Glorious Good Wood

WOOD should be the building material of choice for any organisation that is concerned about the size of its carbon footprint.

So says Shaun McCarthy, chair of the Commission for a Sustainable London 2012, following his return from Beijing. He told Action Sustainability: "The Bird's Nest is breathtaking, but the steel framework will have produced about 90,000 tonnes of CO2 in its manufacture. "It took 45,000 tonnes of steel to construct, and when you witness that mass of metal at first-hand it becomes obvious that it is mostly there to support more steel for decorative purposes."

London expects to use one million tonnes of concrete in the construction of the Olympic venues - Mr McCarthy estimates that Beijing could easily have doubled that figure. The science of "Embodied Energy" is relatively new and has only recently begun to be considered in construction. However you generate the energy, it takes at least two tonnes of CO2 to make a tonne of steel and four tonnes to make a tonne of concrete. According to Greenpeace, the Beijing team eliminated up to 1.5 million tonnes of CO2 through energy saving projects, but this figure is likely to be dwarfed by the energy used to create the facilities and infrastructure, which could be the equivalent of the annual greenhouse gas emissions of an airline.

So what does that teach us?

Mr McCarthy said: "London will not compete on these terms, the buildings will not be as iconic and we won't have better fireworks!

"I expect London 2012 to be iconic in its sustainability. When we see the 2012 Olympic flame ignited, it will be fuelled by a form of renewable energy which is still being developed by EDF.

"This and many other innovations will show the world what London can do. We will have lighter, smarter buildings that minimize their impact on the environment in construction and in use."

In this respect, Mr McCarthy believes that wood should be the material of choice. But he's not talking about a series of sheds: these buildings will be beautiful in their own right with sweeping lines and subtle variations of colour - the kind of structures that have graced the grounds of Buckingham Palace or London's Royal Parks. The thermal insulation figures are impressive, helped by the fact that wood is a natural insulator and infinitely cheaper to use than steel or concrete for buildings of similar size. Add to that the ability to disassemble a wooden building and give it a new lease of life elsewhere -an impractical proposition for buildings made from more conventional materials.

And while steel and concrete use up precious finite resources, wood is in great abundance in Europe, sourced from managed forests, where trees are replanted as fast as they are cut down. Wood looks good in any setting, softening the harshest streetscapes, and it is the ideal choice for those organisation that already take active steps to ensure they have procured the greenest possible supply chain.

What better for a school or college than to lead by example, or for a supermarket that is concerned about traceability?

For more information about just how good wood can look and how durable it is, visit www.trada.co.uk the web-site of the Timber Research and Development Association, or www.woodforgood.com the United Kingdom's wood promotion campaign.

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