This section of the website explores the use of timber in construction.

Topics covered include:

  • Developments and good practice
  • Use as a structural material
  • Climate impact, carbon emissions and sustainable design

Resources and events

Course

Timber workshop: design through worked examples - October 2027

Timber workshop: design through worked examples - October 2027

This advanced practical workshop teachs complex timber engineering through worked examples. It encourages problem-solving through teaching tools and group discussion.
Date – 6 October 2027
Location – Online
Price – £330 - £485 + VAT
Course
Amesbury School detail, wooden structure

Eurocode 5: the essentials of timber design - October 2027

Eurocode 5: the essentials of timber design - October 2027

This one-day, online course offers an introduction to timber design to Eurocode 5.
Date – 5 October 2027
Location – Online
Price – £315 - £465 + VAT
Course
Metal fastening systems for wooden products

Eurocode 5: connections and advanced topics in timber design - June 2027

Eurocode 5: connections and advanced topics in timber design - June 2027

This course introduces timber connections in detail and several other advanced topics in timber design to Eurocode 5.
Date – 23 June 2027
Location – Online
Price – £315 - £465 + VAT
Course
Amesbury School detail, wooden structure

Eurocode 5: the essentials of timber design - June 2027

Eurocode 5: the essentials of timber design - June 2027

This one-day, online course offers an introduction to timber design to Eurocode 5.
Date – 22 June 2027
Location – Online
Price – £315 - £465 + VAT
A construction worker in a hard hat and high-vis vest uses a tape measure on a wooden wall frame.

Strengthening the UK economy and supply chains: why C16 timber is the right choice

Strengthening the UK economy and supply chains: why C16 timber is the right choice

Join this sponsored event by Trust UK C16 Timber to learn how C24 timber is often overspecified and challenging for UK supply chains.
Date – 25 November 2026
Location – 47-58 Bastwick St, London, EC1V 3PS
Price – Free
Conference
An elevated seating area in a glass roofed atrium. The atrium joins two buildings.

Sustainable Structures of the Future

Sustainable Structures of the Future

Discover how leading engineers from the UK and North America are turning low-carbon ambition into practical reality through material innovation, digital technology, embodied carbon reduction, retrofit and reuse.
Date – 5 November 2026
Location – IStructE London HQ, EC1V 3PS and online
Price – £25 - £325 + VAT
The Structural Engineer
A woman wearing headphones descends wooden stairs inside a modern building with glass railings and slatted wood ceilings.

How Canada's performance-based design culture helped shape three decades of timber engineering

How Canada's performance-based design culture helped shape three decades of timber engineering

A regulatory framework that supports innovation backed by demonstrable analysis and testing has enabled Canada to pioneer new approaches to timber design, explains Eric Karsh while also comparing the Canadian experience with approaches in other countries.
Date – 1 October 2026
Author – Eric Karsh
Price – £9.95
The Structural Engineer
An aerial view shows a logging truck driving along a road flanked by a lake and autumn-colored forests.

C16 timber: supporting a transition to more sustainable timber specification in the UK

C16 timber: supporting a transition to more sustainable timber specification in the UK

This feature explores the grading, specifications and properties of C16 timber in the UK.
Date – 2 July 2026
Author – Trust UK C16 Timber
Price – £0
Blog
A construction worker in a hard hat and high-vis vest uses a tape measure on a wooden wall frame.

C16 v C24: when to use UK-graded timber

C16 v C24: when to use UK-graded timber

Despite the UK having a world-class sawmilling industry, it is the second-largest net importer of forest products globally, with 80% – worth £9 billion – of its requirements imported annually. This over-reliance on imported timber not only weakens our domestic industry, but also undermines environmental progress, contributes to unnecessary carbon emissions, and reduces the potential for job creation.
Date – 25 June 2026

Featured events and resources

Guidance
Blue abstract blocks

Timber and sustainability

Timber and sustainability

This article discusses timbers and carbon, availability and end-of-life issues.
Date – 18 June 2020
Author – Sustainability Panel
Price – Free