PEFC Webinar: Building a circular economy with timber

Construction event

PEFC invites you to join our webinar on 28 January as we focus on timber as the renewable and reusable construction material for a sustainable, circular economy.

Along with lowering carbon emissions, circularity is a key challenge that the construction sector needs to urgently address. Sustainably sourced timber is a game changing material that allows built environment professionals to create new buildings with the future in mind – minimising waste while making the most of this precious resource.  

Ensuring that timber products and buildings meet their intended design lifespan and remain viable for reuse or remanufacturing are essential practices for a circular economy. But, equally important is the responsible sourcing of first-use wood, which can be assured by specifying wood certified under a globally recognised sustainable forest management programme, such as PEFC.

Compared to other building materials, such as concrete and steel, timber requires less energy for production and transportation. Wood products and buildings also continue to store carbon for the duration of their lifetime. 

It is also important to consider what happens to wood buildings once they have come to the end of their first life. The need to recycle construction materials and re-purpose buildings to keep carbon locked away is crucial for both climate change mitigation and waste reduction.

The webinar

Our New Year webinar Building a circular economy with timber will explore the role of wood in a circular economy, and what built environment professionals can do to ensure that we make the best use of this valuable, natural resource.

The webinar takes place at 09:00 CET, 28 January, and is free to join. Register now.

We have brought together a panel of three knowledgeable speakers, who are all passionate advocates of building with wood and will cover the following topics:

• Background to the circular economy
• Timber’s place in a circular economy
• The importance of responsible timber sourcing in meeting circular economy goals
• Incorporating circular economy wood products into your designs

Illustrated with case studies of timber structures designed with deconstruction in mind so they can go they can go on to have second lives while continuing to lock away carbon.

Speakers

Charlie Law, Sustainability Director, Timber Development UK

Charlie has worked in the UK construction sector for over 30 years as a sustainability professional for major UK construction companies including BAM Construct, Kier and Lendlease. He is Managing Director of Sustainable Construction Solutions and Sustainability Director for Timber Development UK, the largest supply chain body for timber in the UK. The organisation promotes the building of a better world through wood.

Mélanie Bourges, Timber Engineer, Stora Enso

Mélanie Bourges is a Timber Engineer at Stora Enso, specialising in sustainable design and circular construction. With a background in structural engineering, she has extensive experience in the mass wood industry, particularly in large-scale timber building projects in France. Mélanie is committed to advancing low-carbon building practices by actively contributing to innovative research projects like Woodcircles, a European Union co-funded initiative aimed at developing circular and sustainable solutions for wood in construction. 

Nick Elias, Architect, Architectus

Nicholas is a senior Associate at Sydney-based firm, Architectus, where he is also a practice design leader. He has led many award-winning projects and has an especially strong understanding of public and educational architecture. Nicholas has won several national and international architecture awards, including from the Australian Institute of Architects (NSW), the Premier’s Awards, and the prestigious Chicago Athenaeum Museum of Architecture and Design. Across all his work, he combines passion, strong technical expertise, and a commitment to socially and environmentally responsible design.