Timber has been rediscovered as the building material of choice in recent years, especially in industrialised countries, with the shift of focus on attitudes towards sustainability that include use of natural resources and reduction of COÂ 2 emissions in manufacturing building materials. The environmental qualities of wood (energy-efficiency, healphy building material, ability to be recycled) are matched by few materials used in constructions nowadays, makeing it suitable for a wide range of applications. The combustibility of wood is limiting its use in construction, an important weakness in terms of sustainability, as health and cost issues constitute essential conditions in sustainability assessment methods. Arguably, fire safety constitutes the foremost precondition in choosing wood as the building material. In the case of fire, wood burns on the surface, releases energy and contributes to the fire propagation and spread of smoke. In order to insure greater safety for timber constructions, both passive and active measures of fire protection can be implemented, with the main objectives of improving the security of occupants, limitations of financial loss, protection of the environment in the case of fire. Despite the fear of using wood, the material has a better behavior in terms of fire than assumed, and even with structures more susceptible at fire risks, such as platform framing, measures can be taken in order to improve safety, as further explained in the article. The article analyses the concept of sustainability and the extent to which timber constructions observe these criteria, focusing on the means of increasing safety by fire protection methods with respect to the environment.
Microstructure‐related modeling of timber constructions