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While the rest of the country was deluged with rain the sun smiled down on the 4000 plus delegates attending the Off Site 2007 conference at the Watford based Building Research Establishment (BRE) on 11 - 14 June.

Four innovative, near zero-carbon houses, including the first home to achieve a Level 6 rating under the new Code for Sustainable Homes, were exhibited on the site. But having visited BRE prior to the start of the exhibition, I had to question just how ‘off-site’ some of the constructions really were.

All the designs were highly innovative but from what I could see the only genuinely off site construction was the Organic Swedish House by ecoTECH, an energy efficient, very green, Swedish concept with all the latest wireless monitoring and home entertainment systems. And what made this house particularly exciting for me was that the timber frame manufacturing company supplying the floor and ceiling cassettes and optional timer roof is just 2 miles from my home in Huddersfield.

Acacia Timber Construction Ltd is a fairly young company but the people at the top have a combined experience of 30 plus years in the industry and have successfully won contracts across the country developing everything from hotels to social housing schemes.

I took a number of housing association representatives along the week before to preview the Organics House and found that most of the other buildings were still under construction, despite some having begun more than two months earlier. Not exactly off site construction then!

But it’s the speed at which the Organics House is constructed that slashes the cost by one third and makes it so affordable at £99 per sq foot. And since tradesmen like joiners, plasterers and electricians are all eliminated from the site safety and efficiency are significantly improved.

After the Off Site 2007 conference I watched a time-lapse film of the Organics House being constructed. Watching the completed bathroom and kitchen pods being craned into the centre of the house with power sockets and new wiring systems that just plug in and play was a real eye opener.

Amazingly, thanks to the speed at which Acacia was able to produce and install the insulated floor and pre-plastered ceiling cassettes, the house was completed in just fourteen days from start to finish!

Having taken the tour of Acacia’s factory near the centre of Huddersfield I’ve been impressed at the advances made by such a young company which has successfully managed to position itself at the cutting edge of modern methods of construction. I inspected a model at Acacia’s factory, tested by Sheffield University and developed to demonstrate the company’s air tight, closed panel wall system. The system ensures very high levels of thermal insulation and significantly reduces energy use which is great for the customer and the environment.

I have to say, of all the modern methods of construction timber, being a natural product, is by far my favourite. And having now seen what’s possible with timber, I think the Canadians and Scandinavians have got it right. In fact, it’s a bit embarrassing that us Brits are so far behind and remain wedded to the inefficient and wasteful brick and block method of construction.

Thankfully though, pressure for more housing and MMC targets introduced when I was a member of the Housing Corporation board is forcing the industry to innovate. And who knows, timber frame companies like Acacia may one day become mainstream players in the house building industry - touch wood!