An analytical study of an energy-based approach to damping of a clamped timber column in free vibration under axial, lateral and torsional loading conditions was conducted. Backed by experiments it was confirmed that an energy-based approach, as proposed by Sánchez Gómez (2018), could describe the energy dissipation in a laterally vibrating timber column. With the help of an energy balance equation, the energy flow in a timber column was formulated including any energy dissipated during vibration. It was found that the energy in the system could be approximated by an exponential function for which a new dissipation constant E_D (s-1) was introduced. For lateral vibrating columns of Norway spruce, typical values of E_D were 0.4 - 0.6 s-1. Furthermore, a case study on a timber high-rise building demonstrated
that damping has a significant influence on reducing peak accelerations which, in turn, could potentially lead to lowered costs. This largely untapped design lever warrants significant research and design improvement for these timber high-rise structures and, hence, several recommendations for follow-up research are offered.