The appointment of Prof. J Owen Lewis as chair of the Interdepartmental and Industry Timber in Construction Steering group has been announced today (Wednesday, October 4).
The group will examine conditions to increase the use of timber in construction, assessing regulatory and standardisation challenges, and maximising the use of homegrown timber.
Minister of State for land use and biodiversity at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM), Senator Pippa Hackett appointed the chair at the Build with Wood Conference.
Prof. Lewis has a wide range of experience in senior management roles and considerable expertise in engineering, sustainability, and architecture, she told the conference in Avondale, Co. Wicklow.
“I have every confidence that Owen will bring the dedication and leadership needed to realise the steering group’s full potential so that it can deliver on our shared objectives,” she added.
Group chair
Qualified as an architect, building services engineer, and energy technologist, Prof. Lewis has practised professionally in Ireland, England and Zambia.
Speaking after his appointment, the Emeritus Prof. of Architectural Science at University College Dublin (UCD), who will chair the group of members of industry and key government departments, said:
“From my professional and academic backgrounds, I have a thorough understanding of the challenges and opportunities relevant to the increased use of timber in construction.
“I believe we are at a time of extraordinary opportunities for timber to be efficiently used to deliver net zero with a focus on embodied energy and carbon neutrality.”
He is a former president of the philanthropic Royal Dublin Society and chair of the Irish Green Building Council, and part-time project technical director with International Development Ireland Ltd.
Prof. Lewis was also chief executive of the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) and chair of the statutory Building Regulations Advisory Body (BRAB), among other positions.
Timber in construction
The theme of this year’s Build with Wood Conference – ‘Addressing the Climate and Housing Crisis’ – is aimed at increasing the use of timber in construction.
There is a rise in the construction of timber buildings across Europe, using materials such as cross-laminated timber, Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications, Eamon Ryan said.
The opportunities and rewards of building more sustainably are significant and will make a “real difference” in reaching Ireland’s ambitious climate targets, Minister Ryan added.
Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Darragh O’Brien said that “modern methods” of construction are a key initiative of the government’s Housing for All plan.
“I believe we have an opportunity to play an important role in using our timber resource, reducing embodied carbon and combatting climate change,” Minister Hackett added.