Wood in public construction
Municipalities play an important role in mitigating climate change. Many municipalities have recognised the use of wood in construction as a means to reduce municipal carbon dioxide emissions and make progress towards the climate targets set for them. Promoting the use of wood in public buildings is one of the focus areas of the Wood Building Programme. The programme promotes the use of wood in public construction by providing concrete tools for the municipal actors and by raising their general awareness of the benefits of wood in construction, including the meaning of the carbon footprint, and of the health and safety aspects related to the use of wood. In the fourth supplementary budget of 2020 additional funding granted to the Wood Building Programme was targeted especially to the development of public construction, competence building and education.
National targets for wood in public construction
The Wood Building Programme of the Ministry of the Environment, together with the relevant stakeholders, has set out the national targets for the use of wood in public construction. Targets have been set for the share of wood in all new public construction and for the types of buildings with the greatest construction volumes.
National targets for use of wood in public construction:
| All building | Total volume of building (1000 m3) |
Buildings with a timber frame (1000 m3) | Market share of wood (%) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | 6 907 | 1 039 | 15 % |
| 2022 | 5 661 | 1 760 | 31 % |
| 2025 | 5 221 | 2 296 | 45 % |
The targets were published at an event held in autumn 2020. The targets for specific types of buildings and the rationale behind the targets are presented in the report ‘National Targets for Public Wood Building’.
Other support for constructors of public buildings
The whole Finnish Government is committed to promoting wood in construction and the objectives concerning the use of wood in public construction. Besides direct grants to development projects, constructors of public buildings receive support through:
- Network and stakeholder meetings
- Procurement guide for a wooden public building
- Information package for municipalities
- Project database on wooden public buildings in Finland