Edinburgh-based scientists have been awarded £150,000 to look at ways of helping the UK construction industry to use more home-grown timber.

The UK is a major importer of timber, with the vast majority of the timber used for building coming from sustainably managed forests overseas.

However, the UK’s own forests remain relatively under-utilised as a potential source of renewable building materials – even though they produce wood suitable for the construction of houses, sports centres, supermarkets, apartment blocks and bridges.

Now researchers from Edinburgh Napier University’s Centre for Timber Engineering have been awarded £50,000 from ten UK forestry and forest products companies to look at ways of better utilising the nation’s forests – a sum matched by the Forestry Commission and Scottish Enterprise.

The funding will be used to support a wide range of timber research – including work into the properties of the Sitka spruce and other species – with an overall aim of helping to create a more competitive and profitable UK forest products industry.

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The properties of wood vary depending on how trees are managed. This makes it important to find ways to encourage trees to grow wood with the properties engineers most value – as well as identifying which trees produce the best construction timber so that they are not simply used for lower value uses such as wood fuel.

Dr John Moore, Principal Research Fellow at Edinburgh Napier’s Centre for Timber Engineering said: "This is fantastic news. It is heartening that despite the current difficult market conditions these companies are prepared to invest in research which will play an important role in ensuring the future of the forestry industry.

"The forest and timber industry is vital to the economic and environmental sustainability of the UK and has a significant contribution to make towards the drive for low carbon and affordable housing.

"By the same token, our forests are also precious renewable resources that need to be carefully managed, and what our research will do is help to get the most benefit from them as demand for wood products and bio-energy rises."

Stuart Goodall, Chief Executive of the Confederation of Forest Industries (ConFor) added: "It's great to see this investment in research and development. It will allow us to get more from the nation’s forest resource and have wide benefit for the industries that it supports."

The industry contributors are: Adam Wilson & Sons Ltd; BSW Timber Ltd; Confederation of Forest Industries UK Ltd (ConFor); Euroforest Ltd; Howie Forest Products Ltd; James Callander & Son Ltd; James Jones and Sons Ltd; John Gordon & Son Ltd; Scottish Woodlands Ltd; UPM-Tilhill.

(GK/BMcC)