Using sustainable timber has a number of benefits to you as a consumer and to the planet. At Champion, we take our environmental responsibilities seriously, ensuring that we can supply you with high-quality sustainable timber that meets the highest standards.
Why use sustainable timber?
Trees play an essential role in capturing carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere. The increase in CO2 in the atmosphere is the single biggest cause of global warming, which is leading to climate change.
As trees grow, they capture CO2 from the atmosphere at a rate of 1 tonne for every m3 of growth, as well as producing 0.7 tonnes of oxygen. This CO2 is locked away into the wood and continues to be stored for the lifetime of the timber products.
This makes sustainable timber products a ‘carbon sink’ – a means of taking CO2 out of the atmosphere and reducing the impact of global warming.
The benefits of using sustainable timber
Using sustainable timber can reduce the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere, but there is a range of other benefits to using responsibly-sourced timber in your projects:
- Wood is a fantastic insulator – wood has excellent thermal properties, with low thermal conductivity and high thermal mass. This means that buildings made from sustainable timber are also more efficient to heat and cooling, reducing the carbon footprint of a building over its life even further.
- The sustainable timber industry is beneficial to the UK economy – it’s estimated that the UK forestry and timber industry provides over 100,000 jobs in the UK, many of which are in rural areas. In 2012 the forestry and timber processing industry contributed £1.7 billion to the UK economy.
- It takes less energy to produce sustainable timber products than other building materials – wood building materials have low embodied energy. This means that the amount of energy used in their production and transport is lower than alternatives such as steel, concrete or brick. This reduces the overall carbon footprint of your project.
- The unique properties of wood allow you to be creative in design – sustainable timber has a range of properties that alternative materials are unable to replicate. This means that buildings and other structures that make use of sustainable timber can be designed in exciting ways that simply aren’t possible with other materials.
- Sustainable timber helps buildings to meet government regulations – the UK government is increasingly making use of legislation to reduce the environmental impact of buildings. The environmental credentials of sustainable timber can help to ensure that projects meet government requirements, future-proof planned projects against future legislation and even give projects a better chance of getting through the planning process.
Get ideas for using sustainable timber in your build
The use of sustainable timber in construction projects is taking off, and with good reason; some of the most exciting and innovative buildings make use of sustainable timber.
You can find out more about innovations in the industry: including examples of sustainable timber in use and the range of products available – as well as get inspiration for your own projects by attending industry events.
The Ecobuild conference, taking place between 8-10 March 2016 is a great place to learn more and get ideas. It’s an opportunity to learn more about sustainable timber, its benefits and how you can make use of it in your next project.