Wood is back on Britain’s building agenda after Hackney council followed Europe’s lead in introducing timber in its sustainable project policy. Source: Construction Digital
Despite forming the mainstay of the construction of homes and buildings for centuries, the past 50 years has seen timber fall somewhat out of fashion in the UK, with masonry taking precedence.
However, the checklist of qualities expected from construction materials is changing again. Initiatives such as Part L of the Building Regulations and the Code for Sustainable Homes have set minimal environmental standards for the construction industry, and a new National Planning Policy Framework, introduced in March 2012, has assumed a presumption in favour of sustainable development.
As such, the sustainable qualities of timber are placing it firmly back on the agenda. Now Hackney Council looks set to become the first local authority in the UK to adapt its planning policy to promote the use of sustainable timber in the borough.
The East London borough already has a high proportion of timber buildings, including Bridport House, the world’s largest timber-built apartment block and the UK’s tallest structure constructed with crosslaminated timber (CLT) – a strong, stable material built-up using layers of wood orientated in different directions.
Hackney’s progressive attitude is an acknowledgment that timber construction is changing the face of sustainable development.
Putting wood first Wood for Good is working closely with Hackney and we are campaigning for all UK local authorities to a similar approach. Our Wood First campaign does not seek to exclude other construction materials or provide a stipulation that a certain percentage of a structure should be timber based; rather, it aims to promote the environmental, aesthetic and technical benefits of wood in order to elevate the status of timber as a first choice construction material.
It’s not a new idea; there are many precedents in place internationally. France, Slovenia and New Zealand have all brought in national wood first rules, while other areas, such as British Columbia in Canada, have done so at a regional level.
In all cases the motivation has been to support carbon reduction obligations through an acknowledgment that construction, and the built environment, are a major source of carbon emissions.
More than 83 per cent of timber used in the UK is from certified sustainable forests, which means that the effectiveness of the CO2 absorption and oxygen emission process is maximised.
Moreover, the environmental performance benefits of timber don’t end when a tree is felled. Once in place in a building, wood insulates 15 times better than concrete, 400 times better than steel and 1770 times better than aluminum.
For built-up areas with substantial underground infrastructures it means a safe structural performance can be achieved at greater heights without damaging the networks beneath or needing such deep foundations.
The message is getting out – timber frame systems are the fastest growing construction method in the UK today – but more needs to be done to show contractors, developers, architects and planners what can be achieved with nature’s oldest and most sustainable building material.
