08 Apr Learn about wood with the Time for Timber podcast
Learn about what is going on with wood with the Structural Timber Association’s Time for Timber podcast.
A ‘wealth of information’ is a commonly used expression, but accessing content can be a problem for busy construction professionals. The recently launched Structural Timber Association’s Podcast – Time for Timber – can be listened to ‘on the go’ from mobiles or other portable devices. This series of interviews with high-profile construction professionals is fast becoming essential for those who want to hear direct from pioneers in the structural timber industry.
Eight episodes have been released so far, with the first podcast featuring Tim Snelson, Associate Director for Arup – a company that offers multi-disciplinary design, with Architecture and Engineering services. This unique fusion of engineering and architecture enables Arup to develop technologically advanced design that is appropriate, economic – sensitive to both environmental and human needs. In this inaugural Podcast, Tim Snelson discusses the opportunities for timber to provide smart solutions to the current and future challenges in the construction industry.
Since then other members of the community have featured in the podcast series including Ruth Reed from the Green Planning Studio, Mary Riley from Mary Riley Custom Build Funding, Mark Farmer from Cast, and Paul Cribbens from the National House Building Council, as well as a deep dive into structural timber topics such as the STA Assure Scheme and the Structural Timber Expo.
The most recent episode has Structural Timber Association chief executive Andrew Carpenter, talking with Paul Brannen, the Director of Public Affairs for CEI-Bois & EOS. They discuss the work Paul has embarked on to combat climate change with timber, getting our climate targets on track, and the upcoming presence of the international wood community at COP26.
Paul highlights that 40-50% of the world’s emissions come from the built environment, and that long life wood products can act as a form of carbon capture and storage – allowing us to use buildings as a carbon sink. Equally he says, we can reduce the need for cement and steel which are carbon intensive materials. Together this means that timber can make a significant contribution in reducing emissions, and it is a low-hanging fruit which should be seized on by politicians to massively increase the amount of carbon stored in buildings.
