Circular Economy of Timber Buildings

The benefits of biogenic carbon storage together with a renewable supply chain mean that greater use of timber, and other plant-based materials, in construction is essential if the UK is to meet its net zero carbon targets by 2050. However, the UK has historically relied on imported products, reflecting that it has one of the lowest areas of woodland coverage (13%) in Europe, and a reputation for producing poor quality (low grade) softwood timbers. Meanwhile moves to greater timber use increases the existing reliance on imported products, diminishing the biogenic carbon benefits of timber use (transportation
impacts), and leaves the supply chain vulnerable to market price fluctuations. Greater use of locally sourced timber will increase supply chain resilience of UK timber construction, creating opportunities for investment in local manufacturing facilities, whilst supporting Government targets for afforestation. Key challenges in greater adoption of fully timber buildings is their low thermal mass, which can increase the risk of summer overheating. Therefore, a key challenge in the design of a fully timber building is the ability to engineer the building to respond dynamically to a range of climatic conditions. It is feasible that judicious orientation of timber laminations could influence dynamic thermal performance (to yield lower thermal effusivity), helping to regulate the internal environment.