Wooden building technology and proposal for an innovative solution

In the current global context, where building management is responsible for a large part of global energy consumption, environmental mitigation and reduction in greenhouse gas emissions are increasingly needed to counteract the risk of climate change. Environmental issues and the resulting regulations lead to research in the field of building applications towards the use of more sustainable and eco-friendly materials. Wood and wood-based products have characteristics that make them in line with the new environmental perspective. Wood has played a significant role in the building industry in all the historical epochs and, according to the geographic, climatic, economic and cultural context, its use has always been reinterpreted in different ways. Currently, the most widespread wood construction systems, such as the Cross Laminated Timber (XLAM) or the Platform Frame, are based on a high degree of factory prefabrication, enabling rapid assembling of the panels on site with a consequent reduction in construction times. To make wood a sustainable and eco-friendly constructive material, rational use of resources, proper forest management, use of non-toxic adhesives and solvents, and appropriate assembly methods are required. Furthermore, wood systems guarantee excellent seismic behavior due to their lightness and to the high ductility of well-designed metal connections. Into the stratigraphy of sustainable wood buildings, high energy efficiency performance can be achieved by pointing out to both low thermal conductivity and use of natural insulating instead of synthetic ones. In this paper, after analyzing the characteristics required to wooden system, a technical solution based on the Platform Frame is proposed, including high-density pressed straw elements in the internal gap. The use of natural insulants from appropriately processed agricultural waste can be a solution to improve both the energy performance of building envelope and the sustainability. In addition, the use of economic materials with low primary energy is one of the strategies in order to mitigate the environmental impacts of building sector.