Things made out of wood are lovely, and there are many reasons why building with this material is a great idea. Timber is an ecological, sustainable, and truly renewable building material, and its sustainability is unsurpassed by any other material. Wood is grown quicker than it is used by most of the leading timber-supplying countries, which have existing, long-standing policies to re-grow more timber than is cut down.
Homes made from timber are more energy efficient. Wood helps to minimise energy consumption in several ways, and most crucially, it takes less energy to extract, process, manufacture, transport, construct and maintain timber.
Wood also has better insulating properties – 400 times better than steel and 15 times better than concrete- showing that nature knows best! Wood’s cellular structure contains air pockets, which limit its ability to conduct heat, so it helps minimise the energy needed for heating and cooling, making for very energy-efficient homes.
Traditionally, a warm and long-lasting house is associated with a brick house. However, thanks to modern building materials and innovative technologies, timber houses can now be considered the equivalent substitute for a brick house. For Timber Frame Construction, visit https://merlintimberframe.co.uk/
Timber houses also significantly reduce CO2 in several ways. As already mentioned, excellent timber can achieve very high energy efficiency rates, with fantastic insulation and heat retention properties. It is a material with a positive CO2 balance that needs less initial energy during building. It uses solar energy to grow and stores massive amounts of carbon dioxide while photosynthesis occurs. One cubic metre of timber can lock away about one ton of harmful greenhouse gases; a further ton is saved when using wood in favour of other building materials.
