We are building our cities with concrete. How do we change to wood?

The rise of wooden building projects in Trondheim can be traced back to 2006 when they launched a 4-year project, the Trebyen/ WoodTown initiative, to promote wooden building projects. Like many cities, they already had a few successful wooden projects to draw inspiration from. Borkeplassen, a 9000m² ground-breaking project in 2003 raised awareness around what could be done with modern wooden construction and showcased the environmental, technological and well-being benefits of working with wood.

“It was easier for the city to buy-in to building several wooden public facilities after the Trebyen initiative,” explained Tore Myrvold, Construction Manager at Trondheim municipality. This phase gave us a “foundation of building knowledge and garnered support early on that paved the way to the accelerate change [to wood construction].”

The public sector is the construction industry’s biggest client. This means municipal governments can move the entire industry to be more sustainable if they favour wood as a building material. When cities build schools, social housing etc. with renewables, they can showcase the benefits of building with wood and familiarise themselves with first-hand experience on how to construct with a new material.

Since the Trebyen initiative started, the city has built several schools and kindergartens, the Norwegian Institute for Natural Research, as well as Moholt 50|50, a series of high-rise buildings for student accommodation that include other facilities such as a library, medical centre, and fitness centre. Very quickly, inhabitants could experience the well-being benefits of living and working in wooden structures. At the same time, construction companies gained valuable knowledge, working with new materials and found they enjoyed it much more.

Regulations and incentives to build with zero-emissions help curb the use of steel and concrete, the most common building materials, which generate more than 8% of the world’s CO2 emissions. Cities can alter building codes to make building with wood easier. In 2016, Trondheim agreed upon an Environmental Strategy for Construction that positioned them as a city at the forefront of wood innovation in construction projects. Today, when Trondheim offers public tenders for municipal projects, they require reduced greenhouse gas emissions, and point out the use of wood as a viable means to meet those requirements.

Climate initiatives are a catalyst to building more sustainably in a city and provide benchmarks to evaluate progress. For example, Trondheim is currently aiming to reach the UN Paris Agreement's climate goals and has firmly put wood on the political agenda for a high volume of wooden projects. Their overall goal is to reduce emissions by 80% in 2030 compared to 2009’s figures, and part of that includes zero-emissions buildings and construction sites by the same year. 

A well-developed knowledge base for building with wood is a great way to aid the transition. "We have been using wood in the buildings in Trondheim for decades," says Anna Castanheira, an architect in the Trebyen initiative. "We also have a technical university with a lot of research into the use of wood.” One in seven Trondheim inhabitants work within the knowledge and innovation sector, heavily focussed on green technology, so there is a large knowledge base to draw on. Few cities are so fortunate, but an enormous difference can be made if a city centralises regional standards in a way that is accessible to contractors. Builders need to know the standards required for insulation, wind shields, etc. Getting that information easily, helps builders do their job. Cities can play a vital role in establishing those knowledge hubs and maintaining them as standards are updated.

Castanheira’s and Myvold's advice for cities interested in reducing their emissions and shifting to renewable materials is to connect with experts in the field. In Trondheim, specific policy encourages collaboration among stakeholders, creating knowledge-sharing and elevated competence in this area. The result is that the region is now home to a cluster of talent in the field of modern wooden construction.

Local collaborations can help tackle region-specific practical problems and address the local climate and wood supply. For example, contractors might be concerned about how "rain, water and snow will affect them when building in wood," says Myrvold. "It's easy for builders to not want to work with a product if they think it will be a significant problem and in these expert collaborations, they can get information about how wood products are dried and sealed to protect against the elements.” A timber salesperson will tell them this, but they are more likely to trust another contractor who has first-hand experience and has completed a project in their area tackling that specific issue in their local area.

In summary, it has never been more critical and more possible for our cities to build sustainably. Advancements in wood products and the leadership of Trondheim are living proof we can do it and that it’s worth it to build with wood. Making the transition is not as simple as building a wooden structure. Municipal governments play a pivotal role, and they can start with public education campaigns, tweaking policy, fostering knowledge hubs, joining climate initiatives, and collaborating to make the change.