Sustainable Construction

Building Sustainable Communities

The UK Timber Frame Association and its member companies support the Governments vision for ‘sustainable communities’ - creating places where people want to live today and where they will want to keep living for many, many years to come.

From the greening of our communities to the use of timber in the homes we build, the UK’s forestry and timber industries have an important role to play in this. There is no more sustainable building material than timber.

The UKTFA continues to provide information and support for the realisation of the first of the sustainable communities at Thames Gateway. For further information on our work in this area, contact us.

Building Sustainably with Timber - a helpful publication by wood for good and BRE is now available. Click here to download.

UKTFA Code of Practice

Architects, specifiers and builders are looking increasingly at the environmental impact of their projects. The timber frame industry believes that it can make a significant contribution to sustainable construction for sustainable communities. Timber, as a construction material, has a significant role to play in helping to protect the local and global environment.

The UKTFA positively supports sustainable construction and encourages Members to follow the Code of Practice below:

• To actively promote the use of timber products sourced from well managed sustainable sources and communicate our commitment to our customers and consumers.
• To recognise sustainable development as a key objective and an essential measure of a successful organisation.
• To maximise the benefits of timber frame design to reduce raw material waste during manufacture and construction and further enhance the whole-life energy efficiency of residential and commercial developments.
• To participate in the continuing education and research into sustainable construction.
• To encourage clients, architects and specifiers to consider the “cradle to grave” environmental costs of all building materials.
• To bring commercial pressure on our suppliers, where possible, to adopt good environmental supply chain management.
• To encourage the development of a well managed, environmentally responsible forest industry taking into account long-term environmental, social, biodiversity and economic considerations.

Sustainably sourced timber

The UKTFA actively encourages its Members to provide evidence that the timber used comes from a sustainable managed source. This ensures forest management is effectively controlled and regulated.

There is emerging an internationally recognised credible system of third party timber certification and labelling that allows timber companies to provide assurances that their timber derives from sustainable managed sources.

The UKTFA is committed to supporting and improving these initiatives. This is influenced by the Government’s commitment to sustainable development, its programme for reducing the threat of climate change, the European Union’s collective commitment to decrease carbon dioxide emissions and the challenge for greater sustainability in the construction industry.

The UKTFA encourages the work of FSC (Forest Stewardship Council), PEFC (Pan European Forest Certification) and SFI (Sustainable Forestry Initiative) in this regard.