The government, has through the Climate Act, set a target for Denmark to reduce its CO2 emissions by 70% by 2030 compared to 1990 levels. In April 2021, the government launched a National Strategy for Sustainable Construction, which aims to contribute to achieving this goal. The strategy aims to develop pre-accepted solutions for load-bearing structures made of combustible materials, specifically designed to support the construction of timber buildings up to 5 stories in height. The objective is to have pre-accepted solutions available for timber constructions, like non-combustible building materials. Fire regulations are a significant barrier to volumetric construction, as only a few bio-based construction types and material compositions have been documented in terms of fire safety and are therefore not included as pre-accepted solutions. This results in the use of conventional and carbon-intensive materials instead.
The project Wood:UpHigh has a total budget of 5.3 million DKK and is supported by Realdania and the Danish Agency for Higher Education and Science through DBI's performance contract.
The project’s objective
DBI and the construction company LOGIK & CO have a vision to increase the use of bio-based materials in constructions without compromising fire safety. The Wood:UpHigh project aims to accelerate bio-based construction by providing evidence that composite bio-based structures can be more widely and easily employed in multi-storey buildings.
The project will explore, analyze, and document the fire resistance of selected load-bearing timber structures in combination with bio-based insulation. Based on these findings, the goal is to demonstrate how the combination of bio-based load-bearing structures and insulation can meet fire safety requirements according to the pre-accepted solutions.
The project includes conducting 10 accredited full-scale fire tests and 30-40 small-scale indicative fire tests. The results will be compiled into an independent and industry-recognized catalogue of documented solutions, which will be freely accessible to stakeholders in the construction industry. The primary target audience for the project includes project owners, architects, engineers, material manufacturers, and fire consultants. The results aim to be applicable to all fire classes in buildings up to at least 4 stories (possibly higher) in fire class 3 and 4.
