Leading UK offsite timber frame manufacturer, Donaldson Timber Systems has introduced a range of house types to meet the increasing demand for cost-effective, sustainable, and Modern Methods of Construction (MMC) compliant housing solutions across the UK.

The Affordable Housing Range offers a carefully curated mix of 16 house types, designed to meet local housing need while maintaining delivery efficiency. The portfolio includes one, two, three and four-bedroom homes arranged in terraced, semi-detached and detached formats.

Each architect-designed house type has been developed around Donaldson Timber Systems’ Sigma II closed panel timber frame system, ensuring consistency in performance, manufacture and programme, which is backed by third party accreditations including BOPAS+, BBA and STA Gold.

As part of the ‘Smarter Inside’ approach, fabric performance is designed and built in, delivering low-energy living, long-term durability and compliance with current and future regulatory standards, including achieving the performance of the Future Homes Standard with no additional works required on site. The housing range also meets and exceeds Homes England’s minimum requirement for a Pre-Manufactured Value (PMV) of 55% using only the timber frame build system; and allows the frames to be windproof and watertight on site in one day.

The specified components are consistent, using a limited range of window sizes and uniform bathroom and WC setting-out to ensure the efficient procurement of materials from a variety of manufacturers, while reducing embodied energy usage through material optimisation and repeatability.

The homes are also land-efficient, with the width of each floorplan reduced to ensure roads, footpaths and services are minimised, and a consistent depth of floorplan, enabling seamless terracing and efficient master planning. The result is a flexible yet controlled housing portfolio that can be confidently deployed across a range of development sizes and locations.

While standardisation is key, each home incorporates individual design flexibility to factor in local need, planning context and long-term adaptability, such as identified space for future showers in ground floor bathrooms; additional kitchen storage; and space for air source heat pump hot water cylinders. This ensures Registered Providers retain control over specification and appearance, while futureproofing for simple adaptions to suit lifestyle changes or improved energy efficiency.

The house range is supported with a suite of information, including architectural drawings and schedules, Revit files and embodied carbon calculations and a PMV assessment.

The housing range is previewing to select affordable housing providers and local councils.

John Smith, Technical Director at Donaldson Timber Systems said: “This housing range has been specifically developed to respond to the pressures facing the affordable housing sector; delivering more affordable homes, faster and at lower cost, without compromising on quality, performance or compliance.

“Offsite timber frame construction is uniquely positioned to respond to this challenge. By moving elements of the build process into a controlled manufacturing environment, we reduce on-site labour requirements, improve quality consistency and accelerate programme delivery, while exceeding required performance standards and delivering quality homes that people want to live in. The result is a smarter delivery model that helps affordable housing providers build more homes, more efficiently, with greater confidence in cost, compliance, suitability and long-term performance.”

With over 50 years of offsite timber frame expertise, Donaldson Timber Systems offers unrivalled experience and knowledge in offsite construction, operating from a network of manufacturing and technical centres across the UK.

https://www.donaldsontimbersystems.com/

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The New Kingsland development in Henbury, Bristol, demonstrates how thoughtful design innovation and timber technology can transform challenging brownfield sites into exemplary social housing that meets local planning constraints and ambitious climate targets.

Delivered by main contractor Stepnell for Bristol City Council, utilising Donaldson Timber Systems’ award-winning closed panel build system, Sigma® II, the 16-home scheme sets a benchmark for sustainable construction in the social housing sector.

Sigma® II

Timber frame was specified from the outset due to its speed of construction and ability to achieve Building Regulation changes. During the project, the design team discovered that thanks to its highly innovative MMC technology, Sigma® II could meet all required performance standards without any additional complexities.

Sigma® II can deliver near-Passivhaus standards of performance and sustainability, which assists with fuel poverty challenges – a vital factor for the whole-life costs and fabric performance of the home.

The thermal performance enhancement at New Kingsland was particularly significant, with the timber build system achieving a 0.15 U-value through the external wall – a substantial improvement over the original masonry specification – improving the thermal performance of the homes.

All 16 homes, comprising 10 houses and six cottage flats, were designed with a fabric first approach using Sigma® II. This build system was particularly attractive to the client as it has achieved a range of independent, audited third-party accreditations, including BOPAS Plus, BBA, NHBC Accepts, and STA Gold Assure, delivering the confidence that it is durable and complies with building regulations and technical standards.

Choosing timber also offered embodied carbon benefits, aligning directly with Bristol City Council’s climate strategy objectives for a carbon-neutral, climate-resilient development.

Construction efficiency gains were equally impressive. Using a timber build system reduced the overall build programme by five weeks compared to the masonry option. This shorter build duration was of particular importance as the New Kingsland site was surrounded by occupied houses, so it vastly reduced the impact of the construction on the neighbours.

Beyond performance and sustainability benefits, using Sigma® II also streamlined the construction process by reducing the number of trade interfaces, lowering the risk of delays and quality issues.

Striking design

The site for this project was a small brownfield site in an attractive existing residential neighbourhood. The challenge was how to maximise accommodation on the site while providing a development that is sensitive to its location.

Using rectangular house designs on a site with a curved frontage was leading to inefficiencies and failing to make the most of the space available. The architects overcame this challenge by developing a new house design where each house is wedge-shaped in plan. This allowed the houses to fit together to form a continuous crescent.

The curved terrace reduces wasted space between buildings and provides a form that is thermally efficient with less energy loss through the walls. The result is also an attractive and striking addition to the area.

The New Kingsland project showcases the benefit of utilising offsite timber build systems. Donaldson Timber Systems was able to create bespoke frames to suit the unusual house design, while delivering superior levels of fabric performance, low u-values and speed of construction.

The result exceeded client expectations, meeting all objectives in terms of design, speed and performance. The success of the project has resulted in five more projects for Donaldson Timber Systems with Stepnell and Bristol City Council, while leaving a positive legacy in Henbury.

Tom Russell, Director at Emmett Russell Architects, was impressed by the transformational impact of the Sigma® II system. He said: “We have worked with Donaldson Timber Systems on two projects to deliver complex social housing projects.

“It has been a revelation working with the team at Donaldson Timber Systems using the Sigma II closed panel system. The system provides enhanced levels of thermal and air tightness performance, along with the reassurance of comprehensive third-party accreditation. The technical support provided by Donaldsons has been exceptional with real design rigour and attention to detail at each stage of the process.”

The New Kingsland project establishes a template for addressing multiple concurrent challenges facing the social housing sector: achieving net-zero performance standards, controlling construction costs and programmes, and delivering positive community outcomes.

For an industry grappling with housing delivery targets, climate obligations, and cost pressures, these challenges need not be mutually exclusive.

For more information click here.

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The journey to Net Zero is underway, but using current standards, new buildings may never achieve true zero carbon. Donaldson Timber Systems Technical Director, John Smith, explains.

While it sounds complex, the message is simple: without measuring and reducing the cradle to grave impact of a build, there is a very real risk that buildings constructed to new standards in 2026 and beyond won’t achieve true zero carbon.

On the face of things, it seems that the journey to Net Zero Carbon homes is progressing, with the first Building Regulation changes already in effect as we work towards the Future Homes Standard (FHS). From 2025, newly built homes need to be ‘zero carbon ready’, with a 75% reduction in carbon emissions to 2021 levels in England and Wales.

While this is a much-needed step in the right direction, more clarity is required on what it means to be carbon neutral. The new standards focus on reducing operational carbon, failing to recognise the impact of embodied carbon.

The reality of embodied carbon
Embodied carbon is the total greenhouse gas emissions generated during the construction and demolition phase. It is calculated in two separate elements: from raw material extraction through to construction of the building on site, including fuel and power for transport, factories and plant; and end-of-life emissions from demolition, transport from site and recycling / landfill.

In a new home completed to 2021 standards, embodied carbon is around 15- 20% of the whole life emissions, with the rest from operation carbon (energy required for heating, lighting and hot water). With a target to reduce emissions by 75% through operational carbon reductions, the embodied carbon becomes much more significant. By 2025, it will be over 40% of whole life carbon for a new-build, and over 60% by 2030.

Despite this, embodied carbon emissions are currently unregulated in the UK construction industry, with only voluntary measurement and mitigation required. The UK is lagging behind in this area. The Netherlands and Sweden already have mandatory embodied carbon requirements for all new buildings, with Denmark and Finland following suit. In France, embodied carbon in housebuilding has been regulated since 2022. This regulation addresses the entire life cycle of buildings and requires developers to measure both operational and embodied carbon. To comply, developers must perform Life Cycle Assessments (LCA), which evaluate environmental impacts from raw material extraction through to demolition or reuse.

Measure and reduce
As demonstrated elsewhere in Europe, the only way to achieve zero carbon is to measure and reduce the whole-life carbon of buildings. The availability of environmental product declarations (EPDs) is an important step in recognising this.

An EPD communicates the environmental performance of a product over its lifetime, making it possible to compare the impacts of different materials and products accurately and allowing customers to select the most sustainable option.

We’re investing in this process for all our products and were proud to become the first timber frame manufacturer to offer a published EPD for an off-site assembled timber frame wall panel. We always champion the use of offsite timber frame as the best way to achieve sustainable building practices, but a verified EPD proves these claims.

Time for timber
When we factor embodied carbon into the zero-carbon journey, timber comes into its own. Life cycle studies of timber frame homes show that they significantly outperform alternatives – saving around 40% of emissions in comparison to concrete and 30% compared to steel. Timber frame homes are more sustainable during the build, when in use and throughout its lifetime. Timber can also lower or offset its embodied carbon thanks to sequestration, absorbing one tonne of CO2 in every mÑ while the tree is growing and storing it until the timber is incinerated or goes to landfill.

Timber frame offers a safe, reliable, technical solution – homes have been built this way across the UK for years and we know that it works. At DTS, we have been working with our partners in the UK housebuilding market for almost 50 years. Our Sigma® II closed panel solution achieves FHS from the factory, with no additional works required on site, as well as very low levels of embodied carbon. Sigma® II has achieved a range of third-party approvals, including BOPAS Plus, BBA, NHBC Accepts and STA Gold Assure, delivering the confidence that it is durable and complies with building regulations and technical standards.

In missing embodied carbon, FHS has a major flaw. It aims for homes to be ‘zerocarbon ready with no further work needed’, yet by using these incomplete measurements, the carbon in the fabric will not be offset by even the greenest energy without improvements to the insulation and air-tightness.

With the Government committing to building 1.5 million homes in the coming years, embodied carbon must be legislated, or we’ll never achieve true zero carbon homes.

More information on Donaldson Timber Systems

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Leading UK offsite frame manufacturer, Donaldson Timber Systems (DTS), has become the first timber frame manufacturer to offer a published, third party accredited environmental product declaration (EPD) for its product, proving its sustainability credentials.

As part of a process to cover the full DTS product range, the DTS Alpha system is the first off-site assembled timber frame wall panel in the UK to offer an approved EPD.

The EPD, which transparently communicates the environmental performance of a product over its lifetime, demonstrates the benefits building with timber can bring. The Global Warming Potential (GWP) of Alpha is a carbon positive, –1.53kg CO2e, meaning that 1.53kg of carbon is stored in every m² of Alpha external wall. For a typical four bed detached home built using Alpha, 250kg of carbon is stored in the timber frame elements of the external walls alone, not including the timber floors and roof trusses.

This product life-cycle assessment supports carbon emission reduction by making it possible to compare the impacts of different materials and products accurately, allowing customers to select the most sustainable option. In comparison to the Alpha wall panel, according to the EPD produced by the Concrete Block Association (CBA), the cradle-to-grave GWP impact of 1m ² of aggregate concrete blocks is 10.6 kg CO2e. So, for the same standard four bed detached home, 4000kg of carbon is released into the atmosphere.

Based on these figures, if the UK were to build the new Government target of 300,000 homes per year in timber frame as opposed to concrete, it would reduce annual carbon emissions by over one million metric tonnes – the equivalent of the fossil fuel generated electricity needed to run 500,000 homes for a year.

Valid for five years, the EPD is based on current available and published data for end-of-life assumptions. With advances in the industry over the next five years, along with improved building recycling processes and ongoing DTS investments – such as the recent PV panel installation in the factory at Witney – it is expected that performance will be even higher at the next review.

Alpha is the first of 16 base EPDs being worked on by DTS, covering the full product range of floor, wall and roof systems.

Open Panel timber frame is currently the most common timber frame build system in the UK, providing the structural inner leaf walls for buildings using a timber studwork factory formed into panels with structural sheathing and exterior breather membrane.

The DTS Alpha system is a cost-effective solution, offering an efficient and effective build method. Fully tested and technically supported and having been used for 50 years in the UK, this build system is often chosen by clients for their first project utilising an offsite build method.

John Smith, Technical Director at Donaldson Timber Systems, explains:
“The only way to achieve the UK target to be zero-carbon by 2050 is to firstly measure, and then reduce the whole-life carbon of buildings, from cradle to grave. The availability of EPDs is an important step in recognising this. Without measuring and reducing embodied carbon, there is a very real risk that the new buildings constructed to new standards in 2026 and beyond won’t achieve true zero carbon, as the embodied carbon in the fabric will never be offset by using even the greenest energy to run the home. This is something we feel strongly about, and one of the reasons we’re investing in this process for all DTS products.”

Alex Goodfellow, CEO of Donaldson Offsite added:
“We always champion the use of offsite timber frame construction as the best way to achieve sustainable building practices and meet net zero targets, so it’s fantastic to have a verified EPD to prove these claims. We’re seeing increasing numbers of customers asking for EPDs, as they look to meet carbon goals, and need to be able to prove that the products they specify are making a difference.

“We’re proud to be leading the industry with proof that timber frame is a carbon sink, and we’re already working on improvements to show further benefits when we review the EPD in five years’ time.”

As part of the Donaldson Group’s Offsite division, DTS prides itself on being highly sustainable, innovative and efficient. With unrivalled experience and knowledge in offsite construction, DTS has an established history of bringing new commercial and operational innovations to the market.

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