SR Timber backs industry campaign to reduce CO2 in construction

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Sep 14, 2020/ Off Comments / in General News / by

SR Timber has welcomed the launch of ‘Wood CO2ts less’ – a new campaign by the UK timber industry to encourage the use of wood as a way to reduce CO2 emissions and fight climate change – and we give the initiative our full support.

The campaign aims to increase awareness of timber’s environmental credentials and highlight how using wood from sustainably managed forests is one of the simplest ways to help reduce carbon emissions.

The industry-wide campaign has been developed by Wood for Good for the UK timber associations and member companies. It will promote the use of all wood products as low-carbon materials and illustrate how using wood can help reduce CO2 in the atmosphere and contribute to slowing climate heating.

The initiative already has the backing of industry bodies including the Timber Trade Federation (TTF), Structural Timber Association (STA) and British Woodworking Federation (BWF).

As a leading importer of timber products and the UK’s largest importer of roofing batten, including our flagship Premium Gold, we are delighted to support any initiative that not only promotes the use of timber in construction but also campaigns to get the message out there that the use of timber from sustainable sources has a role to play in fighting climate change.

Our Trading Director Shaun Revill said that SR Timber has always been a strong advocate of the use of natural timber materials, and sustainability has always been at the core of this.

“I was delighted to see that the ‘Wood CO2ts less’ campaign is getting off the ground because anything that puts the spotlight on the benefits to the environment of using natural materials like timber can only be a good thing,” said Shaun.

“It’s also good to see that there is such strong backing from across the timber sector not just in the UK but beyond as well, as this kind of joined-up, industry-wide thinking shows the importance of the climate change issue, where sustainability is so important at every stage of the supply chain.”

Shaun added: “We have complete control of our supply chain from the forest to the roof, and, as a business, we started to emphasise the sustainable credentials of our operations and products because of the importance of using batten that originates from well-managed forests with certification covering both legality and sustainability.

“All of our Premium Gold batten carries either FSC or PEFC certification – proving it is sourced sustainably – and we’re working closely with our network of merchants and the customers we deal with directly so that whenever contractors are purchasing batten, they know it’s as important to know where timber has come from as where it’s going…on a roof.”

https://woodforgood.com/co2 is a great source of information, facts, figures and evidence behind the ‘Wood CO2ts less’ story.

Sarah Virgo, Wood for Good Campaign Manager, said the construction industry has already taken its own steps to create more-sustainable buildings through initiatives such as the Chartered Institute of Building’s ‘Carbon Action 2050 toolkit’. The ‘Wood CO2ts less’ campaign calls on the construction industry to continue this positive action through using more wood.

“The government set a target for the construction industry to achieve net zero carbon by 2050, but it’s not feasible for all sectors of the economy to become carbon neutral,” she said.

“To reach net zero, we need to compensate for these emissions by finding ways of removing carbon from the atmosphere. The simplest way to contribute to this reduction is to consider wood first, instead of other materials.”

On a final note, Shaun Revill added: “Everyone at SR Timber is keen to support the ‘Wood CO2ts less campaign’, and we hope that it generates real momentum that highlights just how important timber is as a sustainable material in construction that contributes to reducing CO2 emissions.”