It found that timber has a lower carbon intensity regardless of whether a home was an end-terrace, mid-terrace, or detached.

While the report makes it clear that there is no silver bullet when it comes to reducing embodied carbon, it will help homebuilders and designers understand and reduce the whole-life carbon impact with more precise options for updating their house types to meet the Future Homes Standard.

“The models developed by Future Homes Hub demonstrate timber frame construction has ~3-5% lower upfront embodied carbon intensity than masonry construction for a similar thermal and energy performance – across all archetypes,” said Charlie Law, head of sustainability, Timber Development UK.

“This reinforces the findings of Timber Development UK, along with many independent researchers, universities, and built environment organisations across the country that timber – when designed well and sourced from sustainable forests – outperforms other build methods on carbon.”

Key learnings

• Understanding Whole Life Carbon is crucial: The Future Homes Standard Options report delves into the embodied carbon impact of new homes, helping homebuilders and designers understand and reduce the whole-life carbon impact as they consider options for updating their house types to meet the Future Homes Standard.
• Future Homes Standard Implications: Fabric specification options being considered by homebuilders to meet the operational carbon performance of the FHS have broadly similar upfront and whole-life embodied carbon impacts.
• No ‘silver bullet’ solution: There is no single solution to reducing embodied carbon – a multifaceted approach is necessary. Whilst design and construction system improvements offer opportunities to reduce embodied carbon, the report concludes that significant decarbonisation of construction products is essential to minimise embodied carbon impacts.
• Tool comparison and validation: The report is based on the Hub’s Whole Life Carbon Conventions for New Homes, an agreed-upon set of assumptions relevant to the new homes sector. All analysis must be based on a standard set of conventions. This creates a simple way to compare designs, meaning that tools that work within these conventions yield aligned results.
• The Hub’s WLC Assessment Tool: The tool provides a consistent, quick, and accessible way to estimate and compare the whole-life carbon of different design options, enabling informed early-stage decision-making. Designed for developers, architects, and designers, this free Microsoft Excel Online add-in simplifies embodied and whole-life carbon calculations, enabling users to assess the impact of various construction systems and specification choices rapidly.
• Upfront vs. Whole Life Carbon: The report breaks down both upfront and whole-life carbon impacts, showing that the majority of whole-life carbon emissions occur during the initial material and construction stages (A1- A5).
• Call to Action: Empowered by the report’s insights, explore the Hub’s Whole Life Carbon Assessment Tool (or other suitable tools) to analyse your own Future Homes Standard design options, compare material choices, and engage your supply chain in sourcing low-carbon products.