Industry campaign, JOSB Done, has reached its ninth year of championing the uses and benefits of Oriented Strand Board (OSB) following an exemplary year of grass roots activity in 2013.
Conceived in 2005 as a trade campaign to raise awareness of OSB with builders, merchants and architects alike, JOSB Done today proudly has nine years under its belt having tried every which way to get more professionals using OSB every day as a cheaper yet strong and sustainable alternative to plywood. And the message is getting through.
From a one-stop-OSB-shop of information website to real life case studies and inspiriting the builders of the future, JOSB Done has been busy and the industry as a whole continues to embrace the benefits this versatile board has to offer countless building jobs more and more.
Beyond roofing, flooring, decking, boarding up windows, lining vans and other obvious construction tasks, OSB has in fact become fashionable as a material, used as a decorative surface or backdrop throughout shop and restaurant design. Its use at consumer and trade exhibitions nationwide has also been rising year on year and it seems as visibility increases, so do the applications.
“That’s the thing about OSB,” agrees Alastair Kerr, Director General of the Wood Panel Industry Federation and spokesperson for JOSB Done. “It can be used for most building tasks you can think of and its natural appearance – backed up by very favourable undisputed green credentials – make it particularly appealing for retail and leisure builds where being natural or green is a badge of honour, and OSB is shorthand for this.”
This year, JOSB Done is building upon the success of the Points on the Board Tour of builders’ merchants in 2013 and the past two years of the Apprentice of the Year competition by broadening the conversation to engage architects and designers through case studies development and an exciting partnership programme soon to be revealed.
“We have always talked to the design community but this year, whilst not forgetting the jobbing builder who needs a reliable, strong, resilient wood panel, we want to make sure our message really gets through to architects and designers so they realise its aesthetic and structural potential.”