ENVIRONMENTAL AWARENESS


On a mission to replace concrete with recycled timber


The importance of the construcon industry’s role in the shi towards net zero carbon is clear: the producon of building materials contributes 11% of the world’s total carbon emissions, with steel and concrete oen the biggest culprits and, in the UK, the built environment currently contributes up to 40% of the UK's carbon footprint.


is required to prompt the construction industry into seizing the green momentum and make tangible changes to reduce emissions.


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By Andrew Henderson, Execuve Director of UK Buildings, Ramboll


In recognition of the importance of accelerating sustainable developments in the industry, the Ramboll Foundation (an independent Danish enterprise foundation and majority owner of Ramboll Group, a leading engineering and environmental consultancy) this year made available a €65,000 award for research contributors within the field of circular economy in the built environment. The award was set up to honour former Ramboll CEO, Flemming Bligaard Pederson, who stepped down as Chair for the Ramboll Foundation in June 2020 and looks to recognise an outstanding early-careers researcher whose work represents an extraordinary contribution to sustainable development.


Meeting this brief with flying colours is UK architect and researcher Dr Colin M. Rose from University College London, who received the Flemming Bligaard award for his research and work to develop and promote cross- laminated secondary timber (CLST) in the building industry.


Commenting on the choice of Dr Rose as the recipient of the inaugural award, Foundation member and Senior Group Director in Sustainability at Ramboll, Neel Strøbæk, explained: “The aim of Colin’s research is to replace concrete and steel with a new mass timber product called


Read the latest at: www.bsee.co.uk


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owever, the


transition to net zero in the built


environment will not happen overnight. Large-scale change


cross-laminated secondary timber, made out of reclaimed wood in layers like scaled-up plywood. The use of CLST helps reduce CO2 emissions as the timber contains less than half the embodied carbon of concrete and, when sequestration is considered, timber has a carbon- negative impact.”


Rose stepped away from architectural practice in 2013 to begin his research at UCL, motivated by the aim of reducing the environment impact of building projects by using locally available, discarded materials rather than relying on importing new materials. “I want to provoke the industry and push ideas about what’s possible. Many of the materials that we currently think of as waste represent great opportunities. By thinking about them in new ways we can unlock environmental and economic benefits. And within the next 10 years, regulation of whole life carbon should make it far more attractive to reuse building materials, such as timber,” commented Rose. The scale of the challenge of promoting the benefits of reusing and repurposing materials from building and building materials is huge. In the sector, the use of steel and cement represent the highest sources of greenhouse gas emissions, with the CO2 footprint of cement production accounting for 8% of global CO2 emissions, and steel production making up 7%. On a global scale, more than 5 billion tonnes of building materials are discarded each year, and, in the UK alone, we waste more than 1 million tonnes of wood annually. However, as Rose points out, if we could channel just 10% of that material into CLST, it would be enough for 10,000 homes each year.


Commenting on his plans to promote his work further, Rose said: “My plan for this award is to progress my research into timber as a secondary resource, develop new links between the academic world and the construction industry, and add to the critical mass in applying circular economy thinking.” It is Rose’s firm belief that industry and governments need to work closely together to create the market for reusing building materials such as timber. However, one of the challenges for speeding up this adoption is that buildings are often demolished without reuse even being considered, since taking them down brick by brick is not seen as a good business case. One of the main reasons being that the CO2 embodied in building materials isn’t properly valued, and the CO2 spent on new materials is rarely counted. Rose’s research on secondary timber marks a valuable contribution towards the industry’s net zero transition to help bring down emissions and it is hoped that the Flemming Bligaard Award will help him on this mission.


Ultimately, with materials management estimated to represent two thirds of global CO2 emissions, most sectors need to develop in a more circular way if they are to work towards net zero goals. The buildings sector is no different. The industry is increasingly under pressure to find circular and efficient uses of building materials, and to make use of more sustainable alternative, such as timber. The incentive to push for change is there in the industry but we need to develop the methodology. To help policymakers find solutions that deliver sustainable change in the industry, this year we published a


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provoke the industry and push ideas about what’s possible. Many of the materials that we currently think of as waste represent great opportunies.


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new report – commissioned by the European Environment Agency – to analyse the relationship between the circular economy and climate change mitigation and by this develop a methodology to quantify the decarbonisation benefits of circular economy actions. Testing this approach for the building sector found that, from the combination of 8 selected circular economy actions, up to 60% of the CO2 emissions related to building materials could be avoided in the EU compared to a baseline scenario, or an absolute reduction of 130 million tonnes of CO2 by 2050.


It is clear that we need to rethink and innovate how we build from the outset. We need to collectively drive change – fast! Looking at where we can avoid the use of new materials and instead use secondary materials is one key area to explore as we transition to a circular economy.


BUILDING SERVICES & ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEER JANUARY 2021 11


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