📋 Tender Overview
New technologies are further enhancing the use cases for an already versatile building material timber. With the number of wooden buildings around the world on the rise we take stock of why the construction sector is betting on timber and other wood products to build truly sustainable buildings.This autumn as the university term begins in the Finnish city of Joensuu students are returning from summer holidays and moving into newly built student accommodation. Their new home the 14-storey high Lighthouse is now the countrys tallest wooden multi-story building and the fourth highest in the world.Unlike other timber buildings such as Mjstrnet in Norway and Brock Commons in Canada the Lighthouse is in a league of its own as it has a supporting structure that is solely made of timber.Building with wood requires simultaneous restraint and imagination in addition to a knack for working around red tape says Samuli Sallinen CEO at the architecture firm Arcadia which is behind the Lighthouse project.is unsustainable the reality is that it requires fewer fossil fuels to produce and can effectively sequester carbon for years. Timber buildings can if built correctly retain more carbon than what is released in the atmosphere throughout the process of planning transporting and building the timber structure. The amount of carbon a building can trap is called embodied carbon and is according to Sallinen likely going to be specified in building regulations in the future the same way as insulation and airflow are today. This will in turn increase the use of wood in buildings.On the other hand the water and energy-intensive processes involved in producing concrete or steel can increase a buildings carbon footprint dramatically. According to the Yale School of Forestry Environmental Studies the manufacture of steel concrete and brick accounts for about 16 of global fossil-fuel consumption. The difference between building with timber today and 30 years ago is that we now have new information about the climate that gives us a strong imperative to build sustainablysays Jeff Spiritos Principal at Spiritos Properties LLC in New York City and member of the Council for Tall Buildings and Urban Habitats CTBUH Tall Timber Working Group.It is even possible to achieve a negative carbon footprint by using responsibly sourced timber.Strong light and durableTimbers environment-friendly features are not the only reasons why it is fast becoming a crucial resource in the construction sector.Engineered wood such as cross-laminated timber CLT is strong and can have the same lifespan as materials used in conventional buildings. It is also fire resistant and light potentially reducing the total weight of the building significantly. Its lighter weight makes it ideal for building in earthquake-prone areas and also in long-term urban planning as timber buildings can be dismantled and reused relatively easily compared to brick and concrete.Of course unlike steel and concrete timber elements need to be protected from water during the build. The building process for the Lighthouse project for instance involved a simple and cost-effective solution a temporary roof was set up over the building and moved up as the building increased in height.We considered the need to work in dry conditions a minor issue. All materials have characteristics you need to consider such as weight and drying time for concrete and this was no different says Sallinen.Vertical limitsSo what are the other challenges in constructing timber buildings Surprisingly it is space. If you are working on a blueprint for a skyscraper such as the Oakwood Timber tower expected to come in just shy of Londons highest building The Shard the reality is that space is at a premium and a wooden structure requires a wider base.Working out what is possible feasible and within the rules of the building code is a challenge in itself explains Sallinen. Until the Lighthouse project was approved the number of stories allowed in a timber building was capped at eight by the local government he continues.This sentiment is echoed in a global context as regulators and insurers lag behind advances in building with timber. While new building techniques advance to make such buildings structurally possible this gap in regulation makes it administratively difficult to reach new heights.To have the appetite for these pioneer projects you need a socially and environmentally responsible and adventurous developer to be willing to invest the time to learn about timber building adds Spiritos.
