The group of experts in construction and engineering want to explore ways to boost the use of English hardwood forest products in building.
They claim the move could improve the carbon footprint of the UK’s buildings and support diverse woodland ecosystems.
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Partners also include dRMM Architects, Ecosystems Technologies, Edinburgh Napier University and Built Environment – Smarter Transformation (BE-ST).
Suitability tests
Researchers will examine English timber’s suitability for sawn, engineered, and mass timber products, including cross-laminated timber (CLT) and glue-laminated timber (glulam). They will choose the products according to future availability and timber potential based on existing data. They will include 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 is limited.
Focusing on the use of timber in modern methods of construction, partners will collate data on the potential strength grading of each species. They will also assess the use of homegrown co-products such as wood fibre insulation. The three-year project could help to reduce the UK’s reliance on imported construction materials, as well as providing low-carbon alternatives to concrete and steel.
The research follows the the Innovate UK-funded Transforming Timber initiative which set out to prove the business case for using Scottish wood to create the structural elements of buildings. A demonstrator unit created using homegrown cross-laminated timber (CLT), nail-laminated timber (NLT) and glue-laminated timber (GLT) was found to have an estimated carbon sink of -142kg per sq m, compared to +612 kg per sq m for an equivalent brick and block construction.
Reduced reliance on imported products
Kat Scott, sustainability and regenerative design manager at dRMM, said: “By manufacturing viable and scalable homegrown timber alternatives to carbon-intensive materials, we are aiming to reduce the UK’s reliance on imported products. Widening the range of species that provide a domestic wood supply could also provide a boost for localised manufacturing facilities and supply chains.”
Sam Hart, head of modern methods of construction at BE-ST, said: “As the UK faces a climate emergency, demand is growing rapidly for more sustainable construction approaches such as timber-based offsite design. By building a robust evidence base, we can inform future approaches to forestry and woodland management across England that includes the species best suited for use in the structure of buildings.
“At the same time, the trees will sequester significant amounts of carbon, helping to reduce the environmental impact of the built environment in the years to come.”
Professor Robert Hairstans, director of the Centre for Advance Timber Technologies at NMITE, added: “This research represents a strategic convergence of England's forestry, manufacturing, and construction industries to drive the increased adoption of homegrown, renewable timber in construction.
“By so doing we can inform future forest strategies to ensure resilience against pests, diseases and climate change and be less reliant on imported resources and the current monoculture of commercial species.”
