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Timber - the traditional construction material

Timber is then, not only one of our oldest building
materials, it’s a material that is enjoying something of a
resurgence in interest, but even to many architects it is
a material that is still poorly understood when employed
to form the structural elements of a building?

Taking a step back, forestry development is seen
increasingly by many governments as playing a crucial
role in their CO 2 emissions reduction programmes. This
on the simple expedient that trees absorb carbon from
the atmosphere.

The resurgent interest in timber stems mostly from the
development of mass timber products such as OSB
(Oriented Strand Board), CLT (Cross Laminated Timber), Figure 3 - Norway Spruce forest
Glulam (Glued, laminated timber) as well as older
materials such as chipboard.
Despite their popularity, some mortgage lenders deem
timber frame properties to be 'non-standard' and may be
Great, so far, these materials make use of timber that
might not otherwise have an economic use in buildings. concerned about the quality and longevity of the
They feature widely in timber frame construction - a property's structure as well as the higher risk of fire
method of off-site manufacture that was designed partly damage. CLT, has been dealt something of blow
to off-set the difficulties of building on site but also in all recently due to concerns over fire safety, so what then
honesty, to boost profit margins. are the prospects for timber as a structural building
material?

Figure 4. Roberta - Log Home, Holiday Home or Office