The landscape of Portuguese real estate construction has been dominated for decades by the massive use of materials such as cement and brick, materials that have become synonymous with robustness in national culture. However, this building tradition is about to face a paradigm shift driven by new environmental and efficiency demands. A sector specialist guarantees that a natural material, often underutilized in our country, is destined to gain an unprecedented role in national works.
The prediction is from Rui Correia, executive president of Sonae Arauco, in statements to the weekly Expresso. The manager categorically states that “the use of wood in construction will grow immensely” in the national territory, following a trend already consolidated in other geographies.
While in countries like the United States or Scotland the overwhelming majority of single-family homes already use this material, the Iberian Peninsula remains stuck with traditional methods. The person responsible believes that the transition is just a matter of time, motivated not only by the resistance and lightness of wood, but by climate urgency.
Environmental and technical advantages
The great added value of this change lies in the unique ability that this material has to benefit the environment. Unlike cement, whose production is polluting, forests and wood absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
The same source indicates that, if wood is used in the structure of a building, this carbon is retained and preserved for tens or hundreds of years. This preservation prevents the release of harmful gases, turning homes into true carbon stores that help combat climate change.
The error of pellets and heating
The expert takes the opportunity to dismantle a common myth about domestic heating, severely criticizing the use of wood for burning. The use of pellets or firewood to produce energy is classified as an environmental nonsense comparable to burning coal.
The aforementioned source explains that burning wood immediately releases the CO2 that was stored, nullifying the benefit of the tree. The manager even considers sending old furniture to landfills or incineration to be criminal, instead advocating recycling for new products.
The origin of modern furniture
The circular economy is, in fact, already a reality in the production of furniture that reaches Portuguese homes. Much of the furniture sold in chains like IKEA is made from agglomerates that incorporate recycled wood from old pieces, broken pallets and sawdust.
In the case of particleboard produced in Portugal, more than 80 percent of the composition comes from recycled wood. This process avoids unnecessary felling of trees and gives a second life to materials that would otherwise end up in the trash.
Future of modular housing
The technical evolution of construction will facilitate the introduction of this material in new Portuguese homes. The advancement of modular solutions means that, at the end of a building’s life, wooden structures can be dismantled and assembled elsewhere, unlike the rigidity of brick.
It also explains that, although the consumption of this material in construction in Portugal is still incipient when compared to Germany, the path has been set. Sonae Arauco has no doubt that wood will be the foundation of the future national real estate.
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