Edinburgh Napier University

  UK-grown timber is often perceived to have “low quality”, and most of the UK’s sawn timber is used for fencing and packaging material. Much of the resource could be used as construction timber, as UK spruce and other softwoods can be strength graded readily. This public engagement project tries to assess which features affect the perception of softwood quality amongst timber users and professionals. It also hopes to inform people’s quality perceptions by demonstrating the limitations of their judgement, and inform scientific timber quality work by better understanding user expectations and quality indicators.