Global and European construction trends confirm that wood, as a renewable and natural raw material, is increasingly valued as an effective tool in the fight against climate change. Latvijas valsts meži (LVM) not only sustainably manages state-owned land and educates the public on the benefits of wood and its importance in sequestering CO₂, but also promotes the development of timber construction in Latvia. On 1 November, a capsule containing a message for future generations will be laid in the foundations of the building for the new LVM West Vidzeme region customer centre. Construction of the building is scheduled to be completed by November 2024.
“As a land rich in forests, Latvia has a unique opportunity to make extensive use of its local renewable resources, including in construction. It is well known that buildings constructed from wood have a positive impact on human health and securely store climate-damaging CO₂ for decades. By using timber grown in Latvia in the construction of our own buildings, we are also increasing total CO₂ sequestration, which is very significant in the context of the European Green Deal,” notes Pēters Putniņš, Chairman of the Board of Latvijas valsts meži.
The upcoming customer centre in the LVM West Vidzeme region is the third facility under the standard LVM customer centre project, an initiative that began in 2012. The first of the company’s customer centres to make extensive use of wood in its construction was the LVM customer centre in Dundaga, which opened in 2017 and was recognised as the “Best Building of the Year in Latvia 2016”. The Zemgale region customer centre, opened in 2021, was also built using wood in both structural elements and interior design, combining modern, comfortable design with the demonstrated advantages of wood as an innovative and environmentally friendly building material. The LVM Zemgale region customer centre in Jelgava received the “Latvian Construction Annual Award” in the “Timber Building 2021” category, as well as 2nd place in the “Most Sustainable Public Building” category in the Baltics.
Although the new West Vidzeme region customer centre will differ from previous projects in its landscaping, building colour tones and slightly in its design, all three facilities are united by the extensive use of wood in load-bearing structures, partition framing, and interior and exterior finishing materials. It is planned that more than 400 m³ of timber materials will be used in the construction of the West Vidzeme region customer centre.
To make the building as energy-efficient as possible, solar panels are planned for the roof to generate electricity, and electric vehicle charging stations will be installed in the courtyard. The building will be heated using both a heat pump and a pellet boiler.
Continuous timber beams of up to 30 metres in length were also used for the construction of the LVM Mežvidi nursery’s new seedling sorting and processing complex. These structures contain approximately 600 m³ of wood, which will store around 600 tonnes of CO₂ for the entire duration of the building's operational life.
In order to promote the use of wood in construction, LVM signed two memoranda of understanding in 2021: one with the Latvian Forest Industry Federation and one with the Ministry of Economics. The collaboration aims to promote the production and use of high-added-value wooden building materials and products in construction, thereby fostering sustainable construction and the growth of the Latvian economy.