Abstract
This article presents the latest developments of the Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking countries of Europe and Latin America towards the development of sustainable timber construction. As most regions related to these countries have not traditionally employed timber as primary construction material, bringing the development of sustainable timber construction into fruition requires a wide range of actions, such as the elaboration of new educational programs, construction of demonstrative buildings, dissemination activities, settlement of public policies, elaboration of new construction codes, and the creation of new certification bodies. This article presents an overview of the state of the development of the different countries of Ibero-America, showing a very uneven development in the region. In addition to national analyses, a perception survey of 233 professionals from different countries was conducted, allowing for the identification of good practices, present gaps, and opportunities, as well as barriers for developing sustainable timber construction. It is concluded that in order to promote the development of the timber construction industry in the region, it is necessary to progress on regulatory, cultural, and material availability issues, where international experience, demonstrative buildings, and the implementation of public policies are crucial.
Highlights
Ibero-America comprises a region in the world that contains 22 countries: 19 Spanishand Portuguese-speaking South American countries, and 3 from the Iberian Peninsula—Spain, Portugal, and Andorra
From the results of the survey, it is possible to appreciate that in terms of attributes related to sustainable construction, such as with low carbon footprint, low waste generation in that benefit wood construction, along the visual attractiveness of the material, asthat benefit wood construction, along with the visual attractiveness of the material, asconstruction, the use of renewable materials, were to a greater extent
The results show that part of the general trends observed in the were some considerable changes between the different regions: Damage by biotic agents region as a whole were maintained in the different groups studied, but there were somebetween remained of theregions: main categories ofbiotic importance for groups A, B, considerable changes theone different
Summary
Ibero-America comprises a region in the world that contains 22 countries: 19 Spanishand Portuguese-speaking South American countries, and 3 from the Iberian Peninsula—Spain, Portugal, and Andorra. The percentage of forest area in the Ibero-American region is close to a quarter of the world total, most of the countries in the region do not use wood as the main construction material, but rather other materials such as reinforced concrete or masonry. Exceptions to this are certain regions of Spain and Portugal in Europe, and Brazil and Chile in Latin America, which were strongly influenced by the European cultural heritage of the colonization process in the area.
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