New Stora Enso suite could make UK construction more sustainable

Finnish timber materials company Stora Enso has launched a suite of tools it claims will allow UK developers to create more sustainable and productive wood-based industrial buildings, ranging from large retail sheds to warehouses.

Claiming to be able to cut embodied emissions - those released during the construction phase of a building's development - by around 30%, the company hopes the building can aid in the gradual decarbonisation of the construction sector.

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While most buildings in the UK are constructed out of brick or concrete, primarily owing to insulation during the colder winters, timber is still a vital material for use in the UK's building sector, seeing use in the creation of frames, doors, and furnishings. Typically, hardwood is used as it often contains far more usable wood than softwood and is found more abundantly.

Dealing with the issues presented by steel and concrete are essential in decarbonising the construction sector as the two materials are energy-intensive, meaning they often have high net-greenhouse gas emissions, and sustainably-sourced timber could offer a cheaper and low-tech alternative to heavy industry.

Some countries, such as warmer parts of the US or Australia, often use timber as a base material for buildings.

Management and use of sustainable timber was also a hot topic at the COP26 conference held in Glasgow earlier this month.

Stora has launched a resource hub of architects and developers which details technical specifications of eight different base types for different building types, while also offering fully-interactive 3D models.

The new designs are more modular and offer greater flexibility for construction, the company claims, which could also help reduce active emissions by presenting more efficient designs in which space is not wasted, meaning there is less excess material waste.

The new design tools also reportedly incorporate a "high degree of pre-fabrication", which could stand to drastically reduce construction times, as well as making disassembly and reassembly far more efficient. Efforts to "reuse" materials can often be difficult in construction owing to the more permanent state of buildings, their designs and the materials used.

In addition, Britain is currently under threat of running out of warehouse space thanks to a blend of reduced brick and mortar demand and the e-commerce boom seen with the coronavirus pandemic, both of which are taxing on storage space.

The use of wooden industrial spaces can rapidly allow for contractors to meet the increasing demands for storage space, while also taking sustainability into account.

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“Industrial buildings are at the nexus of a number of megatrends in the UK. On the one hand, we have the moral and policy imperative to decarbonise our building stock; on the other, we have the planned renaissance of British manufacturing and shift to online shopping increasing demand for these types of structures", said Sebastián Hernandez, R&D Manager for Building Concepts at Stora Enso.

“Not only can wooden industrial buildings enable companies to respond to these trends, but by moving away from monotone grey sheet metal and concrete, they can allow us to create better working environments for UK employees and improve the increase the quality of retail and industrial parks up and down the country", he added.

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