It is no secret that wood is becoming increasingly popular in the construction industry. It has numerous advantages in terms of climate balance, construction process, costs and quality of living. It is versatile and can be used in a wide variety of ways, from floor slabs and storey ceilings to roof elements and façade cladding through to the construction of entire houses.
Lignum Region Basel supports the forestry and timber industry in the Basel region and is committed to promoting wood as a sustainable, healthy and versatile material. After an afternoon full of interesting presentations, we finally had the opportunity to interview Lukas Hasler, President of Lignum Region Basel, about the potential uses of wood in the construction industry.
"Mr Hasler, we've heard a lot today about the innovative uses of wood in the construction industry. In which areas do you see the greatest potential for the use of wood?"
"Wood has developed from a former niche product into a standard product in house construction. And not without reason: the temperature regulation in a wooden house is very good, it's nice and warm in winter and stays cool in summer. What's more, the quality of living is completely different: You may know this from being in a chalet on holiday, the smell of wood is unique and it has a relaxing effect."
"What are the hurdles to using wood? Are there any prerequisites that need to be created first?"
"In that sense, there are actually no hurdles. Wood offers great potential as a building material and we simply need to publicise it more. We have to act as if it were normal to live in a wooden house. The Nordic countries are a good example of this, where there is a completely different level of acceptance."
"Today we also heard a lot about new technologies such as virtual reality in connection with timber construction. Is timber construction ready for such technologies in practice?"
"I am convinced that the focus of new technologies such as VR will be less in the gaming sector in the future, but increasingly in various fields of work. In hardly any other industry is so much pre-planning done as in timber construction, which is why the use of such technologies is virtually predestined for us."
"And one last question about today's event: What was the context for this event and the selection of speakers?"
"It was important to us to have speakers from different areas, from the construction industry to research and politics. This is the only way to get an overall impression of what "Wood 4.0" really means. The construction industry, for example, will show us how wood can be used innovatively in practice. Research shows us what opportunities still lie ahead and how we can utilise this potential. And politicians are the ones who ultimately implement such initiatives."
We are and will remain curious to see what developments are taking place in timber construction, thank Lukas Hasler for the interview and take home many insights from this exciting event.
