Wood as the central building material of the future
Ackerstraße 76, Hall 60. In the large hall of a former industrial building, wooden boards, tools and building models are stored, and architecture students file and sand their designs.
© Christian Kielmann
“The construction sector today is actually still in the Stone Age,” says Eike Roswag-Klinge, professor of structural design and climate-friendly architecture at the Technical University of Berlin. “It causes 40 percent of CO2 emissions, 55 percent of waste generation and is responsible for 92 percent of mineral resource withdrawals. This makes it one of the most climate-damaging sectors in Germany.” At the same time, concrete, cement and steel, as well as insulation materials, could also be replaced to a large extent with wood and other natural fibers. “The goal is a circular construction industry,” explains Kim Gundlach, a research associate at the TU Chair for Climate-Friendly Architecture – Natural Building Lab. “A lot of carbon dioxide can be bound via the use of renewable raw materials in the building sector.”
Anyone who wants to get a concrete idea of what building with wood looks like can look at numerous examples in Berlin and Brandenburg, such as on the digital platform Holzbau Atlas Berlin-Brandenburg (www.holzbauatlas.berlin). Here, for example, the Konrad Zuse vocational school in the north of Berlin can be found, where the interiors with natural wooden walls have a positive effect on the psyche of the students. In the Walden48 residential building in Berlin-Prenzlauer Berg, for example, the exterior façade facing the street is clad in slate, while the side of the building facing the park is designed with wooden loggias. For the prototypical and experimental handling of wood as a building material, the scientists* need “real laboratories” where they can try out and demonstrate their ideas.
“The public sector is a major developer and can set a good example in climate-neutral construction,” says Eike Roswag-Klinge, referring to BIM Berliner Immobilienmanagement mbh (BIM) or the Berlin housing associations. But the city of Potsdam also wants to become a “timber building city,” he adds. “Brandenburg in particular, with its large forest areas, is predestined for the timber building turnaround,” explains Kim Gundlach. That’s why this project addresses all the players in the wood value chain in the region – from forestry operations to master carpenters – and links them together through workshops and meetings.
If you want to get a concrete idea of what building with wood looks like, you can look at numerous examples in Berlin and Brandenburg, such as on the digital platform Holzbau Atlas Berlin-Brandenburg (www.holzbauatlas.berlin). Here, for example, the Konrad Zuse vocational school in the north of Berlin can be found, where the interiors with the natural wooden walls have a positive effect on the psyche of the students. In the Walden48 residential building in Berlin-Prenzlauer Berg, for example, the exterior façade facing the street is clad in slate, while the side of the building facing the park is designed with wooden loggias. For the prototypical and experimental handling of wood as a building material, the scientists* need “real laboratories” where they can try out and demonstrate their ideas. “The public sector is a major developer and can set a good example in climate-neutral construction,” says Eike Roswag-Klinge, referring to BIM Berliner Immobilienmanagement mbh (BIM) or the Berlin housing associations. But the city of Potsdam also wants to become a “timber building city,” he adds. “Brandenburg in particular, with its large forest areas, is predestined for the timber building turnaround,” explains Kim Gundlach. That’s why this project addresses all the players in the wood value chain in the region – from forestry operations to master carpenters – and links them together through workshops and meetings. “We are doing this in cooperation with the regional professional associations. It’s an opportunity for us as independent scientists* to look at the process flows and interfaces, where things are stuck and where things can still be optimized.” “We need real leap innovations now, we have to change something quickly in order to stop global warming through carbon dioxide emissions in time,” Roswag-Klinge emphasizes. In timber construction, she says, even damaged wood can be used. It is important that a healthy mixed forest is replanted and that, despite the acceleration of processes, the common good and democratic processes are observed in urban and building planning. In addition, climate-neutral construction naturally includes the consistent use of recycled materials. “And fundamentally, before constructing a new building, it must always be checked whether an existing building could not be better used or converted – in order to limit the large consumption of land and resources.”
In addition, climate-neutral construction naturally includes the consistent use of recycled materials. “And fundamentally, before constructing a new building, it must always be checked whether an existing building could not be better used or converted – in order to limit the large consumption of land and resources.”
CCC project “Urban Timber – Value chain as a driver of urban transformation” Prof. Dr. Eike Roswag-Klinge & Kim Annaluz Gundlach (TU Berlin), Prof. Dr.-Ing. Philipp Misselwitz (Bauhaus Erde gGmbH), Prof. Timothee Ingen-Housz (UdK).
Author: Birgit Holthaus
Photo: Christian Kielmann
Image line: Im Projekt „Urban Timber-“ beschäftigen sich Prof. Dr. Eike Roswag-Klinge und Kim Gundlach mit der Wertschöpfungskette des klimafreundlichen Baustoff Holz.