick Brothers is a business with strong heritage and fantastic prospects, and one that we believe will bring huge value to BSW. The acquisition enables BSW to become a streamlined stump to sawmill operation, utilising the experience of Dick Brothers to develop smart solutions to timber breakout from the forest and match to sawmill and ultimately customer demands. This places us in a unique position within the UK domestic wood supply sector.
“Whilst operations at Dick Brothers and BSW will remain largely the same, there will be a number of areas for our businesses to support each other. We look forward to working with the Dick family to grow the business as part of the wider BSW Group.” Tony added that it was important that the new acquisition also maintained and grew business with other players: “The sector is very interdependent and what might be one of our division’s customers might be another division’s supplier, so it is critical that Dick Brothers will retain the flexibility to trade across the industry.”
Look but Don’t Touch: The SICK SPEETEC® Speed and Length Sensor
With the SPEETEC® non-contact sensor for speed and length measurement, SICK has added a compact, affordable, eye-safe laser surface motion sensor to its portfolio. The innovative SPEETEC® combines unprecedented affordability with precision surface measurement for production control and quality inspection tasks in timber processing down to a resolution of 4 µm.
The SPEETEC® uses the Laser Doppler principle to work at speeds between 0.1 and 10 m/s to measure directly on the material with an accuracy of 0.1%, and a repeatability of 0.05%. The Class 1 eye-safe infra-red laser light eliminates the need for special guarding or safety measures required by many conventional velocimeters.
Typically, Return on Investment can be achieved in under 12 months, and the increased precision promises to improve yields by reducing giveaway on cut-to-length products, says Darren Pratt, SICK’s UK product manager for motion control sensors:
“The performance and affordability of the SICK SPEETEC® will come as a surprise to many machinebuilders and manufacturers,” he said. “It therefore promises to automate in-line measurement processes for process control, quality checking, or cutting at levels of speed and accuracy that would not have previously been possible.
“The SPEETEC®’s non-contact measurement principle means there is no danger of marking or damaging the substrate. There is no need for any marks or scales on the material itself. What’s more, unlike a measuring wheel which can deform over time due to abrasion with the material surface, the SPEETEC®’s measurement function cannot be impaired by wear, so maintenance and downtime is reduced.”
Product testing has already shown the SPEETEC® to be reliable even when measuring materials with challenging, highly reflective, darkblack or uneven surfaces. SICK also expects to see it being installed to increase process speeds where rotary encoders or measuring wheels would be prone inaccuracy due to slippage of the material.
The SPEETEC® is easy to mount with generous mounting tolerances and a compact design. The rugged aluminium housing, measures just 140mm x 95mm x 32.5 mm. The SICK SPEETEC® can be set up in a matter of minutes and does not require any supplementary electronics to process the signal output. The Laser Doppler measurement is automatically converted onboard the sensor into TTL/HTL signals identical to those of an incremental encoder, so that they can be easily integrated into the machine control system.
Darren Pratt is offering 30-minute one-to-one online presentations and demonstrations to anyone who would like to discuss whether the SPEETEC® is right for their application.
SICK (UK) LTD Waldkirch House 39 Hedley Road St Albans, Herts AL1 5BN Tel: +44 (0) 1727 831121 Fax: +44 (0) 1727 856767 info@sick.co.uk
Radical home looks to timber and brick
A sinuous timber and brick ‘wall house’ by Richard Parr Associates has won planning permission on a green belt site bordering open countryside and woodland, located two miles from the historic village of Knowle in the West Midlands. The 1,400m2 (15,000sq ft) house responds to its site in contextually and environmentally derived forms that create a buffer from a nearby road junction to embrace a sheltered garden landscape. The project is rooted in a protective arm of brick wall that slopes upwards from the ground plane to form the north-west enclosure of the house, opening up to the south and east in an undulating elevation of canted double-height glazing set within a structure of timber fins. The textured buff-brick boundary is echoed in an organically rising and dipping roof landscape, which will be clad in red-toned zinc – traditionally articulated with standing seams – to reflect the red brick vernacular of the locality.
Curvilinear double-height entertaining and living spaces merge in a flow at the elbow of the house, with accommodation transitioning south and eastwards to progressively more private uses. The heart zone of family living space is hinged to the separate wing of entertaining space via an expressive cylindrical tower of top-lit vertical circulation. This creates an arrival sequence heralded by a sculptural staircase and opening up to views across the garden landscape.
Internally, exposed timber structural elements and vertical timber brise soleil to glazed elevations will create a layered and warm sequence of spaces to be further articulated with bespoke furnishings and cabinetry and modelled vertical circulation.
Richard Parr Associates’ design approach has centred on making intelligent use of a large plot by integrating a house that creates its own sense of boundary and enclosure while maximising south and east facing grounds. The external circulation strategy involved repositioning the entrance of the site further south and creating a service route bulwark at the boundary of the property.
The two-storey house with basement car parking will replace an environmentally inefficient structure with a passively oriented highly insulated building that harnesses the thermal mass of its brick spine to absorb and store heat through south- and east-facing glazing. Proposed renewable energy systems include air and ground source heat pumps, mechanical ventilation with heat recovery and photovoltaic panels. Alongside the family zone the design includes an entertaining wing of three guest suites and dedicated facilities for its social space; a service annexe integrating utility spaces with staff quarters; spa and gym areas; and office space in a two-storey satellite building.
Wood panels industry calls for clearer thinking on Renewable Heat Incentive
An “astonishing £3.34 billion” of taxpayers’ money has been paid by the UK Government in Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) payments over the past decade, a scheme which subsidises wood-burning while a potential shortage of wood is threatening the UK’s construction sector.
These are key points raised in a report commissioned by the All-Party Parliamentary Group on the wood panel industry which represents the UK’s six industrial plants producing wood-based materials for the construction industry. The report calls for an end to the RHI and warns that any future subsidy regime for biomass “must be predicated on completion of a comprehensive and robust assessment of subsidy impact upon wood supply.” The cost of RHI last year alone stood at more than £800 million. While the scheme closes to new non-domestic entrants in 2021 and domestic the following year, the UK Government is currently considering future subsidy arrangements following consultation. The report points out that it takes 30 years to replace every tree that is chopped up into biomass pellets for burning and warns: “The UK wood supply is finite – and if wood is being burned for subsidy, it cannot be used in the construction industry as was the intention when these trees were planted.” The six UK wood processing plants are located close to the forestry plantations from which their raw material comes. The report warns: “If the industry becomes dependent on imported timber (as is already happening), that rationale disappears.” Collectively, the six plants directly provide more than 2000 well-paid jobs as well as many more indirectly and “are directly dependent on this issue being addressed by the Government.” It also asserts that “open-ended subsidy to burn a scarce natural resource is inconsistent with the Net Zero commitments made by administrations across the UK.” The report states: “In the longer term, the answer might lie in planting more trees. However, (this) offers no prospect of early relief — the benefits of planting over the next few years will not be realised until 2040-60. Forestry planting has been in decline in the UK since the 1970s and that is the legacy the industry is now living with. Inevitably, therefore, the biomass sector is currently — and for the next 20 years — relying on planting which took place with other purposes in mind, long before the RHI existed.” Selaine Saxby MP, who chairs the All-Party Parliamentary Group and whose North Devon constituency includes a large wood panel manufacturing plant at South Molton, said: “Wood is too important a resource to burn. That is the basic contention of those of us who are calling on the UK Government to reconsider support for the Renewable Heat Incentive before a crisis is created for other users of our finite forestry supply.” Alastair Kerr, director general of the Wood Panel Industries Federation and Secretary of the Expert Working Group for the Wood Panel Industry, commented: “We have a successful industry providing high quality employment and with ambitions to invest and expand, particularly in response to increased demand for housing. Increased use of wood in construction is also consistent with the Government’s environmental agenda. All we are asking is for recognition from Government that wood is a finite resource and there is a conflict between burning it as fuel with taxpayer subsidy and using it for the purposes intended when trees were planted. Security of wood supply is now a major concern in determining our members’ investment plans.”
More at www.wpif.org.uk
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