Accord strengthens industry representation

The signing of an Accord by the leading timber industry organizations (ttjonline July 10) marks a very significant step in the augmentation of timber industry supply chain representation.

This is something of a cause célèbre for me. From a lifetime spent in trade association management I know that despite the excellent work we do, the timber industry can get better value from its representational bodies by continuing to strengthen cross-body co-operation. Judging by the overwhelmingly positive response to the signing of the Accord it is a view shared across the supply chain.

Getting to this point, which started over five years ago at the Norton House Wood Industry Summit, has required patience, diplomacy and trust from all parties, but in one sense the hard work starts now.

The industry has a fabulous opportunity to co-ordinate its activity around an emerging but consistent argument. It was embodied in the Timber Industry Manifesto launched last year and
has led directly to the Wood for Good's "Wood First" campaign. I can see this gaining positive traction, not least through the TTF's Engineered Timber Products Forum (TTJ July 7/14) where companies have begun to identify barriers to greater wood use. We are about to embark on
major focus group work with architects, engineers, QSs, clients and contractors to address some of those barriers.

At the same time, through the Accord, we are looking to fill one of the holes we know exists: the absence of current data about wood and wood products. We have to get more and better data to enable product manufacturers to produce life cycle assessments (LCA). In particular we
need more data on carbon. This will feed into BIM software - to be used in all government construction and some contractors will demand Environmental Product Declarations by 2015.

This is a challenging and important agenda (and not exhaustive - look at the opportunity provided by the Forestry Panel Report on the English forest estate). The industry's representative bodies are up for it - now we need the industry's support.

The Accord group has already planned a major event at Timber Expo.

? TTJ Industry Updates are a forum for trade bodies to address key issues.