Timber talked up as Town Hall planners discuss importance of building materials in reducing carbon emissions

The choice of materials can be key in making a building greener, from the moment the first spade goes into the ground until it is demolished, Hackney’s planning team revealed.

Over the last year, since the latest local plan was agreed, the team has secured an expected £4.4m for a carbon offset fund which is paid into by developers who cannot meet all the targets to make their buildings carbon neutral.

The money is paid once development is under way and the fund currently totals £1.3m.

This includes £250,000 for a solar pilot leisure centre project and a further £400,000 for the council’s green homes programme.

Aled Richards, Hackney’s strategic manager for sustainability and public realm, said materials such as wood need fewer delivery vehicles to get them on site compared to others, such as cement.

He said residents are really keen to make the borough greener and play a part in tackling the climate emergency.

Green policies are built into the local plan and will have an important role as communities grapple with the twin needs of facing up to the climate crisis and building new homes.

Construction accounts for 10 per cent of carbon emissions and Hackney, along with other local authorities, has ambitious plans to become carbon neutral by 2020.

It also has a target to build 1,330 new homes a year.

Planning manager Katie Glasgow told the Living in Hackney scrutiny meeting that the team talks to architects before any plans are submitted to help them understand the green targets.

She said iconic green buildings can inspire developers: “There’s a real opportunity to inspire a generation about what we can achieve.”

She explained that a building’s carbon impact is assessed for its “whole life”, from materials and construction to demolition and disposal.

Cllr Vincent Stops said timber could also help cut the carbon footprint of new buildings.

In 2012, the council adopted a policy to encourage the use of timber.

Cllr Stops said Hackney has 24 of the largest timber-constructed buildings and the first timber office constructed since the Great Fire of London  of 1666.

He explained these can be built up to ten storeys high and could hold carbon for 60 years.

Projects include Mossbourne Community Academy and Ed’s Shed, designed by award-winning architect David Adjaye in De Beauvoir.

A winner of the Hackney Design Awards 2020 was a retrofitted building, Three Rooms Under a Roof, which used recycleable timber.