SWISS KRONO at IHF 2023 in Innsbruck

News | SWISS KRONO Germany

The International Wood Construction Conference in Innsbruck is an industry highlight that is held towards the end of each year. The international timber construction industry gathers at it: everyone from planners, engineers and architects across property developers and wood construction firms all the way to material manufacturers.

Despite the fact that the market situation is currently challenging and fewer construction permits are being issued, the mood amongst the nearly 3,000 participants was positive. While most of them think the slump will persist into 2024, they are considerably more optimistic about the future after that. Especially as the market share of timber construction is continuing to grow. Those specialized in non-residential construction are also still busy despite the currently slow overall market. This makes it quite clear that the future belongs to timber construction. No one doubts it. Especially considering all of the ways in which building with wood benefits the environment and helps attain climate protection targets, it’s clear that this natural and renewable raw material is the wave of the future.

SWISS KRONO was of course on hand as the event’s main sponsor, presenting  SWISS KRONO MAGNUMBOARD® OSB – a flexible, solid timber system for sustainable building. The firm’s latest new creation is https://www.swisskrono.com/de-en/products/wooden-building-materials/prefabricated-construction/one-block-en/#/. Based on SWISS KRONO MAGNUMBOARD® OSB, this highly acoustically insulating, dismantlable party wall is only 265 mm thick and features a free-floating core consisting of acoustically insulating PhoneStar boards with airborne sound attenuation of R_W = 66 dB. It is stackable and can be prefabricated. Only screws are needed to install it, in other words spring rails and acoustic isolation clips for decoupling can be dispensed with. MAGNUMBOARD® OSB has the added advantage that it can be directly coated or covered.

We once again presented products like these to demonstrate the outstanding performance of state-of-the-art engineered wood materials. Examples and applications illustrating their pioneering capabilities were also highlighted in our presentations. Attention focused on the themes of sustainability and circular economy and the role that timber construction can play in them. We were particularly impressed by a presentation held by climate researcher Frank Böttcher. He vividly described climate change and extreme weather events and sketched different possible future scenarios depending on which measures are implemented. Böttcher succeeded in entertainingly conveying this scientific information without diluting or simplifying it. His message, namely that it’s essential for us to take appropriate action, definitely got through to everyone present.

At SWISS KRONO we’re doing everything in our power to help protect the climate. We organised various activities to address this theme in depth, including presentations by both in-house and external specialists. A highlight was an event entitled ‘Shaping the Future’ in which Professor Dr Dirk Notz, a prominent climate researcher and coauthor of the IPCC, made a deep impression. He talked about the impacts of climate change and the ways in which the construction industry can help offset it by reducing CO₂ emissions. Professor Dr Joachim Hasch, who heads the SWISS KRONO Group’s Innovation Centre for Research, Development and Technology, followed up with a talk in which he pointed out how much carbon dioxide the SWISS KRONO Group’s products sequester each year, namely 5.77 million tonnes, and explained that the use of wood from sustainably managed forests is a crucial contributor to their outstanding ecological footprint.

Our passion for wood was shared by everyone who took part in the IHF 2023. It was a great way to conclude the year, and we sincerely thank everyone who helped to once again make it a resounding  success!