Wood Constructions for Sustainable Building Renovation

Abstract

This paper discusses the potentials of different wood constructions for the renovation and extension of existing buildings for sustainable urban renewal. The renovation and extension of existing buildings with wood constructions can contribute significantly to sustainable urban redevelopment. The renovation of building envelopes, such as façades and roofs, with highly insulated wooden components, can reduce the transmission heat losses and related heating energy demand of existing buildings significantly. The extension of existing buildings contributes to the redensification of urban areas and can create synergies with the improvement of existing buildings’ performances. The manifold advantages of specific wooden constructions can be related to different aspects, such as construction type and material properties, building execution, design, logistic and sustainability. The results of this research discuss the architectural design and planning relevant properties of specific timber construction types, such as wood frame, cross-laminated timber (CLT), massive timber, and hybrid timber-concrete, considering the properties of different soft (such as spruce) and hard (such as beech) construction timber species. Timber constructions are compared with conventional massive constructions out of concrete and steel. The results confirm the significant advantages of timber constructions regarding all aspects.