The IMPACTT Project: Bridging the gap between construction and forestry
The IMPACTT project (Innovative Mapping and Processes to Advance Construction Timber Transparency) aims to promote the use of timber, while bridging the gap between construction and forestry.
The initiative, funded by Built By Nature and led by the Alliance for Sustainable Building Products (ASBP), set out to challenge misconceptions and debunk myths surrounding the environmental impact of sourcing timber products. The IMPACTT project focused on two key areas; (1) identifying and examining knowledge gaps about sustainable forest management, and timber selection as a building material, and (2) mapping timber supply chains to show traceability, integrate biodiversity data, and show the path of timber from forest to end-use.
The timber supply chains of ten projects in the UK, the Netherlands, and Belgium were mapped, including our project at Alder Hey Children’s Hospital in Liverpool, UK. These journeys are presented as interactive Supply Chain Maps.
Generous, daylight-filled circulation routes and the use of natural materials in Sunflower House replace the long, narrow stress-inducing corridors of traditional hospitals.
The Catkin Centre and Sunflower House provides specialist children’s mental health outpatient and inpatient facilities at Alder Hey Children’s Hospital. It pioneers a new approach to clinical buildings by connecting to the natural world. Timber plays a key role in the design of these buildings, showcasing and utilising its natural and biophilic properties to create a calming environment that fosters healing and wellbeing in the children that are being treated. The use of timber also significantly reduced the buildings’ embodied carbon footprint when compared to other building materials.
Beyond mapping, IMPACTT aims to influence certification schemes, like PEFC (Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification), to integrate carbon and biodiversity data into future standards.
Along with ASBP, project partners included PEFC UK, Double Helix Tracking Technologies, Woodknowledge Wales, Agrodome, Stora Enso, Eurban, Timber Development UK, and CEI-Bois.
The IMPACTT report, which can be downloaded from the ASBP website, highlights several clear ways on how the construction industry can approach wider communication surrounding timber sourcing, including encouraging sustainable practices, smarter decision-making, stronger policies, and public engagement.