The use of timber as a construction material is becoming increasingly popular, it has great potential to be able to offset greenhouse gas emissions from buildings and can have auxiliary benefits in the construction process. However, as it has been demonstrated throughout this blog, it isn't always a clear cut winner; there are real threats to biodiversity, the flammability of buildings and emissions from the processing of timber which could negate most of the benefits. In some situations, timber-based construction can be highly effective, however in others, different materials should be evaluated. As demonstrated already, the concrete industry is investigating many methods of reducing the greenhouse gas emission impacts of its production.

Other production industries are also developing decarbonisation strategies: the steel producer SSAB has started construction of their new plant that will be able to produce virgin steel with the lowest carbon footprint, primarily fuelled through hydrogen. However, Mitsubishi Heavy is beating SSAB to the punch, aiming to produce net-zero carbon steel in 2021 from their new plant in Austria.

Similarly, aluminium is heavily influenced by the type of input energy, the majority of the carbon footprint of aluminium is from electricity. Some producers have caught onto this and try to source renewable electricity for this process, such as Hydro AS that (as the name implies) relies heavily on hydropower. For the remaining portion, research is ongoing into the anodes that are used in the process, and how they can be replaced with materials to reduce some of the chemical carbon emissions.

What’s more is industries that are heavily reliant on raw electricity will experience reduced emissions as national electricity grids switch to renewable energy generation. A recent study found that the cost of solar derived electricity has dropped substantially over the past 10 years, making it a far more competitive and appealing.

There are also material innovations that can offer lower carbon alternatives. Bamboo for example is a fast-growing plant that has already been used in the built environment, utilising the raw strength of the natural culm. However, research is on-going to investigate how bamboo can be engineered to improve its strength using similar techniques that have been utilised with timber.

Sharma Springs, made from bamboo culms.

Source: Archdaily

In general, biobased materials are viewed as an attractive option for building sustainably, however caution should still be exercised. Studies have found that whilst the cultivation of biobased materials can reduce greenhouse gas emissions, they can have other environmental impacts such as eutrophication, where phosphates and nitrogen are leaked into aquatic ecosystems, causing algae growth that depletes oxygen for other organisms.

There are a range of tools available to reduce the carbon footprint of our construction industry, with timber being just one of them. In order to achieve our sustainable aspirations, it’s important to utilise these effectively, make well informed decisions and ultimately design well.

The topic for this blog was chosen as it has been one that I’ve been interested in for some time. Whilst I have read about it previously, knowledge from my MSc course has really helped fill in the gaps surrounding the use and harvesting of timber, such as the issues surrounding biodiversity. Being a self-taught coder, it has also been a fun project to be able to put together a site that can communicate ideas on these topics. Hopefully you have enjoyed this set of posts as much as I enjoyed it together!