PRECAST CONCRETE
A WINNING COMBINATION
Although competing materials on many levels, concrete and timber can combine to provide sustainable hybrid building solutions that will be evidenced by some pioneering developments in Finland.
1 Finland's leading precast concrete element manufacturer Consolis Parma, housebuilder Arkta Rakennus and Metsä Wood – one of Europe’s leading manufacturers of engineered wood products – have launched a research project on hybrid construction that promotes low-carbon construction. The aim is to develop a completely new kind of construction concept mainly for the needs of residential multi-storey construction, which will reduce the environmental impacts of construction by utilising hybrid structures. The sustainable development of the construction industry focuses on energy and material efficiency, as well as low-carbon construction and the circular economy. “Radically cutting the climate impact is a common concern for the entire construction industry,” says Juha Rämö, Technology
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Director at Consolis Parma. “In line with our strategy, we have put climate issues at the centre of our development work, and our goal is to reduce our emissions by 5% annually and halve them by 2035. “In terms of the climate impacts of the built environment, the transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy means that the influence of the actual construction phase in the building's lifecycle emissions will increase. As a result, structural solutions and the material choices in construction will play an increasingly crucial role in reducing the climate impact of the construction phase in the future. “We have launched a whole product family of low-emission concrete products that can significantly reduce material-based emissions from construction. In this research project,
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we are looking for new ways to reduce even more material emissions by utilising new hybrid structures and the best properties of different materials.” The aim of the partnership between Parma, Arkta and Metsä is to create a material-efficient and low-emission hybrid construction concept. In this context, hybrid construction refers to combining the best features of timber and concrete both in a building frame and façade solutions to make the building low-carbon, energy-saving, long-lasting and cost-effective. "Hybrid construction enables increasing the share of renewable material in multi-storey construction without compromising building process efficiency or the performance of solution,” says Jussi Björman, Director, Business Development Construction at Metsä Wood. “Metsä Wood's lightweight, material-
