Conference COST E53, 29-30 October 2008, Delft, The Netherlands 75 Architects’ perceptions of structural timber in urban construction K. Bysheim, A.Q. Nyrud NTI Treteknisk, Po. Box 113, Blindern, NO-0314 Oslo, Norway kristian.bysheim@treteknisk.no ABSTRACT Norwegian architects’ perceptions regarding the use of timber as a structural material in urban construction is investigated. Increased use of timber for urban construction represents a substantial market opportunity for the wood industry. A theoretical model based on Ajzen’s Theory of Planned Behavior was developed to explain architects’ intentions to use timber as a structural material in urban construction. A questionnaire was used to measure attitudes towards the physical, mechanical and fire related properties of sawn wood. The model was tested empirically and the results indicated that experience with use of wood as a structural material, perceived behavioural control over the use of wood and attitudes towards the use of wood in multi storey buildings were important factors in the architects` specification process. INTRODUCTION Greater participation of consumers in any decisions made in the professional service context has been increasingly encouraged by consumer groups. Information that provides insight into the professional decision making would then be expected to be of interest to the end users (White & Johnson, 2001). Previous research also provides some evidence that the use of appearance of wood products in indoor settings have a positive impact on people’s emotional states and psychological health (cf. Rice et al. 2006; Tsunetsugu et al. 2007 ). The selection of building materials is generally referred to by the building industry as ‘specification’, and is carried out by ‘specifiers’ (Emmitt, 2002). To fix the time and place for the specification and identify all involved decision makers and their reasons for choosing a particular construction material can be difficult (Mackinder, 1980). Furthermore, the task of understanding the material selection process is complex, as the material selection process may be influenced by multiple parties, e.g. architects, engineers, contractors and end-users. In many instances there has been observed poor communication and misunderstandings on the part of manufacturers to understand the nature of the specification process and there is a need for them to have a better understanding of the behaviour and motivation of the specifiers (Emmitt, et al., 2008). To achieve a thorough understanding of the specification process we need a better knowledge of the individuals who influence the selection of construction materials. This study aims at investigating one group of the specifiers involved in the building process: the architects. Architects have traditionally been the major specifiers, but with the introduction of new methods of procurement and growth of other specialists, the specification now includes a wide variety of building professionals (Emmitt, 2002).