Sammlung von Newsfeeds

Construction project “Haus Tür an Tür” (Door to Door) in Augsburg, Germany, provides 18 new flats for low-income tenants and those facing precarious housing conditions. The project uses laminated veneer lumber in its timber construction, chosen for its technical benefits, material efficiency, and a high degree of prefabrication. Source: Timberbiz The result is a construction process that saves time, materials, and costs while reducing errors – key factors in the project’s overall cost-effectiveness. The use of wood not only contributes to a healthier living environment but also enhances the building’s overall sustainability by storing CO2 and reducing resource consumption. The building’s foundation consists of load-bearing and non-load-bearing exterior walls in timber frame construction. In total, 500 cubic meters of wood were used. Wood also absorbs pollutants from the air, improving indoor air quality. “The client wanted an ecological construction method. Cement, concrete, and steel were therefore excluded. With wood, we chose a renewable resource that stores CO2, thus fulfilling the sustainability concept,” said Manfred Gilg from the architect company Streidl, Gilg & Wolff Architekten. In the later usage phase, a solar system will contribute to efficient building operations. Rainwater will be collected and used, the roof areas will be greened, and spaces for gardening will be provided. The deep stud level of the exterior walls is also made using laminated veneer lumber (LVL). The decision to use Metsä Wood’s Kerto LVL products was based on the company’s ability to deliver custom-made laminated veneer lumber in large widths, compared with other suppliers. In the project, beams measuring 63 by 300 millimeters were used. Kerto LVL significantly contributed to the realization of an efficient and cost-effective frame construction that could easily accommodate energy-optimized wall elements with thick insulation. This ensured that the building met the high Efficiency House Standard 40. Gumpp & Maier was responsible for prefabricating the exterior wall elements. The individual wall elements have a maximum length of 10.5 meters and a maximum height of 3.55 meters. They were prefabricated in the factory including windows, shading, and façade cladding and could be easily and quickly assembled on-site. “Prefabrication provides significant relief for work on the construction site. The individual elements only need to be installed there. Most of the work can be done in the factory, shielded from the weather and under optimal conditions for employees. The high degree of prefabrication and the slim designs also significantly reduce the time spent on-site,” said Wolfgang Krettenauer, Project Manager at Gumpp & Maier. The building’s outer shell consists of 21-millimeter-thick vertical spruce cladding with tongue-and-groove profiles. This is mounted on ventilation battens and an 18-millimeter-thick underlay. The timber frame of the load-bearing exterior wall elements was insulated with mineral wool. For the non-load-bearing elements, Gumpp & Maier filled the cavities with cellulose. Two layers of 18-millimeter-thick gypsum fiberboard with a vapour barrier in between were used for reinforcement. For non-load-bearing elements, an 18-millimeter-thick particle board served as the reinforcing layer. On-site, an 8-centimeter-thick installation level was added, consisting of CW profiles filled with mineral wool and clad with two layers of 12.5-millimeter-thick plasterboard. Overall, the load-bearing exterior walls achieve a U-value of 0.107 W/m²K, while the non-load-bearing exterior walls achieve 0.099 W/m²K. The individual elements stand out for their exceptional strength-to-weight ratio and resistance to warping and twisting. They are lightweight for easy transport and quick to install. This also benefited timber constructor Gumpp & Maier GmbH. “The dimensional precision of Kerto LVL is especially advantageous in prefabrication, offering numerous benefits to us as wood processors. Its minimal deviations greatly enhance industrial processes in timber construction, facilitating the production of high-quality elements,” Mr Krettenauer said. Thanks to its advanced design, Kerto LVL enables much slimmer constructions. This allows for timber and hybrid structures with longer spans while reducing the amount of material needed. In residential buildings, this results in more usable square meters with lower material consumption. Metsä Wood products were also used for the threshold on the ground floor, made from Kerto GLVL, a glued laminated veneer lumber with larger cross-sections. Thresholds measuring 100 by 360 millimeters and 100 by 300 millimeters were manufactured for the project in Augsburg. These high-load-bearing components are primarily used in multi-storey buildings, and their high load-bearing capacity effectively prevents settling damage and increases the building’s longevity. Dimensional stability and accuracy lead to particularly high quality, especially in ecological timber frame construction and multi-story buildings. Kerto LVL provides the foundation for the sustainability and cost-efficiency of the construction project. This is supported by PEFC-certified wood (PEFC/02-31-03) and innovative product characteristics that distinguish it from conventional solutions in the field.

InventWood, a University of Maryland spin-off, is preparing to scale a wood-based material dubbed Superwood, a product with a strength-to-weight ratio almost 10 times higher than steel while remaining markedly lighter and renewable. Source: Tech Crunch The company’s first commercial batches are scheduled for shipment from a new facility in Frederick, Maryland, in the third quarter of 2025. The underlying technology originates from research led by materials scientist Dr Liangbing Hu. In 2018, Hu reported a method that transforms ordinary timber into a substance up to 12 times stronger and 10 times tougher than its natural form. Rather than leaving the discovery in the laboratory, he refined the process, cutting production time from more than a week to just a few hours, before licensing the patents to InventWood. InventWood has since attracted US$15 million in the first close of its Series A round, led by the Grantham Foundation with participation from climate-focused investors. The startup has raised more than US$50 million, funding the new manufacturing line and a strategic partnership with distributor Intectural to speed adoption across North America. Superwood’s performance stems from molecular engineering. Standard lumber, principally cellulose and lignin, is treated with food-grade chemicals to modify its structure, selectively remove components, and densify the remaining cellulose. Subsequent compression multiplies hydrogen bonding between fibres, yielding a material that InventWood reports as 50% stronger in tensile load than steel and resistant to fire, water, rot, and pests. Initial production targets architectural façades for commercial and high-end residential projects. Over time, InventWood aims to replace structural elements such as beams and columns, addressing construction’s heavy carbon footprint by substituting steel and concrete with a domestically sourced renewable alternative.

IKEA says it is taking an important step toward improving global standards in responsible forest management. Together with the European Forest Institute and Preferred by Nature, IKEA will start a research project that will explore, test and scale improved forestry practices, strengthening climate resilience and minimising negative impacts on biodiversity. Source: Timberbiz In this research project, Inter IKEA Group, Ingka Group (IKEA retailer), the European Forest Institute (EFI), and Preferred by Nature together will explore opportunities for biodiversity and climate-smart forestry across various forest types in Europe, starting in forests owned by IKEA businesses in Latvia. Inter IKEA Group and Ingka Group are funding the research project, as well as allocating 16,000 hectares of forest land for testing the different models and alternative solutions. The collaboration partners will apply science-based insights by adjusting existing forest management methods to selected forests where they identify opportunities for improvement. The aim is to improve the forest’s resilience and biodiversity by combining existing scientific and practical knowledge with traditional and new forest management methods. Techniques that will be investigated and included in the pilot are: closer-to-nature forestry, continuous cover forestry, and other practices that incorporate climate change mitigation, adaptation, biodiversity conservation, and the provision of other ecosystem services. “At IKEA, we recognise the vital role that forests, and nature play in helping mitigate climate change. Climate change mitigation and biodiversity conservation are closely connected. “As a large user of wood, we want to contribute to protecting the valuable forests where we operate. In this project, together with our partners EFI and Preferred by Nature, we will investigate how forest management can adapt to changing climate conditions and contribute to climate change mitigation and increased biodiversity,” says Mikhail Tarasov, Inter IKEA Group Head of Forestry. “Our ultimate aim is to scale these successful solutions across the forests we own or source from, and to improve forest management standards going beyond the wood sourced for the IKEA business. Marcus Lindner, Head of EFI’s Resilience Program said that It was of paramount importance to adapt sustainable forest management practices to cope with disturbances and extreme events caused by climate change, and to safeguard biodiversity to ensure enhanced forest resilience. “In collaboration with IKEA and Preferred by Nature, EFI will review the scientific evidence for climate and biodiversity smart forest management and develop the scientific basis to support the development of new adaptive management strategies.” Preferred by Nature will provide expert advice and certifications, which will be imperative to the success of the project. Peter Feilberg, Executive Director of Preferred by Nature said that when we plant a tree today, we’re shaping the forest of the next century. In a changing climate, we can’t just repeat what worked in the past. “We need to rethink forest genetics, species mixes and management models to build forests that are highly productive, climate-resilient, and rich in biodiversity and carbon. This partnership is a chance to combine science, innovation and practical fieldwork to help set a new direction for responsible forestry. And by feeding the learnings into forest certification systems and wider supply chains, the impact can go far beyond IKEA’s own forests,” he said. As a large consumer of wood, IKEA wants to use its size and scale to continue improving forest management practices and raising industry standards. By investing in continued learning and ongoing improvement of forest management practices, IKEA can continue to provide affordable home furnishing for the many, while ensuring responsible forestry practices and mitigating our climate and biodiversity impacts in line with our long-term sustainability goals. IKEA, Preferred by Nature, and EFI will collaborate to incorporate recommendations from this project into established forest certification standards, such as FSC, to scale impact and drive change beyond the IKEA supply chain.