Sustainable building and resource efficiency with wood

As the construction sector continues consuming globally around one third of the planet's already limited resources, the shift to more sustainable building and closed material loops becomes increasingly necessary. Within the building materials sector, the production of steel and aluminium alone require around 51% and concrete production around 17% of the energy for producing all building materials globally.

“We need a shift from unsustainable consumption patterns without delay. Increasing the use of sustainably sourced wood in construction is a much-needed step in the right direction. Wood is currently the only renewable building material that we can create load bearing structures from. As a co-benefit, non-renewable raw materials such as steel and cement, can be saved or used for more value-added purposes. Furthermore, studies have shown that our forest management has potential to increase its biodiversity while still creating biomass for the industry, storing CO2 and producing oxygen. Therefore, wood is currently the only full range building material that has the potential to become truly sustainable and probably the best answer for solving emission problems in the construction industries,” says architect Kristoffer Tejlgaard from Atelier Kristoffer Tejlgaard in Denmark.

The natural cycle of wood

The natural cycle of wood begins with capturing needed ingredients, such as carbon, oxygen and hydrogen from the atmosphere and water. The cycle continues when wood is released to soil during decomposition or back to atmosphere when burned for carbon neutral bioenergy. The life cycle of an engineered wood product – Kerto® LVL (Laminated Veneer Lumber) – expresses how one can play along with nature and lend the material for a long-term use from this never-ending cycle.

“From each cubic metre of timber logs, most is used to produce Kerto LVL. All the remaining fractions, such as saw-dust and chips, are used primarily for pulp and secondary bioenergy production. After serving as a wooden product in a building, the wood can be recycled into new wooden or hybrid products or for producing bioenergy,” Matti Kuittinen, architect and researcher from Aalto University, Finland, points out.

Wood buildings are material efficient

Increasing the use of wood brings several improvements to the resource efficiency of a building. One of the inherent material properties of wood is good weight-to-strength ratio. With the highest strength qualities, wood is so light that buildings can be built with less sturdy foundations, which in turn require less piling, construction materials and time.

Replacing other frame materials with wood could improve material efficiency of a building considerably. This taken into account, wood should always be considered as a true alternative in everything from structures to exteriors.

In fact, according to recent studies, timber framed building is the most material efficient alternative, followed by light-gauge steel frame.

More efficient construction chain

The material efficiency of wood and its benefits are present along the whole production and construction chain.

“The emissions created by manufacturing and transportation are smaller, and less energy is required for lifting the components at the building site. The ease and flexibility of working with wood in the assembly line, and the lightness of the material, makes wood the perfect choice for highly prefabricated elements or modules that are delivered and assembled at the building site. The high degree of prefabrication reduces building and assembly time, and it enables weatherproof building fast – which is perfect for Scandinavia’s shifting, wet and unstable climate. Time, money as well as the environment is saved,” says CEO Ruben Dahl Hansen from Arca Nova Bolig AS in Norway.

Quick facts

• ​To sustain our current consumption patterns, a carrying capacity of 1.6 planets Earths would be needed.
• Construction sector consumes around 1/3 of the planet's resources.
• Steel and aluminium production require around 51%, and concrete around 17% of the energy used for producing all building material globally.
• Wood is light and strong – hence with the highest technical features, less construction work and material as well as transportation is needed, which turns into cost savings.