Wood use and design in Ireland is mainly confined to construction, fencing, packaging (pallet) and to a lesser extent biomass energy for home-grown timber, while furniture, joinery, cladding and other specialist applications rely on imports.

While these uses are likely to continue as the main markets for some time, European countries have not only pushed the boundaries for wood in traditional markets such as construction and furniture but are exploring new wood-based products including biodiesel and biogasoline, textiles, medicines and even food.

The bioeconomy is the area of the economy that uses renewable biological resources rather than fossil fuels. Forestry, agriculture and marine have been identified as the main sectors in the Irish bioeconomy.

A conference on 30 May entitled “Forestry as a central pillar in the bioeconomy” concentrates on the role forestry can play in the bioeconomy from an Irish and European perspective.

While Ireland has been slow to realise its forest bioeconomic advantage and potential, Pekka Leskinen, head of the bioeconomy programme, European Forest Institute (EFI), will outline how “forests, forestry and the forest-based sector are the cornerstone of the European bioeconomy, and a major contributor to climate change mitigation”.

The conference will outline forestry as a multi-purpose bioeconomic resource throughout the growing and production cycle including:

  • In the forest: carbon sequestration as forests grow, with resultant climate change mitigation and benefits for agriculture.
  • Outside the forest: carbon storage in wood products which displace materials with high embedded carbon such as steel, aluminium and concrete, as well as generating energy which displaces fossil fuels.
  • End of life: at the end of its useful life, wood can be recycled into new products or into carbon-neutral thermal energy and used for heating and/or electricity.
  • New product development: or, as the recent Department of Agriculture-COFORD document Growing the Irish Forest Bioeconomy maintained, “Anything that can be made from fossil fuels can be made from wood”.
  • In the forest

    The first session of the conference will explore the role of the forest in the bioeconomy, including a keynote address by Andrew Doyle, Minister of State with responsibility for forestry. Minister Doyle will address the conference referencing the report Growing the Irish Forest Bioeconomy.

    The report illustrates the major role Ireland’s forests can play as they “produce high scores for climate change mitigation with positive implications for Ireland’s agricultural sector”.

    Gerard Murphy, director of Coillte and chair of the group that produced the report, will address issues including the forest as carbon sink as well as production of renewable wood products by Coillte’s panel board mills and its sawmill customers.

    Ireland is now self-sufficient in softwoods and exports 78% of all sawn timber- and wood-based panel products, but with wood production forecast to double in the next 17 years, new outlets will be required.

    Pekka Leskinen is an expert on the role of forestry in the bioeconomy from the forest to end product and beyond. He will examine the potential of the sector from an EU perspective in his paper: Recognising the role of forests in a sustainable European bioeconomy is fundamental.

    Kenny McCauley, director, McCauley Wood Fuels Ltd, Mohill, will examine wood energy in his presentation, Converting from black to green energy – the importance of localised wood energy solutions.

    Outside the forest

    While wood utilisation in construction dates to the first buildings, timber is a minor component in contemporary architecture but this is changing. Engineered or cross-laminated timber (CLT) is now the main medium used by a number of innovative international architects in designing bigger sustainable wood-based buildings.

    While solid wood construction in Ireland is confined to three storeys, a number of buildings exceeding 50m have been designed and built in Norway and Canada, with plans to build an 84m hotel and apartment complex in Vienna.

    Markus Lager of Kaden + Lager Architects, the Berlin-based practice, will outline the future for designing high-rise buildings in engineered wood. His topic Timber cities – the role of wood in sustainable high rise buildings promises to be a fascinating presentation.

    While engineered wood skyscrapers are now planned, the buildings by Kaden + Lager are more relevant to Ireland’s low-rise urban landscapes, such as the SKAIO 34m building in Heilbronn, Germany, constructed in PEFC-certified spruce.

    Apart from its low carbon footprint, a major advantage of this 10 storey CLT building is the relatively short time needed for construction because the timber elements are prefabricated off-site and are quickly mounted and assembled on site, with each floor taking just one week.

    Despite planning restrictions, BucholzMcEvoy Architects have built a number of award winning buildings using CLT in Ireland. Karen McEvoy will discuss engineered and solid wood design in her presentation, Extending the life of wood – multispecies and multiuse in wood design and renovation.

    Prof Kevin O’Connor, Biomolecular and Biomed Science, UCD, has an excellent track record in renewable product development including his role as CEO of Bioplastech.

    His topic is on the research and development needs in shaping forestry and the bioeconomy, which is an opportunity for primary producers of forest biomass to create value and contribute to rural development, he maintains. “However, this will require education, training, and investment in research, innovation and infrastructure.”

    Booking is required for the conference, which takes place in Enfield, Co Meath on 30 May. Organised by the Wood Marketing Federation and the Society of Irish Foresters, the registration fee is €80, which includes refreshments, lunch and conference booklet.

    Payment can be made by cheque to the Society of Irish Foresters, Glenealy, Co Wicklow, or electronically. Further information email info@soif.ie or call 086-258 2240/086-260 7883.

    The 10-storey building in cross-laminated timber (CLT) n Heilbronn, Germany, by Kaden + Lager will be one of the buildings featured by Markus Lager in his presentation at the national forestry conference in Enfield on 30 May.