Metsä Group in the press release on September 9.9.2019, XNUMX the "significant" climate effects of increasing wood construction are praised and it is stated that "the environmental harm and energy consumption caused by the use of wood are minimal compared to brick, concrete, aluminum, plastic or steel."
The release states that, according to experts, increasing wood construction would significantly affect the environmental impact of the entire construction industry. It would be interesting to know the opinions of the experts in the field Metsä Group bases its information on, because the researched reality is not at all that clear-cut. The figures mentioned in the bulletin are also badly wrong: the carbon footprint of a concrete cube is by no means 1,7 t, but about a tenth of that.
According to several independent studies, the differences in the environmental friendliness of different materials are very small. In some locations, the smallest carbon footprint is achieved with concrete structures, in others with wooden structures. For example Sitra's statement 63 (2012) or SP Rapport 2015:70 do not find a significant difference between building materials. In a recent study prepared by the Norwegian research organization Østfoldforskning, which is familiar with life cycle assessment of construction, the carbon dioxide emissions of wooden and concrete structures were compared with the conclusion that office buildings with more than 4 floors with a precast concrete frame already had the lowest emissions during the construction phase.
Denigrating a competing industry by spreading false information does not contribute to solving the climate challenges we all share. Instead, operators in the construction industry should widely speed up their own innovations in a sustainable direction. Finnish cement is a good example of this. Finnish cement factories have already managed to cut their emissions by almost a quarter. Today, they produce one of the lowest-emission cements in Europe.
Jussi Mattila
CEO
Betoniteollisuus ry
Tel. 0400 637 224