Innovations in architecture, engineering and manufacturing make it feasible to construct almost any building in timber, including high-rise structures. Discover how this way of building could help solve our climate, resource and housing related challenges.

Enroll

Sustainable forest management allows us to use timber while preserving forests by taking ecological and social, as well as economic factors into account. Sustainably sourced timber can store carbon, both in forests and in buildings. Timber is an ideal material for prefabrication, which allows us to shift the bulk of construction labor to manufacturing halls and make the building process itself cleaner, quicker, of a higher quality, and less of a nuisance on-site. Additionally, an ideal timber construction process should incorporate circular building practices allowing us to re-use timber structures at individual building and regional level.

Overall, when compared with traditional construction based on heavy abiotic materials, this will result in healthier buildings which store carbon instead of emitting it, while the raw resource grows back in sustainably managed temperate forests. This course is relevant for all stakeholders in the built environment – architects, developers, engineers, consultants and policymakers – as well as students who want to learn more about the opportunities and cutting-edge best practices for designing and building with timber.

Learning Objectives

• Gain fresh insights into the importance of building sustainably with timber from well-managed forests
• Familiarize yourself with the environmental impact and carbon footprint of timber constructions
• Analyze and identify circular timber building design typologies
• Evaluate the cohesion and stability of timber load-bearing structures
• Examine the building physics and design qualities of modern timber buildings
• Discuss the benefits of prefabrication and building processes

Effort

4 - 5 hours per week / 6 weeks

Format

Massive Open Online Course (MOOC), self-paced.

For whom?

This course is relevant for all stakeholders in the built environment – architects, developers, engineers, consultants and policymakers – as well as students who want to learn more about the opportunities and cutting-edge best practices for designing and building with timber.

Provider

Delft University of Technology / Faculty of Architecture and the Built Enviromnent

Prerequisites

None

Hub

Central

Topic

Bio-based