Periodic Reporting for period 2 - BASAJAUN (BASAJAUN - Building A SustainAble Joint between rurAl and UrbaN Areas Through Circular And Innovative Wood Construction Value Chains)
Berichtszeitraum: 2021-04-01 bis 2022-09-30
BASAJAUN is a major European innovation project about sustainability of building with wood. The main objective is to demonstrate how wood construction chains can be optimized to foster both rural development and urban transformation whilst being connected with sustainable forest management in Europe. The core idea is to enable the construction of a mid-sized building with the lowest possible hectares of forest.
In France, a full-scale medium-sized demonstration building will be constructed, using innovative architecture and full digitisation of the 'forest to building' chain to show how timber construction can generate benefits for rural areas. In addition, two buildings have been designed for Finland to demonstrate that the developed solutions are valuable in northern and southern European conditions. Coordinated by TECNALIA, the project comprises 29 partners from 12 countries including 8 leading research and technology organizations, 3 universities, 15 companies and 5 other public and sectoral organizations. The team unites strong expertise in wood construction systems and buildings, innovative materials, architecture, forestry, digitalisation, environmental assessment, and rural development. It covers regions both in Northern, Central and Southern Europe.
The project has received a 10M€ grant funding from the EU Horizon2020 research and innovation programme under the grant agreement no. 862942. The project will run for four and a half years from October 2019 until March 2024.
Forests and forestry can help rural development and contribute to the economic growth of Europe’s rural regions. Sustainable forest products and services connecting forests with urban centres through smart modern wood supply chains, such as the wood construction sector, can ensure existing jobs and create new opportunities for business and employment especially in rural areas. Fostering this rural renaissance is a main purpose of the BASAJAUN project.
Wood is a natural, renewable material that stores CO2 in solid products throughout their whole life cycle. Increasing the consumption of wood in buildings implies a reduction in the use of other non-renewable materials, such as concrete or steel that require high amounts of ‘grey energy’ for production. By choosing this renewable construction material instead of other materials, the carbon footprint of buildings can be significantly reduced.
Modernising urban areas by promoting building with wood including multi-storey buildings, renovation, retrofitting, and urban densification is a great opportunity for a low carbon, circular economy. Enhancing carbon capture in forests and maximizing storage in wood products will play an essential role in the mitigation of anthropogenic GHG emissions to combat climate change. The BASAJAUN project demonstrates how new materials, products and system solutions can benefit a sustainable circular wood construction sector.
Digital innovations in forestry and wood industries are paving the way to more sustainable management of forest and more efficient use of wood resources. Enhanced scanning, automation and modelling technologies allow that digital twins of forests and buildings are becoming a reality. By connecting step by step the entire chain from the individual tree in the forest up to the specific wood product in a building, it will be possible to fully optimise the valorisation of wood in terms of its economic, environmental and social benefits. The BASAJAUN project develops a first prototype of a digital ‘forest to building’ platform to showcase that the data gaps between forestry and wood industries can be bridged through digital solutions and be exploited for the benefit of a more competitive, sustainable wood construction sector.
In France, a full-scale medium-sized demonstration building will be constructed, using innovative architecture and full digitisation of the 'forest to building' chain to show how timber construction can generate benefits for rural areas. In addition, two buildings have been designed for Finland to demonstrate that the developed solutions are valuable in northern and southern European conditions. Coordinated by TECNALIA, the project comprises 29 partners from 12 countries including 8 leading research and technology organizations, 3 universities, 15 companies and 5 other public and sectoral organizations. The team unites strong expertise in wood construction systems and buildings, innovative materials, architecture, forestry, digitalisation, environmental assessment, and rural development. It covers regions both in Northern, Central and Southern Europe.
The project has received a 10M€ grant funding from the EU Horizon2020 research and innovation programme under the grant agreement no. 862942. The project will run for four and a half years from October 2019 until March 2024.
Forests and forestry can help rural development and contribute to the economic growth of Europe’s rural regions. Sustainable forest products and services connecting forests with urban centres through smart modern wood supply chains, such as the wood construction sector, can ensure existing jobs and create new opportunities for business and employment especially in rural areas. Fostering this rural renaissance is a main purpose of the BASAJAUN project.
Wood is a natural, renewable material that stores CO2 in solid products throughout their whole life cycle. Increasing the consumption of wood in buildings implies a reduction in the use of other non-renewable materials, such as concrete or steel that require high amounts of ‘grey energy’ for production. By choosing this renewable construction material instead of other materials, the carbon footprint of buildings can be significantly reduced.
Modernising urban areas by promoting building with wood including multi-storey buildings, renovation, retrofitting, and urban densification is a great opportunity for a low carbon, circular economy. Enhancing carbon capture in forests and maximizing storage in wood products will play an essential role in the mitigation of anthropogenic GHG emissions to combat climate change. The BASAJAUN project demonstrates how new materials, products and system solutions can benefit a sustainable circular wood construction sector.
Digital innovations in forestry and wood industries are paving the way to more sustainable management of forest and more efficient use of wood resources. Enhanced scanning, automation and modelling technologies allow that digital twins of forests and buildings are becoming a reality. By connecting step by step the entire chain from the individual tree in the forest up to the specific wood product in a building, it will be possible to fully optimise the valorisation of wood in terms of its economic, environmental and social benefits. The BASAJAUN project develops a first prototype of a digital ‘forest to building’ platform to showcase that the data gaps between forestry and wood industries can be bridged through digital solutions and be exploited for the benefit of a more competitive, sustainable wood construction sector.
During the second period the project has continued to progress steadily and the first results can already be observed. All the innovations have been developed and characterised at laboratory level and the manufacturing process has begun.
The study of the environmental impact and the circularity of all the materials developed has been completed, demonstrating that they can be integrated into a concept of cascading the use of wood to make better use of them. Besides, the digital framework F2BDF has been fully implemented, the decision support tool and the digital twin module have been defined as well.
Innovative materials developed include thermal insulation panels, wood plastic composites, wood-derived thermal insulators, and wood protective coatings. In addition, systems have been developed and characterised including a façade, interior partitions, roof and a timber structure adapted to be integrated with the aforementioned elements.
Three buildings have been designed that include the innovations mentioned above. For the northern area, Finland, two buildings have been designed, one full size and one on a smaller scale. The third design has focused on a demonstrator building that will be integrated into a more ambitious plan for the promotion of wood in France (Gironde Region). Work is currently underway to start the construction of this demonstrator building.
An Open Innovation Platform (OIP) to promote and co-design the developed innovations has been also established. It has started by the definition of the regions characterisation, identification of best practices and organisation of several workshop with stakeholders, innovators, and policy makers.
In addition, the results of the project have been presented in various national and international forums and international and national publications. Exploitation has advanced in the definition of the business models of all the partners involved, identifying value propositions, target markets and strategies for the commercialisation of the developments.
The study of the environmental impact and the circularity of all the materials developed has been completed, demonstrating that they can be integrated into a concept of cascading the use of wood to make better use of them. Besides, the digital framework F2BDF has been fully implemented, the decision support tool and the digital twin module have been defined as well.
Innovative materials developed include thermal insulation panels, wood plastic composites, wood-derived thermal insulators, and wood protective coatings. In addition, systems have been developed and characterised including a façade, interior partitions, roof and a timber structure adapted to be integrated with the aforementioned elements.
Three buildings have been designed that include the innovations mentioned above. For the northern area, Finland, two buildings have been designed, one full size and one on a smaller scale. The third design has focused on a demonstrator building that will be integrated into a more ambitious plan for the promotion of wood in France (Gironde Region). Work is currently underway to start the construction of this demonstrator building.
An Open Innovation Platform (OIP) to promote and co-design the developed innovations has been also established. It has started by the definition of the regions characterisation, identification of best practices and organisation of several workshop with stakeholders, innovators, and policy makers.
In addition, the results of the project have been presented in various national and international forums and international and national publications. Exploitation has advanced in the definition of the business models of all the partners involved, identifying value propositions, target markets and strategies for the commercialisation of the developments.
The most remarkable innovation of BASAJAUN is that it contains novelties through the whole value chain in a single unified approach that will finish in two real demo buildings that will comprise several scaled-up innovations.
The barriers and opportunities for the wood construction sector have been defined by collecting the opinion of a wide range of interviewees. The future wood construction value chain has been analysed and cross-checked with selected relevant stakeholders. The analysis of the socio-economic impacts of wood construction will continue during 2021 and 2022.
Several digital subsystems have been considered and are currently being implemented. This implementation will be finalised while the corresponding digital twins are being defined. Finally, the whole system will be validated in pilots with relevant data.
Simple guidelines outlining the basic principles and additional measures to achieve the recyclability target have been defined. The LCA assessment of the developed materials and products will be carried out together with the experimental assessment of the recyclability and reusability of the materials and products. Final prototypes of the materials and products and test results will be presented in the coming months. Innovative building systems and products have been also developed. Enough quantities of products and systems will be manufactured to supply the two demo buildings. The evaluation of the buildings will be carried out through the definition of a monitoring plan and the subsequent acquisition of relevant data.
A new open innovation platform and rural-urban pilot demonstrators will be developed before the end of the project.
The barriers and opportunities for the wood construction sector have been defined by collecting the opinion of a wide range of interviewees. The future wood construction value chain has been analysed and cross-checked with selected relevant stakeholders. The analysis of the socio-economic impacts of wood construction will continue during 2021 and 2022.
Several digital subsystems have been considered and are currently being implemented. This implementation will be finalised while the corresponding digital twins are being defined. Finally, the whole system will be validated in pilots with relevant data.
Simple guidelines outlining the basic principles and additional measures to achieve the recyclability target have been defined. The LCA assessment of the developed materials and products will be carried out together with the experimental assessment of the recyclability and reusability of the materials and products. Final prototypes of the materials and products and test results will be presented in the coming months. Innovative building systems and products have been also developed. Enough quantities of products and systems will be manufactured to supply the two demo buildings. The evaluation of the buildings will be carried out through the definition of a monitoring plan and the subsequent acquisition of relevant data.
A new open innovation platform and rural-urban pilot demonstrators will be developed before the end of the project.