Leveraging the Economic and Environmental Benefits of Timber as Construction Material

Timber houses have many benefits, including a healthier working environment and a good economic return.

FREMONT, CA: Biobased buildings can effectively combat climate change, driving investment into forests and creating a carbon sink in the built environment when sourced from climate-smart forests. Biobased buildings are highly durable, fireproof, and easy to construct and maintain when made from sustainable timber. Biobased buildings store much carbon and are easy to construct and run.

The following reasons make sustainable timber one of Earth's most important building materials:

Leveraging carbon capacity: Carbon is absorbed by trees from the atmosphere, and much of that carbon remains within their woody biomass even if they are cut down and processed into wood and used for building frames, doors, and kitchens. As long as that wood is recycled into another long-life product - such as transforming a timber facade into bio-insulation - that carbon remains stored in its evolved structure. The carbon storage capacity of an equivalent timber building can match that of traditional concrete and steel buildings which emit about 2,000 metric tons of CO2 annually. A timber construction project can reduce carbon emissions by substituting carbon-intensive materials for carbon-intensive materials. It can also create a demand for wood from sustainable well-managed forests, which will pay for management that reduces forest fires and provides wildlife habitat.