donderdag 5 juni 2014

Let's get on with it!

Amazing how fast they progress now. Just over 2 weeks ago we were still looking at an empty basement. Now the first floor is almost finished. End of next week the second floor will be finished and the week after we will start with the roofing (bio-based of course).

Meanwhile I have calculated that our use of 1200m3 of massive wood reduces the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere by around 2400 tons of CO2. And that does not yet include the much bigger contribution we will make by saving energy and compensating our energy consumption by generating more renewable energy than this building and its users need. More on that later...

Roughly 45% of this 2400 tons in greenhouse gas reduction is because trees absorb CO2 during their lifetime by photosynthesis. The remaining 55% is the result of substituting other building materials such as concrete, brick or steel.

The 2400 tons of saved CO2 are equivalent to the exhaust of greenhouse gases by 280 homes for one year or by roughly 1,5 million truck kilometres. However, I should mention that the 30 truck loads from Southern Germany reduce that number by about 30.000 kilometres :-)

Using wood for construction stimulates the fast growing forests in Europe. The growth of such sustainably managed forests partially compensates the ever increasing exhaust of greenhouse gases and the deforestation in developing countries. So this is a win-win: reduce our dependency on fossil fuels for building materials and increase the amount of CO2 that is absorbed from the atmosphere.

I draw the same conclusion from every sustainability project I have done in the last 5 years: there is really no need to wait for new advanced technology to solve the climate crisis. Let's just get on with it!

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