Let's lead the low carbon way

The government-commissioned Low Carbon Construction (LCC) report, published late November, was an early Christmas present for timber. But it wasn’t one that could be instantly unwrapped and enjoyed. First there are detailed instructions to digest. Then it will take time, effort and, critically, teamwork to implement a strategy for getting maximum long-term benefit out of this so-called “greenprint” for a sustainable building industry.

The report’s central tenet is clear and uncompromising. The UK’s commitment to cutting greenhouse gas emissions “is now a legal obligation” and, as building, both in construction and use, remains among our chief emitters of these gases, its role will be pivotal to achieving our environmental targets. There is no choice, no half-measures. UK building has to go green. In fact, says the LCC report, “over the next 40 years, the transition to low carbon can be read as a business plan for construction” – and for construction, read the whole building supply chain, including the timber and wood products industry.

The gauntlet thrown down to construction is to “provide buildings that enable people to lead more energy-efficient lives” and at the same time, decarbonise its own business. This, of course, means individual companies coming up with their own green products and systems, but that’s only part of the solution. It also demands collaboration within and between different sectors of the building industry.

“There is over-crowding in every aspect of the landscape relating to carbon reduction,” says the report. “This includes the number of special interest groups, apparently unco-ordinated research programmes and the fundamentally different choices between competing technologies, with conflicting advice as to the effectiveness of each.”

The report doesn’t just look at new build either. It also addresses the carbon footprint of existing stock and proposes an Existing Homes Hub, along the lines of the Zero Carbon Hub, to assist development of refurbishment solutions to boost older properties’ eco performance.

The timber industry, of course, is in pole position to capitalise on UK construction’s “transition to low carbon”. First, it’s renewable, low energy and a natural insulant, the prime material for any low carbon build or refurb project. Not only that, the timber building industry is already ahead of the field in developing affordable, straightforward low environmental impact building systems. The UK’s first zero carbon houses were timber-based and, as UK Timber Frame Association director Joe Martoccia writes for the upcoming edition of our Timber & Sustainable Building magazine, the sector has also set itself up to advise the wider building sector “on extracting maximum benefit from timber frame”.

But, while it has these head starts, where the timber sector is still felt to lag behind is in working together as a coherent unit with a common aim to consolidate and develop its role in the UK’s drive to sustainable construction.

While other materials sectors have united to tackle the issue of ‘over-crowding’ in providing green solutions, ours remains fragmented and relatively unco-ordinated. It’s a topic vigorously tackled in his Industry Opinion this week by The Timber Trade Federation’s John White and indeed in the organisation’s new five-year plan. Mr White highlights brightening glimmers of hope, but the message is still that there’s more to be done, and urgently. So maybe that should be timber’s New Year resolution for 2011: to really get together to make the most of the early Christmas present it got in the LCC report.