16 April, 2024
Built by Nature Issues a Request for Proposals (RFP) for Fire Safety Research for UK Mass Timber Construction
APRIL 16 LONDON. To increase the use of timber and other biobased materials in construction, Built by Nature supports demand-side industry stakeholders to overcome the challenges preventing wider uptake of timber construction. One of these challenges is that of demonstrating fire safety.
We are seeking proposals for grants of €100-150K with the aim of identifying outstanding questions concerning the fire performance of mass timber in the UK, and identifying solutions to address these outstanding concerns.
In the UK, national and local policies restrict the use of timber (and other biobased materials) in certain specific circumstances due to the combustibility of the material. With confusion surrounding these policies, some stakeholders, including policymakers, state that they require further evidence to be confident about the safe use of mass timber and its related products.
The UK Government recently made a request to industry during a stakeholder meeting about stimulating timber in construction:
“Can Industry develop a comprehensive list of the outstanding research questions and evidence gaps and agree a priority for research to be undertaken, feasibility for industry to deliver this and in what timescale?”
Further to this, the recently published Timber in Construction Roadmap from departments including DEFRA and DLUHC challenges industry to finally address apparent concerns around mass timber:
“We welcome industry initiatives to improve the evidence base around the safe uses of engineered mass timber.”
The objective of this RFP, therefore, is to identify solutions to address this challenge – seeking proposals that convincingly outline an approach to:
- Develop a comprehensive list of outstanding research questions and evidence gaps related to Mass Timber;
- Propose how any data gaps can be addressed through existing or new research / testing;
- Highlight and address critical competence and knowledge shortfalls throughout the industry;
- Inform regulations, policies and statutory guidance.
Organisations, companies, research institutions, and universities located in Europe (EU, UK, Norway and Switzerland) are eligible to apply for this grant. Consortia of multiple organisations will be favoured, especially those representing multiple geographies and/or stakeholder groups. Expressions of interest (EoI) must be submitted electronically to Built by Nature by 10th May 2024 – the EoI form can be found here. Following receipt of the EoI, applicants will be asked to participate in reviews and refinements of project ideas towards a final proposal with detailed budgets and undergo a due diligence process.
The complete RFP document, including scope-of-work and submission details, can be found here.