Periodic Reporting for period 3 - BASAJAUN (BASAJAUN - Building A SustainAble Joint between rurAl and UrbaN Areas Through Circular And Innovative Wood Construction Value Chains)
Période du rapport: 2022-10-01 au 2024-03-31
BASAJAUN is a major European innovation project about sustainability of building with wood. The main objective has been 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 has been 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 has 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 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 has been 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 has 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 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.
Among the main results obtained, three types of products have been developed: construction materials and products, two new systems and two digital platforms. In the area of the main products to highlight, there is a new facade system with a high content of bio-based materials, a SIP containing a bio-based thermal insulator, and a structural system based on the glulam. In the materials section, an insulating material has been developed, three coating products, a polyester resin that is made from organic components and filled with wood fibers. In the digital section, a web application that connects wood component manufacturers with stakeholders in a building project has been developed. In addition, an Open Innovation Platform that integrates the project results and will later open to all partners and external companies that want to showcase their products and developments in wood construction. All these products have a business plan that will allow them to be exploited in the market. As the main result of the dissemination and communication part, an event organized in Bordeaux within the WoodRise fair stands out. Over three days, it brought together the most relevant companies in the sector from all over Europe. The consortium-designed booth included the concepts of redesign and utilization of wood materials and provided a showcase of all the developments made.
The most remarkable innovation of BASAJAUN is that it contains novelties through the whole value chain in a single unified approach that finished in a real demo building 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 have been implemented. 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 have been 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 have been presented in a real building. Innovative building systems and products have been also developed. Enough quantities of products and systems have been manufactured to supply the demo building. The evaluation of the buildings has been 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 has been developed and is fully operational.
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 have been implemented. 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 have been 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 have been presented in a real building. Innovative building systems and products have been also developed. Enough quantities of products and systems have been manufactured to supply the demo building. The evaluation of the buildings has been 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 has been developed and is fully operational.