Planet Arks recently released report, Wood – Nature Inspired Design coincides with the celebration of World Wood Day and International Day of the Forests. The report outlines the importance of connecting buildings with the natural world and how with using wood we can bring nature indoors and provide a healthier, happier environment.
Over recent years there has been an increasing recognition of the benefits that humans gain from contact with trees and nature. Modern society has changed its relationship with nature. In the space of a single generation, children’s play has moved from outdoors to indoors, the iconic backyard has shrunk. So understanding how to incorporate the physiological and psychological benefits of nature into our indoor environments is an increasingly important area of research.
These benefits are particularly important for environments where it is difficult to incorporate nature indoors, such as hospitals, where strict health and safety guidelines may prevent the presence of plants, and office environments where views from the window are of roads and neighboring concrete buildings.
Responsibly sourced FSC certified timber means healthy forests for healthy communities. However Planet Arks report further highlights how responsibly sourced timber has clear benefits beyond the supply chain.
Multiple physiological and psychological benefits have been identified for wooden interiors, including:
• Improvements to a person’s emotional state and level of self-expression
• Reduced blood pressure, heart rate and stress levels
• Improved air quality through humidity moderation
Timber is the only major building material that helps to tackle climate change due to benefits including:
• Its use as a long-term store of carbon.
• Being the only renewable building material currently available.
• The embodied energy consumed in the production of timber is much lower than other building materials.
Wood is one of the oldest and most versatile building materials used by humanity, but now more than ever it has a large part to play in the design and construction of healthy buildings for us to live, work, learn and recover in.
By using more responsibly sourced wood in the built environment we can see significant advances on multiple fronts for healthy interiors, for lower carbon footprints and for healthy forests supporting healthy communities.
View the full report here.