Fast, light and green
Read the article about light building with wood
The era of extensions is now – light wood is the optimal building material.
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.
Michael Green is known as an innovative and open-minded moderniser of wood construction. In his opinion, the next major development needs are prefabrication in industrial wood construction, standardisation and high-rise construction.
As a light material, wood is easy to transport and handle, which enables the industrial production of wood-based elements.
Using wooden elements in architecture has proven to be economical, structurally efficient and visually attractive.
Kerto® LVL is a well-known product around the world. Load-bearing columns and long beams as well as large panels offer efficient solutions for fast, light and green construction.
Cameroonian architect Hermann Kamte's design Lagos Wooden Tower has been recognised in several competitions and sparked discussion about wooden architecture in Africa.
Metsä Wood is increasing the Kerto® LVL-based element construction with European partner network
Urbanisation is increasing the need for more living space in cities. Building woodn extensions on top of the existing buildings offers a sustainable option.
Journal of Green building: The Walworth alternative: Retaining and enhancing Britain’s social housing estates utilising contemporary timber construction
There is an acute lack of living space in German cities. A solution for the creation of new living space is adding new storeys made of wood to existing buildings.
Construction must become sustainable. Extending urban constructions upwards can bring important added value to buildings and the community.
In Helsinki Finland, there is a rising interest in building additional floors on top of existing building. Due to its fastness and lightness wood is an ideal material for additional storeys.
Wood construction battles climate change through carbon storage. Timber products lock approximately 1 ton of CO2 per 1 m3 of wood. Wood is the only construction material that stores carbon.
Wood elements enable rapid building, which in turn leads to more profitable construction projects and shorter investment payback times. Prefabrication reduces some of the most common risks.
Designing with wood does not have to be a laborious and time-consuming process. Technical advantages, such as building information modeling (BIM’s), help to enhance the design process.
Metsä Wood’s photo series with award-winning Finnish photographer Kimmo Syväri captures the aesthetic features of wood from a new perspective.
The demand for housing in urban areas continues to grow. The roofs of today are the plots of tomorrow.
Using wooden prefabricated products lead to faster building projects. This means faster revenue, thus saving time and reducing construction costs.
Engineered wood can be produced in a way, which generates more bioenergy than it uses. Wood is a great renewable resource.
Using lightweight materials, such as wood elements, benefits the constructor: materials are less costly and more energy efficient to transport.
How we build now and in the future is critical to economic growth, human wellbeing, and our global climate. In the Fast, Light and Green series Metsä Wood opens up the possibilities of more sustainable, material efficient and productive construction through premium Kerto® LVL (Laminated Veneer Lumber). The series provides insightful – even surprising – perspectives on why wood materials are often the superior choice over concrete or steel. We’ve also invited a diverse group of professionals who share our passion for wood to contribute their opinions and insights.
The demand for housing in urban areas continues to grow. Unused land along railway lines, similar to land previously used for commercial and industrial purposes, is being developed as building plots in inner city areas. But the available land is limited. In order to provide housing space, densification in the form of filling vacant lots or the more efficient replacement of buildings is being promoted.
The city of Bonn, for example, shows a total ground area of residential buildings of 6.6 million m². Of this an (unbelievable) 27% could have an extension built according to the survey. This way, more than 20,000 apartments with an investment volume of more than EUR 4 billion could be created in the former capital.
