Bio Notes
Professor Michael Benfield PhD
Chartered Environmentalist, Chartered Builder, Chartered Surveyor and member of the Institute of Wood Science, Professor Michael Benfield is one of the four co-founders of the International Green Party movement.
Born in Coventry, he ‘grew up on the tools’ as an apprentice carpenter & builder and was educated at Warwick (public) School, Loughborough, Coventry and Newcastle Universities. He is now visiting Professor of Civil & Construction engineering research with the University of Wales, Newport and MD of specialist timber frame engineers, Benfield ATT Group.
Widely recognised as an environmentally sustainable industry leader, he was a delegate to UNCTAD for the Commonwealth Human Ecology Council, a founder member of the Community Land Trust Association, and an advisor to the Trustees of the Walter Segal Self Build Trust. Based in Caldicot, South Wales, his firm, offers all forms of timber structure, from traditional ‘Green-Oak’, post & beam and SIP’s, to panellised platform frame, portal and freeform shell.
Professor Benfield is a former member of the national New Homes Marketing Board, and sat on the executive of the Home Builders Federation, Wales, and the Welsh Assembly Government / Forestry Commission Wales sponsored Wales Forest Business Partnership, for which he chaired Wood Knowledge Wales. This research and information dissemination body is charged with helping the Welsh timber sector achieve World Class status.
He advised the Faculty of Building Low Cost Housing Committee, researched Town & Country Planning and housing issues across Europe and the former Soviet bloc and designed containerised disaster relief emergency housing for international application.
He speaks internationally on environmental, timber, housing, construction and related issues.
As a developer he built the first timber frame houses for sale in the UK Midlands and promoted the £60k affordable house idea, subsequently taken up by the UK government, through the Birmingham Bull Ring ‘House Race’ reality TV programmes with ITV Central.
