If you plan on building a home to call your own, you can never go wrong by working with residential architects in Singapore. With their wealth of expertise at your disposal, you can expect no less than exceptional results that account for all your needs and preferences, such as creating a home based on a sustainable design philosophy.

Of course, there is more to the home-building process besides hiring an architect. As the one at the helm of this entire project, there are many other factors to consider, such as the construction materials to be used. And in terms of sustainable indoor living, nothing beats good old-fashioned wood. Read on to learn why this is the case and what makes wood well-suited for sustainable design.

 

3 Reasons Why Wood Contributes to Sustainability

 

1. Low embodied carbon

According to Architecture 2030, buildings account for as much as 40% of GHG (global greenhouse gas) emissions. One of these emissions is embodied carbon, which accounts for around 11% of GHG emissions, with the major 9% being related to the use of steel and iron. Embodied carbon is associated with construction materials and processes throughout a building’s lifetime.

Wood has lower embodied carbon than other building materials, indicating fewer greenhouse gas emissions. This stems from the fact that manufacturing products and construction materials from wood uses less fuel-based energy compared to concrete or steel. Thus, using wood instead of other fossil fuel-intensive materials largely helps reduce embodied carbon, marking an important step in reaching humanity’s climate goals.

 

2. Wood stores carbon

Trees absorb CO2 or carbon dioxide from the atmosphere as they grow, incorporating the carbon into itself and releasing oxygen as a byproduct. Even if a tree is cut down and used for construction, the carbon stored previously remains within the wood, effectively keeping it out of the atmosphere for the entire lifetime, especially when the material is reused and recycled.

 

3. High energy efficiency

Wood has a lower thermal conductivity in terms of operating energy compared to steel and concrete, making them easier to insulate. But while any building can be designed to have a tight building envelope, wood makes it easier to achieve exceptional air tightness thanks to the precise manufacturing process of mass timber systems.

Additionally, more and more designers find wood a great choice for creating net-zero operational energy buildings or meeting the Passive House standard in their designs. That said, since numerous factors influence energy efficiency besides structural material, wood’s low embodied carbon is the more relevant feature that primarily appeals to many building designers.

 

Conclusion

As outlined above, wood has several key attributes that make it an ideal material for sustainable design, such as having low embodied carbon, continually storing the carbon absorbed as a tree, and having higher energy efficiency than other materials. This low embodied carbon plus stored carbon adds up to promoting lower carbon impact.

With this newfound knowledge in hand, consider using more wood in the construction of your dream home, whether you are aiming for a sustainable design or not. With the help of a seasoned architecture company in Singapore, you can better determine where to include wood in your home’s design to improve its aesthetics and many other aspects.