Building an eco-friendly house is not only about photovoltaics and energy efficiency. Team Austria put much emphasis on selecting the right materials. More than 90% of LISI is made of wood. This is one of the main reasons why it is such an excellent example of eco-friendly construction.

„Everything that can be made of wood has been made of wood in our house“, says team leader Karin Stieldorf. The structural elements, the walls, the ceiling and even the bathroom interior is made of wood. Team Austria shows that almost the entire tree can be used: Scrap wood, which would normally be thrown away, can be chaffed and made into chairs. Defibered wood can be used for thermal insulation, even the bark can be utilized.

In Austria, timber construction has become more and more popular in recent years – and for good reasons: „Wood has excellent thermal properties, it is very good for insulation“, says Karin Stieldorf. „And the main point is: It is renewable and eco-friendly.“

Together with the „Gruppe Angepasste Technologie“ (GrAT) at TU Vienna, life cycle analyses have been done for various materials. The carbon footprint and the global warming potential was calculated. The team analyzed to what extent gases are emitted in the production of the material, which can then lead to acid rain. Wood turned out to do extremely well in such evaluations.

There is no need to worry about the durability of wooden buildings: „Well-built timber work lasts for a long time. You just need the know-how to do it“, says Karin Stieldorf.