Knowledge Hub - Articles

Building with wood is not only an aesthetic choice, but an ecological one too. Despite its inherent beauty, wood nevertheless has some special requirements in terms of planning and construction, and one of these is fire protection.

While there is a wealth of information online regarding wood construction and wood fire protection, it is scattered across various sites. So how can you find the most up-to-date information to support your work? To help you, we’ve collected a list of several sites that deal with wood construction and fire protection.

Information published by the Finnish authorities

Ministry of the Environment

The Ministry of the Environment Decree on Fire safety of Buildings entered into force on Jan 1st, 2018 repealing decree RakMK E1. The Ministry website has a more detailed summary of the decree as well as the content in full. Click here to read more

Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment

The Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment website has the latest publications from the woodworking industry, such as sector reports and seasonal forecasts on the state of the woodworking industry. Click here to read more

Further resources

Tikkurila-Ultra-Pro-Ultra-Matt-Pukinmaki-Wooden-Highrise-buildings-04

Puuinfo

Puuinfo.fi, a service aimed at construction-sector professionals, has the latest information on wood products and wood-based solutions. Among other things, you can find a 2018 guide for fire-protected construction of wooden houses and residential and office buildings. This guide is based on fire-safety regulations that came into force at the beginning of 2018, but it’s more reader-friendly than the official decrees. The publication contains, for example, more accurate information on the type of fire-retardant classifications required for various exterior and interior surfaces. Click here

Woodworking industry

The Federation of Finnish Woodworking Industries serves as a lobbyist and representative of the companies in the Finnish woodworking industry and related industries. On their website, they publish the latest news on the woodworking industry along with guides and manuals regarding wood products and their use to support designers. Click here

LeanWOOD

The LeanWOOD project, coordinated by VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland, focused on the strengths and weaknesses of wooden apartment-building construction in Finland. According to VTT, the statics, as well as fire technical, acoustic, and moisture-control planning, require more work than when building with concrete. The project assessed the material use and carbon footprint of three wooden apartment buildings: Kivistö Housing Fair area, Vantaa; Eskolantie, Helsinki; and Kuninkaantammi, Helsinki. Click here

Natural Resources Institute Finland

The website of the Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke) hosts a wealth of wood-related research information for those in the construction and interior-design industries. The information produced by Luke is used for planning customer, product, and marketing strategies, planning investments, as well as in product and technology development, marketing communications, and procurement of raw materials. Click here

Interesting articles on wood construction

Biotalous.fi

For facts on the use of renewable resources, turn to the Biotalous.fi website. You’ll also find several links to current articles about wood construction. Click here

FWR

The Finnish Wood Research website is an extensive source of information on Finnish wood, constructing with wood, and wood properties. Click here

Finnish Forest Industries

Puurakentaminen (“Constructing with wood”) is a publication by the Finnish Forest Industries that looks into how meticulously wood is used in Finland as a raw material and how this could be developed and improved further. Click here

The Finnish Forest Industries website also has more information on wood products and construction. Click here

Inspiration and case studies from abroad

Wood Solutions

The Forest & Wood Products Australia website provides information for architects, civil engineers, and other building and design professionals. The site contains case studies, design guides, and comparison tables, as well as general information on the design, construction, and use of wooden products in buildings. Click here

Make it Wood

The website of Planet Ark Environmental Foundation, an Australian non-profit organization, has a long list of the benefits of wood construction. The organization wants to help reduce environmental impact in three ways: sustainable use of natural resources, low-carbon lifestyle, and connecting people with nature. In addition to sustainable development, the site also has a collection of articles on inspiring wood projects from all over the world. Click here

Svensk Trä

The Swedish Svensk Trä site is an excellent resource on everything from wood construction to fire protection of buildings. Among other things, the site showcases examples of various projects, including public buildings and wooden bridges, as well as villas and vacation homes. Click here