By the dtic
There has been so much progress in terms of work in the area of timber construction. As we all know, there are three strategic pillars that stakeholders are working on. These strategic pillars are Demand Creation, Capacity Building and Raw Material Security & Industrialisation. We would like to take this opportunity to thank all the stakeholders for the good work they have put in, despite having to navigate and finding their feet while dealing with Covid-19 and its challenges.
The Demand Creation Working Group has advanced in getting most of the work accomplished. The Capacity Working Group kicked off 2021 with much enthusiasm and anticipation. The Working Group (WG) is made up of stakeholders from government, industry, academia and institutions such as CSIR, GBCSA, SABS, NHBRC and NRCS. The WG has put together an implementation guideline that places more focus into areas that need attention. The document singles out the challenge, the root causes, objectives, activities, responsible institutions and finally the timelines. The following are focus areas for capacity building:
- Development of a comprehensive set of online training courses on wood as a construction material aimed primarily at architects but also engineers, and other built environment professionals. CPD accreditation required.
- Recruitment and funding an experienced timber engineer (preferably an academic) to develop and present an online post-graduate course in Timber Structural Design with the aim of presenting the course as a credit-bearing MSc module at all Engineering Faculties in South Africa.
- Open Innovation competition to design and spec a wood-based house.
- Develop a skills training plan and implement the plan.
