Bente Lykke Sørensen, Director of Development Planning and Affordable Housing, City of Aarhus, will give a keynote speech at Build In Wood with examples and perspectives from Aarhus on how to construct and develop with sustainable timber solutions. In this post, you can read an interview with Bente Lykke.
Research shows that 35-40 pct. of the CO2 emissions in Denmark is directly or indirectly from construction and the use of existing buildings. Municipalities can affect the development of future sustainable solutions in order to reduce the emissions.
How does the City of Aarhus work with wood?
As a municipality we buy, develop and sell areas and plots with a view to carrying out and implementing the policies and the strategies of the City Council. We experiment on the areas belonging to the City of Aarhus and develop new initiatives as important factors in the policies. Wood is a part of these initiatives.
We set the framework for both sustainable construction and the building with wood. In that way, we can affect the development of future sustainable solutions in order to reduce the CO2-emissions.
To ensure a sustainable future for Aarhus, we try to be at the leading edge of the development by making guidelines for the developers on how to build sustainable.
We can’t make requirements for building with wood in our procurements. Instead we work through an active market dialogue in which we draw attention to the visions we have for the given area.
Though, in terms of affordable housing the rules are different, and in the future you’ll probably see us making procurements requiring wood construction in affordable housing.
What is your perspective on wood and its role for green transition?
As a municipality we play a leading role as driving force for the green transition. Buildings must be constructed with as little CO2 emission as possible. The materials should be recyclable, and in that order wood can play a decisive role in terms of especially the reduction of energy consumption of materials.
From your perspective, what are the challenges and opportunities of building with wood?
Wood isn’t the answer of all climate challenges – we also have to optimize and ensure sustainability when we choose materials in other regards.
What will you be talking about at Build in Wood 2019, and will there be any specific key take-aways?
North of Aarhus we’ve started the development of Lisbjerg – a new city area with 25.000 inhabitants within the next 60-65 years. Circular economy and sustainability are important factors in the development process in Lisbjerg.
What cases will you bring to talk about at Build in Wood 2019?
We have, among other things, affordable houses made of wood. Wood is used consistently both inside and out in the DGNB-certified construction, which also won our price of architecture. Because of the sustainable properties the houses have been an eye-opener on how to build the future’s affordable housing in wood.
Do you want to experience Bente Lykke Sørensen from Aarhus Municipality?
Join us at Build in Wood at Docken on 22 & 23 May, where we gather the building industry to discuss the potential of building with wood.