Taking into consideration the growth in population, three billion people will need a home by 2035; that’s one hundred thousand homes a day. Of these homes, 70 percent will be urban. In order to meet these demands, cities will need to be densified to accommodate the population. The construction industry is responsible for consuming 40 percent of the world’s resources, 30 percent of the world’s energy, 40 percent of greenhouse gasses emitted each year and 30 percent of solid waste generated. Concrete alone is responsible for 8 percent of greenhouse gasses emitted, making it the fourth largest emitter of greenhouse gasses in the world. In addition, steel is responsible for 4 percent of greenhouse gasses emitted. Compare those figures to the 1.6 percent caused by air travel and the 3 percent caused by shipping; it is clear that change must happen with regards to the construction industry (Yale University, 2012).

“I’d put my money on the sun and solar energy. What a source of power! I hope we don’t have to wait until oil and coal run out before we tackle that.” Thomas Edison (Newton, 1987). 

Timber is the only construction material used grown by the sun, and photosynthesis cannot be competed with. Timber also has the capability to sequester carbon dioxide at a rate of one cubic metre of timber to one tonne of carbon dioxide, therefore rather than contributing to the world’s greenhouse gasses, it helps combat them. Deforestation is the only issue with the use of timber on a large scale, however if managed correctly, this too can be combatted (Yale University, 2012).

Timber is a far more economical building material than concrete and steel as it is much lighter. This reduces the amount of foundations needed to build on, amount of deliveries made to site with material and less machine and human resource needed to erect a building (Yale University, 2012).