Kerto LVL produced with bioenergy

The global consumption of energy is increasing exponentially as more people than ever consume more energy than ever. New solutions are needed. Wood is a great renewable resource, but just burning it to produce energy would be a senseless waste. The construction sector uses a major part of global energy - and a large part of it goes to producing building materials. Engineered wood can be produced in a way which generates more bioenergy than it uses.

Over 100% energy self-sufficient mill

A significant part of global energy consumption is eaten up by the production of steel, aluminium and concrete. Wood is a very sustainable alternative. The Metsä Wood mill in Lohja, Finland, produces Kerto® LVL (Laminated Veneer Lumber). First, as much of the wood as possible is used for Kerto LVL. Part of the sawdust and wood chips that are generated in processing the engineered wood are used in pulp production, and the rest for bioenergy for running the mill. At Lohja, the bio heating plant has been built next to the mill in order to capture the full potential of the production. The heat energy produced at the plant covers the needs of the mill, which makes the Lohja Kerto LVL mill 100% energy self-sufficient. In fact, there’s enough left for the surrounding community.

Sustainable energy production

The remaining heat from the Kerto LVL production process is sold for district heating to the town of Lohja. “The local bio heating plant is a significant support for reaching our ambitious low carbon energy goals,” says the mayor of Lohja, Mika Sivula. Lohja is part of Finland’s national scheme to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 80% by 2030. According to the mayor, “due to the bio heating plant, we have accomplished our first milestone, 15% reduction of greenhouse gas emissions by 2016.” The plant covers 80% of Lohja’s heating.

“As the sidestreams of the Kerto LVL production, bark and woodchips, are utilised at the same plant, traffic emissions are reduced as well. All this makes our Kerto LVL an outstanding building material in terms of sustainability,” states Jouni Laakso, who manages both the Metsä Wood mill and the bio heating plant.

Sustainable construction material

The focus of improving efficiency has to shift from the energy used to operate a house to the production of the construction materials - the most energy intensive phase in a building’s life cycle. The European ”Energy Performance of Buildings Directive” (EPBD) requires all new buildings to reach nearly zero energy class by 2020. Zero buildings, however, are not enough.

Architect and researcher Matti Kuittinen says: “We have to evaluate the net energy balance over the whole life cycle and turn our attention to the production of the materials.”

The energy used to produce the materials of a building is 50 times more than the energy used to operate it for a year. As the production of wooden materials actually produces an energy surplus, the implications are clear: Wood should be used whenever possible.