Building with Timber, A Possible Contribution to Solve Eastern Europe’s Economical and Ecological Problems?

Abstract

Looking back to the finishing 20th century we realize that Europe changed considerably the basic orientations of the societies, of politics and economy and of the relationship between man and nature. Some keywords of these changes are: Colonialism, Nationalism, Faschism, Socialism, Communism, Democracy; Industrialisation, Post Industrial Period; Communication, Globalisation; Environment, Pollution, Ecology.

Building has always played a key role in a community’s economic and social life, and will continue to do so even in modern, highly developed industrialized societys. In the countries of Western Europe 10 to 20 percent of gross domestic product is directly or indirectly created by the building industry. During the 20th century the use of timber for construction in Western Europe went down to 5%, in Eastern Europe even to less. A completly different development can be observed in North America and Scandinavia were timber could hold a 50 to 90% market share. As a consequence, the question of “How do we build and which materials do we use?” is a vital issue.

The paper discusses the main reasons for these different developments and works out some arguments for a wider use of timber in Europes construction industry.