Making great strides in timber construction

In terms of sustainability and comfort, timber buildings can have significant advantages over solid structures, depending on their use and location. With the timber construction competence center led by Mario Hess, Gruner is elevating itself to the next level and offering comprehensive services in this field. An interview with Mario Hess and Sandro Brunella, Head of Buildings Northwestern Switzerland.

Sandro, you are originally a concrete engineer, yet you have long been dedicated to timber construction and the timber construction competence center at Gruner, which is now developing strongly with Mario. Why is this?

Sandro Brunella: The global climate targets were clearly set out in the Paris Agreement. In the construction sector, we, as planning engineers, can make a significant contribution to achieving these goals. This means that reducing the carbon footprint of our buildings is a social mandate we must take on. Moreover, we naturally tailor our services to market demands: Timber construction is increasingly sought after. Many public tenders now specifically request timber.

What has Gruner lacked in this area so far – and what are the goals in timber construction?

Sandro: As structural engineers, we've always worked competently with timber, as with other materials, but we've always required external partners. With Mario Hess as an experienced timber construction engineer, we can go further and consider timber constructions from a holistic and integrated perspective. Timber building poses unique requirements on construction processes, logistics, building technology, building physics, fire safety, dismantling, and so on. With Gruner's extensive range of services, we can offer customers comprehensive advice and support from the outset. We're now able to provide a much broader and more targeted array of services in the timber construction field, thus supporting a significantly greater number of projects.

Mario Hess: Planning and building with timber require specialized knowledge, material-appropriate design, and timber-specific solutions and concepts. As specialist planners, timber construction engineers handle not only structural design but also the constructive and practical planning of timber buildings. Gruner Timber Construction merges the expertise of two disciplines: The traditional competence of a structural engineer with innovative solutions and new calculation methods, along with the practical execution skills of a timber construction planner through a deep understanding of wood as a material and the constructive nuances of integral timber construction planning.

Sandro: With the expansion in timber construction, we are even more independent from contractors and can offer the optimal solution for each specific project. We are a company with comprehensive knowledge across all phases and competencies of building construction projects. And wherever possible, we aim to propose timber as an alternative.

To what extent is timber construction sustainable when trees are needed in nature?

Mario: Firstly, wood is a renewable resource that doesn't permanently deplete the Earth's raw materials. In Switzerland, only as much wood is harvested as can regrow. Wood also captures CO₂ from the atmosphere during its growth phase. This carbon is stored in the structure and sequestered over the long term. Managed forests have a better carbon footprint than untouched forests because the wood growth is more prolific.

Is the trend towards timber construction reflected in the statistics?

Sandro: Switzerland is a hub for timber construction with extensive expertise. About 10% of new load-bearing structures are made of wood.

Mario: There's also considerable development activity. I worked as a timber construction engineer on what is currently Switzerland's tallest timber building at 15 stories and 60 meters high. Such feats weren't possible until recently. We must reevaluate everything: floor areas, settlement behavior, assembly concepts, fire safety, protection during construction, etc. Standardization, norms, and legislation are still developing. However, progress is rapid, giving us as planners plenty of room for innovation. This makes the method very exciting.

Thank you very much for the interview!

More about timber construction at Gruner: https://www.gruner.ch/en/structural-design/timber-construction-engineering