Application

Timber buildings are usually defined by their primary construction. A timber building is thus primarily characterised by a supporting structure made of timber and timber materials. For reasons of fire protection, the core in timber buildings is also usually constructed in reinforced concrete. In building class 5, large parts of the ground floor are also planned as reinforced concrete components. Because of moisture, foundations and external basement walls are not usually built in timber. On the site of the former Prinz-Eugen barracks in Munich, an ecological model estate of 566 homes in eight timber buildings was built, in 2020 the largest contiguous timber housing estate in Germany (1). Its buildings show a high variance of different construction methods of the primary supporting structure.

Solid Timber Timber Frame Reinforced Concrete WA11 OSTWOGENO WA13GEWOFAG WA14 WESTGWG WA14 OSTKAUFMANN WA15 WESTH2R WA15 OSTAGMM WA16 WESTKADEN/LAGER WA16 OSTDRESSLERMAYERHOFERRÖSLER

The reference building

The reference building used by Timber Computer, is a market-representative residential building that can be realised in both, mineral or timber construction. The generic building can function as a building block for inner-city redensification or new quarters. It is designed as a 5-storey townhouse in crosswall construction. The ground floor is suitable for commercial use and communal areas. The development is accessed via one staircase in a solid construction method. Thus, the model building does not represent a specific design, but rather an abstracted aid of orientation for setting the right course in the early process of project initiation.

Rendering of the reference building: five storeys in timber, a grid of six bays on four upper floors above a ground floor with three wide openings, set between plain white neighbouring blocks.

Building with renewable raw materials usually leads to multi-layered components due to the implementation of all physical requirements such as fire, moisture and sound protection. In contrast, mineral components such as brickwork or reinforced concrete walls already fulfil many requirements in one solid component layer.

Elements

For Timber Computer, a specific selection of elements was made that reflect the current state of the art. For each component, the corresponding LCA data sets were subsequently retrieved from ÖKOBAUDAT, the database of the Federal Ministry for Housing, Urban Development and Building, and integrated (2). In databases such as dataholz (3) we can find catalogues of tested element compositions as well as possible joints. To make the planning process more efficient there are already interfaces to integrate this data into planning tools. This enables a selection of elements based on project-specific requirements.

Four of the computer's elements as layer stacks: a solid timber ceiling, a solid timber load-bearing wall and a timber air caisson roof, each of several layers, and a honeycomb brick outer wall of brick and plaster.

The global warming potential (GWP) of the construction is determined using a life cycle analysis in accordance with EN 15978 (4). Only pre-dimensioned standard structures serve as the basis for the calculation of the load-bearing, envelope and fitting components. Subordinate components such as doors are not taken into account. Likewise, building services systems and products of the user fit-out are not part of the consideration. The environmental parameters of ÖKOBAUDAT according to DIN EN 15804 +A1 (5) are used as the data basis. The global warming potential (GWP) is determined on the basis of life-cycle phases A1–A3, C3 and C4.

References

  1. Djahanschah, S., et al. (2020). Baudokumentation Ökologische Mustersiedlung Prinz-Eugen-Park in München. Informationsverein Holz.
  2. Bundesministerium für Wohnen, Stadtentwicklung und Bauwesen. (n.d.). ÖKOBAUDAT.
  3. Holzforschung Austria. (n.d.). dataholz.eu.
  4. Deutsches Institut für Normung. (2012). Nachhaltigkeit von Bauwerken – Bewertung der umweltbezogenen Qualität von Gebäuden – Berechnungsmethode (DIN EN 15978:2012-10). Beuth Verlag.
  5. Deutsches Institut für Normung. (2014). Nachhaltigkeit von Bauwerken – Umweltproduktdeklarationen – Grundregeln für die Produktkategorie Bauprodukte (DIN EN 15804:2014-07). Beuth Verlag.
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