Multi-story wooden buildings. Strategy with the Chamber of Commerce

The Czech Republic lacks a sustainable construction strategy in which multi-story wooden buildings would play a significant role in solving the housing crisis, ministers agreed with timber producers and foresters.

This is the headline of a press release issued after a February seminar on wooden buildings held at the Chamber of Deputies of the Czech Republic.

“Wooden buildings and wooden structural elements are one of the ways to strengthen the Czech wood sector. Moreover, a way that can contribute to solving the housing crisis. If we want to use the benefits of wood from our forests and prevent the main added value from its production from flowing abroad, we must look for ways to strengthen the use of wood in the country,” emphasized Zdeněk Zajíček, President of the Chamber of Commerce of the Czech Republic, at the seminar.

Director Beránková participates in the activities of the Woodworking Industry Section of the Chamber of Commerce of the Czech Republic, which was the co-organizer of this professional meeting at the highest level.

The goal of the wood sector is for new multi-storey wood-based apartment buildings in the Czech Republic to account for at least 20% of construction by 2035 and for the state sector to prioritize the construction of public buildings with a higher share of wood as part of the state’s decarbonization policy, according to speakers.

“It is not usual for such a large sector to unite and present clearly defined goals and a path to achieve them. As a legislator, I must reflect on such a broad platform of experts in the interest of supporting a newly emerging market segment so that wood-based construction can develop dynamically in the Czech Republic,” said Michal Kučera, chairman of the parliamentary agriculture committee.

The Ministry of Industry and Trade is preparing changes to support and develop multi-storey wooden buildings.

„Wood has significant business potential that we are not fully utilizing. The Czech Republic produces approximately 15 million cubic meters of wood annually, but a significant portion is exported abroad and returns to us in the form of final products with added value.We have finally decided to change this, and so we are now working intensively on the change – we want to ensure that the economic benefits and added value remain in the Czech Republic and that wood finds wider application, for example in the construction industry. Among the key measures we are preparing is the amendment of building standards and regulations, which will allow the construction of multi-storey wooden buildings, as is common to the north and west of us.Our goal is to expand the possibilities of the Czech construction industry, support innovation in the field, economic growth, contribute to a better environment, and increase the quality of life of residents.”I am glad that colleagues from other state organizations and the private sector have also joined the initiative, which we started at the beginning of the election period,” says Minister of Industry and Trade Lukáš Vlček, who was also involved in the greater use of wood in construction as a member of parliament.

Minister of Agriculture Marek Výborný emphasized the need to use Czech wood directly in the country.

“One of the ways to support the final processing of this sustainable raw material base in the Czech economy is the legislative changes being prepared. The first of these is the establishment of the Forestry and Timber Fund. Our priority continues to be to reduce the export of raw logs and to ensure that wood processing companies have sufficient quantities of wood of appropriate quality for processing and the creation of high added value, which will also have a positive effect on forest owners,” said Minister of Agriculture Marek Výborný.

In connection with dynamic technological development, the Minister also drew attention to the importance of awareness, education in wood processing fields, and investments in innovations in terms of processing deciduous trees, which will form a higher share of our forests in the future due to the adaptation of forests to changing growth conditions.

Complete press release:najdete na webu Hospodářské komory zde.