The UK government is pushing for more use of timber in construction as it works towards reducing the level of embodied carbon in the built environment, and to move towards more sustainable resources. The Financial Times (FT) reports that timber frame companies could soon see a further increase in demand due to a limited brick supply and labour shortage
Despite recent measures, such as the introduction of the Timber in Construction Roadmap, and the urgent need to lower carbon emissions, England uses much less timber, particularly for housebuilding, than many other countries and parts of the world including North America, Scotland, and Scandinavia.
Homes in England are traditionally built with blocks and bricks, which is a very time and labour intensive process. The production of masonry construction materials is also very energy intensive, and therefore has a higher carbon footprint, which contributes to the devastating effects of climate change.
The FT reports that some of England’s biggest housebuilders, including Barratt Redrow, are now planning to build more homes with timber frames. The government had set a target to build 1.5 million new homes by 2029, and there are also tougher environmental and insulation standards that need to be met.
These amitious targets will require a new approach, according to leaders in the housebuilding sector. Dean Finch, chief executive of FTSE 100 housebuilder Persimmon, said the “step-change in housebuilding that the government wants” was unlikely to happen without “innovations like timber frame combined with bricklike facades”.
Brick and labour shortages will drive the move towards timber
Furthermore, there is on ongoing shortage of labour in the construction sector, with experts predicting that at least 240,000 new workers will be required, including 20,000 bricklayers, if the housebuilding targets are to be met.
The problems are further exacerbated by a limit to the number of bricks available: an extra 500 million are needed to meet the target of building 300,000 new homes every year in England.
Joe Hudson, chief executive of Ibstock, Britain’s largest brick maker, explained: “You won’t be able to go, in this parliament, and get 500mn bricks of extra capacity, because it takes quite a long time to build a brick factory.”
Therefore, the conditions are extremely favourable for a move towards much more widespread use of timber in the UK housebuilding sector. Here’s a look at some of the advantages of timber versus masonry built homes.
Faster construction times
Timber frames can be manufactured off-site, and factories can produce enough frames to build 30 or more houses in a single day. The frames can be flat packed and transported to the construction site, requiring far less transportation than traditional heavy and bulky building materials.
The FT article explains that a timber frame house typically takes between 12 to 14 weeks to finish, compared with 20 weeks for traditional masonry construction.
More energy efficient
Timber is a more energy efficient building material than masonry, because the gaps in the timber frame are easier to insulate, without the need to create thicker walls that would reduce the floor space of the property. As energy efficiency standards for new homes are tightened, timber frames are increasingly seen as the best solution.
More sustainable
Timber is a renewable material when sourced responsibly from FSC certified forests. It also has a lower carbon footprint compared to bricks or concrete, which are more energy intensive to produce, and also use up the earth’s non-renewable resources.
The future of timber frames in housebuilding
The FT article explains that although the construction industry widely expects that there will be a significant increase in the amount of timber frame homes in the future, the majority of them will still have a brick facade. This is because planners and buyers have preconceived ideas about how a house should look, and they expect to see a brickwork exterior.
However, the brick skin is likely to become thinner, and manufacturers are exploring alternatives such as composite materials that can be designed to convincingly replicate brick. It is likely that other emerging technologies will further integrate timber as the go-to core material for housebuilding.