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Timber - reducing the carbon footprint

third option. Timber is one of the few renewable For homes the, the driving factor is still insulation - type
construction materials and, by its very nature, the “off-site manufacture” into your search engine and
production of wood via photosynthesis removes CO2 you’ll see what we mean?
from the atmosphere.
Terms such as the following will abound:
Depending on the end-of-life disposal scenario for the
wood product, most of this captured carbon can also be ● Cost-effective
sequestered or result in net-zero carbon emissions if ● Modern methods of construction
burned for biomass energy (assuming a fossil fuel ● Factory environment
offset). ● Sustainable solutions
● Modular construction

Figure 6 - Finnish Forestry, selective felling, leaving specimen and seed trees for natural regeneration.

Figure 16 - Sky “Believe in Better offices in London
A recent Parliamentary Paper (2018) “Chapter 2: the
Sky’s “Believe in Better” offices and training facility in
London, is the UK’s tallest timber building, making case for off-site manufacture” cites many of these terms
extensive use of off-site manufactured prefabricated with barely a passing reference to the environment save
laminated timber beams. This delivered a faster build, for the ability to control waste, improve quality etc as a
with less disruption and allowed the projects engineers benefit of Off-Site Manufacture. In terms of embodied
and architects to deliver a building with beyond zero carbon few of these solutions passed muster.
embodied CO2 emissions.
Sadly, our politicians visit manufacturers and report
back via such publications but they are effectively high-
Architects and designers are gradually waking up to the
benefits of timber, it is now becoming a favoured jacked by the claims and avoidance measures from the
solution, befitting the stated environmental objectives companies and suppliers they visit and remain unaware
for large national and multi-national organisations. of the real areas for action.