The Ministry of the Environment and the Regional Council of Northern Ostrobothnia organised a seminar focusing on wood construction and construction climate issues in Oulu on 12 December 2020.
The seminar awakened the enthusiasm of the region's wood construction and discussed themes that the region has found important in relation to climate-wise construction.
Provincial decision-makers and officials as well as construction operators were present. A total of 44 participants, half from enterprises and half from the public sector.
Land use and housing solutions are important: Our carbon footprint is 33. %. The carbon spike caused by construction is almost a third of this, which means that special attention must be paid to the initial stage of construction, the selection of building materials. Excerpts from the seminar presentations - read more about the presentations that can be accessed via the links.
Check out the program of the event (pdf).
Presentations of the event:
Provincial vision of wood construction, Professor Janne Pihlajaniemi, University of Oulu (pdf)
Wood construction and climate-wise construction as well as its steering, low-carbon zoning and construction, and the development of procurements to be more low-carbon, Programme Manager Petri Heino and Project Specialist Simon le Roux, Ministry of the Environment (pdf)
Holzbau – Offensiv, Baden-Württemberg – example of a regional project to promote wood construction, Jan Bulmer, Project Manager (pdf)
Carbon-neutral log construction, CEO Seppo Romppainen, Finnish Log House Industry Federation (pdf)
Calculating the carbon footprint and assessing the emission reduction potential of solutions in early project planning, Tytti Bruce, Business Director, Bionova Oy (pdf)
Pthe future of new construction – opportunities and challenges; Pekka Seppälä, City of Oulu, Director of Building Control (pdf)
The Ministry of the Environment has worked to promote low-carbon construction (e.g. carbon footprint calculator for construction and advice; https://elinkaarilaskenta.fi , as well as funding).
North Ostrobothnia is a region rich in forest resources and the wood products industry is a significant employer. The utilisation and processing of wood into long-term carbon sequestration products is both a climate act and a vital factor for the region.
In his opening speech, Regional Director Pauli Harju reminded the industry that it is important to remember that carbon stocks are more important than deforestation. Wood processing is a focus area in the region's Smart Specialisation Strategy, where strong sectors are supported for growth.
Petri Heino from the Ministry of the Environment challenged the panellists to consider how public wood construction could be promoted in the region. North Ostrobothnia is Finland's strongest wood product sector, but it does not stand out in its use of wood. In the Oulu region, there would be room for petraction, especially in the construction of wooden blocks of flats. The regulations on construction already allow, and the future entry of the carbon footprint into the regulations still supports wood construction. There are skills and talents in the area. So what's the matter?
Panellist industrial wood construction was represented by Antti Erola, JVR Plus Oy. He told that the company makes wooden blocks of flats with CLT board as the frame material. Of course, these are made for subscribers according to demand, and demand is increasing.
The panel highlighted, among other things, the possibilities of tendering criteria for public construction and information on existing ways to promote wood construction in procurement. Knowledge must be increased in order to put the means into practice. Janne Jokelainen told about Ii's school construction project. As a public comment, support for the steering of low-carbon construction was hoped, not just regulations. Compared to the example of Holzbau – Offensiv in Baden-Württemberg, which was heard at the seminar, of a regional project to promote wood construction, where project manager Jan Bulmer presented a EUR 25 million programme.
Esa Heikkilä from Finnsement told that the concrete and cement industry is constantly developing more climate-friendly products to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. There is a Finnsement slag powder mill in Raahe, where blast furnace slag powder, which is used as a concrete alloy, is produced.
There seemed to be a consensus in the panel on what Janne Pihlajaniemi put into words: ´Climate-wise construction is about building sustainably; It's not like there's wood everywhere. We prefer hybrid construction.´ And Seppälä's Pekka summed up: ´The right material for the right place.´
Panellists:
Antti Erola, JVR Plus Oy, CEO
Esa Heikkilä, Finnsementti, R&D Manager
Janne Jokelainen, Municipality of Ii, Technical Director
Janne Pihlajaniemi, University of Oulu, Professor
Pekka Seppälä, City of Oulu, Head of Construction Supervision
The provincial climate strategy We are updating. The climate strategy will be finalised at the end of 2020. The seminar provided a good insight into the theme of climate-wise construction. Janne Pihlajaniemi's presentation Provincial Vision in Wood Construction highlighted important goals. When these objectives are combined with those of the panel and others discussed at the seminar, the outcome of the seminar is summarised as follows:
Climate-wise construction in Northern Ostrobothnia
1. Use and further develop local know-how and dialogue (architecture and industry). Let's be proud of our expertise and take care of a positive image!
2. Take advantage of the general atmosphere in which there is a demand for ecological construction.
3. Create a bond between traditional and modern construction.
4. creating better conditions for the sector to operate with public guidance and support (in particular public procurement, training, awareness-raising);
5. Building sustainably:
-The right material in the right place (hybrid construction).
-Take into account the entire life cycle of a building, starting with land use planning.
This will continue to translate the objectives into concrete actions.
Thank you to the speakers, panellists, all those who participated in the seminar and my colleagues in the Regional Council of Northern Ostrobothnia. Special thanks to Petri Heino, who is responsible for the Ministry of the Environment's wood construction programme!
I will receive feedback and ideas on how to deal with the theme in the future.
With my best regards,
Ritva Isomäki (ritva.isomaki@pohjois-pohjanmaa.fi)
