A NEW book promises to cause controversy in the “conservative world of construction” and the more “traditionally-minded elements of the environmental movement”.
Timber! How Wood Can Help Save the World from Climate Breakdown is Paul Brannen’s attempt of putting wood centre stage and advocating for its widespread use.
Said to be “the first book to take timber from the margins to the mainstream”, it tackles head-on questions about sustainability, safety, the biodiversity of commercial forests and the pressures on land use.
A press release read: “The case for timber as a construction material is persuasively made – the creation of new engineered timbers with the structural strength of steel and concrete enables us for the first time to build wooden skyscrapers – and draws on the latest developments in engineering and material science. In addition to the familiar forestry models, the book advocates alternatives such as wood farming and agroforestry that bring with them added biodiversity gains for farms.
“With the built environment currently responsible for 40 per cent of the world’s carbon emissions, Brannen’s message is unequivocal: we must change how we build. Timber! offers fresh and inventive ideas that over time could see our expanding cities storing more carbon than our expanding forests.”
Timber! How Wood Can Help Save the World from Climate Breakdown is out now and can be purchased from many leading retailers. A full review will feature in a future edition of Forestry Journal.
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