-
Educational
-
Article
Last month, London architecture firm Waugh Thistleton said sustainable timber could help London address its housing shortage whilst fighting an ever-growing climate change problem.
“If you look at a building’s climate footprint over 14 years, it is about 80% the building materials that go into it,” Andrew Waugh, a founding partner at Waugh Thistleton, told CNNMoney. “We need to change the way we live for climate change.”
It now seems that architects are turning to one of the oldest building materials in the world to combat this growing problem. Timber has been used for millenniums in the name of housebuilding, but in recent centuries it’s been eclipsed by brick, steel and modified materials.
With 45% of carbon emissions in the UK coming from buildings however, timber is now being looked at as a dominant construction material once more, particularly with high rises.
With the ability to create a carbon neutral atmosphere – taking in all the negative aspects of the air, and creating clean, healthy air – as well as being renewable and recyclable, timber is the more environmentally friendly option for new builds and high rises.
Waugh Thistleton has recently built a 10-story, 17,000-square foot structure entirely of timber in east London. It’s being called the world’s largest construction made out of cross laminated timber (CLT).
In the same breath, Engadget, a news site that focuses on innovative technologies and inventions, posted an article claiming “Timberscrapers could soon dominate urban skylines”, taking a look at how CLT is set to revolutionise the construction industry.
At International Timber, we supply a huge range of softwood, hardwood and modified timbers that can aide with any construction project – we’ve supplied timber for projects ranging from national supermarket chains to ski centres. Take a look at our case studies here.
If you’d like to read the full report on CNNMoney, you’ll find it right here.
It’s looking like the future of construction has well and truly arrived, and that future is timber.
And that’s it!
If you’re a part of a large scale construction project, or just taking part in some woodworking projects in your own time, get in touch and browse our range of timber today.
Oh, and don’t forget to follow us on Twitter to keep up to date on all the latest timber news!