Research needs for European species in a scenario of increasing structural wood demand for building

Abstract: The building sector is the second largest in the EU industrial ecosystem in economic terms, and activities associated with buildings (construction, usage, renovation, and demolition) are responsible for 36% of greenhouse gas emissions. Building materials will dominate resource consumption in fast-growing developing economies, and associated greenhouse gas emissions are expected to double by 2060. The current construction sector model is far from complying with the EU Green Deal initiatives for climate neutrality by 2050, so, the emissions associated with materials and construction processes need to be addressed soon. Forests and wood-based products become an opportunity to contribute to this challenge. Forests are carbon reservoirs, and wood is a sustainable material that stores carbon during its entire service life. Including long-life wood products in buildings, the whole value chain from the forest to the built environment becomes a major carbon sink.

The current sawnwood production worldwide is mainly focused on softwood species, of which only a few are available for structural purposes. In addition, global softwood production is expected to increase at an annual rate of 1.8% by 2030, with 50% of the wood volume destined for construction purposes as a substitute for steel, concrete and masonry. In Europe, the use of wood, which was concentrated in residential housing and long-span structures during the last years, is gaining acceptance for multistorey buildings.  The aim to contribute to the decarbonisation of the built environment from timber construction requires research and innovation which supports the structural safety requirements.

Since wood is an anisotropic material, physical and mechanical properties vary not only with the species but also with the origin and forest management, the research and innovation need to provide the construction sector with knowledge about resources and products with the necessary technical information to design and build safely and efficiently. The objective of this paper is, therefore, to present the state of the art of the European wood species and their properties available nowadays for structural design and to identify the need for additional research to boost the efficient use of wood in the construction sector.

Firstly, a brief analysis on how climate change is affecting the availability of wood will be presented.  Secondly, the current wood species and engineered wood products graded for structural uses in Europe will be identified. And, finally, the research needs to fill te information gaps in the European standards to design with underused species, reused and salvage wood, and for finite element modeling of wood will be identified.

Keywords: timber structures, construction, forests, climate change, decarbonisation, design codes, finite element modelling, reused wood, salvage wood, mechanical properties

Acknowledges: European research projects funded by the European Union: Horizon Europe EUFORE No. 101081788, and  Horizon 2020: BASAJAUN No. 862942.