Wood firm answers China's building issues

Esa Kaikkonen, executive vice-president from Mets Wood, a Finnish wood products manufacturer, said population growth, urbanization and rising GDP drive massive growth in the construction industry and create demand for ecological building solutions.

"Building in cramped cities where logistic and labor costs are increasing rapidly, the critical need to cut on-site construction time and increasing the degree of prefabrication in construction products offer an arena where wood products have a lot to contribute," said Kaikkonen. "The global growth in construction would not actually be possible without renewable raw materials - in other words, wood. We have a solution for this dilemma since the Finnish forest resources provide endless and sustainable opportunities when it comes to construction with wood."

Kaikkonen added that a small carbon footprint also makes economic sense.

Mets Wood sequesters carbon, and wood's light weight means that the emissions from the production and transport of wood products are but a fraction of steel or concrete construction, he said.

"However, construction is still a very conservative business where money talks, and thus positive development in cost and material effectiveness is the most crucial issue for Mets Wood. In our experience you can build some 20 percent faster when you are using wood as construction material.

"Factory production guarantees consistent quality and reduces lead times on-site. This is clearly a competitive advantage for wood. We see strong trends on this in Scandinavia, especially in Finland."

The breakthrough in wood construction and the competitive tendering of construction materials are being held back by a lack of common standards.

Construction is also subject to multiple forms of regulation.

"Our product development and technical customer service are in continuous dialogue with architects, structural planners and building contractors who are developing the construction projects.

"We have to get all these parties to understand wood as a building material and to offer the conditions for planning safe and healthy buildings made from wood. This is the only way to innovate excellent, cost-competitive and ecological living."

zhuanti@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily 10/28/2015 page10)