One third of the world’s harmful emissions come from the construction industry. This fact puts pressure on the real estate sector to look for ways to cut its carbon footprint. Timber hybrid is known for generating fewer harmful emissions than conventional solid construction. This is because timber hybrid construction involves a mix of materials, where timber is usually combined with concrete or reinforced concrete in structural components. Here are some interesting facts about timber hybrid construction.
People have been building with timber for millennia. Over the last century, however, timber has been virtually ignored in multi-storey or high-rise construction and is not used at all for offices or administrative properties. To date, timber has rarely been used as the predominant material in this class of building.
The staple raw material in almost all new construction projects is concrete. Over 4.6 billion tonnes of cement are produced around the world each year for its manufacture. This requires large amounts of energy, which means that around 2.8 billion tonnes of CO2 are released into the atmosphere every year. Yet concrete is cheap as well as tremendously stable and durable, and can be easily and quickly put to work. In the past 80 years, it has been regarded as virtually the only option.
The figure shows the structure of timber hybrid construction:
Ground slab and core in reinforced concrete, wooden supports and wooden beams, facade elements in timber construction, timber hybrid ceiling elements of a reinforced concrete ceiling in reduced strengths and wooden beams
However, the legal requirements for more climate action in the real estate industry are increasing. There is avid interest in timber hybrid construction and political backing for sustainable construction projects. Timber hybrid construction combines the strengths of timber and concrete and is increasingly sought after in the real estate industry as a product that cuts carbon emissions. This construction method has also been used for large and high-rise buildings for some time now. Well-known examples include the HoHo high-rise in Vienna, Mjøstårnet in Brumunddal (Norway), EDGE Suedkreuz Berlin and Skaio in Heilbronn.
There are also a few examples in Düsseldorf, such as the “green silvers” new timber hybrid office building, where Deka Immobilien is pursuing the highest standards of sustainability in development, building materials and operation. The new building is being constructed right beside Deka Immobilien’s “silvers” office building, which has already been refurbished to meet sustainability criteria.