The government recommends that all building owners and occupiers undertake a COVID-19 risk assessment before moving back into their office buildings.
Engineered timber fits this approach as it can perform as a structural element as well as an architectural finish.Engineered timber is a sustainable product due to its low carbon footprint.
It’s also lightweight, strong, stable, easy to handle, suitable for prefabrication, has thermal properties, as well as great aesthetic appeal..Extract of data published by Price and Myers for the embodied carbon of superstructures in projects with 2 to 10 storeys and excluding basements.. Today, engineered timber is a suitable solution to reduce embodied carbon in buildings but this may change in the future once the construction industry moves towards new materials as an alternative to standard concrete and steel.. Constructing with timber presents its own technical challenges, but using a science-based approach to find the best solution means we can deliver not just an honest building but a resilient, high-quality asset.. End of life global warming impact.Although timber captures carbon, if left to rot naturally in an open-air landfill, it releases the stored carbon as well as methane, which has a greater global warming impact than CO2.
If incinerated, it generates energy and does not release methane but still releases the stored carbon along with other pollutants.However, if reused or upcycled, carbon remains stored offering long-lasting environmental benefits..
Some of these end-of-life difficulties with engineered timber relate to its size.
The use of screeds, which are bound to the surface of timber and structural fixings also make it difficult to dismantle and reuse.. Long span engineered timber elements also undergo non-reversible long-term deformations that can limit its feasibility to be reused as a structural element.The growing importance of physical and mental wellbeing in architecture and design.
Due to the side effects of COVID-19, physical and mental wellbeing are becoming a key priority for many building developers, designers and construction companies.. Buildings (residential and commercial) are places to live and work but increasingly also to play and move, with a strong focus on physical activity and active lifestyles.Active buildings include changing facilities and bike storage to foster sustainable and healthier modes of transport, prioritise the use of stairs, and have flexible layouts and spaces to accommodate sports activities..
Mental wellbeing can be promoted through healthy design by improving visual quality (daylight levels, views out and adoption of circadian lighting), thermal comfort (improved envelope performance and equipment efficiency, allowing natural ventilation and enabling adaptive comfort via flexible dress codes) and acoustic quality (reducing noise intrusion, and reverberation times, provision of quiet areas, etc.)..Additionally, a biophilic design with a strong connection to nature has multiple healing and psychological benefits to building occupants..