The informative and expert guided tour took place in close cooperation with renowned partners of the Wood Cluster and was supported by the Administration de la nature et des forêts, which prepared an attractive tour programme for the Université catholique de Louvain.
“The Wood Cluster is pleased about the keen interest in wood construction and the educational offer we were able to show to students together with our partner companies,” explains Ralf Kohler, the Luxembourg Wood Cluster Manager.
Energetic building comfort
The first part of the excursion took the participants to a municipal wood construction project in the south of Luxembourg. Here, the general contractor Prefalux Construction S.A. is building the new school complex “Ecole et Maison relais Wobrecken” on behalf of the municipality of Esch-sur-Alzette.
Several wood buildings are currently under construction. In addition to the outer walls, massive KVH construction wood and glued laminated timber is also used for the load-bearing structure. Without walls and boarding, a timber volume of over 340 m³ is being used in these buildings: native spruce alongside with Central European fir.
Heiko Käfer, an experienced project manager, explained the details of the project. The excursion participants were particularly impressed by the integrative building standard, which, in addition to wood as the basic structure, also includes a clinker facade and a high level of energy comfort of the buildings.
Sustainable building with wood
During the second part of the excursion, the university group visited the WOODEN project of the two real estate developers IKO and BPI Real Estate in Leudelange. Accompanied by the construction project developer Wood Shapers, the engineering challenges of a modular building structure were presented.
Philippe Courtoy gave a presentation on key aspects of the WOODEN building, which uses wood from sustainable European forestry. The project planner Francois Dehon then gave a guided tour of the building under high safety standards and explained important technical features to the students, e.g. the advantages and disadvantages of cross-laminated timber and static refinements of the construction.
Among other things, it was emphasised that WOODEN is the only timber construction project in Luxembourg that has been implemented according to the WELL Building Standard®. This standard focuses in particular on the health and well-being of the future users of the building.
As a result of the expert excursion, all participants were able to learn about an interesting and technically complex topic. Sustainable building with wood in Luxembourg was once again the focus of the professional discussion.
Together with the Wood Cluster, proven experts were able to provide young people with a high level of demonstration and knowledge.
“The event has once again shown that sustainable construction and wood as a material in the Luxembourg economic system are also attracting professional interest in an interregional context,” notes Ralf Köhler. “We are preparing further cross-thematic excursions that will focus, among other things, on the increased use of recycled materials and the use of local wood resources in the construction sector.”