Dr Ivor Davies

i.davies@napier.ac.uk

Ivor is a wood scientist and technologist with over 30 years’ experience in the timber products sector. He joined Edinburgh Napier University in 2003, leaving in 2020 to take up a part time position as a senior lecturer in the Graduate School for the Environment at the Centre for Alternative Technology in mid Wales. He teaches on CAT’s Sustainability and Adaptation suite of programmes, particularly the MSc on Green Building. Although he has moved to CAT, Ivor retains strong links with the Centre for Wood Science and Technology where he is now a research associate.

Alongside his academic work, Ivor is a technical consultant for the Timber Decking and Cladding Association and he acts as an expert witness on construction disputes involving timber.

Ivor has set up and run projects focussing on the performance of timber facades, grading timber for durability, sustainable construction and product innovation. These have ranged from large trans-national collaborations through to product development and testing for individual companies. Prior to joining Edinburgh Napier, he worked at an environmental charity developing the use of indigenous timber in the Scottish Highlands.

Ivor is a Member of the Institute of Materials Minerals and Mining and a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy.

Interests

Sustainable design principles and materials.

Technical design and practical use of building materials, especially timber.

Design and performance of timber façades and other building enclosures.

Regulatory and legal requirements for sustainable building materials.

Service life issues including durability, weathering, material reuse, and carbon storage.

Selected Publications

Davies, I. (2016) Sustainable construction timber – Sourcing and specifying local timber. (2^nd Edition) Edinburgh, Forestry Commission.

Davies, I. (2015) Developing performance-based standards for external timber cladding. Energy Procedia, 78, 183-188.

BSI (2014) BS 8605-1:2014 External timber cladding – Part 1: Method of specifying. London, British Standards Institution. [Ivor was technical author and chaired the BSI drafting panel].

Jones, D., Davies, I., Sharphouse, P. & Suttie, E. (2013) Grading UK grown larch for durability. Proc. IRG-WP annual meeting 2013. Stockholm, International Research Group on Wood Protection. pp 10808-10811.

Davies, I., Fairfield, C., Stupart, A. & Wilson, P. (2012) Moisture conditions in timber cladding: field trial data for Sitka spruce. Proc. ICE – Construction materials, 165, 263-278.

Davies, I., Fairfield, C., Stupart, A. & Wood, J. (2012) External timber cladding: design and performance. The structural engineer: J. Inst. Strut. Eng. 90, 46-53.

MacDonald, E., Cooper, G., Davies, I. & Freke, B. (2011) Scots pine timber: current utilisation and future market prospects in Scotland. Scottish forestry. 62, 12-21.

Davies, I. & Wood J. (2010) Exterior timber cladding: design, installation and performance. Edinburgh, ARCA Media.

Davies, I. (2010) Sustainable construction timber – Sourcing and specifying local timber. Edinburgh, ARCA Media.

Crawford, D., Hairstans, R. & Davies, I. (2010) Structural performance of external timber cladding. Proc. 11th World Conf. on Timber Engineering (WCTE 2010), Trento, Italy. pp. 2354-2358.

Davies, I. (2008) Evidence-based design of timber facades. Proc. 10th World Conf. on Timber Engineering (WCTE 2008). Miyazaki, Japan. Redhook, NY, Curran Associates. pp 7-13.

Davies, I., Stupart, A. & Choo, B. (2004) Timber cladding on the coastal fringe of North-west Europe. Proc. 8th World Conf. on Timber Engineering. (WCTE 2004). Finnish Assoc. of Civil Eng., Helsinki. Vol. 2, pp 589-594.

Davies I (2004) Wood as a design material. Proc. Timber and the Built Environment Conf., Edinburgh, October 2002. Edinburgh, Historic Scotland. pp 71-74.

Davies, I. & Watt G. (2003) Making the grade – a guide to appearance grading UK hardwoods. Edinburgh, ARCA Publications.

Davies, I., Walker, B., & Pendlebury, J. (2002). Timber Cladding in Scotland. ARCA Publications.

For a full list of journal papers, conference presentations and monographs, please visit Edinburgh Napier University’s Research Repository.