Woodknowledge Wales

Woodknowledge Wales

Inspiring innovation through collaboration

Welsh Timber

Housing’s better future

by

Social Housing Developers Community of Practice members enjoy a hosted tour to include both off-site creation of timber frame panels and on-site progress at the Gwynfaen Project

Members of Woodknowledge Wales, colleagues from Welsh Government and Hale Group at the end of the Gwynfaen tour

On 21 October 2024, members of Woodknowledge Wales’ Social Housing Developers Communities of Practice (CoP) made two linked site visits to see how timber is being used to make new homes t near Swansea. This event enabled CoP members to see both the off-site creation of timber frame panels at the SO Modular factory in Neath, and the on-site progress at Pobl Group‘s Gwynfaen Project (Penyrheol, Swansea) which has been referenced in many discussions over the last few years.

The visit proved to be an opportunity to watch the process of transforming lengths of home-grown timber into the panels that, once taken to site and assembled, make up the shell of new energy efficient homes. On a site overlooking the Loughor Estuary and with a view of the Gower peninsular work is underway on the third phase of the project which will create 144 new high performance homes.

A Social Housing Developers CoP visit photo story

Jon James, Steve Cranston and Catrin Sneade listening intently to Warren Rowlands 

Sevenoaks (SO) Modular factory in Neath

The day began at Sevenoaks (SO) Modular’s factory in Neath. We started with a presentation by Head of Production and Technical Efficiency Warren Rowlands – someone well respected by his peers for his knowledge and his willingness to share it, in what is a very competitive, commercial environment. Warren explained the approach to timber frame construction and some of the challenges in off-site manufacturing. 

Panels being framed at a workstation 

The tour of the factory walked everyone through the stages of creating the key components of the timber frame homes, including the optimised cutting of the timber, the nailing of the frames, automated insulation with wood fibre and the installation of doors and windows. 

Windows and doors are installed in the timber frame panels.

Wood fibre insulation fills each panel before it’s closed up.

Pobl Group’s Gwynfaen site in Penyrheol, Swansea

Hale’s Tom Bevan talks about the specification and achieving airtightness targets.

From the factory we headed from Neath to Gwynfaen site in Penyrheol, Swansea. From the site office, Hale Group’s Construction Director Tom Bevan and Pobl Group’s Project Manager, Peter Remedios, took everyone around the third phase of the project. Our hosts pointed out the progression of new homes from initial site delivery and assembly, through the stages of completion, highlighting some of the key features of the individual homes and the site. 

Phase 3 homes under construction. External finishes include render and timber cladding.

The homes are weather-tight within a week of the panels arriving on site and the completed homes are finished in around six months.  

The Gwynfaen Project has been designed as a high-quality, cohesive and sustainable community using rural planning principles and being led by a strong green infrastructure and placemaking approach. The notion of ‘combustion free living’ has challenged some of the more conservative and traditional ‘gatekeepers’ but as with all developments, compromises have been struck in order to make progress. 

Pobl Group’s Elfed Roberts outlines the approach to placemaking at Gwynfaen 

The site tour finished with a look into some of the culs-de-sac of completed timber clad homes and a visit to the Sales & Marketing Suite. Here we were able to see the completed layout of rooms and how the fabric of the new homes has accommodated the technology to reduce the energy needs of the occupiers. Built in technology includes air source heat pumps, solar photovoltaics, batteries and mechanical ventilation and heat recovery systems. Requirements for the project also include the use of Welsh sourced timber for the superstructure (panels) along with wood fibre for the insulation, Welsh Larch cladding and timber triple glazed windows and doors.

Appreciating the completed homes and spaces 

The Gwynfaen Project has further phases ahead and it’s likely that the precise design and manufacture of the homes will continue to be refined as a result of the off- and on-site experience of the client and contractor. We look forward to a return visit at some point. 

For Woodknowledge Wales, site visits like these provide important opportunities for members to see how the ideas and concepts discussed at CoP meetings are becoming a reality. They are important networking opportunities, a chance to be inspired, introduced to fresh thinking and where solutions to common problems can be shared.

We wish to thank both So Modular and Pobl Group for making this visit possible.

For further information about future site visits, please contact David Hedges.

For information about Woodknowledge Wales membership and/or joining the Social Housing Developers Community of Practice, or another of our CoPs, please contact Rachel Cook.

Making Wood Work for Wales

by

Wales Climate Week zoom session, 11:15-12:15, 6 December

REGISTER NOW

A thriving timber industry offers economic, environmental and social benefits to Wales. Opportunities exist all along the supply chain, from nurseries through forest management, harvesting, restocking, sawmilling, right through to the end-use of timber, for example in construction or furniture.

Join session chair, Huwel Manley, operations manager for Natural Resources Wales (NRW) as he hosts a remote panel discussion focused around how to make wood work for Wales. Panel members will include Woodknowledge Wales’ CEO, Gary Newman, Elaine Harrison, National Manager Wales at Confor: Confederation of Forest Industries (UK) and Steve Cranston, Project Lead for Welsh Government’s Delivering Net Zero.

This Wales Climate Week session will open by showcasing companies in Wales who use timber and who have chosen to put fairness at the heart of their operating models. The panel members will then discuss the actions needed to promote a healthy, growing timber industry in Wales.

  • How can the use of timber accelerate decarbonisation of the natural and built environments?
  • How can we deliver low-carbon housing in Wales through the use of Welsh grown timber? 
  • How can we encourage inclusive recruitment and retention in an industry with a huge range of jobs, skills and careers on offer?

Want to know more about the Welsh timber industry, carbon sequestration within timber products, timber training and careers?

This session will be of interest to anyone who:

  • would like to know more about the environmental, economic and social benefits offered by the Welsh timber industry.
  • are interested in reducing embodied carbon in construction, in taking a whole life-cycle approach which recognises carbon sequestration within timber products. 
  • are keen to learn about the breadth of different training, jobs and career paths across Wales and to explore inclusive approaches to employment.

Speakers

  • Elaine Harrison. National Manager for Wales. Confor (Confederation of Forest Industries).
  • Gary Newman. Chief Executive. Woodknowledge Wales.
  • Steve Cranston. Project Lead – Delivering Net Zero.
  • Huwel Manley. Head of Operations South West Wales. Natural Resources Wales.

Full speakers bios can be found at the Wales Climate Week Virtual Conference Programme

Format of the session

11:15-11:20Introduction
11:20-11:30Watch newly filmed case study videos from:
– timber contractors: Williams Homes,
– timber frame manufacturers: SO Modular, and
– award winning social enterprise: Down to Earth
11:30 – 11:55Q&A open panel discussion
12:10-12:15Sum up and close

Register now at Wales Climate Week (gov.wales) where you can also view the rest of the virtual conference agenda and other available resources.

REGISTER NOW

Circular wood use for accelerated global decarbonisation

by

New research calls for cross-sectoral coordination to maximize net zero benefits of wood recycling

Perhaps not just a pile of old pallets or biomass?

Whilst less than 1% of waste wood goes to landfill in the UK, a new study published in Nature Communications proposes further efficiencies. A team of researchers from Bangor University, the University of Galway in Ireland and Woodknowledge Wales, analysed the whole life cycle of the current timber value chain. They believe collaboration and system change is needed to achieve even longer sequestration of the carbon locked within timber already in use within the supply chain.

The full paper, Circular wood use can accelerate global decarbonisation but requires cross-sectoral coordination [1], was written by Eilidh Forster, John Healey, Gary Newman and David Styles. It was published online by Nature Communications on 25 October 2023 and is open access. The original press release can be read via Bangor University’s news page. [2]

“The UK is currently able to produce only a fraction of the wood it requires yet recovered wood ‘waste’ is an under-valued resource. Improved transparency, reporting and management of recovered wood could create a multitude of circular business opportunities.” Eilidh Forster, lead author and PhD researcher, Bangor University

Enhancing the benefits of timber towards net zero

Wood harvested from sustainably managed forests is an important source of renewable biomaterial and global demand for wood is forecast to increase by up to 170% by 2050. In 2022, UK timber imports cost £11.5 billion.

Carbon captured during tree growth is retained in wood from harvested trees. The manufacture of timber products already tends to minimise greenhouse gas emissions relative to the manufacture of materials such as concrete and steel. Additionally, timber products are excellent carbon stores throughout the full life cycle of those products.

The benefits of timber towards net zero can be enhanced further by applying the principles of the circular economy. By identifying new ways to use, then reuse timber, before reusing that wood again – perhaps in the form of chipboard or wood fibre – there is huge potential to extend the service life of wood. By doing so, that captured atmospheric carbon is stored within that wood. Additionally, reusing wood in this ‘cascading’ manner (a concept introduced and explained in detail in Forster et al’s first paper [3]) brings down the demand for fresh supplies. As a result, there are also increased net carbon sequestration gains from reduced harvesting of virgin wood and reduced transport costs for timber imports.

Biogenic carbon material flow from wood harvest going to Hierarchical or ‘cascading’ use [2, Figure 3]

A circular or cascading wood flow as shown in the reproduced Figure above, delivers multiplied efficiencies in the journey to net zero. The report presents results that indicate a circular approach to recycling medium-density fibreboard (MDF) in the UK alone could deliver ‘75% more cumulative climate-change mitigation by 2050’ when compared with the current, ‘business-as-usual’ single-use approach. In combination with the complementary, if slower, long-term benefits of planting new forests for wood production, the cumulative effects of these two approaches alone could mitigate 258.8 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e) emissions. Which equals 61% of the total of net territorial emissions of the UK in the single year of 2021.

“Planting new production forests to meet future wood demand is a very important priority for achieving net zero, however it will take several decades for this benefit to be realised, and we can’t afford to wait that long to reduce the current rate of global warming. Therefore, we also need to act urgently to increase the efficiency with which we reuse current wood products to reduce the pressure that we are placing on global forests to meet our needs.” John Healey, study co-author and Professor of Forest Sciences, Bangor University

System change needed to maximise potential benefits of timber

The new research highlights that, while there are many potential benefits for net zero to be leveraged further, the current UK timber manufacturing system incorporates significant barriers that will first need to be overcome. The aims of the paper were to highlight these barriers and propose solutions that might enable maximum efficiency towards net zero across the timber value chain.

The researchers cite uncertainty of land-use subsidies, poor transparency of material flow through the value chain, and a lack of agreed circularity metrics among other barriers. They also note that low public awareness means the industry isn’t under social pressure and that this, in turn, has enabled conservatism towards change. To resolve these issues, the authors recommend industry collaboration towards cross-sector co-ordination, government intervention on matters such as compulsory deconstruction planning requirements for the built environment, and extended responsibility from manufacturers across the entire life cycle of their products.

“To substantially increase the efficiency of the whole system will require some significant changes in the wood using industries in UK, backed-up by better-targeted government policies, to substantially improve their co-ordination from afforestation to better wood recovery and reuse.” David Styles, study co-author and Associate Professor in Agri-sustainability, University of Galway.

Use, reuse, and reuse again before end-of-life biomass

Currently, a huge proportion of our out-of-service timber products are burnt as biomass to generate heat or electricity. The research team point out that there is opportunity to re-use or recycle these products several times prior to what should be perceived only as a final, end-of-life use as biomass.

Collect, recycle, reuse – striving for a zero-waste economy Source: Circular Economy, Kronospan

There are already several pioneering projects here in Wales that do employ circular thinking to timber reuse with great success. Particleboard manufacturers are increasing their use of recycled wood chips and innovative methods are being used to recover wood fibres from MDF board recovered from residential demolition. Recovered wood fibres can then be used as insulation, locking in the carbon for many more tens of years again within new build homes. If installed with recovery in mind, this same insulation might then be recoverable for further use in the next generation of new builds. This circular thinking can extend the use of the original harvested tree for hundreds more years.

“Moving to a circular economy is difficult but essential if we are to meet both our decarbonisation targets as well as our future resource needs. This paper shows the size of the win and makes practical suggestions for how we might get there. Woodknowledge Wales is an experiment in the kind of cross-sector coordination advocated by this research.” Gary Newman, study co-author and Chief Executive of Woodknowledge Wales.

References

1: Forster, E. J., Healey, J. R., Dymond, C. & Styles, D. , Circular wood use can accelerate global decarbonisation but requires cross-sectoral coordination. Nature Communications, 14:6766, (2023) DOI 10.1038/s41467-023-42499-6

2: Recycling used wood can make a big contribution to net zero but it needs much better coordination, Press Release, https://www.bangor.ac.uk/news/ [Accessed 26 October 2023]

3: Forster, E. J., Healey, J. R., Dymond, C. & Styles, D. Commercial afforestation can deliver effective climate change mitigation under multiple decarbonisation pathways. Nature Communications, 12:3831 (2021) DOI 10.1038/s41467-021-24084-x

Further reading

The new timber sales and marketing plan: Small processors and access to timber on Welsh Government Woodland Estate

by


NRW’s Timber Sales & Marketing Plan (2021-2026) can offer opportunities for the small timber processing community in Wales. The purpose of this paper is to interpret the Plan and its implications for small sawmillers. This will create a solid foundation for exploring the means by which small processors may be able access timber grown on the Welsh Government Woodland Estate in the future as well as highlight opportunities for future activities and interventions.
DOWNLOAD BRIEFING

Unlocking the full potential of offsite manufactured timber housing in Wales: The Challenge of timber price volatility

by


Unprecedented price volatility of timber is constraining the development of the timber frame manufacturing sector. This threatens the delivery of Welsh Government’s affordable housing, MMC and zero carbon strategies. The purpose of this paper is to highlight issues of concern and offer first ideas to develop potential solutions.
DOWNLOAD BRIEFING

The role of our own conifer forests for building a sustainable society in Wales

by

Despite wide recognition of their value, plantation forests are critically misunderstood and undervalued in Wales. Plantation forests comprise around 7% of the planet’s forest area whilst sustainably supplying over 50% of industrial roundwood. This report looks at myths and tropes around home-grown timber and considers research results from wood science and socio-economic aspects across planting, forest management, timber grading and processing.
Modern British sustainable forest management techniques were established 150 years ago and are still appropriate for efficiently growing construction grade softwoods. Exemplar stands of high grade Douglas fir in north Wales grow some of the largest conifer trees existing in Europe. Older conifer stands across Wales have great potential to produce high grade joinery softwood. Sitka spruce forests are routinely denigrated, nevertheless over 95% of Welsh spruce sawlogs can be graded to strength class from C16 to C27 because of Sitka spruce’s high strength to weight ratio. Yet, quality is regularly used as a weasel word in order to reinforce negative views about Welsh homegrown softwoods.
The FAO reported in 2013 that current trends in European forest management could result in an over-supply of wood from broadleaved species, as well as a shortfall of coniferous timber. Planted forests are exposed to socio-economic risks due to governance failures. These risks comprise a weak or inadequate forest policy framework including insecure investment conditions.
DOWNLOAD REPORT

More and Better Home-Grown Timber—The role for a consolidator

by

What might a business plan for the supply of home-grown timber to the Welsh housing sector look like, if it is to be closely integrated with the ownership and management of the timber resource in Wales?
Additional capacity in the sector has been identified in three key areas: secondary processing capacity; in undermanaged forestry and woodland; and a vast potential for greater tree planting in Wales, for a range of drivers.
This outline of a proposed business plan builds upon a previous analysis, which identified low integration between the supply and processing of Welsh timber, against the increasing demands of the construction sector.  In order to deliver a reliable supply of timber, consolidation is required at a point in the supply chain.  This could be achieved at two basic levels, either/or by stock of sawn timber collected from a number of small or medium mills, or consolidation of roundwood at a saw log level feeding predominantly one larger mill. The options for investment in both are discussed in this document. The authors seek not to decide at this stage which is better or worse, but to outline the conditions under which each would be viable.
DOWNLOAD REPORT

More and Better Home-Grown Timber—The financial case for existing landowners to plant woodland

by

From the TV presenters of Countryfile to the ever-escalating claims of political parties in the last UK elections, it seems everyone wants to plant more trees. Reasons vary from carbon capture, amenity, and biodiversity to production of usable timber, as do levels of ambition.
Amongst the most widely quoted targets, The Committee on Climate Change (CCC) say that UK needs 30K Ha of new woodland a year to 2050 as part of a suite of land use changes to meet the UKs commitment to become Zero Carbon. This afforestation is predicted to account for the largest share of the forecast £39 Bn cost, the majority of that being spent on land acquisition. This presumes that either we expand the public estate or encourage land acquisition by external investors.
Experience from solar and wind farms suggests that this will be expensive, slow, and unpopular with some existing landowners, particularly farmers. Nonetheless there is considerable pressure on farmers from Brexit and existing financial challenges particularly of upland farming are severe in Wales.
Based upon the above, our approach is to solve two problems together. Woodland creation for a range of benefits, providing the means for farm transformation, while avoiding the expense and social disruption of land acquisition.
Promising lower costs of delivered woodland and a wide range of associated benefits, the approach has much to recommend it, subject to its financial viability.
This report reviews opportunities and challenges through the lens of financial viability.
DOWNLOAD GUIDANCE

Home-Grown Homes Project—A study for improving the Timber Construction Supply Industry in Wales

by

The purpose of the Home-Grown Homes project has been to identify and test out interventions that could have a transformative impact on the Welsh timber construction supply chain and on the delivery of low carbon social housing in Wales.
Housing, timber manufacturing and forestry are distinct areas of activity. This project is an exploration of how these three overlapping areas of our economy and society can be drawn into more purposeful alignment.
The project partners have worked closely with a network of organisations across the supply chain and house builders, including 12 Welsh housing associations. Specific actions to improve the business case for tree planting and management on farmland in Wales aimed to create options for re-deployment of farmland to improve productivity and to cope with inevitable reductions to farm incomes post Brexit.
This report identifies which supply chain interventions may be most effective and how they might be applied through regulation or other means.
In addition to the project report, other important outputs have been created that capture the learning from the project activities and support ongoing market driven development of the housing, timber manufacturing and forestry sectors in Wales.
DOWNLOAD PROJECT REPORT
In addition to the project report, ▸▸ practical tools and guidance have been developed for social housing developers, architects and engineers, timber frame manufacturers and wood processors, forestry managers and land owners. A full list of project outputs can be accessed on the ▸▸ project background page.

Coast Redwood Groves in Wales – a planting solution in a changing climate?

by

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 lack of biodiversity. In recent years, this has often been used as evidence against its wider planting benefits. At the same time coast redwood is delivering landscape and societal benefits by storing carbon in the leaf litter substrate and standing timber. As Forest Research say “This is a species that could be grown more widely in Britain with climate warming, not least because it produces a high quality timber.”
Shot from ground up of coast redwood tree at Leighton GroveIn early February 2020, Woodknowledge Wales staff Dainis Dauksta and Ceri Loxton visited the Royal Forestry Society’s Redwood Grove at Leighton, near Welshpool, with Dominic Driver of Natural Resources Wales and Anna Dauksta of Tir Coed to see the coast redwood grove and discuss the potential for Sequoia sempervirens and other softwood species in Wales.
In its natural range, Sequoia sempervirens is confined to a narrow coastal belt, mainly in central and northern California. In the UK, coast redwood was introduced in the 1850s and has been planted on a small scale, often for silvicultural demonstration, landscape and amenity purposes by the Forestry Commission and private estates. The redwood grove at Leighton is impressive – tall straight stems, large diameter trunks covered in thick fibrous bark, towering canopies and dappled light throwing patterns on the deep leaf litter.
New Zealand is one of the countries starting to look at the species more closely and to encourage its planting and establishment. Should Wales follow this example?

Mitigating climate risks

Sequoia sempervirens has some natural advantages to reduce risks associated with climate change in our regions:
● Wind: Its root system can reduce the effects of severe wind. Trees join roots with neighbouring trees and form a strong underground link. The bonding with nearby trees enables them to withstand major weather events.
● Fire: It has the unique ability amongst conifers to re-sprout branches after a fire. Tough fibrous bark insulates the trunk from much of the heat of a fire. While existing branches may be burned the trunk remains alive and sprouts new branches. If a forest has been planted for carbon offsetting, this means that the forest will continue to grow and reduce the potential for future liabilities.
● Insects: In its native range in California there are lots of insects. No insect is known to cause economic damage and none is capable of killing a mature tree.
● Vegetative reproduction: It will sprout from old cut stumps and fallen logs. Because the stumps and roots remain alive and because the heartwood is naturally durable coastal redwood carries more carbon forward into the next rotation.

Adaptability and Carbon Storage Potential

The most interesting characteristics of coast redwood reside in its genetic makeup. Its genetic diversity is very high and the highest of all North American conifer species. Sequoia sempervirens is the only hexaploid conifer with a genome size three times that of its near relative, the giant sequoia. This polyploidy (having more than two paired sets of chromosomes) may explain its extreme survival capability and longevity. The species can clone itself from roots, burls and cuttings. The phenotypic plasticity (how of its leaves allow them to adapt to a wide range of light conditions.
New Zealand foresters are confident that they will be able to breed coast redwoods with more desirable traits than their Californian peers, so that the species can be optimised as industrial roundwood. Attractive compact groves could realise an extremely high carbon storage potential which would justify their new role within Welsh mosaic landscapes.

Suitability for Welsh geography

Forest Research (2016) advise that coast redwood is most suitable for mild, moist climates with more than 1250mm of rainfall, such as those found in Argyll, Wales and southwest England. Favourable locations in terms of climate and site quality will be lower slope and valley bottom sites.
Coast redwood is likely to be a high yielding species. Data from the limited trial sites in the UK indicate high productivity with general yield classes of between 24 and 30 being achieved in England and Wales.
Coast redwood is a species to consider where larch crops are being diversified due to Phytophthora ramorum infection and where site conditions are suitable.

Timber quality – suitable for construction and joinery?

A chalet built in 1966, and redeveloped in 2000 using local wood, including redwood thinnings from the site. The Charles Ackers Redwood Grove at Leighton, Nr Welshpool.

At the site in Leighton a small cabin has been built using local timbers including coast redwood cut from the site. In its native range coast redwood is reported to be used as “veneer, construction lumber, beams, posts, decking external furniture and trim (https://www.wood-database.com/redwood/). However, there is a lack of information about wood properties grown under British conditions.

“My own experience as a sawmiller is that coast redwood cuts and dries really nicely. The heartwood is reasonably durable although there’s a lower proportion compared with western red cedar or larch. The thick fibrous bark may offer potential as an insulating material.” Dainis Dauksta.

Future uses: explore and experiment!

There is more to learn about this species, and while there is a lack of information about wood properties, we also do not know precisely what our wood requirements will be in the future and what processing advancements will have been made. Given the diverse and evolving nature of the timber processing sector it is likely that there will be many future uses.
Because of its high productivity and unusual growth characteristics this species will be of increasing interest in British forestry under predicted climate change. If the carbon sequestration potential of different species is to be considered alongside other properties and multiple landscape requirements, then surely it won’t be long before we start to see increasing groves of coast redwood planted here in Wales?