Greater use of wood in cities, a good example is Valle Wood in Oslo
Minister of Agriculture and Food Olaug V. Bollestad will visit Valle Wood on Friday, July 9. Valle Wood in Oslo is the largest village Norway office building made of solid wood. It is the first large wooden building in Oslo in over a hundred years and is a good example of what can be built with wood today. Greater use of wooden buildings in cities can significantly contribute to improving the climate.
Why the greater use of wood in construction byłMay it be better for śenvironment
The construction sector currently accounts for about 40 percent of global energy consumption and about 30 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions. Growing forests absorb large amounts of CO2. Wood products are traditionally an important part of the Norwegian construction sector and both contribute to the storage of carbon dioxide throughout the life of the wood. Wood elements are also replacing building materials that are more harmful to the climate.
For 100 years, the construction of tall wooden buildings was prohibited in Norway
By changing the load-bearing system of buildings to a wooden structure compared to steel and concrete buildings, a large reduction in CO2 emissions can be achieved. For 100 years, the construction of tall wooden buildings was forbidden, mainly for fire and technical reasons. This prohibition and other regulations have now been changed in line with the new knowledge and new developments.
In practice, forestry and timber construction are a circular economy
In the new climate report "Climate Plan 2021-2030", the government has proposed a number of measures to increase the absorption of CO 2 in forests. Appropriate measures can contribute to increasing the absorption in forests to 6,5-8 million tons of CO 2 annually at the end of this century. This is roughly equivalent to the current emissions from Norwegian road traffic. Recently, the government has launched a circular economy strategy . Forestry and wooden construction are in practice a circular economy. The efficient use of renewable resources, in line with the government's bioeconomy strategy, will therefore play a role an important role in the development of the circular economy in Norway.
