Pictured: (L-R): David Hopkins, CEO Timber Development UK; Defra Environment Minister Mary Creagh CBE MP; Andrew Carpenter, CEO Structural Timber Association; and Andy Leitch, Deputy Chief Executive of Confor, at the Timber in Construction Summit.
Ambitious new plans to increase the use of timber in construction were announced by Environment Minister, Mary Creagh, at the Timber in Construction Summit in London.
The new Timber in Construction (TiC) Roadmap is being introduced to help get Britain building using timber – creating economic growth, rural jobs and helping meet housebuilding targets in a sustainable way.
The TiC Roadmap was first published at the end of 2023. This new and improved version goes even further, highlighting the Government’s ambition to boost the domestic timber industry and kickstart the construction sector without compromising on quality, safety or carbon emissions. It also demonstrates how the use of timber in construction fits with the government’s own growth agenda, by encouraging the use of sustainable, low-carbon building materials and ensuring carbon emissions are considered during the design, construction and use of buildings.
Using timber in construction is one of the best ways to reduce emissions from buildings. Around 25% of the UK’s greenhouse gas emissions come from the built environment, and larger buildings can store up to 400% more carbon when built out of engineered timber products compared to building with concrete. However, 80% of the timber the UK currently uses is imported.
Key updates to the Roadmap place greater acknowledgement on the importance of reuse and species diversification, as well as revealing powerful actions to create a low-waste circular construction sector and drive further investment into domestic timber and wood-processing supply chains. These include:
- Demand | Government will explore the use of Government Buying Standards to encourage the adoption of sustainable, low carbon building materials.
- Safety | Government will work with industry, academia and the Building Safety Regulator to research outstanding safety, durability, and competency questions towards closing the evidence and competence gaps of engineered mass timber over the next five years.
“This Government is getting Britain building," says Environment Minister, Mary Creagh CBE MP. "Our Plan for Change will build 1.5 million homes this Parliament. Timber will play a vital role benefiting development and nature.”
“The Government’s commitment to the Timber in Construction Roadmap is a real boost to the low-carbon construction sector," adds David Hopkins, Chief Executive Officer of Timber Development UK. "We have a great opportunity to increase our housing stock while growing our forests and reducing our emissions output.
“As a bio-based industrial supply chain, the timber sector can play a unique role in the low-carbon economy – sequestering emissions in the forest and storing them in our buildings. With a rough value of £10 billion to the UK, this growth in timber construction can also play a vital role in the Government’s wider growth agenda.”
