To meet the demand for sustainable and innovative construction solutions, Stora Enso launches Sylva by Stora Enso. Sylva is a massive wood building kit comprising pre-manufactured, custom-made applications delivered just-in-time to the building site. The solution enables faster construction, reduced costs, more efficient use of raw material and fewer emissions than concrete or steel.
“One of the major reasons why the construction industry’s carbon emissions have reached its highest level is its constant over-reliance on carbon-intensive materials such as steel and concrete. Recent engineering innovations based on massive wood will wean the dependence on these materials. Today we can build higher, stronger and lighter than ever with wood, and now we make it even easier thanks to Sylva”, says Lars Völkel, EVP and Head of the Wood Products division at Stora Enso.
Sylva is Stora Enso’s range of engineered and prefabricated products such as cross-laminated timber (CLT), laminated veneer lumber (LVL) and glued laminated timber (GLT). The Sylva kit includes everything needed to create a modern, sustainable wood structure for low carbon buildings. The custom-made walls, floors, roofs, stairs, beams and columns optimise the use of massive wood to suit buildings of all typologies and scales for specific project needs.
Stora Enso’s automated coating line, being built in Ybbs, Austria, will further enhance the value and quality of the Sylva components by offering high-quality water-based coatings, protecting them against moisture, sunlight, insects and fire. This will result in shorter construction times, decrease costs for construction companies, and provide added value and improved product quality.
“By delivering prefabricated, easy-to-install components to the construction sites, we respond to the increasing trend of off-site construction while offering a solution to the industry’s labour shortage. Sylva by Stora Enso is a game-changer for making this happen, replacing concrete and steel with renewable wood to enable a circular, low-carbon construction process”, says Mathieu Robert, Head of Building Solutions at Stora Enso.
Wood products can help transform the construction sector from a source of greenhouse gas emissions to a carbon sink. Every cubic meter of wood used as a substitute for non-renewable building materials reduces CO₂ emissions by an average of 1.5 tonnes. This carbon stays stored in wooden buildings for generations. Wood as a building material can instantly cut up to 70% of emissions and this way ensure that the construction industry is part of the solution to end global warming.
