Institutional Partners on trail: Konferenz – Baue fir d’Zukunft: Holzbau um Préifstand

Around 40% of global CO₂ emissions are attributable to the construction and operation of our buildings, making it a major contributor to climate change. However, there is little saving or improvement in the construction industry. The cement industry alone produces more CO₂ emissions than global air traffic. Saving is not an incentive – concrete is now cheaper than water in supermarkets. Change is not in sight – the sector is too slow and rigid to implement innovation, and political discourse is not demanding enough. Timber construction aims to change this and is now building high-rise buildings out of wood. But is such a transformation even possible? Wood is considered the building material of the 21st century. It is lightweight, renewable, binds CO₂ and stores it in buildings – around one ton of CO₂ per cubic meter of wood. Once sidelined due to its fire behavior, wood is making a comeback. It is back in fashion. Research and development are pushing this natural material to peak performance in order to offer a competitive alternative to concrete and steel. Research institutes around the world – including ETH Zurich – are working toward a transformation in construction. In Switzerland, high-rise timber constructions are being tested under extreme conditions. The current record stands at 86 meters. A global race is underway to see who will break the next wooden skyscraper record. Buildings between 100 and 150 meters are about to begin construction. But does this renaissance of the oldest building material make sense? Insights and answers about building with the natural resource wood: current status, research, limitations.

Speaker: Charles Binck
Charles Binck (born in 1990 in Luxembourg) is a PhD candidate and scientific collaborator at the Institute of Structural Engineering at ETH Zurich. He was project manager and timber construction lead at Schnetzer Puskas Engineers in Basel.

Tickets: https://booking.mnhn.lu