The climate benefits of a timber-frame building include use of the whole tree
Did you know that a timber-frame building has added value in the form of heating, textiles and domestic electricity? Södra has a value chain comprising paper pulp production, dissolving pulp, wood products, biofuels, tall oil, electricity and district heating. Because these products are developed in an industrial symbiosis, we can make use of the whole tree.
About 2,000 m³ of solid wood is required to build an eight-story building in CLT with 64 apartments for 128 people.
But since we use all parts of the harvested trees to produce that volume, several other products arise, more or less short-lived. But even if a product has a short life, it can still be used to replace a fossil fuel, generating a positive climate effect.
Sawn timber is produced in the sawmills. Cellulose chips are delivered to pulp mills, and solid biofuels are delivered to power plants to produce electricity and district heating.
The pulp mills use pulpwood and cellulose chips as raw material. Products from the pulp mills include paper pulp for the production of paper products, dissolving pulp for the production of textile fibres, solid biofuels for the production of electricity and district heating in combined power plants, tall oil for the production of liquid biofuel, and electricity and district heating.
So what happens when we construct a timber-frame building and use all the raw materials?
Well, the combined production corresponds to:
- 540 tonnes of paper pulp – enough for 25 years of paper consumption for the residents.
- 130 tonnes of dissolving pulp – enough for 30 years of textile consumption for the residents.
- 1.5 GWh of electricity – enough for six years of domestic electricity consumption for the residents.
- 2.7 GWh of district heating – enough for nine years of heating for the residents.
- 8,200 litres of liquid biofuels – enough for 2,300 km of car driving per household.
So it’s not a question of either/or – we get all of this when we build the eight-storey building.
Some people say that forests grow slowly. And that’s true. But it’s also true that the total amount of wood consumed is equal to about four hours of forest growth in the forests owned by members of Södra.
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Subjects: Buildsystem