Professor Michael Ramage, Sidney Fellow in Architecture who leads the Centre for Natural Material Innovation at Cambridge University, was invited to attend a recent session for the Government’s cross-party Environmental Audit Committee (EAC) to contribute expertise on the decarbonisation of our built environment using mass timber.
Michael joined other experts to discuss the importance of using timber in place of concrete, masonry, and steel as one of the strategies with the most potential for success in reducing embodied carbon in the built environment. This follows a recent ban on the use of combustible materials in external walls.
Michael told the EAC that modern timber systems can and do deliver sufficient fire resistance within the primary structure and noted how ‘one government policy [the ban] is making another government policy [net zero], untenable.’
The EAC called on Government to clarify their May 2020 consultation on the combustible materials ban and respond before the House rises for the 2022 summer recess, saying delays have left the construction industry ‘without the guidance and confidence it needs to invest in timber structures’.
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