PROJECT DESCRIPTION
BACKGROUND
The transition to a sustainable and inclusive society requires changes in habits, innovation, investments and many other areas, including the building industry. Construction consumes a large quantity of finite resources and generates about 33% of global carbon emissions. In the EU, buildings consume approximately 40% of all energy and total construction output is predicted to grow by 85% by 2030.
Despite better energy efficiency, embodied carbon accounts for more than 50% of the whole life carbon footprint of a new building. Shifting to timber construction would significantly reduce the environmental impact of buildings over their life cycle while increasing carbon sequestration benefits.
The use of timber for construction has grown in recent years but in Europe is still on a relatively small scale due to a combination of technological, economic, social and policy barriers. Challenges include high risks from fire and rain, a lack of confidence in the durability of wooden construction, a shortage of trained professionals, low public awareness, weak incentives for sourcing local timber supplies, and limited promotion of wood as a viable and sustainable building material.
Equally challenging is the need to ensure that construction timber comes from sustainable local forest resources. There are few opportunities for training, knowledge-sharing and cooperation between the research, forestry and building sectors, and this lack of collaboration can lead to fragmented local supply chains.
The potential for timber construction and refurbishment in social housing is huge, given that some 25 million apartments in Europe are managed through social housing operators. In Italy alone, social housing cooperatives manage about 758 000 buildings which are home to some 1.2 million households.
OBJECTIVES
The LIFE BE-WoodEN preparatory project’s overall aim was to encourage low carbon buildings, improve circularity, promote innovative solutions for both large and small buildings, and overcome barriers currently restricting the use of timber. This in turn would support the New European Bauhaus (NEB)’s values of beauty, sustainability and inclusiveness through multi-disciplinary participation and engagement, citizen’s engagement and social participation, and boost local sustainable economies and timber supply chains.
The project aimed to create a diverse European network of:
- Italian and European universities to provide environmental and vocational training (the Bauhaus Academy) and increase their timber construction skills
- local and regional authorities
- actors along the wood and timber value chain including wood producers, wood product manufacturers, furniture designers, architects and craftsmen
- European social housing associations.
The project was expected to support all actors involved in the design, production, construction, building management, renovation, dismantling and demolition sectors to overcome barriers to the wider use of timber. It would do this through training, raising awareness and building partnerships within the framework of the NEB – specifically under flagship initiatives 2 (Supporting urban zero pollution action) and 6 (Showcasing zero pollution solutions for buildings) of the Zero Pollution Action Plan.
The project’s specific objectives were to:
- increase knowledge about the entire life cycle of timber construction and enhance expertise in the design and construction of buildings, furniture and public spaces,
- promote innovative, experimental and multidisciplinary training,
- support the development of a local wood supply chain through the cooperation of local administrations (policies), technicians, stakeholders, end users, by carrying out pilot actions with a special focus on social housing, and by communicating the resulting training sessions and guidelines through a newly established pioneer NEB hub in Italy.
RESULTS
The project successfully met its overall objective of promoting the decarbonisation of buildings and improving circularity by advancing the use of biobased materials – especially wood – across the full building life cycle, while testing the NEB principles of beauty, sustainability and inclusiveness.
LIFE BE-WoodEN increased knowledge of the life cycle of timber constructions and expertise in the design of buildings, furniture and public spaces: this has been done mainly by means of webinars, NEBinars, podcasts, and activities aimed at professionals and university students, all targeting a wide European audience. The various training modules have been amply used and appreciated by thousands of professionals and public officials.
In addition, it promoted innovative, experimental and multidisciplinary training through a combination of blended learning formats, collaborative design processes and direct engagement with the timber sector in two pilot areas in Italy, while the international dimension was added through exchanges among projects and with the NEB Academy. In particular, 3 Innovation Labs were completed:
- in Emilia‑Romagna, where a toolkit on environmental performance in the wood supply chain was produced and validated with input from 82 experts
- in Liguria, experts and local stakeholders were engaged to discuss the pilot action to be carried out on a social housing establishment
- in Slovenia, combining a technical workshop and study visit to wood-sector companies, involving professionals, students and project partners.
The project also supported the development of a local wood supply chain with the cooperation of local administrations, professionals, end users and other stakeholders, by carrying out 2 pilot actions.
- In Imperia, Liguria, a Challenge Based Learning was used to co-design a pilot project in which a wooden indoor and outdoor installation was implemented in a social housing building. The installation was co-built by project designers, volunteers and university students.
- In Emilia Romagna, a regional wood supply chain analysis was carried out, as well as a comparative analysis based on the LCA (Life Cycle Analysis) methodology between an existing social housing residential building and a timber-based building model. The pilot also explored social aspects related to the wooden building perception and acceptability by social housing residents. The final output of the study was a feasibility analysis about the potential of a local and sustainable wood supply chain in the social housing sector, identifying weak areas and opportunities for improvement.
Finally, the project disseminated its results through a newly established pioneer hub – the NEB SUD Hub – which has also created formal collaboration schemes with the NEB Academy and with the NEB South Hub.