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Timber Construction Reaches New Heights

Everywhere you look, impressive high-rise buildings reach for the sky, except today they’re made from solid wood or wood materials rather than steel, concrete and glass. As part of this trend, the construction industry is once again putting itself, its processes and the materials it uses to the test. This time, however, the aim is not just to build ‘higher, faster, further’, but rather to place greater emphasis on sustainability – a development that Jowat is more than happy to support.

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Hands up if you’ve ever played Jenga. This game of skill involves stacking cuboid wooden building blocks to form a tower before removing them with one hand to form new floors on top. As a result, the structure becomes higher and higher over time. The game usually ends when the tower ultimately collapses, which is no wonder since the wooden blocks are only lying loosely on top of each other by this point! But of course the situation is different when it comes to real timber construction. Here, adhesives are used to hold the individual components together and form them into a large, stable whole.

Germany’s tallest wooden building constructed using this technique can be found in the city of Heilbronn: the SKAIO building features several commercial spaces and residential units reaching a total of 34 metres in height. But this record is set to be broken as soon as construction of the ‘Roots’ building in Hamburg is complete, as this will extend to a height of 65 metres to make it almost twice as high as SKAIO. Nevertheless, it still isn’t enough to challenge the undisputed leader of  them all. The highest ‘plyscraper’ to date, as wooden high-rises are known, is the Mjøstårnet building in Brumunddal, Norway, which stands 85.3 metres tall.

Efforts are underway worldwide to trump this record and redefine the limits of what is possible. The Japanese timber construction materials giant Sumitomo Forestry is currently pushing the boundary furthest and hoping to treat itself to a special reward in recognition of its 350th anniversary in 2041: By the time this special occasion comes around, the W350 plyscraper with an impressive height of 350 metres is set to be completed in Tokyo. It’s an ambitious undertaking given that the challenges inherent in the construction of highrise buildings per se are exacerbated by the relatively new timber construction method in this sector. The higher a structure is, the more susceptible it is to damage from external influences such as wind or earthquakes. This means that it must offer sufficient stability on the one hand, but also a certain flexibility on the other in a bid to withstand both forces in equal measure. It is not only the material itself that matters, but also what holds it together. As demanding as this task may be, it is definitely worth mastering given the sustainability effects that can be achieved with this construction method.

Everybody’s talking about sustainable timber construction

This is also the opinion of Toni Rüegg, Managing Director of Jowat Swiss AG, who sees great ecological potential in load-bearing glulam: “As things stand today, there are still a number of materials that can be substituted with wood, particularly when it comes to building construction.” He is also convinced that “timber construction is the most appropriate alternative against the backdrop of the ongoing climate debate.” After all, conventional construction with concrete is anything but efficient by today’s standards when it comes to resources: the raw material sand, which is needed for the production of the sought-after materials, is increasingly running out. What’s more, the production of these building materials releases large amounts of the greenhouse gas CO2, thereby contributing to the ongoing issue of climate change. Trees, on the other hand, bind CO2 during their growth, which remains in the wood as long as it does not rot or burn. One cubic metre of timber used contains around one tonne of CO2, meaning a significant contribution can be made to saving on greenhouse gases. The finished building also offers advantages in terms of energy, since the wood has a positive influence on the humidity in the room and thus makes a positive contribution to creating a healthy indoor climate. It therefore goes without saying that apartments and offices in these wood-based buildings are in high demand.

“It is clear from the growth rates of the global cross-laminated timber industry that sustainable construction really is what everyone wants right now,” asserts Toni Rüegg. “At Jowat Swiss AG, we have long been committed to the further development and optimisation of load-bearing glued timber construction and are proud to be actively involved in its growth going forward.”

Read the whole story and other interesting articles in our customer magazine.