A BOOST FOR TIMBER CONSTRUCTION

More and more project submission initiatives for the development of timber construction are seeing the light of day. The Alliance Nationale Bois Construction Rénovation (national timber construction and renovation alliance) was created this spring to support the movement and help breath vitality into the timber & wood sector.

Timber construction is enjoying new impetus thanks to the efforts of the Alliance Nationale Bois Construction Rénovation, set up in March this year jointly by the housing and environment ministries, the association of French regions, timber & wood sector stakeholders, and ADEME (environment and energy management govt. agency). The Alliance sets out to spread information and demonstrate the interest of using timber in construction, to encourage deciders to get involved and thus increase the amount of renewable material resources used, especially in public-funded projects. A further issue is the development of a circular economy that mobilizes resources local to the point of use.

Changing perceptions

Expanding public-funded timber construction still requires a lot of work. Local authorities often find that using local timber in its buildings is a path strewn with pitfalls. The nationwide “100 public constructions using local timber” programme, which has just run its five-year course, produced 80 constructions and overcame many technical, legal, and economic roadblocks. But progress was still hindered by reluctance to change and by unfamiliarity—people do have their habits.

A wind of change is nonetheless being felt, and the opportunity to use local resources is appealing. To size up these emerging movements, the Alliance is planning to run a predictive study for the 2020–2030 horizon on the demand for timber in construction.

It is also banking on the “positive energy, reduced carbon” (E+C-) quality label, one of whose prerequisites is a lifecycle analysis that assesses carbon emissions throughout the whole existence of a building. This label anticipates future environmental regulations for newbuild, as set down in France’s energy shift legislation. With this dual energy/carbon criterion, project initiators can choose the combination best suited to local specifics, building types, and overall cost.

Timber should thus find plenty of opportunities to promote its many advantages.

1,400 cubic metres / That’s the volume of solid timber going into the Hypérion tower in Bordeaux, a planned 50-metre high building that will be the first of its kind in the world.
 

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