No abstract

Urban areas have experienced exponential growth since the industrial revolution and by virtue, the urban population has followed. Current projections suggest that this growth has yet to reach its peak implying that urban developments will continue to sprawl into untouched territories. This growth and subsequent sprawl will undoubtedly come at the expense of forested areas. This study presents a Carbon Storage Factor indicator for new urban developments. It is a novel concept which integrates urban planning, land use changes and wooden construction. The factor sets a carbon storage requirement for new urban areas that are developed at the expense of forested areas. The study is conducted in four parts. First, we estimate the carbon storage potential of forest areas via existing literature and databases. Then we collect all new development and construction estimates up to the year 2050 for the whole metropolitan region in Finland. Next, we conduct scenario analyses for different demand levels of wood in projected residential developments. Finally, we compare the carbon storage potential of the future building stock to the forest areas planned for development. The data used is provided by the regional authority. The results detail that the future residential building stock can store between 128–733 kt of carbon. The lower level implies that current construction methods can only partially preserve the carbon storage of an area in buildings. However, the higher level suggests future buildings to be able to exceed the carbon storage potential of forest areas by nearly 47 tC/ha. The study reminds that an increased use of wood is dependent on sustainable forest management practices. Furthermore, it is not our purpose to promote urban development into entirely new areas but rather encourage urban planners to consider the carbon balance when it is the only viable option.

Countries and cities alike have set carbon neutrality goals for the near future. Urban areas are experiencing an increased demand for new housing developments, and buildings are responsible for one third of all greenhouse gas emissions. The relative share of construction emissions is increasing as energy production is de-carbonizing. Wooden structures have showcased potential in substantially decreasing these emissions. However, for the construction industry to utilize environmentally friendly products, the cost efficiency needs to be determined. Prior research does not present conclusive results regarding the construction costs or value of wooden buildings. This study aims to determine the economic feasibility of wood-based structures in housing. We approach this by estimating the effect of wood on Finnish dwelling prices through hedonic regression analyses. Dwelling prices are analysed with transaction data from the Helsinki metropolitan area. It is provided by the Central Federation of Finnish Real Estate Agencies. The data represents occurred transactions between 1999 and 2018. The study discovers that a wooden structure has a positive price effect in the Helsinki metropolitan region suggesting an economically feasible opportunity to create low carbon urban housing. In the city of Helsinki, the effect is statistically significant (+8.85%) whereas no significance is found in either Espoo or Vantaa. The results suggest that in Helsinki, a direct financial benefit exists for both the city and private developers. For other cities, the study encourages the increase of consumption of wood due to its environmental properties. The study implies that wooden construction is an economically feasible solution in mitigating climate change. As this may provoke an increased demand for wood in construction, further research should be conducted to analyse its effects on the economy and the environment.

Wooden construction materials have two climate benefits compared to non-wooden options: lower lifecycle emissions and a carbon storage potential. This study estimates the implications of replacing concrete buildings with wooden ones for a period of 35 years in Helsinki metropolitan area, Finland. The study has three main steps. First, the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions difference between concrete and wooden buildings is estimated. Next, we select the most accurate carbon storage potential of wooden buildings. Finally, we compare future wooden and concrete building scenarios regarding the climate benefits for the metropolitan area. We use data provided by the regional authority of the study area on predicted residential building construction. According to our findings, switching to wooden construction in urban areas can have a significant climate benefit for the studied region. Increasing wooden construction can cut carbon emissions by 0.56 Mt and increase the carbon storage by 1.83 Mt in the study area, an amount that is four times bigger than the yearly emissions from traffic in the same urban area. The findings are not only useful for the city of Helsinki but also to other global cities which have committed to carbon neutral strategies and have sustainable forestry practices available.