On Thursday 7 October, De Houtbouw Revolutie, Dutch edition of the book on timber construction Tomorrow’s Timber, was officially launched. Fred Schoorl, Thijs Kroese, and Jan van Barneveld received the first copies of the book in Lloyd hotel Amsterdam. They received the book from the authors Pablo van der Lugt and Atto Harsta, who wrote the book on behalf of publisher MaterialDistrict with the aim of encouraging Dutch architects, developers, governments and investors to build more in timber towards a circular future.

During the launch, the authors gave a short book presentation and the first copies were presented to various representatives from the construction sector. Publisher Jeroen van Oostveen: “Initially we mainly wanted to make the book for architects, but we soon noticed that there is also a lot of interest in the book from investors, governments and developers. For example, MRA (Amsterdam Metropolitan Area) has purchased 500 copies to distribute among administrators in the region.” MRA has the ambition to build 20% of all homes in timber by 2025. Thijs Kroese (chairman of the timber construction steering group of MRA & Alderman Purmerend): “We have a responsibility to drive the transition to circular construction, the book will help us dispel the many myths about timber construction among administrators in the MRA region.”

Fred Schoorl (chairman of the Dutch Architectural Firms Association) added: “Architects are not the key to the future of wood, it is part of the cooperation in the chain between the various parties.” Jan van Barneveld (Director of Development De Alliantie), who developed the first stacked wooden residential building in the Netherlands 15 years ago, endorses the importance of forming new alliances in the transition to circular construction. “There is a lot of pressure for us to run production. 90% we still build traditionally, for 10% we have room to experiment and it is still quite a quest to come to new alliances.” One thing became clear during the meeting: more than ever before, cooperation between all parties is needed to accelerate the transition to circular construction. MaterialDistrict hopes to play a role in this with De Houtbouw Revolutie.

About De Houtbouw Revolutie
The application possibilities of wood in construction seem endless and technological developments still follow each other in rapid succession. If De Houtbouw Revolutie teaches anything, it is that building with wood is the future. The book attractively deals with the many applications of this sustainable building material, especially in the field of new building systems based on solid wood products such as Cross Laminated Timber (CLT), Laminated Veneer Lumber (LVL) and Glued Laminated Timber (Glulam). Thanks to these developments, wood is now a serious replacement for concrete and steel in construction.

De Houtbouw Revolutie is divided into six chapters, which include attention for the transition to a ‘bio-based’ economy, climate change in relation to forestry, the characteristics of wood, innovative developments in the field of wood as a building material, designing and building with solid wood and a view to the future. The informative text is enriched with illuminating infographics and photos of appealing wood projects.

De Houtbouw Revolutie is a must for every Dutch construction professional; the authors refer a number of myths about building with wood once and for all to the realm of fables. Wood, write Van der Lugt and Harsta, among other things, – if used properly – is not more fire-hazardous or more expensive than conventional building materials. They also use numerous examples to show that wooden buildings can sometimes last for hundreds of years and that there is enough forest to build much more with wood in a responsible manner. And finally, wood construction results in an enormous reduction in CO2 emissions compared to building with non-renewable materials. In fact, building with wood even results in enormous CO2 storage. This makes it rightfully a sustainable and future-proof building material.

De Houtbouw Revolutie can be ordered at books.materialdistrict.com and bol.com and costs € 33.50 including VAT. Tomorrow’s Timber, the English edition, is also available via these links.

Images: MaterialDistrict