The Guardian yesterday had an interesting piece on building with wood instead of concrete - https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2023/jan/30/caress-lift-eco-office-block-miracle-wood-timber-black-white.
The piece notes that up to 75% of a building's total emissions over its lifespan come not from leaving the lights on, but the energy consumed in producing the material to build it - embodied carbon. Concrete has a very high footprint. Cement manufacture is estimated to make up 8% of the world's carbon emissions - and that's not counting the transport to get it on site, the requirement for steel reinforcement, and then the wastage.
A new wooden office block the Black & White building was designed by Waugh Thistleton architects who reports that people sleep better in timber homes, study better in timber schools, heal faster in timber hospitals and have less stress in timber offices. They designed the nine-storey Murray Grove housing scheme in Hackney entirely in prefabricated solid timber.
The problem now is the perception of the public (and planning authorities) since Grenfell when everyone got very worried about fire. Regulations in 2018 banned the use of combustible materials in buildings over 18 metres and the mayor of London banned it in walls of any residential development wanting eligibility for affordable housing funds.
But big slabs of wood burn slowly - in one historic fire the steel beams had melted over a charred wooden beam that remained intact and structurally sound. And the timber used here is as strong as steel but 20% of the weight and a fraction of the carbon.
Building with wood takes fewer deliveries, less noise than concrete, and it's much faster. The parts bolted into place can be unbolted and re-used. And there's no waste because each part is engineered for its exact purpose.
Given the policy, any timber building in the UK will be for commercial use. However, what seems to be driving that is corporate demand. It's not government or policy, but businesses looking to improve their environmental standing, and so attract eco investors.
