Halting and then reversing global man-made temperature rise is the big challenge of our time.
Having worked in and around the area of sustainability in the built environment for nigh-on 25 years, I’m confident that it can be done and there are lots of reasons to be optimistic. But there is no time to lose. Every opportunity for carbon emissions reduction needs to be grasped and every policy lever that can be pulled should be pulled.
Currently, around 50% of carbon emissions from new build housing is caused by the building materials, the build process, maintenance and end of life – known as the Embodied Carbon emissions. These carbon emissions currently fall largely outside the scope of current regulation, although we do hope and expect regulations to be introduced over the coming months and years.
In any case, my experience of working with Welsh social housing clients, architects and the wider supply chain over the past 5 years, has convinced me that many organisations and individuals do not intend to wait for regulation. They want to do what they can to reduce carbon emissions now. The barrier is not willingness to act, but simply an incomplete understanding of what to do. If you’re one of them, then this guidance is for you.
The guidance is primarily written for providers of new build social housing, their consultants and contractors, but it is relevant to everyone operating in the built environment sector, including retrofit.
Over the past few decades a huge amount of work has been done to develop construction product data and the internationally agreed standards that are required to underpin consistent measurement. There are now thousands of construction product Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) which provide much of the hard data. There are many assessment tools that make embodied carbon analysis and reduction easy to assimilate into the design process, many of which are described in this guidance. Now in 2020, there is no technical reason not to embark on your embodied carbon reduction journey and this guidance is designed to support you.
That said, reducing embodied carbon does require us to confront the short-termism of the dominant models of house delivery. In particular, the manner in which materials and systems are put together with little thought given to their environmental impact or future resource needs. In that sense, embodied carbon reduction provides both the context and a measurement method to enable a profound re-framing of construction for the substantial benefit of current and future generations.
Gary Newman,
CEO of Woodknowledge Wales
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Embodied Carbon – the key questions
Embodied Carbon Guidance For Social Housing
Woodknowledge Wales has created guidance on Embodied Carbon reduction for social housing developers, their consultants and contractors. The guidance contains advice on how to make assessments, available tools and benchmarks for comparison. This briefing paper is designed for strategic leadership teams to highlight the key content of the guidance in the form of a series of questions and answers.
What are the different measures of carbon for housing? For a home, Embodied Carbon is the total carbon emissions associated with the construction materials. It includes all the emissions from the extraction, manufacture, transport and installation of the materials and products needed to construct a home (the Upfront Carbon). It also includes emissions from maintenance, refurbishment, and at the end of life, deconstruction, waste processing and disposal.
Is it the same as Whole Life Carbon? No. The Whole Life Carbon of a home includes both Embodied Carbon and Operational Carbon (e.g. heating and lighting) over its lifetime. Understanding the relationship between both helps to know the best way of reducing carbon emissions throughout the building lifecycle – that’s why Embodied Carbon is being increasingly measured. A Low Carbon home is one that optimises the use of resources to build it and to use it over its lifetime.
Why is it important? Embodied Carbon emissions can represent between 50% and 70% of the emissions of a home across its life cycle. Its relative importance is increasing as the UK’s electricity grid decarbonises and Operational Carbon emissions reduce. At the same time, if the number of additional homes per year matches the estimates of housing need, we will see between 6,700 and 9,700 new homes built in Wales[1], which will increase Embodied Carbon. Embodied Carbon savings made during the design and construction of a home are delivered immediately, rather than at some point in the future.
Why should we reduce Embodied Carbon? Buildings play a vital role in meeting our climate change obligations, and in Wales, Embodied Carbon accounts for 6% of overall CO2 emissions. The Welsh Government wants all public bodies to be carbon neutral by 2030 and, at the time of writing, most local authorities in Wales have declared a climate emergency. Most of the construction sector is committing to the Net Zero Carbon agenda. Assessing Embodied Carbon will help the sector understand its overall carbon footprint and highlight where reductions can be made. It may also assist in attracting alternative sources of finance such as green bonds. There is also a strong link between Embodied Carbon and the creation of a more Circular Economy.
What are the economic benefits of reducing Embodied Carbon? Targeting Embodied Carbon can help address the whole life costs of a home, especially when future running costs may be more of a concern than initial build costs. For instance, investing in more durable materials will mean less replacement over time, with less Embodied Carbon. This also equates to lower life cycle costs and less tenant disruption. Reducing Embodied Carbon can mean less cost when compared to the cost of solutions for saving Operational Carbon and savings can often be achieved over a shorter period.
How can Embodied Carbon be reduced? Building elements such as the foundations and structure represent the biggest contribution to Embodied Carbon, largely due to the amount of materials they use. Therefore, considering low Embodied Carbon materials such as timber, or increasing the recycled content of materials, will have a positive impact. Timber also has an advantage over other materials as it can store CO2 removed from the atmosphere during the tree’s growth. Designing ‘leaner’ homes by minimising the quantity of materials used to build them will reduce Embodied Carbon. Designing for future use – adaptability and flexibility – will increase a home’s lifespan and minimise the need for new homes in future. Building with deconstruction in mind will enhance the reuse of construction materials.
Is it difficult to measure Embodied Carbon? No, and the earlier Embodied Carbon is considered, the greater the ability to reduce it. Assessments can be in the form of a checklist, simple building analysis or a full building life cycle assessment. It is recommended that a ‘cradle to grave’ assessment is undertaken. There are many tools available to assess Embodied Carbon. Assessments can be done in-house or procured from the design team or a specialist consultant. There are several standards which should be met, including the RICS Professional Statement on Whole Life Carbon[2].
Can targets and benchmarks be set? Yes, benchmarks (at building or element level) are a useful way to check performance. Woodknowledge Wales has produced benchmarks which can be used as targets for the reduction of Embodied and Upfront Carbon.
Who needs to be involved in reducing Embodied Carbon? Everyone has a responsibility to reduce Embodied Carbon and there needs to be commitment across an organisation to address it, together with an engaged supply chain. Leadership teams should champion and facilitate the reduction of Embodied Carbon in the homes they create.
Is procurement important? Yes, it’s key as it presents an opportunity for measuring, reducing, and managing Whole Life Carbon. At an organisational level, a carbon policy including Embodied and Operational Carbon from housing activities should be agreed, with requirements for reducing Upfront and Embodied Carbon included in project briefs. Performance outcomes can be set in documentation and responsibility for monitoring/measuring Embodied Carbon included at every stage of a building’s life cycle.
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[1] https://gov.wales/sites/default/files/statistics-and-research/2019-06/new-house-building-april-2018-to-march-2019-995.pdf
[2] RICS (2017) Whole Life Carbon assessment for the built environment. 1st Edition. London: RICS. Available at: www.rics.org (Accessed: 2 November 2018).
Making the Foundational Economy happen – with joinery
What if we could agree on a joint specification for a Welsh timber window that meets all requirements for the social housing sector in Wales, in particular Secured by Design certification? This was our starting point in December 2019. Today we’re in the middle of improving workshop set-ups across various joinery businesses in Wales ready for production and certification of our Welsh window in 2021.
Covid-19 increases demand for joinery
Due to the pandemic, progress on the project has been a little slower than expected. Joinery businesses have been overwhelmed with demand for windows and doors after the first lockdown. For many, this unprecedented spike in demand has created lead-in times of up to 14 weeks. With all hands on deck, we had to adjust our planning to move forward – slow but steady.
Meeting client specifications
What does the client want? What do they specify and what do they buy in the end? To find out which expectations in terms of technical performance and price our Welsh window should meet, over the summer we launched a series of surveys with social housing developers, contractors, and timber frame manufacturers.
Simple does it – with rising expectations
Our survey results indicated that most clients specify and procure a simple casement window for new builds as much as retrofit projects. While specifiers request standard u-values of 1.4-1.6W/m2k for current new builds. The industry expects future developments to require windows that achieve performance criteria equivalent to Passivhaus standard, i.e. <0.8W/m2k.
Based on the comparison of recently procured windows in social housing, including uPVC, aluminium and composite windows, we agreed on specifications for a standard window fit for the current market as well as a high-performance window in line with future demand.
Defining joint protocols and processes
Making the same window to the same specification is one thing, achieving identical protocols and processes to meet group assessment requirements is another. Sharing protocols and processes with each other to agree on a common way forward is proof of the strong commitment the participating Welsh joinery businesses have demonstrated to make the project happen in the midst of the current public health crisis and pressures on manufacturing.
Smart innovation for better output
With support from Welsh Government’s SMART Innovation programme we are now investigating the individual potential to improve manufacturing processes and standardise these across participating joinery businesses. Once this has been accomplished, we will finally move into prototype production and submit specimens for testing.
Group assessment and business solutions
In the meantime, we are still in discussion with Secured by Design to define procedures for group assessment and certification. We are also working to establish options for management of the scheme in the future. These will be discussed and agreed with participating joinery businesses and clients.
Pilot schemes wanted
While we’re still busy covering all bases for future successful window production across many different joinery businesses in Wales, we are already looking for social housing developments to implement the Welsh timber window in spring or early summer 2021. These can be either new build or retrofit projects.
For details contact Christiane Lellig – christiane.lellig@woodknowledgewales.co.uk.
Read the latest updates from the Home-Grown Homes project here – www.woodknowledge.wales/news/home-grown-homes-updates-december-2020.
Home-Grown Homes Updates – December 2020
Home-Grown Homes Project on the home run!
The Project which has been the focus for our work since April 2018 formally ends this month. We’ve been studying the timber construction supply chain in Wales and apart from the global pandemic, which didn’t feature in our risk register, it’s turned out to be everything we expected – a significant body of work which altogether makes a compelling case for having an industrial strategy for timber in Wales. Right now Wales is a sheep and steel nation. In the future it needs to become a forest nation.
With our partners BM TRADA, Cardiff Met University and Coed Cymru we have looked at the way the supply chain operates from the growing of the raw material in the forest to its use in creating high-performance affordable homes. We’ve nourished a wider network of organisations to help shape our thinking and develop a raft of practical applications through projects across Wales. In 2020 the public health crisis slowed things up and created challenges we hadn’t foreseen, but we got there in the end!
The main project output is a report which tells the story of the supply chain and the work we’ve done to understand it. We’ve come to some important conclusions about changes which would help to make things work better. We’ve identified a series of interventions which could be made to barriers and improve outcomes for every part of the chain.
The project was conceived before the launch of Welsh Government’s Innovative Housing Programme or the declaration of a Climate Emergency and when foundational economic thinking wasn’t as well developed and widely embraced in Wales. So, to an extent, we’ve sailed on a sea of radical thinking which has both reinforced some of our research ideas and made some of our suggested interventions more urgent. Social landlords want to use more timber in the homes they build, home-grown timber from Wales ideally. They also want to build better and quicker using novel techniques and off-site manufacturing, to create homes which achieve much higher levels of energy efficiency. Carbon reduction has become a new focus for house builders and there are early signs of real interest in the adoption of building performance evaluation techniques to help reduce the ‘performance gap’ in the homes we build.
We have to plant many more trees, that now seems to be widely accepted. And we need to plant more of them for timber, that’s more controversial. We need to develop a more sustainable approach to what to grow and where if we are to diminish our reliance on imported timber and start to see the timber we do produce in Wales used for higher value outputs like timber frame construction, not just fencing, decking, pallets and biomass. We have a sleeping giant of a timber frame manufacturing sector which has, with more support and investment, the capacity and capability to become the off-site manufacturing route some assume we have to develop from scratch or import from ‘over the bridge’. And we need to be supporting our social landlords who are keen to improve their knowledge and understanding and learn new skills in the development of high-performing timber homes.
Our final report includes conclusions around Net Zero Whole Life Carbon homes, reducing embodied, upfront carbon and energy demand, minimising the performance gap, support for off-site manufacturing, carbon off-setting, the opportunity for co-ordinating and consolidating timber supply and demand, forestry investment, our perceptions of conifers, strategic thinking, traineeships and leadership.
The report, which is supported by a number of individual outputs, guidance documents, specification tools and technical briefings, will be available on the Woodknowledge Wales website in early 2021.
Find out more
If you would like to find out more about the project please visit our website page or contact the project manager: David.Hedges@woodknowledgewales.co.uk.
Mandatory quality standards for new homes – WKW response
Woodknowledge Wales has responded to Welsh Government’s consultation on the standards new homes will need to meet in the future. We think the climate emergency demands a proactive approach from house builders of all types and we should be moving to a target driven approach. We think new homes need to be Net Zero Whole Life Carbon, set specific targets for carbon and energy and the performance of new homes needs to be independently certified. We also think standards need to be prescriptive but the way they are achieved should not. We need Building Performance Evaluation embedded in new home delivery. See our response HERE.
We’re looking forward to driving the agenda for better homes with you. Get in touch and let us know if you have a project idea that we may be able to help with or promote.
How to build a Welsh Wood Economy
Why would it be beneficial for Welsh society to build a wood economy? A new report takes a closer look and analyses the economic and social parameters. Get your free copy of the report here and join the dialogue!
The ‘Serious about Green?’ report is authored by the team at Foundational Economy Research, led by Karel Williams. For the first time, it brings together the Woodknowledge Wales forest industries agenda with foundational economic thinking. In a world without silver bullets, we believe the report provides a frank analysis of where we are now, and how a transformative journey to a socially just wood economy can be coordinated.
There’s no doubt this is a challenging agenda. Wales is a sheep, beef and dairy nation and Wales is a steel nation. These activities are deeply ingrained in our cultural identity. They may have been rational activities for the past century but are not well-aligned to the low carbon needs of 21st Century Welsh society. Forestry is.
Furthermore, Wales has a landscape, soil and climate suited to forestry. Well-conceived forestry can address both the biodiversity crises and the climate emergency, whilst providing an industrial resource with which to build and retrofit the low carbon homes of the future.
The report offers insight and stimulating ideas to policy makers, business leaders and citizens interested in a sustainable future for Wales. We invite you to join in a dialogue with us on how to build a foundational Welsh wood economy: info@woodknowledge.wales.
Download your free copy HERE.
Join the dialogue by signing up to our Forests & the Foundational Economy webinar series.
| Date | Time | Title & link to event details and registration via Eventbrite |
| 24 Nov | 11:00 – 12:30 | Serious about Green? Welsh forests and the foundational economy. |
| 1 Dec | 14:00 – 15:30 | Serious about Green? From concept to action |
Valorising the potential of the Welsh green gold reserve
A personal reflection by Dainis Dauksta, technical manager, Woodklnowledge Wales
Conifers grow superbly across many of the microclimates and soil types found in Wales, producing a widely varying range of wood types. However, Wales is caught in a paradox because tropes, assumptions and misinformation still dominate discussions about using Welsh softwoods in construction.
Producing Britain’s finest
Some of Europe’s largest living conifers grow as small stands located in remote parts of Wales but few Welsh firms have been able to create business models which can take advantage of this specialist resource. Large homegrown or ‘’oversize’’ conifer sawlogs have tended to be sold to specialist English sawmills such as East Brothers near Salisbury. Arguably, even Wales’ principal softwood resource, the Sitka spruce sawlog, is not fully understood or utilised within Wales and under-informed commentators still use derogatory language about the ‘’quality’’ of homegrown spruce.
Regardless of such subjective judgments, the British spruce sawmilling sector supplies fit for purpose sawnwood products into demanding modern markets. The UK now produces more conifer sawnwood than Latvia, historically one of Britain’s main suppliers.
Focus on processing efficiencies
Over the last 50 years sawmills across the UK moved away from converting broadleaved species because the markets for homegrown hardwood products went into a steep decline which continues today. The homegrown conifer resource has given British sawmillers the opportunity to modernise and process straight simple conifer stems far more efficiently than converting British hardwoods. Nowadays, sawmills can process softwood sawlogs at line feed speeds of over 100 metres per minute and some chipper canter headrigs can operate at considerably higher line speed. Modern sawlines allow operation at economic scales which make commodity softwoods extremely cheap compared to a generation ago when timber merchants charged up to three times current prices (allowing for inflation).
What if we made homes from it?
Welsh timber graded to C16
Around 700,000 cubic metres of softwood sawlogs are produced in Wales annually. Most of this resource is Sitka spruce and we now know that at least 95% of Welsh Sitka spruce sawlogs will convert to C16 strength class construction timber. A proportion of C24 could also be produced economically.
Roughly speaking, 600,000 cubic metres of sawlogs will yield over 300,000 cubic metres of sawnwood. If only 100,000 cubic metres of that yield was strength graded in Wales this would build 10,000 timber frame homes using 10 cubic metres each. 200,000 cubic metres of non-strength graded sawnwood would still be available. From a theoretical 600,000 cubic metres of softwood sawlogs the remaining 300,000 cubic metres of coproducts (such as sawdust and chipwood) can be utilised currently at Kronospan in Chirk to make wood composite panels.
In other words, all of the 600,000 cubic metres of sawlogs could be utilised in Wales if the Welsh construction sector was able to rise to the challenge. BSW claim that around 40,000 cubic metres of C16 spruce can be processed at their Newbridge on Wye sawmill annually but this output is not directly available for Welsh timber frame firms despite repeated requests.
Dismantling the quality argument
Timber frame made from Welsh C16 timber
This simplified analysis is made more complicated by the continuing debates about ‘’quality’’ of homegrown softwoods when compared to imported softwoods from the Baltic zone. This straw man argument tends to be utilised by individuals or organisations with historical agendas or close links to Swedish and Baltic timber merchants. In practice, homegrown spruce has been demonstrated to be fit for purpose in timber frame construction.
Over 50 years ago Bruce Zobel, an American forester and wood scientist, made the point that misinformation dominated perceptions of timber grown in modern industrial forests such as our Welsh spruce forests. Today, scientists such as Dan Ridley-Ellis at Edinburgh Napier University confirm that the growth rate of British conifers does not correlate strongly with strength-grading yields. Simply stated, we can utilise almost all of the conifer timber that we grow in varying applications.
Most importantly, utilising quality Welsh softwoods to build homes will help fulfill the Senedd’s aspiration to create a net-zero carbon construction sector within Wales.
Beetles unbalancing commodity markets
Many spruce forests across mainland Europe and Scandinavia are under attack by bark beetles whose numbers have increased exponentially under drought conditions caused by climate change. Traumatised German foresters recently announced that Germany’s parched forests are nearing ecological collapse. Sweden has 7 million cubic metres and Czechia 30 million cubic metres of beetle-ravaged spruce to cut. The resulting oversupply of spruce sawnwood has significantly unbalanced European softwood commodity markets.
British sawmillers were cutting at break-even or at loss-making output prices for many months until the Covid-19 pandemic disrupted world softwood supply even more dramatically than bark beetles. European spruce has been selling at record low prices whilst US and Canadian softwoods have been traded at record high prices.
Cheap imports, price hikes at home
Against this complex backdrop Welsh timber frame contractors are complaining that the home sawmilling sector is unreliable and imported spruce is cheaper and easier to obtain. The current situation is far from normal. We need to redefine the roles of our conifer plantation forests and their downstream processing industries in terms of carbon sequestration and storage.
Preparing for less reliable import markets
Meanwhile, the Covid-19 pandemic will continue to create management problems for the British sawmilling sector. Like any other sector, we need to define the new ‘’normal’’.
In the long term, we may not have the easy access to European, Baltic and Scandinavian softwoods we have enjoyed for centuries. The EU zone has been overcutting softwoods since energy production from woody biomass became fashionable. Furthermore, yields from EU industrial forests will decline after this current glut of diseased spruce processing. Will EU partners be less disposed to selling softwoods into British markets as their own demand rises?
Demand pressures in the net-zero carbon economy
If China is to succeed in turning around their 20th century coal-based economy and create a 21st century net-zero carbon economy, their timber imports are likely to increase substantially. Recently, European prices rose slightly as China increased their procurement of European timber.
If climate change in Wales progresses as predicted by the Hadley Centre, Welsh-grown spruce may transition from commodity to premium softwood. In the face of global warming and concomitant epidemics there is no reason to assume that the status quo can continue.
Managing Welsh forests for future need
Welsh forest management will need to change. The Phytophthora ramorum epidemic has already devastated Welsh larch forests and the forestry sector will need to move away from planting large blocks of even aged single species forest. Some academics suggest that mixed species, uneven aged forests will be more resilient. Existing data does not necessarily support this and other strategies are being discussed. Certainly, forest blocks, whether of single or mixed species will need to be smaller in scale. Individual stands of industrial species will need some social distancing in order to decrease risk or speed of disease spread.
What if freestyle forestry was the answer?
Welsh foresters will need to design new forests that can be managed in the face of waves of weather events, pests and pathogens; principal interventions may need to be predominately reactive. Some central European foresters are calling this ‘’freestyle’’ forestry. The narrative about growing our own forests for making new homes will be continually altered as events unfold. The only certainty is that uncertainty will rule sustainable forest management. In spite of this, we have to start planting now for the future. Mistakes will be made and circumstances change but surely that is better than not planting at all?
Email: dainis.dauksta@woodknowledgewales.co.uk
Home-Grown Homes Updates – September
With just a few months left of the Home-Grown Homes Project we are now focused on pulling together all findings from the research into usable design guides and tools to leave a lasting legacy from the project.
Project Governance update
The project’s steering group met in September. It reviewed project progress and in particular discussed a draft second interim report and a proposal for a second phase when the current project ends. Cardiff Metropolitan University Research Associate Diana Waldron gave a presentation on progress with the building performance element of the project. The steering group confirmed a three-month extension of the project (until the end of March 2021) for this work package to be completed.
The importance of timber supply chains in Wales
Since the project’s inception, four important developments have served to emphasise the relevance and importance of the timber supply chain in meeting current Welsh Government policy objectives:
• the influence of foundational economic thinking
• the declaration of a climate emergency
• the decision to leave the EU and
• the coronavirus pandemic
A draft of the second interim project report has been prepared to reflect these developments and to draw together the findings from the Home-Grown Homes project, identifying a series of interventions along with a suite of unique behaviour change tools in the form of guidance and case studies. The draft is currently being reviewed by the project steering group, when complete it will be shared with stake stakeholders and the collective feedback will help to shape the final report in December.
Extract from the draft interim Home-Grown Homes project report. Read more about this infographic on delivering net zero housing here.
Project promoted during Ministerial meeting
Woodknowledge Wales Chief Executive Gary Newman met with Julie James MS Minister for Housing and Local Government at the end of September. The meeting provided an opportunity for the Minister to learn more about the work of WKW, achievements made in projects like the Home-Grown Homes Project and plans for future activity and where this might support Welsh Government priorities and action.
Building Performance
Further revisions have been made to a series of reports on the use of the Overheating in New Homes Tool developed by the Good Homes Alliance. A thermography report on Pentland Close in Cardiff is being reviewed ahead of publication. Refinements have been made to the detail and preparation is being made for the soft launch of the two industry guidance tools on Building Performance Evaluation and Embodied Carbon in October. For more information contact Diana Waldron (dcwaldron@cardiffmet.ac.uk).
Timber Frame solutions
BM TRADA colleagues are finalising a number of guidance documents and project outputs (detailed in previous updates) after some of them were furloughed. Guidance on Design, Production and Erection will identify the common issues which timber frame homes present during design and construction and how these can best be avoided.
WoodBUILD autumn series – webinars underway!
Our webinar series has started with the first two on the themes of forestry and housing being held on-line attracting lots of interest and engagement. The first focussed on Productive Forests and Climate Smart Woodlands and looked at woodland management, what we should we plant and what tools can help in making choices. Tim Pagella of Bangor University, Duncan Ray of Forest Research and Chris Jones of NRW shared their thoughts and responded to some challenging questions in a facilitated discussion.
The second webinar explored building performance in social housing. Diana Waldron of Cardiff Met University, Julie Godefroy of Julie Godefroy Sustainability and Susie Diamond of Inkling and Grant Prosser of Wales & West Housing explored the growing interest in this area of research and practice and included a soft launch of forthcoming guidance and an update on the progress being made in the Home-Grown Homes Project in this area.
Autumn Conversation Podcasting
A series of four podcasts are being finalised which link to the project themes and will be published on-line by mid October. Lasting about an hour they each feature a conversation between two individuals with a background and interest in the subject matter and focus on the future and how it might be shaped. The four themes and conversationalists are:
- Bangor University’s John Healey and forestry consultant Jo O’Hara talk future forests;
- PYCs Jasper Meade and MAKARs Neil Sutherland talk about manufacturing homes;
- Coastal’s Debbie Green and United Welsh’s Steve Cranston explore foundational economic responses;
- Sheffield University’s Fionn Stevenson talks about our future homes with Stride Treglown’s Rob Wheaton.
Contact us
If you would like to find out more about the project please visit our website page or contact the project manager David.Hedges@woodknowledgewales.co.uk.
How do you compare building standards and net zero operational targets?
Good Homes Alliance and Woodknowledge Wales commissioned an energy modelling report to compare different low energy building standards. The paper seeks to illustrate how the choice of a building standard affects the amount of renewable energy generation that is required to comply with a net zero operational outcome. The report does not take into account embodied energy/carbon. All energy and carbon modelling is illustrative but based upon real archetypes.
The work was carried out by John Palmer of the Passivhaus Trust in August 2020.
The report can be down loaded here.
Are modern UK forests suited to help restore biodiversity?
Can productive forests provide both carbon storage and enhanced biodiversity? In the public debate across national media and the twittersphere this seems unlikely. Confor’s new Biodiversity, Forestry and Wood report makes the case that planting and managing trees in the UK to produce wood can deliver biodiversity benefits as well as playing a vital role in the fight against climate change.
Based on an analysis of evidence and case studies from across the UK the report demonstrates that suitably-sited forests for wood production can deliver great benefits for wildlife and that appropriate harvesting from native woodland can often enhance its biodiversity value. The report has benefited from engagement and input from a wide range of environmental and conservation organisations.
The need to focus on biodiversity
The acknowledged potential of forests in helping to mitigate climate change has led UK governments to set targets for woodland creation, use of wood and woodland management. At the same time little attention has been paid to the role these forests can play to help tackle the substantial decline in biodiversity in the UK and elsewhere.
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| Rosy footman (Miltochrista miniata) | Canary-shouldered Thorn (Ennomos alniaria) | Buff tip (Phalera bucephala) |
Globally, nature is declining and species are becoming extinct as a direct result of human activity. Besides the moral issue of the destruction of life, nature’s decline poses a direct threat to our economies, food supply, health and quality of life. It is caused directly by human activity: a triple attack from climate change, resource extraction and pollution. Put together by Eleanor Harris, Confor’s first biodiversity report presents an analysis of the evidence on forestry and biodiversity, with a view to ensure forestry policy delivers confidently for nature as well as for climate.
Areas of investigation
Three key areas are highlighted in the report:
1. the habitat value of forests planted for wood production,
2. the potential of bringing neglected native woodland into management through the development of small-scale wood production and local supply chains,
3. the importance of a home-grown, low carbon resource in helping reduce the pressure to exploit natural and semi-natural forests globally, tackling the drivers of biodiversity decline around the world.
Habitat value of productive forests
A substantial body of science suggests that, at present, the forests planted in the UK for wood production have significant value as a biodiversity habitat, in spite of their young age and largely non-native species. Evidence-based management measures have become standard forestry practice in enhancing these maturing habitats, such as creating structural diversity and incorporating native tree species. No more than 75 percent of a forest area may be planted with a single species. Species mixtures provide a more continuous supply of seed for birds and enhance invertebrate diversity. They diversify light levels in the forest, with species like pine facilitating a herb layer of more light-demanding graminoids (grasses) and ericoids (like heather), in contrast to the bryophytes (mosses and liverworts), ferns, and forbs (like wood sorrel) characteristic of spruce. Diversifying forests is also an important consideration for wood production, to mitigate risks from pests, extreme weather and market fluctuations. Modern forests provide diverse and dynamic habitats that attract a great variety of wildlife such as kestrel, barn owl, hen harriers, nightjar, turtle dove, red squirrel, as well as hundreds of moth species and beetles.
Improving the conditions of native woodlands
UK woodlands are globally unique due to two factors: Our oceanic climate creates rare temperate rainforest rich in epiphytes. Our limited palette of native tree species have high genetic diversity and have demonstrated high resilience to a wide range of climate changes. This combination of oceanic climate, open structure and high genetic diversity within species has led to the development of unique assemblages of ferns, mosses, liverworts, lichen and vernal vascular plants that are of global conservation importance. Yet the majority of our native woodlands are degraded and fragmented, with priority species showing declines. Evidence reviewed in the report suggests that wood production can make a contribution to nurturing these into ecological health. This would be achieved through interventions such as sensitive extraction (e.g. thinning and coppicing), promoting tree growth and forest regeneration (e.g. by preventing browsing damage), providing a sustainable income stream to fund active management and create value for the woodland owner, as the basis for high quality native woodland expansion.
Biodiversity impact beyond the local forest
The UK is the second biggest importer of timber globally, and demand is forecasted to increase. Wood-producing forests in the UK help tackle the fundamental causes of nature decline at a global level by reducing our demand for resources produced elsewhere. Wood production sequesters carbon, provides the raw material for green jobs and low-carbon manufacturing, and reduces the UK’s reliance on imported timber which may be harvested unsustainably from natural forests. They help reduce flooding and improve air quality. Using timber in construction also means that extraction based materials with high negative impact on biodiversity elsewhere are displaced.
Recommendations for further research
While there is good evidence on many points, the report also highlights research gaps in a range of areas. These include new woodland creation, management advice on important UK species assemblages, restoration of woodland ecology beyond the trees, studies of forestry within the wider landscape, invertebrates, the ecology of the forest floor, and interactions between forest biodiversity and public access.
As the report concludes: ‘Forests expanded and managed for the supply of sustainable resource, wildlife and carbon is not merely a strategy to avert climate and biodiversity disasters. It is a vision of a future society which is more healthy, more connected with nature, and more truly prosperous.’ We couldn’t agree more.
