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Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to determine whether timber or concrete is the better building material for constructing a house. The assessment is based on structural performance, carbon emissions, and energy performance. The results can assist engineers and municipalities in making decisions regarding the optimal material. Method: The methods applied were computational analysis and simulation. Computations were carried out using a dimensioning strategy for each building element, showcasing step-by-step calculations in accordance with Eurocode and ensuring stability and capacity. The resulting optimal material volumes were multiplied by a carbon dioxide emission factor to determine the emissions for each material in kg. MATLAB was used to conduct structural analysis, while IDA ICE was used to analyze the energy performance after the optimized dimensions had been determined with respect to the requirements for load-bearing capacity and stability. The material input for walls, roofs, and floors in IDA ICE was based on assumptions to estimate energy performance. Results: The results indicate that timber is the more suitable material compared to concrete, regarding energy performance, carbon dioxide emissions, environmental impact, and meeting the required bearing capacity and stability while simultaneously using less material. Conclusion: Timber has been found to be a significantly better material for building in terms of reducing environmental impact than concrete. It is also found to have a stronger capacity. A hypothetical scenario was additionally conducted in which the volume of timber material use was increased by 40%. The findings show that even with the 40% increase, concrete still has much higher carbon dioxide emissions. This finding supports the need for timber to be implemented more into today’s society as a construction material to reduce the environmental impact.

Keywords: concrete, timber, energy performance, IDA ICE, MATLAB, global warming, utilization ratio, carbon dioxide emission