Explor­ing the Horizon of Timber Construc­tion: Build­ing a cross-bound­ary commu­nity of data-driven practice

Today’s world is facing a chal­lenge due to climate change, world­wide popu­la­tion growth, energy demand, increased infra­struc­ture demand, and alarm­ing resource scarcity. The construc­tion indus­try has been iden­ti­fied as one of the major cata­lysts of the adverse effects of climate change. It is crucial to rein­vent the best prac­tices through bench­mark­ing to achieve carbon neutral­ity in the construc­tion indus­try for better envi­ron­ment. The oppor­tu­nity for cross-border collab­o­ra­tion amongst coun­tries that share similar goals to achieve the carbon neutral­ity, can be a window to share updated exper­tise and excel in construc­tion technology.

The follow­ing article portrays how an inter­na­tional collab­o­ra­tion project called ‘Sustain­able Build­ing Tech­nolo­gies- Commu­nity of Prac­tice’ has contributed to expert commu­nity devel­op­ment for sustain­able devel­op­ment, specially focus­ing on timber construc­tion techniques.

Intro­duc­tion

The construc­tion indus­try and build­ings consume about 40% of all energy and release about 30% of all carbon dioxide emis­sions (CO2e). This means that an increased focus on carbon-neutral construc­tion combined with the circu­lar­ity of construc­tion residues can create a signif­i­cant impact on reach­ing the sustain­able devel­op­ment goals (SDGs) by 2030 set by the EU. While coun­tries are setting ambi­tious goals to achieve carbon neutral­ity by 2030, having inter­na­tional perspectives/collaboration might make the route there more efficient. 

Accord­ing to a univer­sal survey on how compa­nies are now working to incor­po­rate their activ­i­ties with the SDGs by the World Busi­ness Council for Sustain­able Devel­op­ment (WBCSD), and DNV GL (2018), SDG 13 (climate action) is the most ranked goal, and the respon­si­ble consump­tion and produc­tion goal (SDG 12) scored the highest percent­age in Europe and the Asia-Pacific regions (Gomme & Perks, 2018). There­fore, it is impor­tant to analyse how the construc­tion indus­try, being one of the most impor­tant sectors respon­si­ble for climate change and resource usage, can move towards sustainability.

There is great scope for inter­na­tion­al­is­ing current best prac­tices in wood construc­tion to enhance the compet­i­tive­ness of wood construc­tion for sustain­able cities. Those ques­tions related to infor­ma­tion manage­ment are a partic­u­larly impor­tant area for compet­i­tive­ness. A tool for infor­ma­tion manage­ment is build­ing infor­ma­tion model­ling (BIM), which is widely used but still needs a widely applied study. This research project aims to build a commu­nity to research effec­tive approaches towards differ­ent real-time chal­lenges in wood construc­tion and rein­force wood construc­tion knowl­edge in differ­ent contexts (e.g. Finland, Austria and Germany).

The article explains where inter­na­tional projects can contribute to a better under­stand­ing of common grounds of chal­lenges and possi­ble miti­ga­tion strate­gies.  The article also explains how explor­ing common barri­ers and possi­bil­i­ties can help develop a cross-bound­ary commu­nity of advanced wood construc­tion research and practices.

Back­ground

There is a debate about multi­storey wood construc­tion and tradi­tional mate­r­ial-based construc­tion. The reason is that wood construc­tion is still seen as a more expen­sive construc­tion method compared to tradi­tional ones in Europe. In addi­tion, the adequacy of the supply chain is under ques­tion, espe­cially for massive wood construc­tion. However, to meet the goal of sustain­able devel­op­ment, build­ing construc­tion needs to be seen in the light of the entire life cycle of buildings.

Several researchers, such as Omer & Noguchi (2019) and Ribeiro & Gonçalves (2019), have asso­ci­ated the expected growth of urban­i­sa­tion and large cities in the coming decades with signif­i­cant produc­tion of raw mate­ri­als and consump­tion of natural resources and economic move­ments. Hence, this could cause adverse envi­ron­men­tal and social impacts. Indeed, it will increase the need for green build­ing mate­ri­als for construct­ing new build­ings and infra­struc­ture to accom­mo­date these expan­sions and to achieve overall sustain­able devel­op­ment (Omer & Noguchi 2019).

One of the chal­lenges here is to develop a generic plat­form for the compar­i­son of differ­ent mate­ri­als, which can be consid­ered in a wide variety of contexts/countries. There is a need to develop new wood-based prod­ucts to fulfil the tight­en­ing require­ments of low-carbon construc­tion. There­fore, a compar­a­tive analy­sis of whole-life embod­ied carbon and GHG emis­sions from multi­storey build­ings consid­er­ing differ­ent mate­ri­als (e.g. concrete, brick, wood, steel) needs further research.

The article sheds light on the current chal­lenges towards inter­na­tion­al­is­ing the best prac­tices in wood construc­tion through expert commu­ni­ca­tion located in three selected case study cities. Obser­va­tions from cross-bound­ary expert discus­sions, work­shops, empir­i­cal studies and liter­a­ture reviews were used. The study helps to pinpoint the common ground of chal­lenges and possi­ble miti­ga­tion strate­gies for the future to develop a cross-bound­ary commu­nity of advanced wood construc­tion practices.

Objec­tives

The article briefly explains how inter­na­tional collab­o­ra­tion in the SBTCP project (Sustain­able Build­ing Tech­nolo­gies – Commu­nity of Prac­tice) has effec­tively contributed to the research devel­oped by the cross-border commu­nity of profes­sion­als, compa­nies and stake­hold­ers from three coun­tries: Finland, Austria and Germany.

The objec­tives of the article are to:

1. assess and explain how the SBTCP project is inter­na­tion­al­is­ing wood construc­tion knowl­edge and bene­fit­ing cross-border countries
2. explain the common inter­na­tion­al­i­sa­tion frame­work of the SBTCP project for rein­forc­ing wood construc­tion knowl­edge and best practices 

Method­ol­ogy

The SBTCP project connects cross-border wood construc­tion experts, result­ing in two main output areas: 1) research devel­op­ment and 2) prac­tice-oriented commu­nity devel­op­ment. While the devel­op­ment of the SBTCP project concerns collab­o­ra­tion amongst three partner univer­si­ties located in three coun­tries, the method for the project devel­op­ment includes expert opin­ions, liter­a­ture review, pilot testing, and empir­i­cal studies based on obser­va­tions in the selected contexts.

Results

The SBTCP project is a plat­form of three collab­o­rat­ing partner univer­si­ties. The research activ­ity of the project started by select­ing research topics for collab­o­ra­tion by the partner univer­si­ties from Finland, Austria and Germany. 

The objec­tives of the SBTCP project are:

1. Iden­ti­fy­ing key research topics in sustain­able construction
2. Knowl­edge sharing and pilot-testing solu­tions for the pinpointed prob­lems from the partner coun­tries with expert support/companies
3. Work­shop activ­i­ties and knowl­edge hub devel­op­ment connect­ing with inter­na­tional students
4. Dissem­i­na­tion and publi­ca­tions in collab­o­ra­tion with inter­na­tional partners

Figure 1 illus­trates how the SBTCP project is tying together three main concepts from three differ­ent coun­tries: 1) Sustain­able Build­ings, 2) Build­ing Infor­ma­tion Model­ling, and 3) Mate­r­ial Sciences, from the perspec­tive of Finland, Germany and Austria. The Venn diagram shows the over­lap­ping areas of research oppor­tu­ni­ties through collab­o­ra­tion, which will poten­tially rein­force the exper­tise and knowl­edge of wood construction. 

The possi­ble outcomes of inter­na­tion­al­is­ing best prac­tices through expert collab­o­ra­tion from cross-bound­ary organ­i­sa­tions are as follows:

1. Iden­ti­fi­ca­tion of real-time/­con­tex­tual challenges
2. Cross-bound­ary best prac­tice sharing
3. Miti­gat­ing barri­ers to the inter­na­tion­al­i­sa­tion process
4. Connec­tion devel­op­ment with stake­hold­ers and companies 

Figure 2 shows the resul­tant frame­work of the SBTCP project and how it connects three part­ner­ing univer­si­ties and experts from Finland, Germany and Austria to develop the research and wood expert commu­nity. The frame­work leads to find­ings such as:

1. Contex­tual chal­lenges iden­ti­fi­ca­tion is required to pinpoint areas of expertise/best prac­tice sharing,
2. Iden­ti­fi­ca­tion of barri­ers against the inter­na­tion­al­i­sa­tion process can ease/speed up future inter­na­tional collab­o­ra­tion and boost the active involve­ment of stake­hold­ers and companies.

The find­ings from the SBTCP frame­work align with the outcomes of inter­na­tion­al­is­ing best prac­tices for a sustain­able future. 

Conclu­sion

The frame­work shown in Figure 1 indi­cates the need for devel­op­ing common ground in cross-bound­ary collab­o­ra­tive research for effec­tive infor­ma­tion- and exper­tise-sharing. Further­more, the frame­work of the SBTCP project in Figure 2 indi­cates the simul­ta­ne­ous incor­po­ra­tion of inter­na­tional experts and open up-to-date data along with hands-on expe­ri­ence-based insights, leading to a deeper under­stand­ing of contex­tual differ­ences, challenges/barriers, common­al­i­ties, and there­fore opportunities/ways of effec­tive future collab­o­ra­tion. Here, inter­na­tional collab­o­ra­tion can support data collec­tion, analy­sis and up-to-date exper­tise sharing using a common language for the long-term futur­is­tic global util­i­sa­tion of research outputs during the project period. More­over, the research data will rein­force the global-scale knowl­edge of wood construc­tion for sustain­able devel­op­ment, which ulti­mately indi­cates the robust outcome of inter­na­tion­al­i­sa­tion of the common prac­tices in coun­tries all over the world. 

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Authors:

Shammi Akter Keya, Project Researcher, Karelia Univer­sity of Applied Sciences

Timo Pakari­nen, Project Manager, Lecturer, Karelia Univer­sity of Applied Sciences

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Refer­ences:

Omer, M. & Noguchi, T. 2019. A concep­tual frame­work for under­stand­ing the contri­bu­tion of build­ing mate­ri­als in the achieve­ment of Sustain­able Devel­op­ment Goals (SDGs). Sustain­able Cities and Society, 52, p.101869. Avail­able at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scs.2019.101869

Ribeiro, P. J. G., & Gonçalves, L. (2019). Urban Resilience: A concep­tual frame­work. Sustain­able Cities and Society, 50 (May), 101625. Avail­able at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scs.2019.101625.

Gomme, J., & Perks, J. (2018). Busi­ness and the SDGs: A survey of WBCSD members and Global Network part­ners. WBCSD. Avail­able at: http://docs.wbcsd.org/2018/07/WBCSD_Business_and_the_SDGs.pdf

Photo by Matic Kozinc on Unsplash