The project started in November 2015 and ended in December 2018. The project coordinator was Marie Johansson from RISE and the total budget for the project was SEK 55.4 million.
The main objective of the project was defined as creating conditions for increased use of bio-based products and services in the construction sector in Sweden and Europe and increasing the competitiveness of the Swedish woodworking industry. In the project various process steps of the joinery value chain and the wood building value chain have been studied.
The need for digitizing and E-commerce has been studied for the joinery industry chain. The project has given the companies insight into their own development and that they must combine the development of an E-commerce platform with process development in order to reach a great effect. The companies will use the results in the digitizing projects they are pursuing.
For the wood building value chain, the project has studied a number of areas from client competence to process development and product development. Regarding client competence, Trästad Sweden utilizes the project results in its work to support municipalities to develop wood building strategies. Through the work on the project, the wood building companies have received input to implement digitizing in their own processes and be able to make decisions about new investments. The steps that have been taken regarding product development are mainly related to design aids in order to be able to evaluate new solutions for flooring, climate shells and building systems for tall timber buildings. These computational aids have also been used to develop demonstrators for new innovative solutions that are possible to implement. The next step for the companies is to evaluate their own solutions linked to their specific production conditions.
The project has shown a large number of development opportunities in order to be able to increase the use of bio-based products which implemented will increase competitiveness.
The challenge
The construction sector accounts for a very large share of materials and energy consumption both in Sweden and globally. Society also faces a major challenge in the form of housing shortages in Sweden and most of Europe. More efficient use of bio-based materials for these purposes could help society to convert to a bio-based economy and contribute to lowered energy consumption, increase opportunities for further processing of Swedish forestry raw materials, increase export opportunities and preserve jobs domestically.
Project aims
The aims of the project were:
- new business solutions for the joinery industry aimed at increasing the customer value of bio-based products
- optimisation of the procurement process and production of multi-storey buildings with a bio-based frame capable of meeting new energy-efficiency and sustainability requirements.
- the development of more efficient floor structures and slimmer walls/building envelopes used in new-builds and for renovation that are capable of meeting the energy requirements due to be introduced in the year of 2021.
Implementation and project structure
The project focused on two value-chains: Industrialized House-Building; and interior solutions, all of which are of significant importance to Swedish business. The project was organised into four sub-projects connected with various stages of the process and one sub-project for coordination and management.
The four sub-projects have been divided into eleven work-packages to study the various aspects of external factors, market conditions and business models, process development and product development.
The next step
– Collaboration between companies, academic environments and institutes has been important to the sub-project results and for continued knowledge-building, says Marie Johansson, Project Coordinator, RISE.
How is the knowledge utilised?
– Wood First is one example of a tool where the project outcomes are tangibly utilised. The project has also laid the basis for initiatives such as the collaboration project Timber on Top, which focuses on vertical extensions and add-ons to existing buildings, continues Marie Johansson.
– The digitalisation projects have generated knowledge that many of the companies will find useful both in the short and in the long term. Increased E-commerce also provides the Swedish companies with increased opportunities to export to customers abroad, concludes Marie Johansson.
Developments are ongoing in other projects too. One example is the Connected Construction Site (Uppkopplad byggplats in Swedish) project within the strategic innovation programme Smart Built Environment. The work on tall timber buildings continues through a European project led by RISE called Dyna-TTB. The aim here is to develop a design guide for tall timber buildings.
Contact
Marie Johansson, RISE
marie.johansson@ri.se