Sequoia sempervirens, also known as coast redwood, coastal redwood, Californian redwood, is a species which is increasingly mentioned when considering alternative tree species to cope with a changing climate in Wales. This may come as a surprise to some given that the deep leaf litter it produces decays slowly and deters ground flora causing a […]
RFS Forestry and Climate Change
The Royal Forestry Society (RFS) has adopted a five-point plan on climate change. RFS says that we can not wait to act on climate change until current rural land support mechanisms transition from the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) to the Environmental Land Managenment Scheme (ELMS) and its equivalents in the devolved administrations in 2025. RFS […]
Home-Grown Homes Project Updates – January 2020
The Home-Grown Homes Project is gathering speed as it enters its final year. Our Interim Report highlights progress and summarises what we’ve learned so far. From Little Acorns – Flexi Home for sustainable living The latest scheme to engage in the project is being developed and built in Wrexham by our members First Choice Housing Association […]
Making better homes from Welsh Timber
Follow-up from the BIG Debate The Home-Grown Homes Project focuses on supply chain development in the production of timber homes in Wales from forest to housing construction, its aim being better homes – better designed, specified, manufactured and built. As part of The BIG Debate at WoodBUILD 2019, difficulties around producing timber homes using wood […]
Standard window design for social housing a step closer?
Woodknowledge Wales are working on a dedicated timber windows supply chain programme to be delivered together with the industry in 2020-21. Let us know if you would like to be involved! See below for the summary of our December workshop. On a cold winter’s day, a group of 16 joinery manufacturers, housing associations and suppliers […]
Clwyd Alyn housing project surpasses RIBA 2030 Climate Challenge target
A timber based Clwyd Alyn social housing project in Llanbedr near Ruthin constructed by Williams Homes surpasses the embodied carbon target set down by RIBA in their 2030 Climate Challenge campaign. An embodied carbon analysis undertaken by Eilidh Forster of Woodknowledge Wales to a measurement methodology agreed by RIBA and RICS returned a value of […]
Reducing supply chain cost in the timber trade
Reducing supply costs in any industry is important and the forestry sector is no exception. Forestry and timber production in the UK has suffered from a lack of policy support, investment and innovation for many years. Hopefully that is starting to change as governments realise that trees and timber products are part of the solution […]
Bigger, Better Forests
Bigger, Better Forests is written by Benedict Aleenan for Policy Exchange, a UK think tank. The 90 page report covers topics such as the history of UK woodland policy, incentives, regulations, subsidies, opportunities for tree planting, stimulating demand for harvested wood products and how environmental land management services can be rewarded. Access the full report […]
How the Timber Industry Can Help Solve the Housing Crisis
A report launched in November 2019 by the All-Party Parliamentary Group for the Timber Industries (APPG), highlights the key role timber industries can play in helping the Government meet its targets for housebuilding whilst working to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2050. The report argues that using timber in construction is key to meeting […]
GHA 2019 Conference: Delivering Net Zero and Future Homes
The UK Government has recently stated its ambition that all new homes should meet a Future Homes standard, aiming to halve the energy use of all new buildings by 2030, compared to the current Building Regulations requirements, which is a significant step towards meeting a net zero target. The Good Homes Alliance (GHA) believe that […]
