Summary
Although there has been much innovation in the realm of building construction, until now there is often no optimisation of the design due to economic and ecological life-cycle cost estimations. Building production today can in fact be undertaken in only a few hours using CNC machines (computerised numerical control), yet such advances have hardly been used in the installation of building technology. Board stack technology (BST) is well-suited for increasing the proportion of prefabrication, by using nails or dowels to assemble wood and board parts together.
The aim of the current project was therefore to develop and implement an open system solution for individual dwelling construction based on the innovative BST solid wood technology. As part of this subproject, plans were forged and specified concerning the degree of prefabrication of solid wood elements containing building equipment in order to reduce overall complexity on site. With this technology, the environmental impact is decreased while recyclability at the end of the product life cycle is increased.
Results:
- An integrated CAD-CAM-CNC chain (CAD: computer-aided design, CAM: computer-aided manufacturing) from the planning to production of solid wood walls with integrated building technology is possible.
- The product model automatically performs a life-cycle cost and energy usage analysis regarding construction elements and construction services.
- The coupling of CAD and CNC enables the transmission of architectural data onto the CNC system, which mills the building equipment distributions into the solid wood elements.
- It is now possible for prefabricated building components with integrated building equipment distributions of “furniture quality” to be delivered to building sites.
- The building is planned and constructed in terms of its life cycle, meaning that maintenance, renovation and demolition are considered.
- The innovative BST can theoretically be used in 40-50% of all construction projects.