Timber Construction in Existing Buildings

Bavarian Chamber of Architects: ClimateCultureCompetence / Lecture 3

Existing buildings offer unique potential when combined with biogenic building materials. This is because everything that typically worsens the ecological footprint of a new timber construction – such as infrastructure, ground-contacting and stabilizing concrete elements, and more – is already present in the existing building stock. Additions, extensions, and modernization measures using timber can therefore realise their full ecological potential. The lecture explores the possibilities timber offers for building in existing contexts, thanks to its lightness, low thermal conductivity, and exceptional process quality – from extensions to energy-efficient building modernisation.