BM TRADA has announced a new programme of technical timber webinars which will be delivered throughout 2023. Beginning on 23 February, a total of nine webinars will be split into three series – all of which are free-to-attend and will be hosted by a number of the UK’s leading technical timber experts.
Each series will focus on one of three main areas of discussion: timber frame, technical timber and fundamentals of timber. Benefitting from refreshed content and new topics on strength grading; modified woods, plywood and other panel products; and degrading microorganisms, the webinars are set to provide a valuable educational resource for stakeholders across the construction industry.
Ben Sharples, commercial lead for Timber Services at BM TRADA, comments: “Provided it is ethically sourced, timber is an inherently sustainable construction material that uses a fraction of the carbon in its source to end-use process when compared with other construction materials and products, not to mention its ability to sequester carbon too. With the UK construction industry tasked with reducing its carbon emissions in line with government net zero targets, timber is likely to have an increasingly prominent role to play over the coming years.”
BM TRADA is one of the UK’s leading experts on technical timber and offers a broad range of timber services and project support, including timber condition and structural surveys, expert witness services, timber identification, in-situ visual strength grading, timber frame consultancy and laboratory testing.
The first area of focus will be on timber frame, with webinars focusing on key timber frame details (23 February) and moisture management (16 March). The next series will then feature three technical timber sessions covering misconceptions when strength grading solid timber (27 April), modified woods and panel products (11 May) and understanding wood degrading insects and microorganisms (25 May).
The final series will consist of four webinars discussing timber fundamentals starting with timber origins (2 November), before covering quality (16 November), moisture (30 November) and protection (14 December).
Ben Sharples continues: “While timber is likely to further increase in prominence as a primary construction material over the coming years, it can also be found in countless architectural and heritage projects, all of which are covered by a strict code of practice. We hope that by offering such an extensive programme of educational content we will be able to support all stakeholders, irrespective of the age or condition of a project, and help add clarity to some of the most persistent technical timber misconceptions.”
