How building in wood can help reduce levels of toxic air

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Poor air quality in London and in many of our major cities is in part due to wear and tear on vehicle tyres and the resulting release of micro particles of rubber into the atmosphere (Guardian 4 October, Every Londoner breathing dangerous levels of toxic air).

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Heavy goods vehicles are a major contributor.  A shift to building high rise in timber, such as the recently completed Dalston Lane 10-storey development in Hackney, would see a lighter material – prefabricated timber panels - replacing heavier materials – steel and concrete – with a resulting 80% reduction in heavy cement trucks and refuse vehicles to construction sites.

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Vancouver recently completed an 18-storey wooden building and the HoHo building in Vienna currently under construction will reach to 24-storeys – making it the world’s tallest wooden building. 

 

This leap upwards is possible due to the arrival of Cross Laminated Timber.  CLT has the structural strength of steel and concrete while being 70% lighter and it’s a sequester of carbon not a creator of carbon – more than 11% of global CO2 emissions are the result of the manufacture of steel and concrete.

 

Paul Brannen MEP

Labour’s spokesperson on forestry and farming in the European Parliament