FEATURE COVER STORY SKILLS VASTERN & EDUCATION TIMBER
Growing Local Timber Supply Chains Tom Barnes, managing director of Vastern Timber explains why choosing local alternatives to imports, and nurturing shorter supply chains will help to meet the high demand for timber.
T
he perfect storm of Covid, Brexit, and climate change
Brimstone Ash delivers the look and performance of tropical
have really focused attention on the resilience and impact
timber
of global supply chains. Anyone trying to buy timber for
Available as decking or cladding, Brimstone ash is a British-grown
their building project will have experienced shortages,
alternative to tropical hardwoods. I challenge anyone considering
long lead-times and dramatic price increases. As a
using Ipe, Yellow Balau, Garapa or any of the other tropical hardwoods,
processor of homegrown timber, we at Vastern Timber have experienced
to look at Brimstone Ash as an alternative. It delivers a similar
unprecedented demand over the last 18 months as imports have dried up.
performance, without the need to import tropical wood. Brimstone is
Vastern Timber is a family firm based in Wiltshire, and over four
a really exciting product. It’s the first thermally-modified timber to be
generations we have worked with locally sourced wood. Demand is
made from local home-grown wood. The modification process creates
higher than any of us can remember, and supplies are squeezed. Timber
very durable and stable timber suitable for external cladding, decking
supply pressures are likely to ease next year, but the long term forecast
and joinery. Developed by Vastern Timber and launched in 2016,
is that shortages could become the norm as global demand for timber
Brimstone has become a popular alternative to tropical timber and
outstrips available supply. Worryingly, it is predicted that global demand
other slow grown species such as Canadian cedar.
for timber will triple by 2050. The increase in demand for timber is partly driven by a growing
British cedar is a keenly priced alternative to Canadian cedar Cedar is a beautiful timber for exterior cladding. With Canadian
recognition of the real risks of climate change leading to a surge of interest in biomaterials, and low carbon construction. I’ve spoken to building firms
Cedar being expensive and scarce, the interest in British cedar has
and building owners who are looking at every single aspect of construction
grown. Over the last few years demand for British Cedar has grown
supply chains, to understand the impact of specifying and sourcing materials. In many cases they’re surprised at how far some of our most commonly used building materials have travelled. The carbon costs of that transportation can be substantial. It’s well known that we import 80% of the timber we use and it is now well understood that shipping materials around the world is one of the biggest sources of the green-house gases that are responsible for climate change. What’s not so widely understood is how unsustainable this situation will become in future. The good news is that the timber grown in Britain can perform as well as many of the popular imports. We just need to invest in both forestry and manufacturing to meet future demands. Right now there is locally grown timber available that is affordable and suitable for many projects. Here are Vastern Timber Sawmill
a few suggestions.
Timber Construction Magazine
Autumn 2021
18
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