Sustainable building: The house made of wood

Building and living must be sustainable, climate-friendly and future-oriented. There is no one right solution for this, but new approaches are required in many areas. Wood as a material has many positive properties.

Construction faces the major challenge of using fewer resources and switching to sustainable materials as the population grows. Timber construction has gained a lot of importance in the last ten years as a substitute for the CO2-intensive building materials steel and concrete.

In future, scientists from the universities of Stuttgart and Freiburg will develop new interdisciplinary approaches to building for the future. In a joint project, the researchers at the Technical Faculty of the University of Freiburg have built a pavilion in lightweight timber construction, on which they are testing and researching new materials and construction methods as models. For the construction of the "livMatS Biomimetic Shell @ FIT", the scientists used new computer-based planning methods, robot-supported manufacturing and construction processes as well as new forms of human-machine interaction, which enable significant resource savings compared to conventional timber construction.

Even in existing houses, the use of wood in renovation can sustainably increase the value of a house. For example, new interior walls and ceilings as well as built-in furniture and cupboards can be made of wood. The replacement or renewal of flooring can go hand in hand with other trades during renovation. For example, the climate-friendly parquet flooring can be combined very well with the installation of a heat pump when replacing the heating system.

The COALITION FOR WOOD CONSTRUCTION (KfH) has published the first comprehensive study on the use of wood as a sustainable building material in Germany. In the coming years, 4.65 million square metres will be developed in timber construction projects. More than 900,000 square metres of timber construction will be built by 2024, a good ninefold increase compared to 2020. Klara Geywitz, Federal Minister for Housing, Urban Development and Construction, says: "The study makes it clear that building with wood is increasingly becoming a trend. More and more companies in the construction industry are relying on wood and developing innovative solutions".

(Photo: © Marzenna Gaines, Pixabay)