A new manifesto from the timber industries calls for the next Government to unlock a wave of sustainable timber construction – to overcome the housing and climate crises.
The new Government must unlock sustainable timber in construction to overcome the housing and climate crises.
The timber industry in the UK contributes more than £10bn to the economy, is home to more than 51,000 businesses, and directly employs more than 300,000 people in green jobs. A few small policy changes could provide a pathway for rapid growth, according to the Timber in Construction Manifesto.
Published by the Confederation of Timber Industries (CTI), an alliance of associations from across the UK timber supply chain including Timber Development UK, the manifesto outlines the quick policy wins which could help support the rapid growth of a low-carbon built environment.
“Over the past five years, there has been some incredible work by our colleagues from all of the built environment professions to lay the groundwork for a switch to more sustainable forms of construction,” says CTI Chair, Alex Goodfellow.
“The construction industry is ahead of the regulation, with existing capacity and expertise to rapidly scale up low-carbon, high-quality, and safe use of timber in construction – as has long been recommended by the Climate Change Committee – within the right policy framework.
“With this manifesto we wanted to provide references for the next Government of the key policies – like Part Z, an amendment to the building regulations to include embodied carbon –which they could put in place in their first 100 days to get Britain building.
“The core policies we included, whether boosting sustainable construction, enabling retrofit, or scaling up housebuilding – are all independently conceived. They focus on providing a level playing field for businesses to compete to build homes, while ensuring the UK can meet its legal commitment to reduce carbon emissions.”
We will be engaging with the new Government from day one, and we strongly urge others to do the same. The Government won’t engage with sustainable construction unless it knows about it. If you’re not sure how to go about it, you can download the CTI’s easy-to-follow guidance on contacting MPs.
“While our core policy recommendations are entirely material neutral, we believe in timber frame’s ability to compete,” Alex states. “Timber is an existing solution based on established, long-proven business models and standards. It can build homes more quickly, more quietly and with much lower carbon than traditional methods of construction – which can help us decarbonise today.”
“Right across the country, you can find incredible examples of timber buildings, and the UK is home to some of the world’s leading timber architects, engineers, designers, developers, low-carbon manufacturers and academics. We are ready to get low-carbon construction moving.”
In addition to policy calls to unlock low-carbon construction in the UK, support businesses in the timber industry, and scale up tree planting, the manifesto includes examples of how timber is prepared to provide solutions to the housing and climate crises today.
These includes long standing timber frame solutions, and approaches like Optoppen, adding timber floors to existing buildings, new sustainable developments, like the Phoenix in Lewes, award winning social housing, like Goldsmith Street and the approach of the City of York, and mass timber solutions for residential mid-rise, like Dalston Works, and the New Model Building.
