Contemporary Slovenian Timber Architecture For Sustainability

The book presents Slovenia’s contemporary timber architecture. Thanks to its abundant forests, Slovenia has preserved the tradition of wood construction. As much as 60% of its surface is covered by forests. Slovenia is also the third most forested country in Europe. The high share of forest-covered surface allows for a sustainable production of high-quality wood. In the past, wood was used primarily in the construction of farm buildings, but now timber architecture is used for everything from residences and office buildings to public buildings such as community centres and schools. Timber construction is becoming increasingly popular. Apart from larger companies taking this approach, a great number of wooden houses have sprung up, built either on personal initiative or with the support of carpenter workshops. Slovenian timber architecture has taken a new approach to environmental and energy-efficiency problems and received great international recognition. The book discusses over fifty projects built over a ten-year period, and includes descriptions, photographs and plans. The projects include residential areas, administration, and office as well as tourist, educational and industrial buildings. Timber architecture is presented as an integral part of the Slovenian landscape. The monograph will be useful to designers and future experts in their planning of optimal timber buildings and will highlight the main benefits of using timber construction.

This book includes details on the environmental implications of recycling, modeling of recycling, processing of recycled materials, recycling potential of materials, characterisation of recycled materials, reverse logistics, case studies of recycling various materials etc.

This book provides a comprehensive description of traditional and innovative forest-based bioproducts, from pulp and paper, wood-based composites and wood fuels to chemicals and fiber-based composites. The descriptions of different types of forest-based bioproducts are supplemented by the environmental impacts involved in their processing, use, and end-of-life phase. Further, the possibility of reusing, recycling and upgrading bioproducts at the end of their projected life cycle is discussed. As the intensity of demand for forest biomass is currently changing, forest-based industries need to respond with innovative products, business models, marketing and management. As such, the book concludes with a chapter on the bioproducts business and these products’ role in bioeconomies.

The open access book discusses human health and wellbeing within the context of built environments. It provides a comprehensive overview of relevant sources of literature and user complaints that clearly demonstrate the consequences of lack of attention to health in current building design and planning. Current designing of energy-efficient buildings is mainly focused on looking at energy problems and not on addressing health. Therefore, even green buildings that place environmental aspects above health issues can be uncomfortable and unhealthy, and can lead to public health problems. The authors identify many health risk factors and their parameters, and the interactions among risk factors and building design elements. They point to the need for public health specialists, engineers and planners to come together and review built environments for human wellbeing and environmental sustainability. The authors therefore present a tool for holistic decision-making processes, leading to short- and long-term benefits for people and their environment.

This book emphasizes the important message that architects and structural engineers must strive to ensure that the buildings they design and construct should not be major contributors to climate change. Rather, they should be exploring the use of green materials and building methods – such as timber, wood, and associated materials – in order to safeguard the environment. These sustainable materials are not only environmentally friendly, but they have the added benefit of being easy to manufacture, cost effective, often locally available, and easily replenished. Moreover, it has been demonstrated that wood and timber are viable materials in the construction of a wide variety of building types, including medium and high-rise buildings. The Importance of Wood and Timber in Sustainable Buildings brings together a distinguished group of contributors from different cultures and building traditions to address why now is the time to rethink our construction methods and explore replacing many of the carbon intensive materials that are currently being used with wood and timber.

Faced with man-made climate change and the need to provide housing for a growing world population, society needs to rethink the way future buildings are made. Wood is a truly renewable building material that is unlimited in supply if its growth and harvest are sustainably managed. Recent technological advancements in engineering allow the use of timber for the construction of multi-story structures, turning our buildings into carbon sinks rather than becoming sources for CO2-emissions. The book presents convincing arguments for the increased use of wood as an alternative to more fossil fuel intensive building materials, with the goal of demonstrating that an integrated approach can have the potential for positive impact on the environment, local economies, and the building culture at large.

The construction sector alone accounts for 40 percent of resource consumption and environmental pollution. In line with the current considerations on environmental sustainability, particular attention is paid to eco-sustainable building materials such as timber. Timber is able to perform both load-bearing and comfort constructive functions. It is also a natural, renewable and recyclable material. However, its use as an engineering material calls for constant development and research. This book provides insight into the spread of the use of timber in the construction industry, presenting some thoughts on important aspects related to production, design and responsible use.