Grand designs on green market

Just when you thought it was safe for timber to go back in the choppy waters of the environmental debate, another eco-shark seems to appear on the horizon. As Lathams chairman Peter Latham said in the recent TTJ Round Table, first the NGOs pointed the finger at forestry and timber over sustainability. So certification of legality and sustainability was invented (something most other industries still haven’t bothered with). Next, said Mr Latham, the activists are likely to train their cross hairs on the industry’s social, health and welfare performance. So credentials for this may have to be developed too.

Such a prospect is likely to trigger a mass sigh of resignation across the sector. But ultimately, as the industry already has the experience of putting effective sustainability certification and chain of custody systems in place, it will have a head start over other industries. And, surely, as green issues become increasingly embedded in political decision making, they will eventually come under the same pressures as timber.

Highlighting the ability of the industry to keep developing its environmental case is its progress in life cycle analysis (LCA). Increasingly green-aware governments specifiers and consumers are taking this into account when they make procurement choices. They don’t just want to know the carbon and other environmental costs of a product or material in its production, processing and transport, but from cradle to grave. How energy efficient is it in use, how much maintenance does it need and what does that entail, how long does it last and ultimately how recyclable is it and what is the environmental impact of reusing and disposing of it?

The timber industry is now getting to grips with this issue ahead of many other sectors. It’s making its LCA arguments and convincing key decision makers and opinion formers. One such is designer, developer and general construction sector guru Kevin McCloud of Channel 4’s Grand Designs TV series fame.

Mr McCloud was one of the big-name draws at the Hay-on-Wye literary festival last week, where he discussed his new book 43 Principles of Home. This focuses on the importance of appreciating the “environmental and emotional story” of products and materials used in housing and his interview at the event was sponsored by The American Hardwood Export Council (AHEC), which is itself currently undertaking a major LCA project.

Mr McCloud said consumers should not only be encouraged to go for quality products that last, they should be made more aware of how and where they are made, what materials are used and where they come from. He also agreed with AHEC European director David Venables, that for consumers to make a fair environmental comparison between products, they need to be presented with the scientific facts as, for instance, laid out in an impartial LCA. He shared Mr Venables’s opinion too that designers, specifiers and consumers would welcome the development of Environmental Product Declarations, which would embrace everything from sustainable sourcing, through LCAs – clearly another project where timber would get the jump on alternative materials.

All in all, Mr McCloud’s views and conclusions seemed to sanction what the timber industry has done on the environmental front to date and boded well for its ability to keep moving with the eco times. The fact that he imparted them at the festival sitting on a specially designed American red oak chair next to an American hard maple coffee table, probably didn’t do the industry any harm either.