Ongoing global supply-chain issues and rising energy costs have sent steel prices soaring, raising widespread concern across the UK construction industry. The Russia-Ukraine conflict, combined with the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, has added further difficulties, slowing the pace of construction considerably. If we’re to keep productivity on the up, are alternative materials available to help meet supply? And, importantly, can these options help the sector build more sustainably?
Timber is one alternative, following a recent resurgence, thanks to improvements in building methods and increased availability. As a cost-effective, more sustainable building material, timber has the potential to become a staple within UK construction, helping to plug the gap created by increasingly costly steel.
However, if we are to consider timber as a possible substitute, it’s crucial we address the issue of fire protection to ensure safety is prioritised. This means using effective, non-toxic fire retardants and ensuring designs consider the risk of fire from the offset.
Evolving timber construction
As more advanced products come to market, timber is offering new ways to build quicker and more resiliently while lowering construction costs. Recent impressive structures, like PLP architecture’s concept stage 300m Oakwood Timber Tower,1 demonstrate just how far modern building methods have come, and I predict there will be many more to come.
Architects and developers now have a diverse toolkit of timber products such as CLT at their disposal, as well as high-tech adhesives to bind them. This is facilitating more flexibility in terms of building design. In line with the evolution of these products, fire-retardant technology is also advancing, helping to address the dangers of fire and structural integrity associated with timber construction. It is crucial the construction industry retains a focus on fire safety and continues to build on this progress as timber construction comes to the fore.
Getting the most out of fire retardants
If we are to continue building with wood, we must address the widespread concern that unprotected timber burns. Fire retardants enhance a building’s safety by providing a barrier to fire using chemicals that are slow-burning or self-extinguishing when exposed to an open flame. Combined with thorough inspections, they can significantly reduce the risk of wood burning, helping to ensure timber buildings are more resilient.
Phasing in timber construction
As the prices of building materials like steel remain high, we could see UK construction move towards using more timber to alleviate financial pressure, with the bonus of boosting construction’s green credentials. Timber construction is starting to gain momentum across the globe as the confidence and understanding of how to best use it in a range of increasingly large-scale residential and commercial projects grows.
What’s more, as modern methods of construction like offsite manufacturing become more popular, timber, which is ideal for prefabrication, will move towards becoming a preferred option for many designs. Yet, there is still work to do in ensuring both the safety and feasibility of larger structures, so we must not lose sight of encouraging a deeper understanding of building materials and how best to protect them from fire.
Creating fire-safe systems
To truly get the most out of timber construction and ensure safety remains a top priority in construction, we must also explore how wider fire-safety systems function. It’s not enough to silo fire-protection methods, no matter how effective they are individually. Developers must consider how components within a build interact with one another. For instance, if a fire door fails, building occupants will have less time to reach fire extinguishers.
A robust fire-safety system is one in which each element is hand-picked with the entire structure in mind and is checked regularly and thoroughly as a system. Within timber construction, fire retardants should be a major component in any structure’s fire-safety system as they offer reliable, passive fire protection that slows the spread of fire, boosting the effectiveness of other fire protection methods.
A sustainable future for all
It’s no secret the construction industry is negatively impacting our environment. In fact, according to industry analysis,2 the UK’s built environment is responsible for around a quarter of all our greenhouse gas emissions. Thanks to its low embodied carbon and lower manufacturing energy costs, timber is a brilliant choice for those in construction that are more environmentally conscious.
Moving forward, as Environmental Social and Governance (ESG) goals become more ambitious, aspects like material selection and waste management are beginning to be highlighted across the industry, meaning less sustainable building materials like steel and concrete will likely become less attractive. A Chatham House Report3 found that 4 billion tonnes of cement are produced annually across the globe, making up 8% of global carbon emissions. It is imperative that we move away from energy-intensive manufacturing processes and instead favour a more circular economy. Replacing steel and concrete with timber is a firm step in the right direction.
The top priority
I hope timber will grow to become the building material of choice in years to come and should this vision be realised, fire protection will be an increasingly important consideration in construction. Fire retardants, in particular, among other protective measures, will be paramount to making new timber buildings as safe as possible.
Unfortunately, thanks to industry-wide tight profit margins, it is still often the case that profits and convenience are prioritised above safety in construction. Further research and development of fire-retardant technologies and more effective ways to build with timber will help to mitigate some of the associated costs that put pressure on the sector. Importantly, spreading a greater awareness about fire safety and how to protect building materials will incentivise further investments into this research and the development of more advanced fire-protection technologies.
Regardless of the costs, we cannot repeat the tragic events of disasters like Grenfell – saving lives should be the utmost priority for leaders across construction. We must tackle the environmental concerns underpinning construction today and fire safety head-on. There’s no time to lose.
For more information, go to www.zeroignition.com
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