Best Use of Certified Timber – 4th Year of PEFC and WAF Partnership

27 March 2022 Sustainable construction

Are you an architect or part of a project team that recognises the huge benefits of timber as a construction material? Did you opt for certified timber as the main material in your completed construction project? Then make sure to enter your project for the Best Use of Certified Timber Prize at the World Architecture Festival (WAF) 2022.

The Best Use of Certified Timber Prize recognises architects and project teams for their use of certified timber as a key material for buildings combining aesthetics with sustainability, innovation, and quality. 

A special jury, including a PEFC representative, will identify entries which have used certified timber in this way.

Over the last four years we have been engaging with the built environment community through sponsorship of this prize and we have seen some fantastic entries.

Architects are clearly recognising timber as a low carbon, renewable, and dynamic construction material.

Last year, 22 projects from countries around the globe entered the Best Use of Certified Timber Prize.

Eight shortlisted projects were presented to an international panel of judges.

For the third time, a Southern Hemisphere project scooped the prize, when the WAF jury selected ‘Te Whare Nui Tutea’, the Scion Innovation Hub, New Zealand, designed by RTA Studio + Irving Smith, as the winning project for 2021.

Fabienne Sinclair who heads up Marketing at PEFC International said: “By sponsoring a prize which has used certified sustainable timber, we can be sure that not only is the material renewable and recyclable, but it has also been responsibly sourced and used to stunning design effect.”

How to enter?

To get started, head to the WAF website. 

The Best Use of Certified Timber Prize shortlist will be chosen from the main WAF shortlist, so if you are submitting a project which has used certified timber for a WAF Award, remember to enter it for the Best Use of Certified Timber Prize as well – no additional fee is required.

The use of certified wood is a precondition for entering the prize. During the submission process, you will be asked to provide details on the percentage of PEFC-certified material used on your project. 

The WAF Awards are for work completed (end date 30 June 2022) or started since January 2021. The entry deadline is 27 May 2022.

Designing the Future with Sustainable Timber

Under the theme Designing the Future with Sustainable Timber, we have brought together a range of stakeholders to promote the use of certified wood in construction. While other construction materials emit large amounts of carbon, wood naturally stores it.

This makes it the only renewable building material available on a large scale. PEFC-certified timber comes from a PEFC-certified forest – meaning a forest managed sustainably in line with strict international requirements.

In the fourth year of the campaign, we are looking forward to working with architects, designers, and construction teams around the world and seeing more fantastic buildings using timber from sustainably managed forests.

Join us! Contact us at: fabienne.sinclair@pefc.org

Photo credits: Stephen Parker, Scion