During the year 2023, 37% of all global greenhouse gas emissions were released by the building and construction industry. However, conventional construction materials—such as steel and concrete—were accountable for 11% of all CO2 emissions in 2022. Therefore, it can be proposed that there should be a change toward more climate friendly construction materials, such as cross-laminated timber (CLT). In this paper, the material impact of a seven-story building made out of CLT was compared to that of a concrete alternative. It was found that a building using CLT in its load-bearing structure had a lower global warming potential and fossil fuel depletion potential, but a larger land use potential than a concrete reference building. However, the land use potential of a CLT building can drastically decrease if circular strategies, such as reuse of CLT panels, are applied. While increasing CLT production lowers the impact of the building sector in the long run, an argument can be made that it is more beneficial to not harvest forests in order to maximize short-term carbon capture.