Tuesday, December 21, 2021
Amsterdam has recently mandated twenty percent of all the new housing projects to be constructed with wood or other biobased materials from 2025. Architects and cities around the world are turning to timber construction for its sustainable attributes. Amsterdam’s new mandate that 20% of all new housing must use wood (or other bio-based materials) starting in 2025 is a huge step toward reducing the city’s greenhouse gas emissions.
The agreement, which is named the Green Deal Timber Construction, has been signed by all 32 municipalities in the Metropolitan Region of Amsterdam (MRA) region. Increasing the use of timber in the city’s construction projects is hoped to reduce reliance on steel and concrete – materials that create large amounts of carbon dioxide during production.
In turn, this is expected to help the Dutch capital meet its goal of “climate neutrality”, or net-zero greenhouse gas emissions, by 2050.
Encouraging biomaterials
The Green Deal Timber Construction was signed during the MRA Sustainability Summit 2021 in October. However, it will not be implemented until 2025. As an alternative to timber construction, the deal also allows for 20 per cent of all new homes to be constructed with other biobased materials – materials that are derived from biodegradable living matter – such as hemp or cork.
To meet the agreement and qualify as a timber building, a detached house would have to be constructed with at least 80 per cent timber or biobased materials. For multistorey housing up to 10 storeys, this is reduced to 65 per cent, while multistoreey housing over 10 storeys must contain at least 50 per cent.
“Although the use of abiotic materials in construction has literally taken us to great heights, these materials have a major impact on the environment,” explained Pablo van der Lugt, a research fellow at AMS Institute.
“The latest generation of mass timber products can replace these materials one-to-one, without harming the environment,” he added. “Moreover, they actually act as huge carbon sinks.”
Tags: Amsterdam, biobased materials, Cross laminated timber, facade, wooden building, wooden construction, woodprocessing, woodworking and manufacturing, woodworking industry
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