Across Europe, timber is making a powerful comeback in construction, allowing this sustainable and environmentally friendly building material to enjoy something of a renaissance. This has been driven both by targets to curb climate change and by a desire to make responsible use of environmentally friendly, renewable materials. In Finland, timber construction is forecast to become the leading construction method within the next five years.

It is already apparent that timber is enjoying a breakthrough in the construction sector, encouraged by the growing debate around more sustainable everyday solutions. In the Benelux countries, for example, sustainability-focused initiatives are becoming the driving force in construction, as awareness grows of the advantages of timber as a building material: high energy efficiency during construction, the service life of the buildings, and timber's ability to take a considerable amount of carbon out of circulation and store it.

Worldwide, more than 35% of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are generated by the construction industry, particularly by the production of materials such as concrete, metal and plastic. Timber is an excellent alternative to these materials, and using it would significantly reduce the volume of GHG emissions produced by the construction industry. Timber use in construction is forecast to grow substantially in the coming years.

"Forests cover 53% of Latvia's territory. By continuing to manage our forests sustainably and by making wider use in construction of the renewable resource available to us – timber – we can strengthen the country's economic independence and make a significant contribution to mitigating climate change, because as it grows, timber absorbs carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and stores carbon within itself. Timber used in construction can be regarded as a carbon store, taking it out of circulation for many years, even centuries. The tower of Riga Cathedral, for example, contains timber structures that are 400 years old," explains Indulis Brauners, senior forest expert at AS "Latvijas valsts meži" (LVM).

The use of timber in public and industrial buildings in Latvia

Timber has also been used extensively in LVM's most recent buildings. In mid-March, a topping-out ceremony was held at the site of the future LVM Rietumvidzeme regional customer centre, the third building in the standard LVM customer centre project. The first of the company's customer centres to make extensive use of timber was the LVM customer centre in Dundaga, opened in 2017, which was named "Best Building in Latvia 2016". The Zemgale regional customer centre, opened in 2021, was likewise built using timber in both its structures and its interior, combining modern, comfortable design with a demonstration of the advantages of timber as an innovative and environmentally friendly building material. The LVM Zemgale regional customer centre in Jelgava received the "Latvian Construction Award of the Year" in the "Timber Building 2021" category, as well as second place in the "Most Sustainable Public Building" category in the Baltics.

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https://www.lvm.lv/jaunumi/7467-pieaug-izpratne-par-koksnes-prieksrocibam-buvnieciba?idU=1