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Monday, June 8, 2020

The EU wants more wood construction -- never mind the fires

In the minds of 
climate alarmists, 
people’s safety 
is less important 
than “storing carbon”.

There was a
fire tragedy at 
Bradford City’s 
wood stadium in 1985, 
when a tiny fire under 
the stands engulfed
a wooden terrace 
within minutes, 
killing 56 fans.

Yet the EU 
wants to increase 
wood construction, 
because trees 
lock up carbon.

They say it's futile to plant
millions of trees if they are left
to rot, and release the CO2 
they previously captured.



A study from the Germany’s 
Potsdam Institute (PIK),
found that a global boom 
in wood buildings could 
lock in up to 700 million tons 
of carbon a year.

It said a five-story 
residential building 
structured in laminated 
timber can store up to 
180 kilos of carbon 
per square meter – 
three times more than 
in the trunk, branches 
and leaves of natural forests.

PIK’s Hans Schellnhuber 
said: 
“Societies have made
good use of wood for buildings 
for many centuries, yet now 
the challenge of climate 
stabilization calls for 
a very serious up-scaling.

"If we engineer the wood 
into modern building materials 
and smartly manage harvest 
and construction, we humans 
can build ourselves a safe home 
on Earth.”

The head of the 
Committee on 
Climate Change, 
Chris Stark, told 
BBC News: 
“Timber buildings 
can be tall and safe. 

Displacing cement, 
brick and steel with wood 
means more than double 
the carbon savings 
in buildings overall."

“With encouragement 
from the Government, 
we could triple the amount 
of carbon locked into buildings 
– one of the simplest steps 
we can take to help meet 
the UK’s climate goals.”



Fears of fires are slowing 
the spread of wood-based 
buildings in England.

The government there
 is planning to reduce
the maximum height 
of wood-framed buildings 
from six stories to four.

England is proposing 
timber-based flats, hotels, 
and boarding houses 
should be limited to
11 meters, which is 
3 to 4 stories.

In higher buildings, 
timber would be okay 
for floors, but banned 
from outside walls.



But in Norway. 
a new “ply-scraper” 
stretches up 18 stories, 
the same height 
were deemed safe 
by standards 
authorities in 
North America.



Members of 
the timber trade 
say England 
misunderstands 
the science 
behind timber 
construction.

They say timber walls 
can be made safe 
by methods including 
flame-retardant treatments, 
and fire-resistant claddings.

Plans have been approved for 
a new wood soccer stadium by
Zaha Hadid Architects
for the Forest Green Rovers:






Matt Linegar from the 
Finnish timber giant 
Stora Enso told BBC News: 
“Properly-constructed 
timber buildings can be safe 
in a fire – it depends on 
the design."