Structural timber: focusing on the facts

Founded with the ambition of challenging misconceptions in the insurance and financial sectors about structural timber, the Time for Timber campaign seeks to highlight the material’s numerous sustainable benefits and underlines the need to increase its use if we are to stand any chance of preventing the environmental crisis that we face today.

Recently, there has been an increasing reluctance to back timber projects by some insurers – yet, as the long-term impacts of climate change become more widely felt, insurers are increasingly realising the value in supporting such low carbon construction methods. Unfortunately, some uncertainties still remain – and the white paper is an attempt to address this balance by providing a credible source of factual information and research.

Reiterating the environmental, economic, health and well-being benefits that structural timber has to offer, the white paper also expresses a real desire to work with the UK’s insurance sector to further its understanding, using international examples to demonstrate that timber is a widely recognised and viable structural material.  

Andrew Orriss, Chief Operating Officer at the Structural Timber Association, stated: “While we still feel that the Government’s Net Zero targets are achievable, we are rapidly running out of time. We have spoken to many insurance companies and there is a genuine interest in supporting timber projects, but the lack of clear and reliable information is hampering this effort. The hope is that this white paper will help us to engage with insurance companies, so that we can close the gap between misinformation and the facts before it is too late.”

For more information and to download the white paper, please visit: www.cutt.ly/timefortimber_whitepaper

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