The opportunities of timber frame construction, under building energy efficiency codes and environmentally friendly public policies, in developing countries
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Date
2021
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
World Conference on Timber Engineering (WCTE)
Abstract
Timber construction is widespread in developed countries, for its multiple benefits, although developing countries such as Latin Americans tend to use other materials as an alternative. It can be explained by many factors, being one of the most important the lack of an industry that can give cost-competitive buildings, as well as national codes requirements to promote good construction standards and energy efficiency minimum requirements. Chile, one of the leading timber construction countries in Latin America, presents a chance to study how modern timber frame construction can develop under different geographical, climatic, and industry conditions. This work studies the timber frame building's opportunities, under five different cases, by evaluating construction costs and the impact of envelope's thermal insulation for energy efficiency. The result of this study shows that Chilean timber frame houses are more cost-competitive than other materials alternatives; and even though timber frame multistory buildings, are not as competitive when direct construction costs are compared with other materials, they could present fewer operation costs on their life span. Also, this study shows that minimum thermal insulation standards could contribute, at least at first, to making timber buildings more economically attractive against other materials, and especially in colder climates. Moreover, public policies focused on measuring and pricing constructions environmental impacts, such as CO2e emissions, could also promote the use of more sustainable and renewable materials like timber frame constructions in developing countries, and need to be evaluated to reach a more sustainable model in the future.
Description
Keywords
Building costs, CO2e emissions, Energy efficiency, Heating cost, Timber opportunities