Using English Harwoods across the built environment to improve the UK’s carbon footprint and support diverse woodland ecosystems
Building from England’s Woodlands
The project – led by the New Model Institute for Technology and Engineering’s (NMITE) Centre for Advanced Timber Technology (CATT) – was funded through the Forestry Commission’s Timber in Construction Innovation Fund, which was designed to increase the use of the natural carbon sequestering material in the built environment.
For the first time, researchers examined the suitability of certain species of English homegrown trees for use in construction, looking at sawn, engineered, and mass timber products including cross-laminated timber (CLT) and glue-laminated timber (glulam).
The species were chosen according to future availability, and timber potential based on existing data, including more common species such as oak, beech and sweet chestnut, as well as birch, sycamore, ash, alder and willow, where existing research about their suitability was limited.
Timber and Modern Methods of Construction
Project partners collated data on the potential strength grading of each species while also assessing the use of homegrown co-products such as wood fibre insulation. The three-year project helped to reduce the UK’s reliance on imported construction materials, as well as providing low-carbon alternatives to concrete and steel.
Project partners
