New Market Study: Timber Construction Is Advancing – But Too Slowly

| SWISS KRONO Group

October 2023 – The German COALITION for TIMBER CONSTRUCTION (KfH) recently published the first comprehensive study on the use of wood as a sustainable building material in Germany and presented it at the 2^nd Parliamentary Symposium in Berlin in September 2023. The market survey was carried out to assess the current importance and market share of sustainable building with wood on the basis of a consistent dataset.

Although more timber structures are being approved and completed in Germany, the country still lags behind the rest of Europe in this regard. Even including construction projects which are planned through 2028, a mere 3.3% of the total involve timber. ‘We urgently need a practicable plan for significantly boosting this figure’, says Max von Tippelskirch, CSCO and management board member of the SWISS KRONO Group. ‘As a member of the COALITION for TIMBER, we support building with wood and actively advocate strengthening its status both strategically and politically in order to bring about the so urgently needed turning point in the construction sector.’

Within the scope of the study, project developers and investors were asked to assess the current relevance of wood as a building material. Their answers revealed that the largest barrier, by a large margin, is the supposedly higher costs of timber construction. ‘We can refute this argument with highly efficient modular and serial building approaches’, says von Tippelskirch. ‘To overcome these stubbornly persistent misconceptions and prejudices, we need to devote significantly more work and campaigns to educating people and sharing relevant knowledge and information. For a long time now, high-tech construction products made from wood, a renewable raw material, have been available which are every bit as good as conventional building materials in terms of structural strength, fire resistance and soundproofing.’ The three main arguments in favour of timber construction are:

1. Renewable raw materials (sustainability)
2. Better carbon footprint (climate protection)
3. Faster construction

‘It’s important to explain these benefits more emphatically than has so far been the case’, says von Tippelskirch.

The study can be downloaded here (in German only): https://www.koalition-holzbau.de/marktstudie-holz-als-baustoff-im-neubau   

 

About SWISS KRONO Group

The SWISS KRONO Group is one of the world’s leading manufacturers of wood-based materials, specialising in sustainable, innovative solutions in the product categories of Flooring, Interiors and Building Materials. SWISS KRONO offers recyclable materials for creating living and working worlds. As a preferred partner, SWISS KRONO enables its customers to grow with green construction materials. Founded in 1966 as a family enterprise, the corporate group is wholly owned by Ines Kaindl-Benes and employs about 5,000 people at ten production facilities in eight countries around the globe. It is based in Lucerne, Switzerland and led by Martin Brettenthaler. swisskrono.com

 

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Christine Diener
Head of Group Communications
christine.diener@swisskrono.com
+49 151 50383534