WoodStock

The construction industry contributes to climate change and affects the environment. Natural resources, particularly wood, are a sustainable alternative to traditional building materials that cause excessive waste. With an increasing demand for sustainable solutions, it is needed to rethink how wood is sourced and used in construction. The EU-funded WoodStock project addresses these challenges by advancing climate-smart, circular and zero-waste wood construction practices to support the New European Bauhaus. It focuses on quantifying and mapping wood resources, including underused streams such as hardwoods, low-quality and post-consumer wood. Through six living labs, the project develops zero-waste and circular building designs for a healthy living environment and creates a digital hub to share best practices and ensure sustainable wood use in construction.

Objective

WoodStock is a multifaceted project dedicated to advancing climate-smart wood construction practices in alignment with the New European Bauhaus (NEB) initiative. A primary focus is the quantification and mapping of wood resources, including under-utilized streams, using a novel Tier 3 level Harvested Wood Products methodology and dynamic Material Flow Analysis modelling to gain insights into wood utilization potential, climate mitigation impacts, and resource availability. This also entails a robust dynamic Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) methodology for the assessment of environmental, social, and economic impacts associated with various resource streams and scenarios. WoodStock will tap into collective expertise to develop zero-waste and circular building designs, harnessing the power of digital twins, assessing human health and well-being aspects by co-creation activities with a multitude of actors, following the NEB principles and values, in 6 Living Labs (LLs) in 6 different European regions. Through systemic circular solutions for zero-waste and community-based wood construction, aligning novel business strategies with policy recommendations, and dedicated demo, training and educational activities the project endeavours to incentivize climate-smart and increased sustainable wood use in construction. An inspirational climate-smart guideline document for circular use of wood streams, a WoodBook with building blueprints based on the NEB values, beautiful, together and sustainable, and an EU-roadmap for the future are some of the Key Exploitable Results (KERs) that will be available on the European Wood Construction Observatory (EWCO). This observatory will be a central, AI-powered hub for best practices, guidelines, and innovative solutions, facilitating knowledge exchange and collaboration among stakeholders, and ensuring the longevity and impact beyond the project’s lifetime, in alignment with the NEB Academy.

The ambitions of WoodStock are to:

• measure and map wood resources by tracking material flows, calculating carbon accounting, and applying a robust dynamic Life Cycle Assessment (d-LCA) method: resources, flows and impacts
• develop zero-waste, circular designs for product and buildings that prioritise human health and well-being: zero-waste solutions for healthy living
• create frameworks to help shape policies, innovation, and business strategies: innovation, policies, and strategies
• establish a European Wood Construction Observatory and NEB Lab