Today I’m joined by Paul Brannen, Director of Public Affairs at the European Confederation of Woodworking Industries & The European Organisation of Sawmill Industry AND author of a recent book, Timber! How wood can save the world from climate breakdown. In our conversation, Paul digs into the details surrounding the climate benefit of building with wood. We compare the carbon footprints of wood, concrete and steel (did you know that concrete is responsible for 8% of global emissions)! We talk about the cost savings of using wood in the built environment. We explain that despite the financial and climate merits, and supportive regulatory environment – the building sector still suffers from convention and doing things the way they’ve always been done. We discuss the importance of circularity in using wood in construction, and finally – how investors can support the whole value chain for enhanced climate and financial benefit.
And the interesting emerging area here for the investor is, while there have been some carbon credit available for a considerable time in relation to carbon stored in the forest, generated by new planting, there will also be carbon credits come in, which will go with the carbon stored in the build environments, the the continuation of the storage from the forests into the build environment.
Book: Timber! How wood can save the world from climate breakdown
The European Confederation of Woodworking Industries (CEI-BOIS)
Favorite tree: Sitka Spruce (Picea sitchensis)
Host: Shauna Matkovich - The ForestLink
Producer and editor: Magdalena Laas - Unscripted Creatives
02:06
Paul’s background
05:38
The reason behind writing the book
09:39
Development of using wood/timber in building homes and construction of bigger buildings
16:12
Roadblocks to progress
21:11
Comparison between wood/timber, concrete, and steel re. durability
23:44
Evidence about carbon footprint between wood vs concrete vs steel
30:42
Is there a case when wood is not the most sustainable option?
37:34
Case for sustainable forest management
43:53
How can we communicate the importance of investing in sustainable forest production
50:56
A possibly circular process
56:46
Actionable advice
57:06
Contact details
Nature by MaxKoMusic/Soundcloud
Sopwell Woodlands and Scohaboy Bog SAC, Cloughjordan, Co Tipperary, IRELAND by wild_rumpus/Soundcloud
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