world news - 29.11.2007
Buildings make the effects of the programme to promote wood construction visible
Instead, the application of provisions and
regulations as well as the harmonisation of interpretations is in need
of development. The municipal toolkit is already sufficient for
increasing the wooden urban area developments and the supply of
building sites. Without the strong backing of municipal decision-makers
objectives cannot be realised. The economic competitiveness of wood as a
construction material and the high-standard professional expertise of
the planners and implementers are essential factors for enhancing use
of wood. Industrial-scale wood construction and its standardisation
need to be further developed. Developers and builders in particular
need to make decisions to increase the use of wood in the realisation
of their projects. While growing, trees bind approximately one
tonne of carbon dioxide per one cubic metre of growth. Wooden houses
have useful lives which can be measured in centuries and they act as
carbon dioxide reservoirs during this time. Wood is energy-friendly
because the manufacturing of a wood-based construction component
creates less carbon dioxide emissions than competing products. In
addition to this, wood products can be recycled and burned to generate
energy at the end of their lifecycle. 
The use of wood in building should be increased for the sake of the
environment. Use of domestic timber also has significant positive
economical effects. Modernisation is only possible through
construction, however: actual new wood buildings are needed.
Wood use in construction has increased significantly in recent years,
especially in the building of small houses. Further increases are
possible and desirable from both the ecological and the economic
perspective. There are good reasons for increasing the degree of
value-added in wooden construction products. Use of wood also leads to
increased job opportunities on the local level.
The rising proportion of newbuilding that is accounted for by
single-family homes, terraced houses and other small buildings is
increasing wood use. Nowadays, wood is the primary construction
material in over 80% of newbuild small houses. Construction of
residential areas comprising small buildings has increased, but the
supply of these homes still does not equal demand in quantity or in
diversity – this is especially true in the greater Helsinki area.
A report published recently by a working group
monitoring the programme to promote wood construction states that, from
a legislative perspective, there are possibilities for promoting the
construction of wooden buildings and small houses. There’s no need to
substantially revise legal provisions or regulations.
See also:
- — Welsh timber sector gears up for zero carbon homes
- — Finland:PM Links Russian Wood Tariffs with Greenhouse Emission Goals
- — More Than 1 Billion Trees Planted in 2007 — UN
- — Rosleshoz Offers to Increase Round Timber Export Duty Five Times
- — EU directive urges stop for new deciduous forests in Denmark
