SWISS KRONO Delights Architects with a Special Event in Saarbrücken

Actualité | SWISS KRONO Germany

Following a lengthy break due to the pandemic, we have now resumed our series of activities for architects. At our invitation, around 60 architects, planners and engineers came to Saarbrücken Castle on 21^st June 2022 for a one-day event called the FUTURE OF WOOD. At it, we jointly reviewed the changes and challenges that the construction industry is facing going forwards.

We had parked our SWISS KRONO MAGNUMBOARD® OSB show module in front of the castle for them to inspect while arriving.  This full-size module impressively demonstrates the versatility and benefits of the SWISS KRONO MAGNUMBOARD® OSB timber construction system.

Uwe Jöst, the Head of Sales of Building Materials for the SWISS KRONO Group, opened the event in a pre-recorded welcome video shown on a large video screen. He outlined the current challenges for reducing the CO₂emissions associated with buildings while meeting the steadily growing need for living space, and stressed the importance of wood as an ideal building material for resolving this dilemma.

In addition to presenting our SWISS KRONO OSB products, we invited three respected experts to talk about different aspects of timber construction:

Hannes Bäuerle, the founder and owner of raumprobe, which includes both a major online database and a physical exhibition of building materials in Stuttgart, kicked off this part of the event. This impassioned expert on materials sees enormous potential in wood. Owing to its properties, eco-friendliness and wide range of uses, wood is the building material of the 21^st century. Many pilot projects are already demonstrating its performance and potential. And now it’s essential to broadly establish it as the construction material of the future. Bäuerle also touched on aspects that go far beyond building and living, such as mobility and textiles.

Ahmed Al Samarraie, an expert on building ecology and member of the board of the German Prefabricated Timber Construction Association (DHV), spoke about the theme of emissions and the many factors which affect the quality of indoor air. He presented the main findings of two ongoing studies: HoInRaLU at the Johann Heinrich von Thünen Federal Research Institute for Rural Areas, Forests and Fisheries, and GesundHolz at the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research. These have established beyond a doubt that the emissions of natural VOCs (volatile organic compounds) significantly decline on their own and have no primary genotoxic effects whatsoever, i.e. they don’t damage genetic information within cells in ways that could lead to mutations. Al Samarraie also stressed the importance of taking regulatory action to continue strengthening the role of wood.

Philipp Park, the managing director of the firm of ig-bauphysik, covered the topic of acoustic insulation in connection with timber construction, talking about subjects that included legislation relevant to building, DIN 4109, and methods for calculating and demonstrating the relevant parameters. Taking wall modules which are included in the SWISS KRONO PLANNING tool (also known as the Component Planner and Timber Planner) as examples, he brought a supposedly dry topic to life. Park gave the participants a number of specific tips and practical advice which they can apply in their work. One of his most important pieces of advice was to realistically explain everything to builder-owners, thus enabling them to comply with the maximum permissible pollutant levels and also be much happier with the results.

The event was crowned by a visit to a construction site in the nearby town of Merzig. Twenty single-detached homes are now being built there using solid timber construction methods with SWISS KRONO MAGNUMBOARD® OSB. Having departed from the original plan to use timber-frame construction methods, today the owner is thrilled with the results: “The original approach would never have been as fast and neat.” The participants formed several smaller groups to view the various phases of construction. SWISS KRONO application technicians Stefan Gottfried and Harald Sauter, along with Michael Weithe of 3B TEC, a SWISS KRONO MAGNUMBOARD® OSB licensee, explained the details of this construction system.

The positive feedback received from many of the participants confirmed our impression that the event had been a resounding success. The architects, planners and engineers went back to their jobs full of new impressions and inspiration. We want to thank them for their great interest. Special thanks also go to all three of the speakers, who made this successful day in Saarbrücken possible.