The construction industry faces a crucial challenge: reducing its environmental impact, which currently accounts for nearly 40% of global greenhouse gas emissions, according to the Global Alliance for Buildings and Construction (2018). Despite this urgency, the sector has shown reluctance to change and innovation for years. Currently, there are viable and sustainable alternatives. For example, cross-laminated timber (CLT) is presented as a lightweight material and favorable for prefabrication. This is in addition to other benefits of the material, such as its ability to store carbon during the growth of the raw material, the low emissions of its production process, and the efficiency it provides to a building in terms of energy consumption.
It is necessary to transform the construction industry toward sustainability, proposing the use of Chilean wood and processes such as industrialization as a viable solution. In this sense, Chile, with its immense forest wealth, has the potential to lead this shift toward more productive and environmentally friendly construction. In this context, the "Ciudad Madera" Technological Consortium was born, an initiative promoted by Inmobiliaria Territoria and the National Center of Excellence for the Wood Industry (CENAMAD), in its role as co-executor. They seek to promote the construction of sustainable wood buildings, fostering collaboration among key players in the sector, and developing iconic projects that serve as examples and drivers for the adoption of new technologies.
Learn about the projects that comprise Ciudad Madera below, which range from management, research, tool creation, and their implementation in mid-rise hybrid (wood-concrete) buildings.
No man is an island. We are a species that depend on each other. We are united by invisible bonds. Not just the bonds between people, but also with our surroundings and ecosystems.
These links are what create community.
Our shared experience of urban life.
