Five reasons to build in wood
As greenhouse gas emissions come under greater scrutiny, particularly with the increasing visibility of the consequences of climate change, there has never been a better time to build in wood. Here are five reasons why wood from Södra is the optimum choice for reducing climate impact in the building industry:
1. It allows building with a recyclable, renewable, circular raw material
2. Sweden’s forests produce net annual growth
3. Sawmill production has a relatively low climate impact due to biofuel use
4. Wood used for construction stores carbon
5. The parts of the harvested tree not suitable for construction timber can be used within our group to make pulp for sustainable paper and textiles, and for non-fossil energy production
”The sawn timber from our 52,000 members is the construction material of the future,” says Södra Sustainability Strategist Eva Gustafsson. ”Apart from the practical benefits of timber, from ease of transport to off-site manufacturing opportunities for better quality, timber is the solution to the increasing pressure to decarbonize construction.
”Trees essentially grow by drawing CO₂ from the air. The carbon ends up in the wood, while the oxygen is released to the atmosphere. So even once harvested, the timber in construction carries on storing that carbon. Climate declarations will certainly show timber in a positive light compared with other building materials.”
Södra takes its own responsibilities to decarbonize very seriously. ”While wood is a material with great decarbonizing credentials for construction, we are constantly seeking to reduce our impact further,” continues Gustafsson. ”Our own climate targets are a 50 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030, compared with 2020, and net zero emissions by 2040. A key target within this is to reduce the impact of our harvesting and transport operations.” The targets will be submitted for approval by Science Based Targets initiative during 2022.
Did you know?
Every four hours, our members’ forests grow by the equivalent of an eight-storey apartment building.
The forest raw material needed to produce 2,000m³ of sawn timber required for that apartment block have, in addition, the potential to provide*:
• 2,300 kilometres’ worth of biofuel for each household’s car
• 25 years’ worth of toilet paper and other paper items per person
• 30 years’ worth of textiles per person
• 9 years’ worth of heat and 6 years’ worth of power for the whole building
*Based on 128 residents grouped in average-sized households
News
Published:
