Reinventing British Timber
British Timber Trade
With this month’s 1% Better topic focusing on ‘timber solutions’ we wanted to look at how small UK businesses are reinventing the British timber trade. Their aim is to increase the amount of locally sourced timber use in UK construction. In 2018 Forest Research recorded trade statistics on the origin of wood imports. The figures demonstrated how most wood used in the UK was imported from outside the region. Sweden, Latvia, and Finland, for example, being the major suppliers of sawn softwood in the UK whilst Estonia was the largest single source of sawn hardwood imports.
Traditionally the UK had a reasonable timber trade. Native species such as Ash, Beech, Sycamore and Poplar were popular with furniture manufacturers. However, as these fell out of fashion, so did our forestry management. With a lack of demand, landowners had little incentive to manage their forests.
Well Managed Woodland
It is common knowledge that trees are essential in the fight against climate change. Not only do they provide the air we breathe, but they also help reduce the ‘Greenhouse Effect’. CO2 captures heat from the sun so when there is too much CO2 in the atmosphere it creates a ‘blanket’ of warmth, pushing temperatures up. As trees capture such vast amounts of CO2, planting has never been more important. Therefore, now is the vital time to promote forestry management. A lack of forestry management has been proven to be detrimental to the environment. If landowners have an incentive to maintain their forests, they are more inclined to plant trees and tend to those already growing. Aside from the obvious CO2 reduction, a well-managed forest allows ecosystems to thrive, promotes longevity of the plant life and helps reduce local flooding.
‘Brimstone’ British Timber
With wood classed as a renewable resource i.e., a ‘resource that is grown, naturally replenished or cleansed on a human time scale’* now is the perfect time to encourage locally grown wood within the construction industry. Using local timber reduces road miles and therefore pollution and CO2 emissions. Vastern Timber, a family-owned business in Wootton Basset, Wiltshire, solved our timber dilemma by introducing ‘Brimstone’ to the market. Brimstone takes native species, such as Ash and Sycamore, and transforms them into beautiful timber that is stable and perfect for outdoor use. By using timber that is sourced no more than 100 miles from their sawmill, local landowners are being paid for their wood and it encourages them to plant more and maintain existing woodland.
In Vaster Timber’s Wiltshire timber yard, they have built the UK’s first thermal modification plant. Thermal modification changes the cell structure of the wood through a heating process. The process does not use chemicals and is completely toxin-free. By heating the wood to 200 degrees the cell structure of the wood changes so it no longer absorbs water. The finished result is a beautiful consistently dark grain. The Vastern team tries to use only renewable energy for their modification plant.
Tree Poverty
The UK is one of the ‘poorest’ countries in Europe in terms of woodland**. There are only 47 trees per person in Great Britain, compared to some European countries that have thousands per person. We may be a small, well populated island, however, encouraging forest management as well as the local economy is a fantastic place to start. As our 1% Better Mission shows, small changes all add up. If you have a project in the pipeline, why not consider Brimstone timber for your external cladding? Find out more by checking out their website here .
*The British Standard