Growth of an Industry Wood’s place in the Future of Construction Industry
Michal Gryko Industrial Wood Construction
Contents Part 1 Growth of the world Urban expansion
Part 2 Wood in the environment The question of carbon Recyclability and Re-use in Industry State of the Forests Carbon Tax
Advances in Technology
Science and genetics Wood engineering and Construction
Part 3 A loss of culture and sense of the vernacular The instant city
Part 1 Growth of the world Urban Expansion The construction Industry thrives off economic and population expansion. However at the same time, this higher demand leads to methods which stifle efforts to keep the natural environment in-tact to allow for a diverse future. This expansion provides both opportunity and problems at the same time in relation to how to handle demand and output from industry. Wood has been hailed particularly in the past decades as the future means of tackling economic demands in a sustainable, practical and efficient way. This essay will take an investigation into the implications of utilising a wood orientated approach in future industry across the globe, and in places of varying economic climates, resources and attitudes. Currently there are thirty cities with a population over ten million people, in comparison to the 1950s, where this population size was only confined to one cityNew York. With almost a population of 33 million the city of Tokyo is the largest city in the world, but with more people being attracted to cities, and more people being replaced in the farming industry by technology, smaller villages and towns are shrinking while the main cities only increase. 1 There has been a ‘20% drop in the number of farms in the EU between 2003 and 2010’. 2 Issues which are becoming of greater concern and discussion all revolve around the ever expanding world population and sequentially the increase in material consumption and pollution and waste which comes out as a product or urban growth. These are factors which will affect the direction of the construction industry in future years to come.
http://geography.about.com/od/urbaneconomicgeography/a/agglomerations.htm http://www.eurovia.org/spip.php?article520&lang=fr 3 Quoted from a lecture given in Aalto University on the 12/12/11 by Dominique Gauzin-MĂźller 1 2
The French architect and architectural critic, Dominique Gauzin-Müller who writes much on wood and sustainability in architecture and urbanism speaks of ‘surviving development’3 and questions how long a modern society can stay alive in a consumer society of profits and growth. There must be a balance between consumption and need within the urban environment. This is where the sustainable growing, sourcing and processing of wood may become a primary solution for urban growth. Precedence to lead the way such as the Stadthaus in London’s Murray Grove, demonstrate how high-density housing, nine stories high can be constructed in a efficient and sustainable way. Technology and science are allowing the primitive use of wood to take on a new dimension of material and assembly which is now beginning to meet modern demands.
Image 1: The glistening streets of Tokyo’s Shinjuku region
Part 2 Wood in the environment The Question of Carbon The term ‘carbon footprint’ is one that has been constantly repeated in the 21st century and is one that will only increase in usage in the future. Acting as a measure of the impact our activities have on the environment, and climate change, the carbon footprint measures all greenhouse gases we individually produce and has units of tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent. If looking through the stages of construction in the wood industry from production, to construction, to usage and post usage, the utilisation of wood is quite favourable due to the embodied carbon, the renewable source and potential for re-use and recycling. The carbon footprint relates to the amount of greenhouse gases produced in our day-to-day lives through all processes and although there is inevitable CO2 production from transport and production, it is considerably offset in timber processing from the fact that 1m2 of wood holds 1 tonne of CO2. CO2 makes up roughly five sixths of Greenhouse Gases (GHGs), which are targeted for reduction by the Kyoto Protocol and the Climate Change Act2008 (CCA). The amount of CO2 emissions that construction can influence is significant, accounting for almost 47% of total CO2 emissions of the UK emissions that construction can influence.4 It is also the in-Use building emissions accounts for the largest proportion, over 80%, of total CO2. Therefore construction in wood must also be carefully designed to promote passive energy usage only a constant basis and not by just selecting wood as a material. Fortunately many practices and educational systems are promoting sustainable design, which often include the use of wood, which will be evident in designs from future generations of architects and designers. With this in mind, it still cannot be ignored that 15% of CO2 emissions still comes from manufacturing.
http://www.bis.gov.uk/assets/biscore/business-sectors/docs/e/10-1316-estimating-co2-emissions-supporting-low-carbon-igt-report 4
Design Manufacture Distribution/Transport Operations onsite Construction Works Transport In-Use installed product Maintenance Repair Replacement Refurbishment Operational energy and water use Refurb/Demolition Deconstruction Transport Waste processing For reuse, recovery and recycling Disposal
Sub-Sector
MtCO2
Design Manufacture Distribution Operations onsite In Use Refurb/Demolition Total
1.3 45.2 2.8 2.6 246.4 1.3 298.4
Images 2-6: The sub-sectors in the wood industry
% of total 0.5% 15% 1% 1% 83% 0.4% 100%
Image 7: Table showing the breakdown of CO2 Emissions
Recyclability and Re-use in Industry Currently there is a drive for sustainability in many poor countries where through lack of resources and poverty, they are forced to recycle. Places such as Ghana where an industry has been made around salvaging resources from electronic waste from countries such as Germany, UK and the USA, re-using where possible or stripping down appliances to the useable metals. Over the decades there will be an increase in waste and although it may seem that first world countries currently only have a moral obligation to recycle and re-use, it will soon become a necessity. With cities in constant flux, and there always being a need to change, the demolition or de-construction of wooden buildings can be far more efficient than compared to concrete and brick. Jim Puckett, an environmental health and justice activist for 22 years who in the past has served as Greenpeace International’s Toxics Director explains how ‘it is just a myth to think that you can solve the problem immediately with technology alone’,5 in relation to the problem with waste and recycling. Major emission problems in consumption and construction created particularly from developing countries such as Brazil and China, is currently causing a great dilemma which will only become worse as time goes on. A country cannot be denied the right improve the quality of life for its people, especially when countries such as the USA caused much distress to the environment during their economic development from the 1950s onwards. The wood industry comes into action here in the fact that the ability to recycling and augment wooden buildings in the future could improve living standards while still keeping down carbon footprints and allowing much capacity for future adaptations in terms of recycling and reusing. However the likelihood of these methods being adopted by many of these developing countries in the future seems unlikely due to the logistics of adapting to new wood technology and acquiring the wood resources cheaply, while easily accessible products are still available such as concrete.
5
http://www.pbs.org/frontlineworld/stories/ghana804/video/video_index.html
The State of the Forests Although the proposition of utilising wood in the majority of construction around the world is one that is idealised and in many developing countries impractical, this is in part due to source of wood- the forests. With Finland leading in sustainable forestry and countries such as the UK and Germany following trend, there are many parts of the world where economics and demand cannot allow for such ideals. The high demand for resources in countries like Brazil means that wood has to be cut down at an alarming rate and it is not possible to replant all that is used. Even in war-torn regions, wood is primarily cut down for firewood and there is no chance of re-planting. Most of Europe from the Roman era downwards was once a dense forest like Finland. With demands only growing larger for resources, it is unlikely that Europe will ever reach forest populations has it once had. 6 Although the idea of sustainable forestry is popular in parts of the world such as northern Europe, in other countries such as in Northern African and Thailand, the future is looking bleak in terms of using locally sourced wood for them. The financial implications of importing wood from far countries such as Finland, is impractical and still much cheaper to manufacture their own cement. Poor countries cannot afford to sustainably forest, and much economic resources are going into more short term solutions rather than long term. The highest unsustainable harvesting is in India, Ethiopia, Pakistan and Bangladesh, with almost half (46%) in India.7 With countries like India and Bangladesh which have some of the largest populations in the world, the forests will be cut down before sustainable forestry will ever take root. A question comes about whether it is economic for each country to have their own sustainable forests, or rather find another sustainable source. With much wood being imported through Europe and even further from Finland, where it is managed and sold at reasonable prices, it can be cheaper than using wood from the country’s origin,
6 7
http://www.cbd.int/development/doc/cbd-good-practice-guide-forestry-booklet-web-en.pdf http://www.worldmapper.org/posters/worldmapper_map314_ver5.pdf
such as in England where the price of English Oak is very high. The process of cutting down trees and embodying carbon and planting new trees is even more beneficial due to the fact the younger trees absorb more CO2 than mature ones. If this method could be exploited in more countries, the benefits would be substantial in the long term, however it is this kind of thinking which is difficult to encourage among many nations. As trends and technology in wood technology develop, so will Finland’s role as a primary exporter of wood. ‘The average increment of growing stock in southern Finland, 6.1 cubic metres per hectare per year, is twice as much as in northern Finland.’8 Initially there will be a great boost in economic growth from this for Finland, however as countries gradually develop their own suistainably forestry, or other suistainable sources of energy such as nuclear fussion. With more efficient and renewable energy, production will become less of an issue in terms of the energy it uses. There maybe a drop in raw wood exports and is the possibility that there will be more factories opened to produced engineered products in Finland such as the Kerto wood currently produced in Finland. Another alternative scenario maybe that due to the Shortage of forests in the future, wood prices may go up and so further reduce the use of it in industry. In reference to the shortage of industrial roundwood, ‘Studies show that there will probably be a rather substantial regional shortages of industrial roundwood already by 2010 and a global shortage of industrial coniferous roundwood by 2010’.9
Image 8: Chart showing the need for waste picking by the poor in developing countries 8 9
http://www.metla.fi/metinfo/sustainability/SF-1.htm http://www.actionbioscience.org/environment/nilsson.html
Carbon tax A few countries have implemented carbon taxes related to carbon content. In addition to this, most environmentally related taxes for greenhouse gas emissions in OECD countries are levied on energy products and motor vehicles, rather than on CO2 emissions directly. Many large users of carbon resources in electricity generation, such as the USA, Russia and China, are resisting carbon taxation. It is mainly these superpowers and large developing countries which are currently producing the main percentage of CO2 and without their co-operation in the future, wood as a key product in tackling envionmental issues seems unlikely world-wide. With no worldwide uniform carbon tax on all sectors, the benefit of using wood because of its carbon sink will not seem as appealing to constructors as the price will not be as dramatic in comparison to materials such as cement which would increase exponentially in price if carbon tax were to be implemented. ‘However, the primary criticism of taxes is that they do not necessarily ensure a certain level of emissions reductions as emissions caps do’.10 It is unlikely that prices for products such as steel and cement will soar so much as to be wood the most favourable material to use, whereas emissions caps may force construction industry to use alternate productions and materials such as wood. If the wood industry expands in the future, it will be related to efficient construction techniques rather than cost reduction due to carbon taxes.
10
http://www.nrel.gov/docs/fy10osti/47312.pdf
Image 9: Chart showing major forest depletion in wordly regions, represented in a distorted map view.
Image 10: A map showing the key zones for forest gain and depletion in the current decade.
Advances in Technology Science and Genetic Modification The progress in genetic modification in the past two decades has been quite staggering. With crops already being genetically modified to extend yield and developments in the field of bio medics in relation to growing organs or creating ‘designer babies’, the potential to create a superior species of trees for engineering purposes is becoming more apparent. There are already techniques for growing trees which are straighter, stronger and with few knots but these are quite intensive management methods and in relation to the number of trees involved, is not cost effective. However, if each new sapling planted is already genetically altered to provide a tree than can grow quickly yet still have a large proportion of late wood with few knots, then another layer of efficient processing can be added to the wood Industry. Much of the wood used for structural processes are highly engineered but if the raw product can be modified in the future to improve its properties, then costs and emissions in the production stage can be greatly reduced. Although currently per square meter, wooden structures are cheaper than concrete and particularly more so than steel, there is a possibility of increase in price due to its potential for use in other products. Wood as organic matter can be utilised in more products, particularly in plastics when oil runs out in the future. There are an estimated 1.3 trillion barrels of proven oil reserve left in the world’s major fields, which at present rates of consumption will be sufficient to last 40 years.11 When oil runs out, wood may be used to generate the plastics needed in everyday life for appliances, vehicles, storage and interiors. If this is the case, the few major forests left in the world, will be under large demand so prices will rise to suit.
http://www.imeche.org/knowledge/themes/energy/energy-supply/fossil-energy/when-will-oilrun-out 11
Image 11: Pre-fab wall panels being craned lifted into position
Image 12 and 13: (below) Finger-jointed glulams manufactured to 10 metre lengths
Image 14: LvL samples which is often used for its structural strength
Engineered Products and Construction methods It is largely due to developments in the field of wood engineering which have wood suitable for mass construction in recent years. Engineered Wood Products such as I-joists and glulam are manufactured from solid timber and board products for structural applications. Their strength properties they lend themselves to a wide range of domestic and multi-storey construction applications. Michael Lynn, COFORD (the Programme of Competitive Forestry Research for Development) Chairman, stated “we must of course be mindful of the trends in building practice and particularly in the energy performance of buildings. The Government’s policies of reducing the level of fossil fuel use and CO2 emissions can only be good for wood products in general and EWPs should have their place in this positive outlook.”12 Looking at examples in Scandinavia, England and Germany there is a great increase in the housing and schooling industry. Finland allows only three storey timber buildings and Austria prohibits timber housing above five floors, however new technology is allowing for taller buildings to be produced. The recent example of Murray Grove Stadthaus High Density housing in London shows how it is possible to build affordable, wooden housing nine-stories high (the tallest residential building in the world). This project is a well developed example of how was technology advances so will the use of wood. Pre-fabricated from cross-laminated timber panels, not only are the load-bearing walls and floor slabs are made from wood but also stair and lift cores entirely from timber. Using a unique structural system by KLH of Austria, the architects took an ‘environmental position and a drive to get timber more readily accepted in the UK construction industry’. 13 Each of the panels is prefabricated including cut-outs for windows and doors. The panels were immediately craned into position on-site upon arrival, dramatically reducing the time on site. The entire nine storey structure was assembled within nine weeks. http://www.coford.ie/aboutcoford/pressreleases/buildingthefuture-newengineeredwoodproductsoutlinedincofordreport/ 13 http://www.woodawards.com/the-stadthaus/ 12
Image 15: The control room in Versowood sawmill and glulam factory at Vierumäki
Image 16: Processing plant of raw wood planks in Stora Enso factory in Honkalahti
The CLT structure provides a solid structural core on which different, independent and separating layers can be added. The economic layering strategy of stud walls with gaps in front of the party walls, floating floor build-ups and suspended ceilings, u-values above UK requirements have been achieved. It has been calculated that over 181 tonnes of carbon is stored in the building. ‘Additionally, by not using a reinforced concrete frame, a further 125 tonnes of carbon are saved from entering the atmosphere. This is equivalent to 21 years of carbon emissions from a building of this size, or 210 years at the current requirement of 10% renewable.’14 The ability to pre-fabricate elements, panels a or even whole modules, is proving a efficient way of combating demand for relatively cheap and quick constructions. FinnForest is one example of a leading company promoting way of working in recent years. This is an example of where the wood industry is heading toward in the future, with fast, suistainable buildings pre-fabricated and errected to new heights. This case study shows the potential and benefits of wood in construction in the United Kingdom, but the question comes about whether this will be possible around the globe. Much of the wood technology comes of Austia, Germany and Finland with wood often shipped from Finland and Serbia. In continents such as South America, Africa and parts of Asia where forests are depleted rather than sustained, other materials are likely to be used for construction in the further regardless of its ecological implications. Rather than demolishing and taking away, the urban structure can be enhanced by adding new layers to buildings to regenerate it and make it more energy efficient. This is another potential venture in the wood industry which allows adaptation to take place in the city. Examples such as light wooden rooftop additions or pre-fab skins added on walls to improve energy saving values will be in higher demand in the future, where demolishing large parts of cities is simply not possible.
14
http://www.woodawards.com/the-stadthaus/
Image 17 and 18: Nine floors of CLT structured apartments
Part 3 A Contextual or International form of architecture? The Instant City In a world moving towards efficient and sustainable construction, it seems that quality of space, poeticism and personalised space are becoming ever more pushed aside. Philip Tidwell in an essay on Place, Memory and the architectural image discusses how ‘our world is quickly becoming a stage set rather than a thoughtfully constructed environment for living’.15 With the increasing shift to pre-fabrication and standardisation from the emotive and the bespoke, will humanity be losing something much deeper in the future urban utopia which environmental engineers dream about. A key advantage to the use of wood in architecture is its long history and emotive sensibilities both aesthetic and nostalgic. Aalto often spoke about using ‘well-tried materials’ enabling ‘their forms [to] take on the psychological richness and practical viability that products of genuine culture should have’. 16 A move toward more highly engineered forms of construction and high-tech sustainable devices, has led to new levels of wooden design which is not possible. These limits will be pushed even further in the future, in certain countries, while others will find other solutions. There is a chance that residential housing will soon become homogeneous prefabricated homes, like the concrete blocks of the post-war era, with a loss of vernacular and handy-craft. Architecture should remain contextual rather than international. A holistic approach should remain reflecting choices between criteria and scale of each city. Taking this approach, the wood industry would rather grow in some regions and shrink in others, greatly relating to the forest resources available. North America and Europe seems to one two continents which are benefiting more and more from the forests, while increasing being more aware of the environmental implications of maintaining sustainable forests. Archipelago: Essays on Architecture , Various Contributors, Rakennustieto Publishing (1 Nov 2006) pg151 16 Matter and Mind in Architecture, Various Contributors, Rakennustieto Publishing; Har/Com edition (Dec 2002) pg57 15
While the benefits of wood in construction in the future seem substantial, it is important to remember that this is not a universal solution to mass housing and large building manufacture. Each country must sustainably develop their own methods in the industry, whether it is utilising vernacular knowledge such as earthen buildings or utilising new technologies in steel as efficiently as possible. Awareness of the capabilities of sustainable forestry and the technology available with wood products and construction is important to spread world-wide. Many countries have not had the opportunity to bring such options into considerations. Although wood will not become a universal solution to future construction issues primarily in the expanding cities, it will be one to ignore, and one that will only grow with time, knowledge and experience.
Image 19: The Chu-sa Hanok in Yesan-gun, Korean embodies Korean vernacular architecture built from local wood for the post and beam frame, with an earthen infiill and underfloor heating.
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Images Image 1: http://www.worldinteresting.com/natural/top-10-largest-cities-in-theworld.html Image 2: Photo by Author Image 3: Photo by Author Image 4: Photo by Author Image 5: http://bruteforcecollaborative.com/wordpress/category/sustainablepractices/ Image 6: Photo by Author Image 7: http://www.bis.gov.uk/assets/biscore/business-sectors/docs/e/101316-estimating-co2-emissions-supporting-low-carbon-igt-report Image 8: http://www.sustainability.ethz.ch/projects/akademie_som/so2011/informal_recycling_sector.pdf Image 9: http://www.worldmapper.org/posters/worldmapper_map314_ver5. pdf Image 10: http://www.cbd.int/development/doc/cbd-good-practice-guide-forestry-booklet-web-en.pdf Image 11: http://www.barbourproductsearch.info/towcester-office-projectnorthamptonshire-news014462.html Image 12: Photo by Author Image 13: Photo by Author Image 14 : http://www.archiexpo.de/prod/finnforest/brettschichtholz-tragerlvl-60821-147383.html Image 15: Photo by Author Image 16: Photo by Author Image 17: http://www.woodawards.com/the-stadthaus/ Image18: Photo by Author Image19: Photo by Author
Image 20: Mid day sun cast through the hundreds of years old forest reserve near Evo forest in Finland