Life-cycle-cost optimised wooden multi-storey apartment building Nordic Wood, Phase 2, Project P-2: Final report

Pekka Leppänen, Sakari Pulakka, Mikko Saari, Hannu Viitanen

    Research output: Book/ReportReport

    Abstract

    The aim of this project was to develop a concept of a wooden multi-storey apartment building which is competitive with equivalent buildings made of other materials. The point of view has been that of the house owner, the investor. He is interested not o ly in the investment costs but also in the operating costs as well as in the resale price of the building. In this research, the life span of the building is limited to 50 years. The wooden multi-storey apartment building has to be not only competitive to build but especially clearly cheaper to operate. The Finnish statistics show that about 2/3 of the operating costs come from energy, management, water and annual repairs. The m jor components, about 3/4 of the annual repairs are exterior surfaces, mechanical systems and interior surfaces and structures. Thus, the research has concentrated on developing and analyse long-lasting wooden facades and life-cycle cost optimised envelope structures. Simplifying and decreasing the number of various components has proved in other industries to be an effective wa of decreasing the investment and operating costs, and this is true also in the construction industry. And last but not least, the overall quality of the wooden multi-storey apartment building should transmit a positive image to the owner and the tenant of a better product than that of the competitors. The results of this research work show that the main properties of a life-cycle-cost optimised wooden multi-storey apartment building are as follows: · The investment costs of a wooden multi-storey low-energy apartment building are some 4 % higher than those of the present building practise. Due to lower energy costs, the payback time of extra investment costs is only 15 years when calculated using p esent energy prices · The "high performance" facade is more profitable than a "normal" one. There are various alternatives for "high performance" facades. The main factor for the durability of the wooden facade is "wood-paint-structure-environment-manufacture". When all th se factors are optimised, a long lifetime can be achieved · The improved thermal insulation capacity of the envelope allows simplified mechanical (HVAC) and electrical systems. This results in a more effective use of space, lower investment and running costs · The danger of water leakages decreases when the number of water system components decreases. The remaining components are gathered up in watertight units as far as possible and installed so that a possible leakage can be rapidly and easily noticed. These results will be tested in a pilothouse project to be built as a separate project in Kerava. The state of this project in September 1999 is presented in Chapter 6.
    Original languageEnglish
    Place of PublicationEspoo
    PublisherVTT Technical Research Centre of Finland
    Number of pages74
    ISBN (Electronic)951-38-5606-2
    ISBN (Print)951-38-5605-4
    Publication statusPublished - 1999
    MoE publication typeD4 Published development or research report or study

    Publication series

    SeriesVTT Tiedotteita - Meddelanden - Research Notes
    Volume1994
    ISSN1235-0605

    Keywords

    • apartment buildings
    • wooden structures
    • multi-storey buildings
    • timber
    • life-cycle costs
    • LCA
    • service life
    • facades

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