THE PROJECT IN A GLANCE

Sustainability, Beauty, Inclusion: the cornerstone principles of the New European Bauhaus initiative, inspired the design concept of LIFE Be-WoodEN.   
LIFE Be-WoodEN project aims to:

• make buildings more environmentally friendly by promoting the use of wood and bio-based materials;
• overcome cultural and technical barriers and economic challenges that currently hinder the widespread adoption of wood and bio-based materials in construction;
• address NEB principles along the whole process: from production and design to installation, facility management, dismantling.

It focuses on:

• increasing professionals’ knowledge and skills, by applying innovative training methods, such as webinars, podcasts, innovation laboratories, co-design approaches, Challenge Based Learning activities;
• engaging a wide variety of stakeholders including professionals, public officers, companies, experts, and artists, to find solutions for the reliable use of wood in buildings and common spaces;
• testing innovative and sustainable building solutions, especially for social housing catering to elderly and fragile individuals.
   

The ultimate goals are to:

• train professionals who meet market needs;
• overcome local wood supply chain fragmentation;
• highlight the environmental benefits of using wood and bio-based materials in construction.

TARGET GROUPS

Thanks to a strong European partnership, the project targets a diverse group of users:

• Professionals: architects, engineers, designer, project managers
• Technicians and timber experts
• Building managers
• Companies
• Policymakers and public officers
• Institutions at local, regional, national and EU level
• Higher education and Post-graduates Students 
• Higher education Professors
• Citizens

MAIN OUTCOMES

An innovative learning programme based on NEBinars, Webinars and Podcasts is realized, to engage a wide range of professionals and technicians and increase their awareness, knowledge and skills about timber construction potential.

Two pilot actions focusing on social housing are developed in two different Italian regions (Liguria and Emilia Romagna) through a participatory and transdisciplinary approach. These activities will cover the design phase and the enhancement of the local wood supply chain. 

LIFE BE-WoodEN is guided by New European Bauhaus (NEB) values and follows the principles of the NEB Compass. A new NEB Academy Pioneer Hub, named NEB SUD Hub is founded to contribute to the European learning ecosystem in sustainable construction and green and circular buildings as well. This hub will collaborate with the existing NEBAP Hub of University of Primorska, with a strong and concrete cooperation.

INSIGHT

The context and the potential of the wooden constructions for fight against climate change

LIFE BE-WoodEN will have various impacts on different project goals and activities. The use of wood in construction has several benefits, including reducing carbon emissions, minimising pollution, improving circularity, and decreasing waste. For example, constructing multi-storey housing blocks with a CLT load-bearing structure can significantly reduce carbon emissions. Each housing unit, thanks to the low environmental impact of wood compared to traditional materials, can store approximately 26.8 tons of CO₂ within the engineered wood structure and save about 23.7 tons of CO₂. The raw material for this process comes from forests, with spruce, for instance, sequestering about 288 tons of CO₂ per hectare. Sustainability is achieved by responsibly harvesting wood, ensuring that the amount cut is less than what naturally regrows each year in specific forest areas, preferably sourced locally.

At the end of its life, the timber used for the load-bearing structure can be repurposed into raw material for making particleboard, a fundamental material for furniture that can replace non-renewable materials like plastics and alloys. This allows the wood to continue sequestering approximately 22 kg/m² of CO₂ for additional decades in a repeatable production cycle.

Additionally, the New European Bauhaus (NEB) approach tested in social housing will positively impact social inclusion and local development. In Europe, around 25 million apartments are managed by social housing operators, and in Italy, social housing cooperatives oversee about 758,000 buildings accommodating around 1.2 million households, often requiring refurbishment.