Timber Structures Sustainability

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Objective

The paper aims at evaluating and assessing the sustainability of timber structure. Timber is considered to be the only renewable resource that has been used in construction sector because it encloses comparatively less embodied energy than other building materials. The evaluation will ensure the sustainability of timber structure in construction and in designing buildings. The structural engineers are facing many challenges for achieving global and environmental sustainability. The engineers have become extremely cautious while handling the environmental and economic sustainability of the structural design. Thus, engineers are required to focus on the sustainability engineering in order to attain the goals of sustainability in designing durable and efficient structures for buildings. This paper will help in identifying the importance of timber structures in sustainability.

Introduction

In the current century, the structural engineers are facing many challenges regarding to the environmental and global sustainability. The engineers are therefore required to be cautious while handling the environmental and economic sustainability in their proposed structural designs. The engineers are required to implement appropriate solutions in order to provide sustainable structural designs (Ochsendorf, 2005).

Recent developments in the world signifies that global warming is taking place and human activity is the main contributing factor which involves the consumption of increasing levels of green house gases like carbon dioxide in the atmosphere (Douglas Wood & Associates, INC., 2007). The population of the world is overshooting the capacity of the world which is contributing in the increment in global warming due to the ever increasing emission of green house gases. One planet will be insufficient if we continue to live in this way (Douglas Wood & Associates, INC., 2007). Several studies observed that the energy costs are consistently increasing as well as there is also the escalating instability in the transportation, refining of petroleum and production. For several building developers, owners, design professionals, owners and contractors, these developments have caused greater interest in achieving the objectives of such structural designs that are sustainable (Douglas Wood & Associates, INC., 2007). This has been found that operation, disposal and construction of buildings contribute to around 40-43 percent of the overall energy consumption of the world. Without any doubt, the effects of building construction and design on the global and local environment can never be overlooked or ignored. Changes in construction and design are inevitable and these changes provide required and demanding designs in construction (Douglas Wood & Associates, INC., 2007). The GSA of federal government requires sustainable structural designs for buildings. Many building owners such as institutions, government, homeowners and corporation are focusing on the use of sustainable designs. Sustainable design buildings are much more precious as compared to standard buildings. Sustainable designs play an effective role in reducing energy consumption to a great extent (Douglas Wood & Associates, INC., 2007).

The modelling of structures has an adverse environmental effect that consequently threatens the health and welfare of the public. Because of this, several measures are required to be established so as to curtail the consequences of ...