Markku Karjalainen

By Hüseyin Emre Ilgın and Markku Karjalainen

Increased use of engineered wood products (EWPs) and thus decreasing share of non-biobased materials such as concrete reduces the impact of buildings on the climate by mitigating the primary energy use and greenhouse gas emissions in construction. A construction project includes many parameters, where the selection of construction material is one of the crucial decisions with its numerous criteria e.g. cost, strength, environmental impact. Furthermore, this complicated process includes different parties such as architects, engineers, contractors. Architects are among the key decision-makers in material selection, and their perceptions influence what they propose and hence an increase in wood construction. In literature, many studies have been conducted on the technological, ecological, economic aspects of EWPs, while limited studies are focusing on EWPs for construction from stakeholders’ perspective. In this chapter, architects’ attitudes towards the use of EWPs in buildings were scrutinized.

Part of the book: Engineered Wood Products for Construction

By Lassi Tulonen, Markku Karjalainen and Hüseyin Emre Ilgın

This chapter examines tall residential buildings using engineered wood products (EWPs) in Finland. As specified in the National Building Code of Finland, ‘tall wooden building’ is defined as a structure with more than 8-story. Currently, there are two wooden residential buildings, 14-story Lighthouse Joensuu (2019) with laminated veneer lumber (LVL) structure and 13-story HOAS Tuuliniitty (under construction) with cross laminated timber (CLT) structure, that fit the definition above. This study analyses the phenomena associated with the design and implementation processes of these remarkable buildings, the starting points for the projects as well as the prospects of tall wooden housing in Finland through the case study method and interviews with the key actors in the projects. These cases are mapped with extremely detailed information, comprising a valuable source both for designers, engineers as well as developers. As a result, the current state-of-the-art and the critical factors influencing the design and implementation of these challenging sustainable projects in Finland have been identified. It is believed that this chapter will aid and direct key stakeholders in the construction industry in the sound planning and development of tall wooden residential projects in Finland.

Part of the book: Engineered Wood Products for Construction

By Hüseyin Emre Ilgın, Markku Karjalainen and Olli-Paavo Koponen

Engineered wood products (EWPs) have been progressively more being utilized in the construction industry as structural materials since the 1990s. In the content of EWPs, adhesives play an important role. However, because of their petroleum-based nature, adhesives contribute to toxic gas emissions such as formaldehyde and Volatile Organic Compounds, which are detrimental to the environment. Moreover, the frequent use of adhesives can cause other critical issues in terms of sustainability, recyclability, reusability, and further machining. In addition to this, metal connectors employed in EWPs harm their end-of-life disposal, reusability, and additional processing. This chapter is concentrating on dovetail massive wood elements (DMWE) as adhesive- and metal connector-free sustainable alternatives to commonly used EWPs e.g., CLT, LVL, MHM, Glulam. The dovetail technique has been a method of joinery mostly used in wood carpentry, including furniture, cabinets, log buildings, and traditional timber-framed buildings throughout its rich history. It is believed that this chapter will contribute to the uptake of DMWE for more diverse and innovative structural applications, thus the reduction in carbon footprint by increasing the awareness and uses of DMWE in construction.

Part of the book: Engineered Wood Products for Construction

By Hüseyin Emre Ilgın, Markku Karjalainen and Olli-Paavo Koponen

Adhesives and metal fasteners have an important place in the content of engineered wood products (EWPs). However, adhesives may cause toxic gas emissions due to their petroleum-based nature, while metal fasteners may adversely affect the reusability of these products. These issues also raise important questions about the sustainability and environmental friendliness of EWPs. Thus, there is still room for a solution that is solid and completely pure wood, adhesive- and metal-connectors-free dovetail wood board elements (DWBEs). There are many studies on the technological, ecological, and economic aspects of these products in the literature, but no studies have been conducted to assess the technical performance of DWBEs. This chapter focuses on DWBEs by proposing various geometric configurations for horizontal structural members in multistory building construction through architectural modeling programs. In this architectural design phase, which is one of the first but most important stages, the proposed configurations are based on a theoretical approach, considering contemporary construction practices rather than structural analysis or mechanical simulation. Further research, including technical performance tests, will be undertaken after this critical phase. It is believed that this chapter will contribute to the dissemination of DWBEs for innovative architectural and structural applications, especially in multistory wooden structures construction.

Part of the book: Engineered Wood Products for Construction

By Hüseyin Emre Ilgın, Markku Karjalainen, Olli-Paavo Koponen and Anu Soikkeli

Construction work is very resource-intensive, and construction projects contain many parameters, in which the choice of building material is one of the critical decisions with numerous criteria, e.g., cost, durability, and environmental impact. Moreover, this complex process includes different parties such as contractors, architects, engineers, where contractors are the most influential decision-makers in material selection. Increasing the use of renewable materials such as wood, which is a technically, economically, and environmentally viable alternative in buildings, can make construction more sustainable. The perceptions of the contractors influence what they propose and therefore the increase in wood construction. With the increasing resource efficiency and the need to adapt to climate change in the construction industry, there is need for contractors to implement sustainable practices. In this chapter, contractors’ perceptions of the use of wood in buildings were examined. The results are expected to contribute to environmental remediation by developing strategies to counter perceived barriers and providing insight into new solutions to a conservative space and expanding the use of wood to achieve a more sustainable construction industry. In addition, recommendations for future research, e.g., adhesive- and metal-fastener-free dovetail wood board elements as sustainable material alternatives were presented.

Part of the book: Engineered Wood Products for Construction