This page applies the Using Wood Well metrics to a whole building. The two metrics are Wood Use Intensity (WUI) and Use Renewal Rate (URR). WUI is the amount of wood used for each square metre of floor. URR compares how long the wood stays in use with how long it took to grow. We cover the same parts of the building as a Whole Life Carbon Assessment (WLCA), a study of a building's carbon over its whole life. This shows that a UWW assessment can sit alongside a WLCA and use the same building data. The two give different information. The LCA measures carbon impact. UWW measures how efficiently materials are used and how well they can be reused.
The Black & White Building is often held up as a model because of its LCA and carbon results. Looking at it with the Using Wood Well metrics adds useful detail. Some of its parts have short lives. The separating layers, for example, are replaced every 20 to 60 years. They are still mostly not bio-based, which means not made from plants or other living things. The parts that last longest, the structural elements, are mostly timber. This points to a chance for the industry. Renewable, bio-based products could be used in the short-life parts of a building, and not only in the main structure.
Project Description
This office building looks simple, but it is very innovative. It is built fully from engineered timber, which is wood made by bonding layers or pieces together. Its embodied carbon is only 410 kgCO2e/m² for stages A1–A5. Embodied carbon is the carbon given off in making materials and building the structure. The design keeps material use as low as it can be. Every part is as efficient as possible, with nothing extra. The building gives companies flexible, shared workspace. It is modest, but it matters. It is the tallest engineered timber office building in central London.
The structure mixes two products. The frame is beech LVL (laminated veneer lumber, made from thin layers of wood glued together). The slabs and core are CLT (cross-laminated timber, made from boards glued in crossing layers). Together they give large, open workspaces. No internal walls carry load. The MEP (mechanical, electrical and plumbing services) is planned with care so that it is not in the way. This makes the layout easy to change when needs change. The design shows each part for what it is, with no needless decoration. The building looks good because of the natural qualities of each layer and material.
The timber structure sits behind a glass curtain wall, which is a glass outer wall hung on the frame. A second skin of vertical timber louvres (slats) shades the building from the sun. A computer model tests how the sun moves across the façade, which is the outside face of the building. The results set the layout and shape of the louvres. This shows how timber and modern digital analysis of environmental performance can make a truly 21st-century building.
More information at waughthistleton.com →
Building Data
WUI & URR Results
Further UWW Data
The building's timber volume can be split up further. One split is by structural layer: Substructure, Structure, Skin and Separation. The other is by bio-based and non-bio-based content. This is the same data used to work out WUI and URR above.
Carbon Performance
A life cycle assessment (LCA) looks at the environmental impact of every stage of a building's life. That covers the raw materials and energy used to make it, building it, using it, looking after it, and getting rid of it at the end. Waugh Thistleton Architects published a full LCA for The Black & White Building in March 2024. The main results are below.
“The Black & White Building is a major step forward for the development and construction industry.” RIBA Journal
LETI A rating (under 350 kgCO2e/m²). This is 43% better than the London Plan Guidance benchmark of 600 kgCO2e/m².
LETI A rating (under 750 kgCO2e/m², not counting stored carbon). This beats the 2030 RIBA target for stages A–C of under 750 kgCO2e/m².
1,035 tCO2e is sequestered, which means stored, in the building's materials. This equals 67% of the upfront embodied carbon.
The building comfortably meets the RIBA 2030 target of under 55 kWh/m²/yr. Solar panels on site (PV) give a further 20 kWh/m²/yr.