Prefab construction, deep renovation and Timbeco’s plan in it

Why is this important?

In the context of limited natural resources, efforts are being made to find increasingly environmentally friendly economic models and recyclable materials to replace "produce-consume-throw-away" with a more modern economic model. There has been a lot of talk recently about the transition to a circular economy to change the value chain of products and services from design to the end of a product's life. This should lead to new business models and consumption patterns. The long life of the products, the possibility to repair / repair them during their period of use, the versatility of the components and the possibilities of their separation are just a short list of points that must be taken into account in the design of the products in the future. Achieving a faster transition to a circular economy model also requires a change in consumption patterns, which includes people's lifestyles, cultural and value values. The circular economy is a great way to turn environmental problems into economic opportunities that benefit the environment, consumers, businesses and countries alike.

The construction sector as a key sector of circular?economy

The construction sector is considered a key sector of circular economy, as in this sector it is possible to achieve the largest economic and environmental saving effect. Primarily, it manifests in the procurement of raw materials, where a significant amount of carbon is emitted, and in the considerable amount of waste generated during construction/demolition. In order to reduce the environmental footprint, it is necessary to introduce renewable construction materials, which mainly means smart processing of timber into various construction materials.?

The importance of Building Information Modelling (BIM) in the fulfilment of circular economy objectives

Using the Building Information Modelling has a very important role in fulfilling the circular economy objectives, as its successful implementation significantly shortens the construction phase and enables increasing the value of a building with a building passport or its digital twin. When creating a digital model, the effect various materials and products have on a specific building can be designed. Detailed information about a building and its materials helps extend the lifetime of a building and facilitates the planning of necessary maintenance work, subsequent conversion works, or extension projects.

Designing new buildings

When designing a new building, important aspects to consider are its energy efficiency, long lifetime, and exploitation to the full extent during its entire lifecycle. It is important to design a building in layers and using such materials that can be later disassembled and recovered. Construction materials should have a long lifetime and valid material passport to verify their quality and enable their subsequent recovery. Currently, one of the major hindrances influencing the recycling of materials is the absence of a quality verification system.

??We see Timbeco’s role in two areas of circular economy:?

• Construction of new buildings which involves erecting prefabricated element buildings and modular houses following circular economy principles;
• Full renovation of apartment buildings in Estonia using factory manufactured insulation solutions for fa?ades.?

Industrial production of prefabricated buildings

Timber is a renewable resource and it is most reasonable to process it into a high-quality final product under controlled factory conditions. Bringing construction processes into a factory setting results in more effective use of materials, quality control, safer working environment, and lower energy costs.

Designing of buildings

In order to implement circular economy principles in design, reusability of a building must be taken into account. This means that it should be possible to disassemble an element building or a modular house and reassemble it in a new location.

Automated production lines?

Flat timber structures and CLT-elements are increasingly produced with the assistance of robots in large factories. This enables to make manufacturing even more efficient and secure. First successful attempts have been made to use robots in the manufacturing of modules. As Timbeco factory grows, it is likely that robots will be introduced to manufacture standard products; however, there is quite a long way to go to get there.

Standardised modular solutions

As in the case of cars, standardised modular solutions can be designed and manufactured more efficiently than custom-made products. More optimal use of resources helps significantly save labour costs and accelerate the assembly process at the construction site. The higher the value added to building components (elements or modules) in the factory, the lower the need for transportation, the amount of construction waste and noise. This also helps to minimise disturbance to neighbours (people, animals, and environment). In order to offer this solution, we have developed Timbeco Modular Standard (TMS) service, enabling constructing terraced houses or apartment blocks by combining various room plans, which have been developed in advance. This can all be achieved quickly and at an affordable price.

Building materials

The construction materials of buildings must be produced with the lowest possible carbon footprint; they should be recyclable or enable reprocessing. If possible, joints without glue should be used to join materials. High quality and durable finishing materials should be chosen to assure a long lifetime without the need to replace them due to their short lifetime.??

Deep renovation of apartment buildings in Estonia

In various Estonian and European strategy documents concerning the construction sector, a large-scale plan for the renovation of buildings has been highlighted. In Estonia, one of the most significant projects is the public competition organised by the KredEx foundation in spring 2021 to support the construction projects of apartment blocks that utilise industrial reconstruction. The aid amounts to 50% of the cost of the construction works and up to 1,000,000 euros per one apartment block. The objective of the measure is to introduce new technical solutions in the reconstruction of apartment blocks, energy efficiency of buildings, better internal climate, and reduction of energy dependency, C02, and emissions.?

In total, there are approximately 14,000 apartment blocks, which were built between 1950?1990, requiring renovation in Estonia. The objective of the long-term renovation strategy is to renovate all these buildings by 2050. If conventional and labour intensive methods were to be used exclusively, renovation prices would grow rapidly. Industrial manufacturing takes advantage of the economies of scale when reconstructing standard buildings as well as ensures a quicker reconstruction process with the same amount of labour.?

Drive0 innovation project

Timbeco Ehitus Oü and TalTech have joined the Drive0 innovation project, which was approved by the European Commission on 1 October 2019. The initiative, which was introduced within the framework of Horizon 2020, should accelerate the improvement of energy efficiency of buildings across Europe. Drive0 encourages the transfer from traditional linear economy to circular economy.?

This change is necessary if we wish to achieve the zero energy standards in buildings. Drive0 wishes to motivate the owners of buildings to adopt environmentally sustainable renovation solutions based on the principles of circular economy.

Drive0 focuses on strategies that should facilitate the development and implementation (scaling) of renovation solutions of existing residential housing:

• recovery of materials and recycling?
• using renewable environmentally friendly materials

Drive0 approaches will be tested in seven European countries, all representing different cultures and existing residential housing. During the renovation process, the local good practices and methods of construction will be taken into account and suitable business models will be tested.

Timbeco’s first circular economy project?

In the spring and summer of 2021, we are renovating an apartment block in Saue, Harju County. The building was selected as one of the participants of the Drive0 innovation project, giving us a unique opportunity to learn from a renovation project that is based on the principles of circular economy.?

The objective of the project is to make the reconstruction process of the apartment block as optimal as possible, complete it in a short amount of time, and use construction materials in a manner that would make it possible to recover the materials post-end-of-life of the building. It is planned to use products and materials of local origin as much as possible during the project; for example, the fa?ade elements and windows are manufactured in Estonia. In addition, we wish to recover as much materials as possible during the renovation.

Before the commencement of renovation works, the building was laser scanned. This resulted in a point cloud of the apartment block’s fa?ade and surroundings, based on which an initial digital 3D-model was created with the Autodesk Revit software.?

Before the commencement of fa?ade works, the heating, water, and sewerage systems of the building were replaced and an air supply/return vent system with heat recovery was installed. The electricity system of the building was partly reconstructed.

Prefabricated insulated fa?ade elements were used when renovating the building. Prior to the installation of the elements, in some rooms, the larger window openings were milled. The fa?ade elements are covered with painted fibre cement boards and combined with timber boarding. The elements were produced using vent strips, glued together from production waste using finger jointing. Old windows were removed and replaced with triple glazed plastic windows that were factory-installed into the timber elements in advance. When assembling windows, external sealing tape and internal vapour barrier tape was used. Element structures have been designed so that they could be subsequently removed from the walls and used for the same purpose on some other building or disassembled.?

The old gable roof was removed, the roof structure was inspected, insulated, and a new light-gauge roofing of profiled sheets, which have a 40-year warranty for technical durability, was installed. The exterior doors of the building were replaced with new insulated metal doors.

Utilisation and recovery of construction and??demolition waste

We utilise construction and demolition waste generated on a construction site so that as much material generated during construction works could be recovered as possible:

• the pipes of the old heating system are used to make bicycle racks for residents
• the ramp is cast using concrete that contains recycled filler
• the roofing material removed from the building will be reused as roofing on animal housing in Southern Estonia
• old windows will be recycled and partly used in the apartment owners’ summerhouses.?
• old cast iron radiators will be partly recovered and used in the corridors of the apartment block. The inside of the radiators was washed, and the external surface was sandblasted and repainted.

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