Nature and ecological surroundings - The usage of wood in construction is on the rise.
In Rhineland-Palatinate, the proportion of wood used in new buildings is on the rise. Reportedly, the Green-led Ministry of the Environment in Mainz revealed that out of the 3635 building permits for residential buildings in 2022, 947 of them utilized wood as the primary building material - accounting for 26% of all permits. In 2013, only 20% of the 6621 permits were for projects with wood, with a total of 1336 being wood-dominant.
Moreover, the use of wood as a primary material in non-residential constructions, such as commercial properties and government buildings, is also becoming more common. In 2013, 198 out of the 1510 building permits had wood as the main material, equating to a 13% market share. Fast-forward to 2023, and that number had topped 273 out of 1484 permits, reaching approximately 18%.
Wooden structures are environmentally beneficial as they help cut back on CO2 emissions, thanks to their role as natural building and insulation materials. Wood can also be used for constructing additional floors to existing structures and for creating prefabricated components for rapid installation on-site. With an average of six single-family homes' worth of material growing in Rhineland-Palatinate's forests every hour, wood's popularity seems set to continue.
Lea Heidbreder, who serves as the construction policy representative for the Green parliamentary group, expressed her views on the topic, highlighting the economic advantage of wood usage. Changing the source of timber to regional forests can facilitate job creation, particularly in rural areas, making wood construction a valuable contributor to regional economic growth.
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Source: www.stern.de
