While wood has long been used as a construction material, the benefits of using wood as the primary material in the construction of certain types of buildings is increasingly being recognized as a more sustainable building option.

Because carbon stays locked in wood products such as lumber, wood frame buildings continue to serve as carbon stores long after the wood used in their construction has left the forest.^[26][27] What’s more, mass timber construction can reduce carbon pollution during construction by up to 45%. And mass timber buildings also require less energy to heat and cool long-term.

By building our schools, hospitals, seniors’ residences, and city centres with wood, we can bring some of the carbon captured in our forests to our cities, helping to create the carbon storage we need in the communities where we live.^[16][17]