There is no other construction material that comes near timber in its potential to produce environmental benefit. The use of timber, from whatever source, is always good environmentally because both in growth, and in use, timber is a carbon sink and the more we use of it, the better. The visual merits of American hardwoods, with their attractive colour and grain patterns, have long excited the imaginations of architects and give great aesthetic effect in large and small building projects. A greater shift towards wood solutions in the built environment, coupled with a growing interest in temperate hardwood species, is fuelling a desire amongst specifiers to combine structural performance with aesthetic design.