SCA Wood Magazine 2/2022, ENG

Where tradition meets innovation

In the hands of one of Scandinavia’s most respected wooden-boat builders.

THE RIGHT STUFF

Choice of material is crucial to wooden-boat builder Anders Annell.

HISTORICAL CONSTRUCTION

Take a wood and technical oriented tour through modern building history.

A WELCOME ADDITION

Sawn timber products in contorta pine reach the European market.

WHERE TRADITION MEETS INNOVATION

Polarbröd has a tradition of innovation. Today, the family business is self-sufficient in renewable energy.

IF WALLS COULD TALK

How a popular TV programme made building conservation trendy.

A CULTURAL FORCE IN NORRLAND

The scent of wood makes CEO Anna Jirstrand Sandlund feel at home in the Sara Cultural Centre.

THE SMART SAWMILL OF TOMORROW

Installing the world’s most technologically advanced dry sorting line at Bollsta Sawmill.

IN-HOUSE PELLET PRODUCTION

Major investment at Rundvik Sawmill creates benefi ts and sustainability.

Karin Bodin discusses Polarbröd’s future following the devastating fire at the bakery in Älvsbyn in 2020.

Ulf Larsson, President and CEO of SCA: “As an industry, we can be the engine driving Europe’s transition to sustainability.”

Växjö City Hall and Central Station is a safe space.

The power of longterm relationships Wood SCA Magazine

PUBLISHER

Vanessa Pihlström

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Håkan Norberg

PRODUCTION

Frosting Kommunikationsbyrå

COVER PHOTO

Paulina Holmgren

TRANSLATION

Semantix

PRINTING

Stibo Complete, Katrineholm

PAPER

Cover: Munken Polar, 200 g Text block: Munken Polar, 120 g

CONTACT

SCA Wood Skepparplatsen 1 851 88 Sundsvall +4660 19 30 00 sca.com/en/wood

SUBSCRIBE scawoodmagazine@sca.com

SCA Wood Magazine is printed on FSC™ certified paper (FSC™ C012075). In producing this magazine, we strive for the minimum possible environmental impact and advocate responsible forestry practices.

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WE HUMANS ARE FAIRLY ALIKE . This makes it possible to evaluate a market with reasonable accuracy simply by observing the behaviour of friends, acquaintances and colleagues.

During the pandemic, many of us took the opportunity to do a little carpentry around the house. For a while, demand for timber outstripped supply. Once restrictions were lifted, more people took the opportunity to travel, leading to congested airports and a decline in demand for impregnated timber, our best-selling consumer product.

Market swings of this kind inevitably reveal how companies choose to do business. At SCA Wood, we build long-term relationships with our customers, whether they be multinational builders’ merchants or local wood processing companies, often family-owned for generations. We place a higher value on good relationships and mutual profitability than on short-term profits based on a volatile market. We have analysed what works well in the long term and through economic upturns and downturns. That’s where our customers and our loyalty lie.

The way we go about building business relationships is one of the main reasons why I have chosen to remain at SCA for over 20 years. It creates the kind of credibility that I stand for. Our work on energy issues is characterised by the same long-term approach. An energy transition is not something one does only to change one’s mind in the next quarter. We do it because we believe in it, because we want to build a better, safer world and – as Karin Bodin, President of the Polarbröd Group explains in this issue of SCA Wood Magazine –because it is smart business. Thanks to its investment in wind power, Polarbröd is self-sufficient in renewable energy.

Also in this issue, you can read about Anders Annell, who builds, renovates and restores wooden boats, and about Erika Åberg, who inspires sustainable building in the television series Det sitter i väggarna. And much more besides.

Pleasant reading!

MARKUS HENNINGSSON MARKETING DIRECTOR, SCA WOOD

Museum brings fairytales to life

THE AUTHOR H C ANDERSEN , universally renowed for his fairytales, has been dedicated a new museum in Odense, Denmark. The poetic vision for the museum's architecture was to bring the author's artistic universe to life, where magical things are constantly happening.

The architect Kengo Kuma and his team have, among other things, taken inspiration from the fairytale The Tinderbox, where a tree reveals an underground world that offers the viewer completely new perspectives. The museum's wooden buildings are connected by underground rooms, which in turn are intertwined with an enchanting garden. Read more at hcandersenshus.dk.

The right stuff

THE ESSENCE OF A WOODEN-BOAT BUILDER

Interest, stubbornness and luck, and of course access to the right materials. According to Anders Annell, who has been building and sailing wooden boats all his life, this is the recipe for wooden boat building. Annell has been running his boatyard on the island of Värmdö in the Stockholm archipelago since 1995.

BUT WHAT ABOUT the boats? Weren't we supposed to talk about the boats?”

For the first half hour of our meeting, we have been discussing how Anders Annell became a boat builder, his theory that, in part at least, luck is hereditary and the value of plain speaking. All topics worthy of discussion, no doubt, but, after all, it was the boats that brought us to his workshop on the island of Värmdö in the Stockholm archipelago; boats, and the material from which he builds them: wood.

Wooden-boat builders are a dying breed. Of the few who remain, a surprising number have their workshops far from the water, Annell among them. A waterside plot is worth much more as a housing development than it is as a boatyard, so boat launches now involve a journey on a lorry equipped with a crane.

“But who am I to judge? I wouldn’t say no to 40 or 50 million if I owned a plot like that,” acknowledges Anders.

His telephone rings. His son is helping to launch one of the season’s first completed boats. Anders responds calmly.

“Take leaded, it’s not that fussy.”

He hangs up and apologises for the interruption. A few years earlier, his son had put petrol in the tank of a boat with a diesel engine; lesson learned, he is now anxious to get it right.

EXPERIENCE AND CRAFTSMANSHIP

Anders Annell is one of the most respected wooden-boat builders in Scandinavia. He holds one’s gaze, listens attentively and proffers am answer to every question that is as apposite as it is well-formulated, sometimes going into detail and sometimes succinct, almost in headline format. He exudes a serenity and security that one recognises from the work he and his five colleagues perform in the workshop. Each movement and every detail

has a clear intention born of their many years of building and restoring wooden boats. This is the kind of self-assurance that comes with years of experience and great artisanship, but at the same time it is completely without airs.

“There is no art to building a boat! There’s no reason why you couldn’t do it too,” Anders tells me and photographer Rania Rönntoft.

We do not share his confidence.

Anders lists the basic elements of boatbuilding. Keel and stems. Construction templates of the boat’s shape. Planking, to form the hull of the boat. And then the internal frame.

“The hull is then basically finished. It’s relatively simple. Th difficult thing is doing it quickly and well.”

A LUXURY PRODUCT FOR THE ENTHUSIAST

It takes two ferries to get to Värmdö, navigating between islets and skerries and past several marinas where only a handful of wooden boats can be glimpsed among the mass-produced vessels in plastic and composite materials. So, who buys them? Anders smiles.

“I really don’t have a good answer to that, although clearly a hand-built boat is a luxury product. It takes a great deal of time. A gig suitable for the archipelago, about 6.5 by 2.5 metres and weighing just under a tonne, will take about 800 hours to complete,” he says.

“It’s for the enthusiast, of course. People worry that a wooden boat will be too much work but maintaining a folkboat* only takes 40 to 50 hours each season. The average Swede spends four or five hours a day on their telephone. Never mind the fact that it takes almost as much time to maintain a plastic boat, although it requires less professional knowledge.”

(*A folkboat is a sailboat traditionally made from wood with a wooden mast, although today they are also manufactured in fibreglassreinforced polyester with an aluminium mast.)

TEXT

The large workshop contains boats of varying sizes in various states of repair.

The Annell boatyard delivers one or two new boats each season. In parallel, the yard also restores a number of boats of varying sizes, some of which are major projects and others less so. Anders and his colleagues also maintain all of the boats they build, as well as storing them over the winter. Thus far, they have completed some 30 newbuilds, everything from small skiffs to large motorboats, and innumerable renovations.

TRADITIONAL METHODS AND TOOLS

“We build in the traditional way and so that the boats can be renovated. It should be possible to unscrew components and put them back again, not just some quick fix with any old material. And we use the absolute minimum of glue,” says Anders.

This is a craft with thousands of years of tradition behind it, and one that involves a great many joints and fixings. It demands knowledge, dedication and patience to join a wooden boat. That said, opinions differ when it comes to modern wooden boat building.

“Some people think I’m some zealot or reactionary, that I should use more modern methods, others think that I’m doing things the right way. But our customers like it,” says Anders.

“Plastic and wood don’t go together,” he continues.

Every screw in every boat is dipped in a mixture of beeswax and linseed oil before being screwed in to protect against water and corrosion. Screws are countersunk and concealed with wooden dowels.

“And the wood must be planed rather than milled, because then it looks milled. That’s the fun side of being a nerd,” says Anders.

Work is often performed with tools made by the craftspeople themselves for a specific purpose, such as a rosewood fluting plane with a rounded base and matching blade and a mallet made of Lignum vitae, one of the hardest woods on Earth.

A FEW GEMS FROM THE WORKSHOP

Anders designs some of the boats himself, others are built according to the client’s instructions and some based on the client’s own blueprint.

It’s a process we go through together, building a boat. I and the customer need to share an understanding of what we want to achieve.”

When restoring a boat, it’s a great help if the original drawings are extant, as was the case with the Thelma, an open-sea motor cruiser built in 1916. The boat was originally the flagship of the Gothenburg Volunteer Motorboat Flotilla during the First World War, after which it served as a water taxi for 50 years.

Thelma was designed by engineer Carl Gustaf Pettersson and built by Erik Wilhelm Flobeck, director of the engineering firm Eriksberg in Gothenburg. The owner discovered the original drawings at the National Maritime Museum, where many of CG Petersson’s drawings are preserved. This is the same Petersson after whom the famous Petersson motor launch is named.

At the Annell boatyard, the Thelma’s hull is straightened, a new wooden frame and deck installed and the cabin and interior returned to their original condition: the hull, cabin and interior in mahogany and the deck in Oregon pine.

FACTS AT A GLANCE

The Annell boatyard opened in 1995. It employs a group of highly dedicated boat builders and carpenters. The founder of the boatyard, Anders Annell, still leads the work.

Learn more at annellbatbyggeri.se.

“It fits my hand and allows me to get close to the material.” Anders on the smoothing plane he made for himself.

Work began in 2019 and if all goes to plan the vessel will put to sea again in 2023.

In the large workshop, the Gasta, built by Åke Améen in 1936, is also being fitted with a new deck of Oregon pine. The boat will also be fitted with a new cockpit and interior.

Then there is the experimental offshore racer Delphin, with its beautiful lines and a hull designed to mimic a dolphin. According to Anders, however, the design does have a flaw.

“It moves beautifully through the water, up to two knots.”

“THE MATERIAL IS A JOY”

There is a great deal of wood of various types, sizes and cuts in the workshop. A 10-metre-long oak plank, long lengths of knot-free heartwood pine and an odd assortment of knotty wood that “one can make into beautiful hooks and hangers,” as Anders puts it.

“The material is a joy and an interest, but it is difficult to get hold of the right wood for boat building. So, it would be great to become best mates with the CEO of SCA.”

Anders spends countless hours each year visiting and talking to small sawmills all over Sweden. The old, large, occasionally crooked trees that suit him perfectly are hard to find. And finding the material is not the end of it; it is also important to know how to treat it. To this end, Anders started growing fungi, to learn more about rot and how to build boats that are better equipped to withstand the elements.

One thing that everything in the workshop has in common – whether it be material, tools or the boats themselves – is history and tradition. One boat has been cared for by Anders down three generations of the same family and in many of the boats the yard restores he finds the signatures of those who built them and undertook earlier renovations. Once his own task is complete, he adds his own for posterity.

And then there is his own story. Anders Annell built his first wooden boat when he was 12, an ice yacht that is currently owned by an 85-year-old in the area around Gävle.

“I’m thinking about making an offer to buy it back.”

As a young man, Anders dropped out of KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm to work with boats. At his new workplace, he was tasked with renovating the interior of a large motorboat.

“This isn’t for me,” he told the owner and instead he was set to work on a beautiful sailboat. Plain speaking pays.

Anders then attended the now defunct boatbuilding school on the island of Ingmarsö, an education that proved to be more of an apprenticeship, before eventually staring his own business.

“Things have fallen into place for me and I have always been kept busy with work. I’ve been lucky!”

So, what does Anders himself sail?

“It varies. I have an old archipelago cruiser built in 1899 that is sitting down here, although that has a few holes in it,” he says.

When will that be finished?

“Right before I launch it.”

Wood then and now CONSTRUCTION HISTORY

TEXT HÅKAN NORBERG ILLUSTRATION MIKAEL EJEMAR VIKSTRÖM

While building materials and techniques are constantly evolving and the appearance of our buildings has changed greatly over the years, one thing remains constant: wood. In densely forested areas, wood was an early house-building material; today, it is in demand as a building material around the globe. Join us as we take a brief look at the historical role of wood in house building.

PRE-NINETEENTH CENTURY

Before the industrial revolution, people used whatever building materials were available locally. This might be stone, clay, plant fibres or, of course, wood. Labour was generally cheap but the possibility of processing materials limited. Timbered houses were common in heavily wooded countries.

CIRCA NINETEENTH CENTURY

The industrial revolution made it possible to mass-produce building materials such as glass and brick. Metal becomes more common and the choice of materials is no longer as limited by geographical considerations. Timber remained in use in frames and roof beams. And new sawmills and sawing methods where introduced

EARLY TWENTIETH CENTURY

Reinforced concrete and steel make high-rise buildings possible. The steel frame technique opened up a new chapter in the art of construction, while the lift made skyscrapers possible. Wood was considered an irrelevance in this context, but small houses continued to be built from timber.

TWENTIETH CENTURY

Steel, glass and prefabricated concrete elements meet the need to rapidly and efficiently erect new buildings in expanding urban areas. Smaller residential and holiday homes are also built using prefabricated timber components. In larger construction projects, the role of wood is often limited to chipboard and interior detailing rather than a main building material. By the end of the twentieth century, legislation in Sweden changed, allowing highrises made of wood.

TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY

The climate impact of concrete and steel brings these materials increasingly into question. At the same time, advances in construction techniques mean that wood, a renewable material, can be considered for larger and taller buildings, examples of which are springing up around the world.

A FAST-GROWING

NEWCOMER

TEXT KERSTIN OLOFSSON PHOTO MICHAEL ENGMAN

SCA’s search for a fast-growing tree species to plant on some of its land began way back in the 1950s. A number of candidates were identified and the final choice was the contorta pine.

“Above all, it has amazingly powerful growth, but it was also because it was possible to obtain really high-quality seeds. Today, we can confirm that this choice proved successful,” says Per Persson, former head of forest management at SCA, who was involved in SCA’s investment in contorta pine almost from day one.

TTHE REASON FOR SCA’s search for a new tree species was a predicted dip in timber volumes during the early twenty-first century.

“The way forestry was conducted until the mid-twentieth century led to increasing deforestation in Sweden. After that, we started planting and sewing once an area had been harvested, something that contributed to forests with good growth,” explains Persson.

However, even if this change of policy resulted in plenty of young forests, there would inevitably be a period during which there would be a shortage of mature tress for felling. To secure

the availability of raw materials, SCA therefore set about identifying a tree species with a faster growth rate than Swedish pine and spruce.

“And, in fact, there turned out to be many alternatives to study,” says Persson.

FOCUSING ON THE RIGHT SEED

The Swiss pine was considered, as was the larch. Although some larch was already cultivated in Sweden, it was difficult to access the right kind of seeds.

“Getting hold of the right seeds is ultimately the key to success. Unless the seed has the correct origin, it will not survive,” explains Persson.

The trees need to be adapted to the climate and circadian rhythm in the location where they are to be planted. Crucial factors such as when the tree prepares itself for winter and when it awakes again in spring are genetically controlled. The larch seeds that were available to buy came from the Soviet Union and originated at a latitude a little too far south to suit northern Sweden.

For many other tree species too, the availability of the right seed proved to be a limitation. The contorta pine, however, presented no such problems as seeds with a suitable origin were available in Canada.

METHODICAL DEVELOPMENT

"My predecessor, Stig Hagner, did an incredible job of collecting seed samples from Canada, starting various experimental plantations and conducting many studies. In 1972, SCA decided to invest,” says Persson.

Large-scale planting of contorta pine began soon afterwards, as did the methodical work of monitoring growth to assess how best to plant and care for contorta pines.

A number of challenges have been thrown up over the years, including figuring out how to ensure that the trees develop stable root systems and grow as straight as possible.

“We have developed everything from the cultivation process in the nursery to site preparation; i.e., how best to prepare the ground where the saplings are to be planted. We have also calculated the optimal points in ground preparation for the saplings to grow well and which types of land the contorta pine is best suited to. In this way, we have continuously developed the quality of the timber, “ says Persson.

“The fact that we’ve followed up on an ongoing basis, identified problems and made adjustments based on what we’ve learned has been a distinguishing feature of our work – and a vital part of our success.”

FOLLOWING THE PROGRESS OF HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF PLANTS

SCA conducted experiments that involved planting large areas of contorta pine immediately adjacent to large areas of Swedish pine. This made it possible to see both similarities and differences and work out what adaptions were necessary in order to care for contorta pines.

SCA also has a unique system that makes it possible to follow the progress of a single tree throughout the juvenile stage.

“We have followed hundreds of thousands of saplings over the years, both contorta pine and Swedish pine and spruce. This has provided us with astonishing knowledge about which factors affect the development of young trees. This methodology really came to the fore when we wanted to learn quickly about how to care for contorta pine,” says Persson.

MORE FOREST THAN EVER

Although we are now in the midst of the predicted period of timber shortages, the fact is that SCA has never had as much timber in its forests as it does today. It has been possible to increase felling while simultaneously increasing the volume of standing forest. The introduction of contorta pine, as well as the careful management of SCA’s forest holdings as a whole, has been crucial to achieving this feat.

“Our goal has always been to maintain future harvests at least at the same level, or higher, than at present,” says Kalle Duvemo, who works with long-term planning at SCA Forest.

Investment in contorta pine continues. Contorta pine is currently growing on 15 per cent of SCA’s productive forest land and the ambition is to remain at this level.

“Contorta pine has amazing growth and is also highly resistant to several diseases and fungal attacks that often strike Swedish pines. And rapid growth also offers major climate benefits in as much as it so quickly binds so much carbon dioxide, which is obviously very positive,” concludes Duvemo.

PHOTO KRISTOFER LÖNNÅ

A much-needed contribution to the green transition

TEXT KERSTIN OLOFSSON PHOTO KRISTOFER LÖNNÅ

Sawn timber products in contorta pine will be a welcome addition to the European market believes Anders Ek, former chair of the European Confederation of Woodworking Industries (CEI-Bois).

“This will increase access to sustainable raw materials, thus reducing reliance on fossil materials. It will be interesting to see which products will be best suited to contorta pine,” he says.

THERE ARE MANY BENEFITS to manufacturing products from wood, not least the important contribution it makes to the climate transition.

“Trees bind carbon dioxide as

they grow and it remains stored in the timber products that are then produced. Wood is a completely renewable raw material that can replace fossil raw materials, which is why we are keen to use a great deal,” explains Ek.

MORE TIMBER NEEDED

In Sweden and many other places, forests are growing rapidly; indeed, in Europe as a whole growth is outstripping felling. Despite this, the availability of timber is limited.

“Clearly, there is a need for more timber in Europe. Over the past ten years, demand for timber products has increased significantly and it is therefore encouraging that products made of contorta pine are ready to be launched on the market. It is now important to match the attributes of contorta pine to products that are in demand, so that we can get the very best out of the wood,” says Ek.

PROPERTIES BEFORE SPECIES

According to Ek, which tree species a product such as furniture, panelling or adhesive is made from is not particularly interesting, as generally speaking customers do not care.

“The demand is for products that fulfil a specific function. So, the important thing is to describe the physical properties of contorta pine based on given parameters, not to compare it to Swedish pine, for example, or any other tree species for that matter.”

Hardness, rot resistance, strength and shrinkage are some of the properties that determine what products contorta pine is best suited for. Testing and obtaining results from third parties can be a time-consuming process. Strength is currently being evaluated and preliminary values for machine sorting are expected at the turn of the year.

DOUGLAS FIR: A SUCCESSFUL EXAMPLE

There are a number of examples of foreign tree species that have been successful transplanted to Europe and timber products made from the species then introduced to the European market. The Douglas fir arrived in Europe from North America, just like contorta pine, and has been cultivated here since the nineteenth century. It is now a common species in the forests of Germany, France and other European countries and products made from its timber are well established.

“France is the largest market for the end-product of the Douglas fir, which among other things is ideally suited for exterior cladding or decking,” says Ek.

A MUCH-NEEDED CONTRIBUTION TO THE GREEN TRANSITION

According to Anders Ek, it is precisely such properties that one needs to focus on. Ek emphasises that these properties are largely determined by how the tree grows, rather than simply which species it is.

“For example, it is impossible to compare a Douglas fir grown in Europe to a Douglas fir grown in North America; their properties are essentially different. And the same can be said of contorta pine.”

In North America, the contorta pine forests regrow naturally and the trees grow densely and slowly. The pines grow narrow and straight, hence their alternative moniker, the lodgepole pine. Growing conditions in Sweden are completely different.

In Sweden, the contorta pine does not regrow naturally; it needs to be planted and it grows quickly and branches are further apart. This means that the Swedish timber is not at all similar to contorta pine from North America.

“It’s important to find the niche products that Swedish contorta pine is suited to and ensure that there is a continuous flow of the timber to customers. Products manufactured from contorta pine will then be a much-needed contribution to the green transition!”

Where tradition meets innovation

TEXT HÅKAN NORBERG PHOTO PAULINA HOLMGREN

Polarbröd is a family business dating back to 1879. Karin Bodin is President of the group, which rests on a long tradition of innovation: smoked reindeer sandwiches, fresh-frozen bread and now sustainability. “ Our commitment to achieving full sustainability is both morally right and smart business. The fact that we are self-sufficient in renewable energy looks like a very smart choice now.”

ÄLVSBYN IS A SMALL community on the banks of the Pite River in Norrbotten. The municipality has some 8,000 inhabitants and 800 businesses, among them some of Sweden’s largest in their fields. Polarbröd is one of them.

Kanisberget, a couple of kilometres from the centre of the village, has been the site of two crucial events in Polarbröd’s history; one of them laid the foundations for the company we know today and the other led to a dramatic rebirth for the business.

“When I was little, my grandmother told me that Santa lived in Kanisberget,” says Karin Bodin.

Karin is the fifth generation of the family of bakers that has been spreading the aroma of fresh bread across the village since 1879. She took the reins as CEO of Polarbröd in 2006 and since 2016 she has been President of the Polarbröd Group, which employs 260 people and had an annual turnover of SEK 955 million last year. In addition to the bakery business, group companies are involved in distribution, property and renewable energy.

But let us return to Kanisberget. It was here that Karin’s grandmother, Greta Nilsson – she who informed Karin about Santa’s living arrangements – began to stock her café with frozen sandwiches that could be defrosted and served as required, thus eliminating waste. So, Polarbröd’s classic smoked reindeer sandwich was born and the seeds sown of the method the company still uses today: freezing bread fresh out of the oven and allowing it to thaw en route to supermarkets and convenience stores, ensuring that it stays fresh.

It was also in the carpark at the foot of Kanisberget that Karin Bodin gathered her employees after the bakery burned to the ground on the night of 23–24 August 2020. The pandemic

made it impossible to hold a large meeting indoors so it was here, before her employees and the assembled press, that Karin vowed to rebuild the bakery, in Älvsbyn.

“We come from here; our roots in Älvsbyn are incredibly deep. It would never have occurred to us to build somewhere else,” she says.

TRANSPARENCY AND HONESTY

While it might seem somewhat staged for Karin Bodin and Polarbröd to address something so momentous so openly and directly in this particular setting, one should bear in mind that there is something uncommonly sincere about the tone of all of the company’s communication. The group’s annual sustainability report, for example, is frank in a manner that is rare in the corporate world. In the report, the IT manager admits to having a good deal of undocumented information in his head, something a more anxious corporation might have balked at revealing. And concerning the planet’s climate, Polarbröd writes:

“Knowledge about the severity of the situation and the existence of solutions begets a moral responsibility to act. From a humane perspective, [a failure to take corporate responsibility for climate impact] is reprehensible.”

The message is plain.

“Researchers have many answers that it behoves us in the business community to listen to,” says Bodin.

Concerning the climate crisis, she has stated that if the system in its entirety is unsustainable, it makes no difference to be top of the class.

“That’s just how we are, open and direct, and it hasn’t caused us any problems. On the contrary; honesty makes life simpler. If you fudge the facts, it’s easy to start distorting them, to dissemble.”

“Take the fire as an example. It was dreadful,

“I was walking along a forest path with a Frenchwoman once and she found it very difficult to walk on such an uneven surface. It’s only natural for me, with the pine needles, the roots, the scent and changing seasons in the forest.”

Karin Bodin at the corporate office in Älvsbyn. Hanging behind her on the wall are portraits of her grandparents Gösta och Greta Nilsson and sister Anna Borgeryd.

FACTS: POLARBRÖD

The present-day company was founded by Greta and Gösta Nilsson in 1972, but its roots go back to 1879 when baker Johan Nilsson arrived in Älvsbyn from Gothenburg. Today, the company is owned by the children, grandchildren and great grandchildren of Greta and Gösta. Karin Bodin, the fifth generation of the family, is Group President, while Anders E Johansson is CEO of Polarbröd.

Polarbröd has two bakeries, one in Älvsbyn in Norrbotten and one in Bredbyn in Ångermanland. The company also has offices in Umeå.

but maybe also a blunder. How could it happen? Why didn’t we have any sprinklers? Did the fire start in a lump of dough? No one knows for certain what caused of the fire and neither do we, so we tell it like it is. In my opinion, you have to have the courage to exam the issues. Thankfully, nobody came to harm.”

SELF-SUFFICIENT IN RENEWABLE ENERGY

In October 2021, only 14 months after the fire, process operator Medina Kapidzic took the first product off the production line at Polarbröd’s new bakery in Älvsbyn.

“I couldn’t stop crying, because I sent the last one onto the line at the old bakery. It was I who started the line that caught fire,” she told the magazine Arbetet

The new production line can deliver up to 2,700 kilograms of bread an hour. That is nearly

half of the combined output of all three lines at the old bakery. And there is space for another three production lines.

Efficiency and sustainability were the focus of rebuilding. Waste heat from the large cooling plant, ventilation and other parts of the production process is used to heat the premises and provide hot water. That said, sustainability and energy supply have been on the agenda for much longer.

It was almost a decade ago that Polarbröd first examined the possibility of becoming self-sufficient in renewable energy. The group currently owns five wind turbines that generate more electricity that the business uses, approximately 28 gigawatt hours during 2021.

“We began this work based on the conviction that it was the right thing to do. In the long term, it also turned out to be commercially advantageous,” says Karin.

Trials of the first new production line began 14 months after the fire.

In autumn 2022, as Europe prepares to face a winter energy crisis, “commercially advantageous” begins to look like a significant understatement. Polarbröd’s investment in sustainability has proved to be a competitive advantage. And the hunt for further areas for improvement continues.

“Residual streams, for example. We have to stop talking about waste. Anything that doesn’t feel like an asset to us can be refined. Leftover dough and bread, for example, can be used to make vegan protein or beer. And we have other ideas, although they’re secret for the time being.”

Many of the challenges are found early in the production chain; for example, how can grain be cultivated on a large enough scale while maintaining the health of the soil? To this end, Polarbröd collaborates with suppliers who are interested in being part of the journey to wholly sustainable raw materials.

There are also challenges further along the chain, including packaging and shipping. Another issue is the expectation that the food industry will make many products available at all times, yet still avoid waste.

“Maybe we consumers will not be able to choose exactly what we want, when we want it. And perhaps we will have to eat different things than we do today. That said, people want positive alternatives to help us change our habits,” says Karin.

PRIDE AND LOSS

Karin is proud of her heritage; a family business that bakes bread solely from plant-based raw materials. She and her elder sister Anna Borgeryd became partners as teenagers and ran the company together for many years until Anna passed away from cancer in 2019.

“I lost both a sister and someone who complemented me really well at work. I still miss

The Polarbröd bakery was completely destroyed by fire in August 2020.

PHOTO POLARBRÖD

PHOTO POLARBRÖD

her enormously, not being able to speak to her, her wisdom and vision.”

Karin describes her sister as a driving force for renewal and someone with a unique ability for lateral thinking, not least in the area of sustainability. Irreplaceable, of course.

“Still, if we are to continue for another hundred years, we need people who are forward-looking and courageous, as Anna was.”

With the new bakery up and running and a summer of healthy sales behind her, Karin Bodin is looking ahead. She is also grateful for the support people showed the company in conjunction with the fire.

“It feels like the next chapter can begin.”

She expects the business to be completely circular by 2032 and that by then half of all revenue will come from activities the company is not involved in today.

“Why? To have something to strive for!”

Karin Bodin at the foot of Kanisberget, where she skied growing up and where her grandmother invented the frozen smoked reindeer sandwich.

A CONCERT HALL INSPIRED BY INSTRUMENTS

A CONCERT HALL DESIGNED as a giant wooden musical instrument has opened on the campus of the Toho Gakuen College of Music in Tokyo, Japan. The audience now take their seats in what is quite literally a giant resonance box constructed from cross-laminated timber (CLT) panels of cedar and cypress. Thanks to its pleated geometric construction, the panels both act as load-bearing elements and provide the excellent acoustics the hall requires. The musical theme continues on the exterior, which is covered with wooden louvers, evoking the strings of instruments. The building is the work of architect Kengo Kuma.

Building kit for future engineers

Excavators, loaders and dump trucks fascinate the minds of young children. That's why toy manufacturer Brio and Volvo Construction Equipment have teamed up to create the new Brio Builders building kit with beech wood construction machines that have realistic functions. The idea is to build on the children's sense of discovery and joy – and lay a good foundation for the engineers of the future, who will continue to develop society. Brio's ambition with high-quality wooden toys is also that they should be passed down and stimulate creativity for several generations.

PHOTO WASUMI-KOBAYASHI KENJI PHOTOGRAPH OFFICE

PHOTO VOLVO

Fascinating shapes

SURREAL AND fantastical root systems bursting through walls, floors and ceilings leave gallery visitors around the world breathless. It might be hard to believe that these monumental installations consist of thousands of pieces of recycled plywood, but Brazilian artist Henrique Oliveira has specialised in breathing new life into planks from the typical fencing that surrounds building sites in his native city, São Paulo. Naturally, the weather and everyday wear and tear have left their marks on the material by the time the artist skilfully transforms them into fascinating sculptures in organic forms that challenge the spatial perception of viewers.

PHOTO NASH BAKER

A PUBLIC LIVING ROOM IN WOOD

This is the view when you look up in Växjö City Hall and Central Station

TEXT HÅKAN NORBERG PHOTO FELIX GERLACH

Bright, open and sustainable – a meeting place for both residents and visitors to the city. This is how Växjö Municipality describes its new combined central station and city hall, which was inaugurated last year.

“The best way to create a safe city centre is to make sure that people use the space,” says Anna Tenje, Chair of the Municipal Assembly.

The building houses a 780 square metre public meeting place known as Växjö’s living room.

VÄXJÖ’S COMBINED central station and city hall, built in wood, covers 16,400 square metres. It has two sloping facades and large glazed areas. The seven-storey building has an atrium allowing natural light to stream into all floors.

“The sloping facade is skilfully executed to allow light to enter in the right way,” says Niklas Kummer, architect and project manager at Sweco.

Sweco was responsible for planning, and developed the original architechtural design created by White Arkitekter.

The building was completed in February 2021; the municipality moved in during May and the station opened to the public in August.

RENOVATION OR NEWBUILD

Växjö Municipality found itself at a crossroads in 2017. The existing city hall was cavernous, poorly ventilated and impossible to heat to an even temperature. It was old, dilapidated and in dire need of renovation. At the same time, the city’s

central station was too small to accommodate the increasing need for public transport. So, the idea was hatched to combine the two functions in a new multipurpose building.

“When the decision was taken, estimates suggested a reduction in annual rent of SEK 4.3 million compared to remaining in the existing city hall and carrying out renovations. And although the station building was only 15 years old, it had already become too small,” explains Anna Tenje.

“We want to be at the heart of the city, close to its citizens. So, what could be better than basing the municipality’s 500-strong workforce in one of the city’s most visited locations? With so many people moving around the area, Växjö Station can be one of the safest in the country.”

The new building occupies the same site as the old station building. Meanwhile, on the site of the old city hall, the municipality is planning to build housing, which is in short supply in central Växjö.

MORE LARGE WOODEN BUILDINGS In addition to its unique natural light and wooden

frame and interiors, the building also strives to connect the city centre to the rest of the world by train.

“It was a conscious choice to make the building transparent; from the pedestrian precinct, the city seems to continue through the building out onto the tracks,” says Niklas Kummer.

He and his colleagues are looking forward to working on more large wooden buildings in future, for both ethical and aesthetic reasons.

“We must get away from fossil materials and invest in renewables. And, in terms of design, it’s always exiting to explore new possibilities and materials. Wood means clean, noise-free building sites and wooden houses are very pleasant to be inside.”

FACTS AT A GLANCE

Växjö City Hall and Central Station is built from spruce, pine and, to a lesser extent, beech. Pillars and beams are glued laminated timber (glulam), while the basement and stairwells are concrete. The exterior features wood cladding, glass covered wood panels, as well as a glass facade.

The building is certified Miljöbyggnad Gold by the Sweden Green Building Council. To achieve this level, the building must meet requirements for natural light, radon, energy consumption, moisture-proofing, indoor climate and environmentally friendly building materials.

The timber frame achieves lower energy consumption levels than those laid down by the National Board of Housing, Building and Planning.

The exterior of the building consists of a variety of materials.

Anna Tenje, Chair of the Municipal Assembly in Växjö.

The new city hall has space for approximately 600 staff.

Niklas Kummer, architect and project manager at Sweco.

PHOTO VÄXJÖMODERATERNA

PHOTO SWECO

“Actively managed forests are the way forward.”

Ulf Larsson is President and CEO of SCA.

Last spring, he was also appointed chair of the Swedish Forest Industry Federation. Ulf, a forester by trade, is from Norrbotten, Sweden’s northernmost county, and a strong believer in the power of the forest.

“As a forest owner, you care about your forest. As an industry, we can be the engine driving Europe’s transition to sustainability,” he says.

TEXT HÅKAN NORBERG PHOTO KRISTOFER LÖNNÅ

ULF LARSSON

Ulf Larsson joined SCA in 1992 and has occupied a number of leading roles within the forest products business.

He has been President and CEO of SCA since 2017. In April, he was elected chair of the Swedish Forest Industry Federation, an organisation that works to strengthen its members’ competitiveness and increase the use of forest products. The appointment is for a period of two years.

Learn more at sca.com and skogsindustrierna.se.

THE FOREST INDUSTRY invests SEK 15 billion in Sweden each year. The industry employs 115,000 people and has annual net exports of SEK 140 billion. The economic importance of the industry to the country is undeniably immense and yet in the public discourse it is often climate and environmental issues that are granted most space when forests are discussed.

“Firstly, we must separate climate and environment,” says Ulf Larsson.

So, let us begin there.

THE FOREST AND THE CLIMATE

The Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Institute (SMHI) defines the climate thus: “The term climate refers to the long-term characteristics of the weather measured statistically. The climate can therefore only be ‘observed’ indirectly, by collecting data and analysing weather observations over a long period of time”.

“A long period of time” generally means 30 years or more.

“As it grows, the forest binds carbon dioxide and by replacing fossil fuels and materials with renewables the forest’s climate benefits are further increased,” says Ulf.

“We need to view the forest as more than simply a carbon sink. If we allow all forests to remain standing, we will bind more carbon in the short term but we will not be able to replace fossil materials. And, in the long term, ancient forests emit carbon dioxide. It is the actively managed

forest that provides the positive effects.”

In his opinion, to some extent the issue of substitution effects – i.e., the climate value of replacing fossil materials such as cement and steel with renewable materials such as wood – has disappeared from the debate.

“The majority of sawn timber is used in long-lived products that can replace fossil alternatives, while the rest is used for pallets and packaging. We can manufacture construction board from shavings and woodchips, which also have a long working life, and biofuel,” says Ulf.

He explains that SCA’s operations to be climate positive, partly thanks to the growing forests. The total annual climate benefit of the company is 10.5 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent –more than the emissions from all of Sweden’s cars combined.

THE FOREST AND THE ENVIRONMENT

The term environment is a broad one that may involve physical, social and cultural factors in the natural or built environments with which people interact. For our purposes, the term environment refers to the environment in which we live, the condition and quality of which can be affected by human activities.

“Sweden and Finland have a unique forest stock compared to the rest of Europe and we replant in a way that other countries do not. Every harvested tree is replaced with at least two new ones. And as a forest harvesting system, clearcutting is by far the best,” says Ulf.

“I believe that in future we will see wood used increasingly for visible applications. Our pine has qualities that make it ideal for finishes, rather than being used as structural timbers.”

Annual growth in SCA’s forests is currently 10.5 million cubic metres. Death by natural causes claims 1.4 million cubic metres, including storm-felled trees, while SCA harvests 5.2 million cubic metres each year. The remainder is net annual growth of almost 4 million cubic metres of forest.

“We harvest around one per cent of the forest each year in different locations and we burn approximately 500 hectares to provide habitats for plants and animals that require fire-ravaged land,” says Ulf.

The forest has different uses and varying value to different individuals and groups. Hunters, for example, want a large elk population, while forest owners want to keep numbers down due to damage caused by wildlife.

“I respect the fact that not everyone thinks alike. For example, I find a finely thinned young forest to be the most beautiful thing of all, while others disagree completely,” says Ulf.

“We have 330,000 forest owners in Sweden and no two of them think alike, so even there we have great diversity. The model of freedom with responsibility works; the only rule we actually need is the one about replanting.”

THE FOREST’S FUTURE

Demand for timber products is increasing globally, often for sustainability reasons, and the global transition from a fossil- and oil-driven economy to tomorrow’s electric-powered bioeconomy is still in its infancy.

“Despite this, the sustainability benefits are already obvious. According to a recent report from the Swedish Forest Industry Federation, the climate benefits of active forest management and forest products have increased by 46 per cent over the last 30 years,” says Ulf.

“In the interests of both the climate and Swedish prosperity, I believe we must focus on active forest management to the best of our abilities. More timber, pulp and paper is good for the environment and good for Swedish business.”

PHOTO PER-ANDERS SJÖQUIST

INSPIRING BUILDING SUSTAINABLE

Erika Åberg had never dreamed of becoming a television personality.

Yet with the success of the programme Det sitter i väggarna [History in the walls], the Swedish people have taken her to their hearts while at the same time she has helped building conservation become the latest trend.

“This is confirmation that people are craving something other than a throwaway culture,” says Erika.

THE TERMS building conservator and national treasure are rare to see in the same sentence. However, in the case of Erika Åberg, the juxtaposition is for once warranted. As presenter of the SVT programme Det sitter i väggarna [History in the walls], she has made building conservation trendy and linseed oil paint a given topic of conversation at dinner parties.

However, it was hardly a foregone conclusion that she would be a star of the small screen.

“Goodness, no, that was never something I craved. On the contrary, I was extremely shy. Of course, I was passionate about building conservation and wanted people to know that there was an alternative to plasterboard and plastic paints, but I never saw myself as the face of the campaign. So, when the production team got in touch it was quite stressful,” says Erika Åberg.

They were searching for a woman with a theoretical and practical grasp of building conservation. Although sceptical at first, she agreed to take the job.

“Once the programme aired, I received such a lovely response from viewers that I was able to relax and grow into the role. Now I even find it a great deal of fun!”

When the first series aired in 2015, no one had any idea how much interest there would be in the sustainable conservation of quite ordinary old buildings However, somewhat unexpectedly Det

sitter i väggarna was a roaring success and Erika Åberg has now completed eight seasons, initially alongside historian Christopher O’Regan and now with Rickard Thunér, a familiar face to viewers from the Swedish version of Antiques Roadshow.

“Of course, it’s absolutely fantastic. It’s great that people are so interested in building conservation and history, that they appreciate all the hard work that previous generations have put into building up villages, farms and landscapes,” enthuses Erika Åberg.

Sustainability has also remained at the top of the agenda over the years since the series premiered.

“Back then, it was mainly clothes and food that people talked about when discussing sustainability. The building industry was relatively slow to adjust and is probably still lagging behind. Still, many colleagues and craftspeople that I meet tell me that it is now easier to discuss restoration projects as they can refer to Det sitter i väggarna. People have seen what’s possible and are now aware of alternative materials, methods and approaches.”

Erika Åberg’s own interest in architecture and interior design was sparked in upper-secondary school. At the time, she had no idea that there was a profession called building conservator but a few years later she came into contact with the Swedish Association for Building Preservation and found herself at one of the organisation’s restoration camps.

TEXT LINUS BRÄNNSTRÖM

PHOTO LINA ÖSTLING

“I was able to try various crafts but also to discuss what we preserve and why. That we can think of buildings as history books and read what they have to say about our society, I found that fascinating,” says Erika Åberg.

Eventually, this led her to enrol in a building conservation programme at the University of Gotland.

“The first few years were half theory and half practice; we visited all the small workshops on the island and learned from carpenters, stucco masons, blacksmiths, sheet metal workers and painters. It was absolutely fantastic.”

BUILDING CONSERVATION IS THE LATEST TREND

In 2003, Erika got her first job as a building conservator at the County Museum of Gävleborg.

“At the time, no one had any idea what I did when I said I was a building conservator; they either confused it with an archivist or had the notion that the job involved saying no to everything. These days, however, people are really enthusiastic when they find out what I do for a living and want to show me photos of their holiday cottage and tell me how they restored the windows. I think this is part of the general trend towards local produce, small-scale production and environmental awareness; the building conservation trend goes hand in glove with that.”

Erika Åberg is self-employed these days and alongside her television work she writes books and gives lectures. This autumn she will be back on our screens in season eight of Det sitter i väggarna and will publish a new book of the same name, with tips

for anyone who wants to learn more about their own house.

Her own home is an old farm south of Gävle, which she shares with her husband and two children. The family has restored and renovated the farmhouse over the course of many years and the next project is to build an eco-pool resembling a woodland lake.

Erika Åberg explains that they have preserved the “growth rings” of the house, such as the functionalist kitchen that was there when they moved in.

“The year the house was built isn’t the be-all and end-all. Houses have never stayed the same, they evolve. Needs change, people have more children and add additional rooms. In this case, a more comfortable kitchen was installed in the 1950s with sloping cabinet doors and stainless steel sinks. I like the fact you can see that, rather than tearing it all out and recreating tongue and groove cabinetry as we think it might once have been; after all, you wouldn’t go back to a wood stove and only cold water in the tap,” she observes.

The idea of “growth rings” also applies to newbuilds.

“I think we need to look at older buildings as a resource. It’s all about taking advantage of what we already have before we consume more resources. Old houses can be modernised with care to preserve their character,” says Erika Åberg.

“But, of course, we also need to build new houses as the population grows and new needs arise. Then we can build a growth ring of new houses around the old city centre instead of demolishing it. Or extend, as we’ve done on our farm, where we still have the farmhouse, barn and woodshed but have built an orangery alongside. This will be a growth ring left behind from our time here and, ideally, it will create a more dynamic cultural environment that is not simply preserved but also evolves.”

RENEWABLE RESOURCES FROM THE PAST One of Erika Åberg’s grandfathers was a painter and decorator and the other a bricklayer, both trades that changed radically during their lifetimes.

Since she began presenting Det sitter i väggarna, Erika Åberg has received accolades such as Building Conservator of the Year and Interior Design Inspiration of the Year. “It’s truly a privilege to be able to reach so many people with this important message about sustainable building. I’m very grateful and fortunate to be able to make my voice heard,” she says.

FOTO

MARIA ROSENLÖF / SVT

“They were highly appreciated for their workmanship. My father’s father could build brick arches and my mother’s father could paint marble effect. But with the Million Homes Programme, the demand was for everything to go faster, on a large scale and with new types of material: large concrete elements with PVC joints that were later found to make residents sick; plastic paints that caused allergic reactions in painters,” she explains.

“It’s not that I want to turn the clock back to only using the materials we now use in building conservation, but we need to consider what we do for people and the environment.”

This is why she is so excited by current large-scale building projects in wood.

“Wooden apartment buildings, for instance. Those are great to see. It really feels that they are the future, as long as we can conduct sustainable forestry,” says Erika Åberg.

FACTS AT A GLANCE

Name: Erika Åberg

Age: 45

Occupation: Building conservator, author, lecturer and television presenter.

Lives: On an old farm south of Gävle with husband, two children, cats, chickens and rabbits.

In the news right now: With season eight of the SVT programme Det sitter i väggarna, in which ordinary families learn more about the history of their homes and get help with considerate and sustainable restoration. The book Det sitter i väggarna will be published by Norstedts in November.

“It’s wonderful to use building and renovation as a creative process. At its best, as you stand there with a hammer or paint brush it feels as if time no longer exists. I imagine it’s how a musician might feel sitting with their instrument and just disappearing into it,” says Erika Åberg.

She also sees it as a matter of learning from history.

“Of course, it’s all about the search for renewable resources. Concrete, steel and glass consume the most energy so we need to look at alternatives and, in doing so, I think we inevitably look back in time. What resources do we have? How did we build? What works and how sustainable is it? It’s very interesting to follow developments.”

This historical perspective also reveals that wood affects us on some deeper level.

“”Natural materials somehow resonate with us as creatures, because we’ve lived in forests for millennia. How it moves, how it ages, when we build with it and smell it. I guess it’s the feel of it, the sound and the scent of it. Everything that appeals to us,” says Erika Åberg.

A cultural force in Norrland

TEXT HÅKAN NORBERG PHOTO SARA KULTURHUS

Anna Jirstrand Sandlund left Östergötland at the age of 19 to study music in Norrbotten. Today, she is CEO of the Sara Cultural Centre in Skellefteå and a longstanding cultural force in Norrland.

“I love to create good conditions for others,” she says.

ANNA JIRSTRAND SANDLUND has recently taken up the post of CEO of the Sara Cultural Centre in Skellefteå. She describes her first three weeks in the job as an entire year in microcosm, with recruitment, board meetings and staff days.

“A wonderful crescendo! I have been so well received, everyone is keen to help,” she enthuses.

Anna Jirstrand Sandlund has previously worked as county music director at Norrbottensmusiken, head of the programme division at Umeå Kultur, programme director at the Väven cultural centre in Umeå, programme director at Concert and Congress at Kulturens Hus in Luleå and CEO of the Festspelen Foundation in Piteå.

“It’s fantastic to be able to live in Piteå and still have the opportunity to be involved in developing such diverse cultural organisations in different cities,” she says.

“I enjoy being part of start-up and change processes. That’s where I can help operations get on their way. I have alternated between promotion and production and it is valuable to have experience from both sides.”

Growing up in Linköping with a strong wind orchestra tradition had a marked effect on her

studies and career choices. Her career as a flautist began at Framnäs Folk High School just outside Piteå and continued at the School of Music in Piteå at Luleå University of Technology.

“I played flute for quite a while but, in the end, one must choose whether to stand on stage or behind it. I chose the latter and began working as a producer. Thanks to my background, musicians know that I understand them.”

Moving north to pursue her studies also meant finding a new home, Piteå.

“But it was not until I finished my studies that I stayed here over the summer and came to understand the value of the light and experience the northern summer. Now, it’s my home. It’s where my children are and my social life.”

She works a little more than an hour away by bus, in one of the world’s highest timber buildings.

“I grew up in a family that loved picking berries and mushrooms and I spent a great deal of time playing in the forest as a child. To me, the forest is a safe place where I can relax. When I first walked into Sara Cultural Centre, the scent of wood felt like coming home.”

On the following page, Anna Jirstrand Sandlund writes about coming to work at Sara Cultural Centre for the first time.

The lovely scent of wood

AS MARCEL PROUST OBSERVED in his novel In Search of Lost Time, scent has a tremendous power to evoke memory. In Proust’s novel, it is the scent of a madeleine dipped in lime blossom tea that opens a door to the past.

As I walk through the doors of the Sara Cultural Centre in Skellefteå for the first time as the newly appointed CEO, it is the scent of wood in the magnificent twenty-story timber building that strikes me. I am immediately catapulted back in time to childhood summers spent in the forests around Lake Sommen in southern Östergötland.

The privilege of working in a building that has garnered so much attention – not least for its contribution to long-term sustainability – comes with a certain sense of duty. My own choice to commute by bus is both my contribution to sustainable action and a good way to begin and end the working day. A seat on a bus is a great place to catch up on some office work and on arrival I can make myself available to my colleagues, visitors and the public.

At almost 80 metres in height, Sara Cultural Centre is a multifunctional building with space for six stages, the central public library, an exhibition hall, a conference centre, restaurants and 205-room hotel – not mention the spectacular views across the blooming city of Skellefteå.

The building is one of the tallest wooden buildings on Earth. It is named after our celebrated local author and resolute opinion-builder Sara Lidman, a woman who did not bend in the face of opposition. Sara had the ability to truly see people and wanted to give everyone a voice, especially the vulnerable or marginalised. We find this to be beautifully in keeping with the sustainability perspective, encompassing as it does social sustainability. We should be able to offer something for everybody, both in terms of genre and socioeconomic background. We work on this every day.

Sara Cultural Centre is made of wood inside and out, making it climate-positive. I have learned that the building stores enough carbon dioxide to offset approximately 13,500 passengers flying from Stockholm to New York. That is something to be proud of. If that were not enough, the building was manufactured locally using timber felled in the region’s forests, in keeping with Skellefteå’s long tradition of building in wood.

It goes without saying that our artists are offered tap water drawn from the Skellefte River rather than bottled water, so that together we can help to reduce transportation, emissions and waste.

Interested in paying us a visit? If so, we look forward to welcoming you to Skellefteå!

ANNA JIRSTRAND SANDLUND CEO, SARA KULTURHUS

PREPARED TO MEET THE FUTURE

AND PHOTO VICTOR PERSSON

The word digitisation immediately brings to mind massive server halls full of blinking lights, e-invoices and digital meetings. Likewise, we tend to associate industry with heavy machinery, assembly lines and manual labour. A somewhat outdated image that no longer entirely reflects reality. Not in Bollsta, at least. It is there that one of the most technologically advanced dry sorting lines in the world is currently being installed; a smart facility that will only grow smarter as time goes by.

THE SOUND OF HAMMERS striking metal and builders loudly communicating with one another between floors creates a hectic atmosphere. There is a hive of activity almost everywhere one looks in the 200-metre-long building that will soon house one of the world’s most advanced dry sorting lines.

“There are a lot of us in here right now but once we’re up and running the entire facility and all the machines will only require three operators,” says Johan Olofsson, Technology & Operation Excellence Manager at SCA Wood.

It is barely two years since Johan and his colleagues on the B700 project, as it has been designated internally, witnessed the foundations of the new building being poured and begin work in earnest. A great deal has happened since then, within the project and in the world at large.

“If someone had told me in November 2019 that we were facing a pandemic I would probably have found it difficult to be optimistic; I think anyone would have. The advantage we have, which I think contributed to managing to stay on schedule, is that we had already made a start. Much of what we needed was already on site here in Bollsta and we were able to keep working as the countries of the world locked down,” says Johan.

Of course, it is no coincidence that within SCA the project has been designated with the number 700; once the new state.of-the-art technology, robots and other digital tools are installed, the new dry sorting line will help to increase the sawmill’s total annual production capacity to approximately 700,000 cubic metres of sawn timber products. This is a significant increase that in turn will enable the business in Bollsta – which currently produces 550,000 cubic metres of sawn timber products annually – to continue to enjoy long-term growth going forward.

“As in all other parts of society, we see enormous potential in further digitising our processes. The art of sawing timber is hardly new; on the contrary, we have been trying to refine our work for centuries,” says Johan.

“However, if we are to successfully take the next step

With the help of new technology and modern machines, the goal has been to create the world's most productive dry sorting line.

FACTS AT A GLANCE

A dry sorting line is used at the end of the sawmill production line to sort timber after it has been sawn to length for packaging, warehousing and shipping to the customer.

on the journey and really maximise the value of every millimetre we saw, we will also need to be more digital. We need to take full advantage of the technical aids we have at our disposal today while simultaneously equipping ourselves for what we believe will be possible tomorrow.”

LOG X-RAYS AND 3D MODELS

One obvious example highlighted by Johan is the computed tomography (CT) scanner installed at Bollsta last year as part of the project. An advanced type of X-ray equipment, similar to the scanners used in hospitals to examine patients, can produce three-dimensional images of logs, revealing their internal characteristics.

“The logs we saw will often have stood in the forest growing for between 70 and 100 years. The fact that we can now see straight through them is a real game-changer. We obtain much more valuable data to go on, making it easier to use the right log for the right product and ultimately get more from less,” continues Johan.

Where once it was only possible to judge how to saw a log based on its exterior characteristics and shape, using the new technology at Bollsta and the images it produces, it is now possible to see inside the logs. In other words, no longer need anything be left to chance.

“The CT scanner is a highly illustrative example of what we are trying to achieve. We intend to have

the very latest equipment and the best available aids that can give us a competitive edge here and now but that will not fulfil their full potential for some time to come. Eventually, we will be able to connect all of the data we obtain now through the CT scanner with other data from the plant. We know this, but what data and what we can learn from it remains to be seen,” says Johan.

VIRTUAL PRODUCTION LINES AND MACHINE LEARNING

Seemingly endless cords snake down beneath the floor or up to the ceiling from every machine in this crammed building. Some terminate in the facility’s electrical panels while others will be connected directly to computers.

“The idea is that we will be able to run a virtual version of the dry sorting line in parallel with the real thing, both so that we can easily rewind at our leisure to follow up any problems that may arise, but also so we can identify patterns in how we work, “ explains Johan, who concludes:

“Eventually, a computer that has watched an operator fix a given problem in the same way many times will be able to suggest solutions much more quickly and, ultimately, even fix the problem itself as and when it arises. Machine learning might not be the top priority right now but, as I said, it is equally important that we are prepared for whatever the future holds.”

PHOTO TORBJÖRN BERGKVIST

On the way to a fossilfree value chain

A model for calculating the organisation’s climate impact, renewable materials instead of fossil, and a growing forest that binds carbon dioxide; these are some of the milestones on SCA’s journey to a completely fossil-free value chain.

LIMITING GLOBAL WARMING is one of the greatest challenges of our age. In 2019, SCA published a model for calculating the climate impact of the company’s operations.

The model encompasses the net amount of carbon bound in the company’s forests, total emissions of fossil carbon dioxide caused by the company’s operations and the substitution effects of the companies products. In 2020, the climate benefit amounted to 9.6 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent – equal to the emissions from all of Sweden’s cars combined.

INDUSTRIAL PROCESSES 95 PER CENT FOSSIL-FREE

SCA’s stated goal is to achieve a completely fossil-free value chain. One interim objective is to halve greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 compared to 2019 levels.

“By working systematically to increase efficiency and transition to biofuels, our industrial emissions have halved since 2010 and today our industrial processes are 95 per cent fossil-free,” says Anders Petersson, innovation and sustainability manager at SCA Wood.

RENEWABLE RAW MATERIALS

Through active forest management, the growth of the forest and production of timber are maintained, thus binding carbon dioxide. Forests provide renewable raw materials for the manufacture of products that can replace those that have greater climate impact: wood instead of concrete and aluminium, paper instead of plastic, biofuel instead of fossil fuels.

“Net zero is not the solution; the solution is to go beyond that. Our business is already climate positive to the tune of 10.5 million tonnes of carbon dioxide per year. We are now raising our target from 10 to 15 million tonnes of carbondioxide per year,” says Anders Petersson.

THE CLIMATE MODEL

The company’s total climate benefit is calculated according to the model published by SCA in 2019, and is updated annually. The model has three parts:

> Carbon uptake of the company’s forests, where one cubic metre of forest (1 m 3fo) net growth corresponds to an uptake of 1.375 tonnes/m 3fo of CO 2 from the atmosphere, the same factor used in Sweden’s national reporting. SCA's entire forest holding binds 5.4 Mt CO2 net annually.

> Greenhouse gas emissions from the value chain; i.e., from forest to the customer’s gate. Emissions are calculated according to the GHG Protocol including Scopes 1, 2 and 3. SCA's fossil emissions are 0.7 Mt CO2.

> The climate benefit of replacing fossil materials with products from SCA when the equivalent quantity of fossil carbon can be left in the ground, known as the substitution effect. The substitution effect for 2021 is 5.8 Mt CO2.

All three together mean that SCA's contribution to the climate benefits in 2021 amounted to 10.5 Mt CO2.

Anders Petersson, SCA Wood.

PHOTO TORBJÖRN BERGKVIST

In-house pellet plant for Rundvik Sawmill

SCA has decided to invest SEK 70 million in a new saw-line infeed and pellet plant at the Rundvik Sawmill. This investment will not only broaden and strengthen operations at the sawmill, it will also make the company’s entire value chain even more sustainable.

CLEARLY, WE ARE entering an exciting period. In combination with the investment already made in the new freight terminal here at Rundvik, the ability to produce our own pellets will help to strengthen our conditions for doing more business in the planed-product range,” says Magnus Karlsson, sawmill manager at Rundvik.

The new plant will produce between 25,000 and 30,000 tonnes of pellets per year, a capacity that makes it practicable for all the shavings currently generated by the planing mill to be turned into fossil-free fuel on site instead of being transported for processing. According to Jerry Larsson, President of SCA Wood, this will have several knock-on benefits.

“We see this as an investment that creates benefits on several levels. It provides the sawmill with a greater latitude, benefits the local forestry industry and supplies renewable fuel to Obbola, while also shortening transport distances in our own operations.”

A STRONGER SUSTAINABILITY PROFILE

The pellets produced at Rundvik will be both offered for sale on the local market and sent

to SCA’s Obbola Paper Mill, which has already invested in a new bio-fuelled lime kiln. This means that almost the entire paper mill will be supplied with biofuel.

“The investment in Rundvik is also an indirect investment in SCA in Obbola, which could become a kraftliner supplier that can proudly boast a completely fossil-free production process,” says Mikael Källgren, President of Renewable Energy at SCA.

“Forestry plays a vital role in creating bio-based raw materials to replace fossil-based, and this investment is a good example of that. The bioenergy market is under pressure and it is very positive that we are able to increase the volume coming to market while simultaneously strengthening the sustainable value chain within SCA.”

For SCA, the ability to produce pellets in-house at Rundvik will also shorten the transport chain to Obbola by at least 113,600 kilometres each year, corresponding to just over 115 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions annually.

New tree species, new opportunities

When the North American contorta pine was first planted in Sweden in the 1970s, it was with a clear objective in mind: to restore balance to forest stocks as quickly as possible, thus ensuring the long-term availability of raw materials. Today, just over 50 years later, SCA is ready to introduce this new tree species to the market and begin large-scale production of sawn timber products in contorta pine.

ATHOUGH THE CONTORTA PINE has long been one of the most common and most popular tree species on the other side of the Atlantic, only now is the Swedish stock reaching a harvestable age, marking the end of one chapter and the beginning of another. Having experimented, tested and built up a knowledge bank in anticipation of larger volumes of mature timber, everything is now in place to start scaling up the production of sawn timber products from contorta pine.

“We have been test-sawing contorta pine during the spring and we are increasingly confident that we have identified – and of course will continue to identify – product segments that can maximise the total value of the raw material. Thus far we have focused on products such as packaging, studs and laminates for the Japanese market, as these segments are in balance with the volumes we intend to produce and suited to contorta; however, there are guaranteed to be additional opportunities in the long term,” says project manager Alexander Åhréus of the Gällö Sawmill.

MORE OPPORTUNITIES IN THE LONG TERM

One unique attribute of contorta pine is its rapid growth rate. The contorta pine reaches harvestable age 40 per cent faster than the Swedish pine, something that also gives the species a number of unique properties from a product viewpoint.

“The growth rate of the contorta pine means that the distance between branch whorls is much longer than on Swedish pine, and that

the percentage of sound knots is higher. We are absolutely convinced that contorta pine will eventually take its place in meeting demand for knot-free components and sound glue lines, such as when manufacturing mouldings and for the joinery and furniture industries,” says Alexander.

“Thanks to the high percentage of sound knots, we have also seen good test results when heat-treating contorta, something we’re very excited about. If a little further down the line this allows us to manufacture rot-resistant products in a climate-smart manner, then it is not out of the question that we will eventually be able to use contorta pine for decking or cladding.”

ADDITIONAL UPTAKE OF 800,000 TONNES OF CARBON DIOXIDE PER YEAR

Contorta pine is currently planted on 15 per cent of SCA’s productive forest holdings, equating to approximately 300,000 hectares and just over half of all contorta pine in Sweden. Thanks to the species’ rapid growth, this represents an additional annual uptake of atmospheric carbon dioxide of approximately 800,000 tonnes.

“Now that we can begin sawing contorta pine and eventually manufacture more timber products that, like any wooden structure, bind carbon dioxide, we can contribute to ensuring that an even larger percentage of the carbon dioxide captured by trees remains stored after they are felled,” concludes Alexander.

As the stock continues to grow and new products are developed, the ambition now is to scale up production over the next five years to 200,000 cubic metres of saw timber products.

From fallen wood to poetic stool

IN THE HANDS OF DESIGNER ELSA UNNEGÅRD , fallen timber from a diseased oak is transformed into expressive furniture. An award winner at Ung Svensk Form 2022, the stool VED is part of a touring exhibition promoting young Swedish designers. The stall is part of a larger project in which Elsa Unnegård works solely with timber from dying oak trees, both as a celebration of nature’s riches and a reminder of the consequences of consumerism. The jury that selected VED from among the entries was impressed by the stool’s dual role as sculpture and functioning furniture. It is also an inspirational example of upcycling, gently elevating fallen wood into something sculpturally beautiful that comments on the modern world. The exhibition is a coproduction between Svensk Form (the Swedish Society of Crafts and Design) and the IKEA Museum, who collaborate with exhibition arrangers and scholarship donors.

ELSA UNNEGÅRD

Biosphere

At Treehotel in Harads, Swedish Lapland, nature, ecological values, comfort and modern design are combined for an exciting adventure.

The hotel room titled Biosphere is the latest addition which amplifies Treehotel’s focus on sustainability and natural tourism, helping facilitate the conservation of the local bird population. With a façade containing 350 bird nests, Treehotel aims to decrease the downward spiral of the bird population in the Swedish woods and instead strengthen the biosphere and natural habitat.

Together with some of Scandinavia’s leading architects, Treehotel created eight uniquely designed rooms suspended 4–10 meters above ground.

ENGFORS FOTOGRAPHIC