Roadmap towards adaptability of timber buildings

Due to the significant global share of greenhouse gas emission, raw material consumption and waste production of the construction sector, the shift towards a circular economy is crucial to realize a more sustainable society and built environment.

The use of timber and the implementation of the concept of circularity in the process of the construction of buildings has a high potential sustainability impact, both from the perspective of material and construction technique.The three most effective ways to ensure the benefit of the circularity in the building sector in general are (1) maintain the service life of structures and buildings materials as long as possible to avoid unnecessary emissions and costs for demolition and reconstruction (2) retain value and quality of materials as long as possible to avoid unnecessary emissions and costs for the replacement and processing of new materials and (3) recycle and repurpose only the parts and materials which cannot function any more for technical and/or socio-cultural reasons.The projects aims to contribute to a more sustainable built environment by making buildings adaptable to the changes of demands and requirements to building functions and thus leading to an extended use of buildings in a maximum of life cycles.

This will provide many economic, social and environmental benefits to all stakeholders and key players related to the building process, i.e. manufacturers, engineers, architects, users, municipality, and others.