This guidance is primarily aimed at public procurers involved in a range of contracting agreements related to building materials and products. This includes the purchase of building materials for construction works, but may also extend to material extraction, manufacturing, building, retrofit, refurbishment, design, interior fit out, and end-of-life demolition or deconstruction processes. 

WoodWorks offer two calculators that can quantify the benefits of building with wood, which sequesters carbon, instead of materials with high embodied carbon such as steel and concrete.

• Carbon Estimator - to be used if you don't have full information on the volume of wood used in the building
• Carbon Calculator - for more accurate calculations where the wood products used and specific building type and size can be entered.

Cross laminated timber (CLT) has become a well-known engineered timber product of global interest. The orthogonal, laminar structure allows its application as a full-size wall and floor element as well as a linear timber member, able to bear loads in- and out-of-plane.

This article provides a state-of-the-art report on some selected topics related to CLT, in particular production and technology, characteristic material properties, design and connections.

Authors:

The PA Hemp Home is Pennsylvania’s first total renovation of a residential structure using hemp-based building materials, utilizing breathable spray-applied Hemplime in its walls and HempWood on its floors.  The project, supported by the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture was an honoree of the 2021 Fast Co.

From the Healthy Materials Lab, five case studies profiling affordable housing projects utilising healthier materials.

The Inventory of Carbon and Energy (also know as the ICE database) is an embodied carbon database for building materials which is available for free on this page. It contains data for over 200 materials, broken down into over 30 main material categories. The first version was released in 2005 and it has been updated at periodic intervals. 

The Construction Material Pyramid from CINARK at the Royal Danish Academy makes it possible to compare, for example, CO2 footprints between different categories of materials or between material types within the same category. It also makes it possible to view different kinds of environmental impacts across the different materials. It thus offers a tangible, interactive calculation tool and at the same time opens up a dialogue about more detailed studies of the materials’ position in the pyramid and later their place in the project design.

With the built environment responsible for almost 40% of energy-related carbon emissions globally, we must find new ways to design and construct our cities.  

Reuse of materials is a key principle within a circular economy, ensuring material value is maintained for as long as possible. Use of reclaimed materials in construction has the potential to reduce the embodied carbon of construction, minimising the need for virgin material extraction and production as well as reducing volumes of waste generated and other negative externalities.

For seventy-five years, Architectural Graphic Standards has been the go-to reference for architects, builders, and engineers. Revised for the first time since 2000, Architectural Graphic Standards Student Edition is an entirely new, definitive reference work for everyone involved with lands.

This paper describes how, when substituted for concrete and steel, mass timber is a carbon-absorbing, energy-efficient, lower-cost, durable and mendable building material that can help deliver affordable urban housing and rural livelihood opportunities. It is suitable for Africa, where trees grow faster than in temperate climates. Africa can mitigate climate change and achieve other developmental benefits using mass timber in its construction sector. Governments and other development actors can support the transition.