Project: Attractive living environment in wooden residential buildings
This project seeks to investigate the role of wood as related to positive effects on well-being and attractiveness in wooden residential buildings. The project aims at increasing knowledge and understanding of the architectural and technical properties of wood constructions that create good and sustainable living environments for people.
Project information
Project manager
Thomas K Bader
Other project members
Ulrica Hörberg, Eva Haraldsson and Anette Andersson
Participating organizations
Linnaeus University, Växjö Municipality, Smart Housing Småland
Financier
Växjö Municipality, Smart Housing Småland
Timetable
2021–2022
Subjects
Building technology (Department of Building Technology, Faculty of Technology)
Health science (Department of Health and Caring Sciences, Faculty of Health and Life Sciences)
More about the project
Since modern wooden residential buildings were made possible in 1994, they have attracted interest and gained an increasing market share. The knowledge and use of continuous improvements in production methods, development processes for new products and subsystems, and the development of long-term relationships with key stakeholders in the value chain, have created good offers from the wood construction industry.
The development of wooden constructions has to a large extent been driven by technical improvements and adaptations to the rules and norms that exist regarding multi-story residential buildings. Relatively little of the development has taken place from a living environment perspective. Thus, there is a knowledge gap and a need for an increased understanding of the effects of wood on the well-being and attractiveness for the residents of residential buildings with wooden frames and surface layers.
The overall purpose of the project is to increase knowledge about the importance of wood for the living environment in residential buildings, and to investigate the experience of living and working in wooden houses, as well as the role of wood for well-being. We also expecte to be able to identify problems and challenges in building wooden residential buildings.
In this project, we want to take advantage of the unique environment with wooden residential buildings in Växjö, which have been developed over the past fifteen to twenty years, by examining residents' satisfaction and experiences of housing in these areas. The data material is collected with surveys and interviews based on photographs taken by the residents in the living environment.
The project will highlight the positive effects of the built environment and the living environment in wooden residential buildings, and how they contribute to the well-being of residents. It will also contribute new knowledge for new construction projects. The results of the project will be compared with the results of other surveys, to identify positive parameters as well as challenges and problems in building with wood.
The project is part of the research in the Wood Building Technology and Hälsa, vårdande och lärande på livsvärldsteoretisk grund (HVL) research groups, and the Linnaeus Knowledge Environment Green Sustainable Development.