Forest and Wood Products Australia (FWPA) WoodSolutions program has reached the milestone of ten years providing high-quality, easy-to-understand information about the benefits of timber to the development, design and build sectors.

Initially designed to support FWPA’s mission of increasing demand for and acceptance of timber in construction, the program has proven successful in demystifying timber and educating those involved in building-material specification about how it can be most effectively used.

The information provided supports the construction sector when making important decisions around appearance, strength, workability, durability and fire-resistance.

“The design and build industry has always had thirst for knowledge. Designing and building with timber is our future, not only for the forest and wood products industry, but also for the planet,” WoodSolutions national program manager Eileen Newbury says.

“We will continue to devise and collate resources that inform, inspire and add value to all practitioners in the design and build industry.”

WoodSolutions has helped educate tens of thousands of design and building professionals on the best use of timber.

Among its ever-expanding list of resources, the website includes over 50 technical design guides, which enable engineering and design professionals to easily build their knowledge of timber-related requirements in construction and design.

In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, WoodSolutions customised its series of face-to-face industry seminars for delivery in a webinar format, with more than 5,500 people attending the eight events held so far.

In addition to all these resources, the launch of WoodSolutions Campus, a collaboration between FWPA and the University of Tasmania’s Centre for Sustainable Architecture with Wood is a demonstration to FWPA’s commitment to provide available-on-demand timber education and skills development opportunities to those who design and build with timber, study related courses or work in Australia’s timber and wood products supply chain.

Eileen says the organisation is incredibly grateful for the ongoing support of industry bodies and technical associations during this past decade.

“This support has helped ensure our WoodSolutions program goes from strength to strength. We will continue investing time and energy to create and provide freely available, relevant and accurate resources and source the best speakers, nationally and internationally,” she says.

“It is our mandate to support the design and build sector professionals to realise the full potential of working and building with wood.”