Timber in Construction: three-part series

The Green Register is delighted to announce a new three-part series on Timber in Construction.

We've held events on this subject before where the focus has been on a specific aspect of timber but this series will be looking at the journey from forest to final products and the steps in between.

Timber is one of the few building materials that can be considered carbon neutral and its versatility - from structural use through to cladding, finishes and furniture - means it is a popular choice for those looking to reduce the environmental impact of construction.

But much of our timber comes from abroad with the associated carbon emissions of transport plus there are challenges ensuring that it is sourced from sustainably managed forests. We need to change from commodity trading of timber towards adopting it as a strategic asset again.

Added to this are the cultural barriers to using timber in buildings in the UK, arguably dating back to the Great Fire of London through to the recent tragedy of Grenfell tower resulting in a reluctance to specify timber, despite all its positive qualities. 

Join us for this new series as we explore the journey of timber in construction, and look out for a fourth date in the series on the topic of innovating uses for timber, including news of the ASBP's ‘Timber Accelerator Hub’ set up with the aim of enabling more mass timber construction.

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About this Session: Cross Laminated Timber - Insulating and Achieving Airtightness - Online

Cross Laminated Timber construction has seen a vast increase in popularity in recent years and is providing a welcome shift from energy intensive traditional construction such as masonry and steel. Projects are diverse and widespread throughout the UK from multi-storey residential buildings in London to affordable housing projects on the Isle of Mull.

The UK is now in a unique position to capitalise on the success and momentum of these builds with more ground-breaking CLT projects completed and planned across various sectors including commercial, residential and educational.

The course is delivered by experienced trainers Niall Crosson and Neil Turner of Ecological Building Systems, as well as trainers Peter Moonen, National Sustainability Manager at the Canadian Wood Council; Stephen Barrett, Whole Life Carbon Project Lead Irish Green Building Council, Moritz Heinicke, Technical Assistant at Gutex and Michael Foerster, Engineer/Head of Applications Technology pro clima.

Ecological Building Systems are longstanding Green Register partners, experts in natural wood fibre insulation, incorporating intelligent airtightness and windtightness solutions as well as specialist fixing systems, focusing on how best to optimise the design and on-site delivery of truly high performance mass timber constructions.

Programme

13.50 - 14.00  Registration / joining online training session

14.00 – 14.05  Opening Address and Introduction
Niall Crosson, Group Technical Manager, Ecological Building Systems 

14.05 - 14.25  Burping, Driving, and Counting the True Carbon Impacts of our Material Choices
Stephen Barrett, Whole Life Carbon Project Lead, Irish Green Building Council

14.25 – 14.55  CLT Case Studies
Niall Crosson, Group Technical Manager, Ecological Building Systems 

14.55 – 15.10  Manufacturing Woodfibre Insulation, Past, Present & Future
Moritz Heinicke, Technical Assistance, Gutex

15.10 - 15.20  Break

15.20 – 15.50  Airtightness for CLT Structures
Neil Turner, UK Technical Sales Manager, Ecological Building Systems

15.50 – 16.10 CLT and Temporary Weather Protection
Michael Foerster, Engineer / Head of Applications Technology, pro clima

16.10 - 16.20  Break

16.20– 16.50 Building the Future for Heavy, Mass & Prefabricated Timber
Peter Moonen, National Sustainability Manager, Canadian Wood Council

16.50 – 17.00 Question and Answer session

17.00  Close

About the trainers

Niall Crosson is Group Technical Manager at Ecological Building Systems. Niall holds a degree as a Bachelor of Technology (1st class Hons.) and a Masters Eng. Sc. He is also a Certified Passivhaus Consultant. He is a member of the Board of Directors of the Irish Green Building Council and provides guidance on a number of national standard committees. He has provided guidance to many awards winning low energy projects in Ireland and the UK. He has also co-authored and authored chapters for a number of low energy building publications including The Passivhaus Handbook and The Passivhaus Designers Manual. Niall also provides regular technical contributions to a number of construction publications including The Journal of the Royal Institute of Architects of Ireland.

Michael Foerster has been lead technical engineer with pro clima for more than 10 years. He provides input to various technical and standards committees with a particular focus on air and windtightness membranes, tapes and durable sealing solutions. Michael has also published a number of building physics technical papers for pro clima. He combines practical construction applications with extensive specialist knowledge with a focus on cost-effectiveness. He is Head of Applications Technology and Quality Assurance at pro clima, and also has civil engineering and business administration qualification. Michael is also a qualified carpenter.

Stephen Barrett, IGBC. Stephen joined the IGBC in 2020 to work on Whole Life Carbon projects. He is working on Level(s), the EU initiative to promote a common language around the environmental performance of buildings, and the WGBC #BuildingLife campaign set up to drive change in public policy and private sector awareness of WLC . He has an MSc. in Sustainability & Adaptation in the Built Environment – his thesis focused on Life Cycle Analysis methodology and application and WLC assessment at the building level. His background is in data management, analysis and presentation.

Peter Moonen studied Marine Biology, Zoology and Forestry the University of British Columbia and has used that science-based foundation as a technical communications specialist to advance a better understanding of wood products and the forest sector. He has more than 30 years experience dealing with regulatory, environmental, sustainability and operational issues. He is National Sustainability Manager for the Canadian Wood Council (CWC), a technical and knowledge transfer organization, which provides free technical support to designers, contractors, building and fire officials, owners and regulators to build a strong wood culture in Canada through education, training and awareness.  
 
Peter regularly presents on achieving greater sustainability, durability and the appropriate use of wood in Asia, Europe and throughout North America to design professionals, contractors, educators, regulators and building officials. He was an organizer and session facilitator at the UN Timber Committee and reviewer specializing in wood and the green economy for the Forest Products Annual Market Review published by the UNECE, and is a member of the Low Carbon-Assets through Life Cycle Assessment (LCA^2) Initiative of the National Research Council of Canada.

Moritz Heinicke is a part of the application technology team at GUTEX. He advises architects, planners, carpenters, homeowners and specifiers on the advantages of sustainable insulation.

With a background in carpentry and building with clay, Moritz is passion about environmentally friendly and healthy building solutions for both retrofits and new builds. He enjoys experimenting with ecological construction techniques and sharing his vast experience with others.

Neil Turner is Technical Sales Manager at Ecological Building Systems. A BBA-competent U-value assessor, who has been involved in developing CEN (Comité Européen de Normalisation) European standards, Neil has extensive experience in the building products sector. Neil advises architects, contractors and timber frame specialists on the specification of sustainable insulation products and has been involved in numerous sustainable projects throughout the UK.

Recent projects that Neil has been involved with include:

• Bristol City Council affordable Passivhaus housing scheme with pro clima systems, Halstatt Construction and Gale & Snowden Architects
• York Road Montpelier Bristol, internal and external renovation with Diathonite Evolution system, Andrew Dale Architects
• Oak Meadow Primary School, Thomas Vale Construction and Cygnum pro clima
• West Dulwich Passivhaus new build pro clima systems, RDA Architects

What have delegates said about previous seminars with EBS?

"Excellent ... good mix of technical and practical demonstration."
"Excellent diagrams clearly explaining the concepts and practical examples and common problem descriptions."
"Very clear, helpful and very well done!"

Fees

Green Register members £37.50 / Non-members £52.50 / Members of partner organisations (Woodknowledge Wales, GHA, ASBP) £45

Special offers

• discounted partnership rate for members of partnership organisations, see above
• book 3 places for the price of 2 (where the same 3 delegates attend the same event/s) - use discount code: 342