Now more than ever, the urgency to be more sustainable has never been greater. Sir David Attenborough said, "It's surely our responsibility to do everything within our power to create a planet that provides a home not just for us, but for all life on Earth." Timber represents one of the most sustainable materials known, so how can you ensure you’re purchasing timber in the most sustainable way possible?
The answer is simple…buy locally sourced timber!
Over the years the British timber industry has been increasingly influenced by overseas timber by importing as much as 80%. This again is driven by cost and economics, and it used to be the case that it was cheaper to import Canadian Western Red Cedar than harvest and process our own UK Western Red Cedar.
*Above project image uses our Western Red Cedar cladding.
As a business we only import non-Amazonian timbers and using ThermoWood technology allows us to process and supply timbers for external and internal use that would otherwise perish in an external environment. ThermoWood Ash hardwood is a good example. This relieves the pressure on the use of tropical timbers in a more sustainable way.
However, our UK-managed woodlands and timber industry still holds superiority in many aspects. Our British-grown timber range consists of Western Red Cedar which has tones of salmon pink to dark chocolate brown. We have seen this material is commonly used by our customers on exterior cladding and in-house saunas. This is because, to make a sauna or hot tub long-lasting, the material must have high moisture resistance and be less prone to decay.
*Above project image uses our Western Red Cedar cladding.
Then there is our British-grown Larch which has a pinky undertone and contains small distinctive knots throughout the boards which creates immense amounts of character as can be seen on a customer’s project of their outbuilding.
*Above project image uses our British-grown Larch cladding.
Finally, we must talk about our Douglas Fir with straw-coloured undertones and a knotty grain texture while being an extremely heavy-duty material makes it suitable for any kind of use and used often for structural beams.
*Above images use Douglas Fir courtesy of BucklandTimber
By choosing to purchase British timber you are protecting and supporting your forests while helping the local industry and safeguarding jobs but also guaranteeing yourself shorter lead times! We are working to ensure that wood as a manufacturing and construction material is truly sustainable in every sense of the word.
Please also remember that as a renewable resource and rigorous management replanting schemes are in place, a tree growing in a woodland undergoes many different and challenging processes before you get to use it on your project, and with increasing energy costs throughout industry, we all need to support locally grown and produced products.