Build the Future Now: why early decisions in timber construction matter

Start early to feel the benefits. It’s a mantra you hear at most conferences, but at Urban Future in Ljubljana last week it became the unofficial headline – because early interventions seemed to shape everything: the programme, the people, and the buildings we discussed. 

©Kristjan Kuzmanoski

The sustainable cities conference itself began earlier than anyone planned. A potential election clash prompted a move from May to March, sending 1,800 delegates — from cities, developers, and architecture firms across Europe — to the foothills of the Alps with winter coats and early Spring in their steps. 

Slovenia is currently in the middle of a timber revolution, driven by progressive public procurement policies that have delivered a fivefold increase in timber construction in just ten years. No surprise, then, that the country’s Ministry of the Economy, Tourism and Sport – Wood Industry Directorate pushed hard for a dedicated session on Building with Wood. 

Chaired by Built by Nature Germany network lead Paul Bostangolo and featuring Kirsten Haggart from BbN Frontrunner Waugh Thistleton Architects, the session explored how starting early with structural timber decisions yields longterm benefits for investors, contractors and tenants alike. 

©Dagmara Hendzlik

Perceptions of timber buildings often centre on financing hurdles, construction risk or a supposed shortage of skills. Yet the design phase alone determines 60–70% of a building’s environmental impact, including its embodied carbon. Making early, precise decisions unlocks cost savings, reduces risk and enhances wellbeing. 

Modular timber frame construction brings speed, cleaner sites and dramatically fewer people on the ground. Kirsten Haggart highlighted the BbN Prize–winning Black and White Building — London’s tallest mass timber office building — which required only five people on site during assembly. A striking illustration of the efficiency and simplicity of CLT and advanced timber systems. 

But the benefits of timber continue long after a building opens. Three of the four panellists – representing Austria, Slovenia and the UK – described how their governments increasingly specify timber frame schools because they improve attendance, mood and even grades. When it comes to children, the barriers to adopting sustainable building materials suddenly seem far easier to overcome. 

The wellbeing dimension is becoming harder to ignore. A recent study by BbN Frontrunner dRMM, with Edinburgh Napier University and the Quality of Life Foundation, demonstrated that mass timber buildings not only cut carbon but actively enhance occupant wellbeing across multiple real world projects. 

Across Europe a clear trend is emerging: governments are using policy, incentives and regulation to accelerate sustainable construction with timber and biobased materials. Nearly a dozen EU countries now have interventions ranging from legal mandates to tax incentives and carbonbased planning conditions. 

France requires biobased materials in all new public buildings, targeting 50% by 2030. Germany is pairing simplified regulations with funding incentives. And in the Amsterdam Metropolitan Region, more than 100 companies and municipalities have recently recommitted to the Timber Construction Covenant, committing to wood as the primary structure in at least 20% of new homes. 

It’s a strong start. But a strong start only matters if it leads somewhere. The message from Ljubljana was simple: the benefits of building with timber — for climate, for nature, for the people inside those buildings — go to those who lead early.