Local

The Schönbuchturm is a lookout tower east of Herrenberg in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. This walk-in wooden structure draws attention to the construction with wood. Notably is the use of regional wood (larch heartwood). The industry involved in the construction also comes from the area.
The main goals of the project are:
Regional added value / value chain
Architecture & wood usage
Public visibility

Drawing attention to the possibilities of wood construction and architecture as well as regional sustainable value chain

Holzforum Allgäu is the only regional organization in the wood industry, in which all members of the value chain are represented: Forest administration and private forest owners, sawmilling industry, cabinetmakers, carpenters, wood construction entrepreneurs and energy specialists as well as architects.
The basic idea of the Holzforum Allgäu is to promote domestic wood and regional products from tree to building. Moreover, a goal is to create new sales opportunities through contacts between the individual sectors. 

Personal contact and trust is the key to improve regional networks successfully.

Accomplishment of several projects along the chain of custody focusing on the regional added value. Holzforum Allgäu is also starting to implement a regional certification of origin to rise the sensitivity for regional products.

·         Forst und Holz Allgäu-Oberschwaben is a joint project of communities, municipals, companies and planners to strengthen the network along the value chain. It also serves as an informative platform on a regional level.
The top goal is to spread the excitement for wood. Other main goals are:
Secure the usage of wood from local forests and provide wood produced by a sustainable forestry
Working together to promote wood usage in the Allgäu-Oberschwaben region
Increase the benefit by strengthening the regional chain of custody.

The personal contact and trust is the key to improve regional networks successfully.

Accomplishment of several projects along the chain of custody focusing on the regional added value.

Wood of exceptional quality of various tree species can be sold at the timber auction. First, trees that have high quality timber and are suitable for felling need to be identified with the help of local forester. After the delivery of logs to the place of auction about one month before the event, potential purchasers have 14 days to give offers for the selected timbers. The timbers are then sold to best tenderer. On the day of the open door, the public can view the logs and the prices reached. High quality logs can be sold to purchasers who will offer a slightly higher price than other wood. However, higher profit may be achieved at auction of timber. Purchasers are looking for timber of precisely defined quality and are willing to pay more. It is possible to reach very high prices at the auction and that can be a motivation for forest owners to invest more interest, time and work in their forests. In the year 2018, 3094 logs were offered by 447 owners, 993 offers were submitted. 90% of logs were sold for over 857.000 € to purchasers from Slovenia, Austria, Germany, Italy, Hungary and Croatia. The highest price reached at the auction was 11.833 €/m3 for ribbed Acer pseudoplatanus.

Forest owner association (FOA) Pohorje-Kozjak is voluntary, non-profit and independent association of private forest owners established in 2007. Main aim of FOA is to increase the sustainable management of private forests and strengthen the economic power of forest owners in accordance with the law. Main tasks of FOA are education of forest owners, consultancy on management and sale of wood, assistance in applying for calls and giving comments on legislation. In the year 2012, a forest owners cooperative (FOC) was set up in order to expand their activities to the rave of business integration.

FOC Kozjak-Pohorje is an example of good practice expansion from the societal activities to the level of business cooperation in a forest cooperative. The comparative study reveals, that members of FOC are on average younger, they have larger forest properties and are better educated than members of the FOA. Also, the interests of members in FOC and FOA are different;  socio-educational reasons are the main driving force in case of FOC, while among FOA members interests are predominantly economic in nature.

The purpose of FOC is primarily a common appearance on the market, which in turn accelerates the economic benefits of its members and increases the competitiveness of forest owners on the market. On the long term, the plan is to increase the purchase quantity of wood and conclude long-term contracts with sawmills. The FOC also established a logistic center for supplying the residents with heat, produced from woody biomass. The next planned step is the investment in boiler rooms, establishment of social enterprise and sale of heat to final consumers. In addition, members of the FOC carry out logging and harvesting activities for forest owners and state forests. In the period from its foundation to date, the operation of the cooperative is stable and positive.

Machinery ring is a social organization that offers support services for farmers and forest owners. It is a form of the use of machines between farms based on mutual neighborly assistance. Members of a machinery ring are owners of agricultural and/or forestry machinery and they can also provide services to other members at prices agreed. The machinery ring ensures coordination and dialogue between service providers and users.

Experience of the first years of operation show good results. The amount of work increases year by year. Forest owners are provided with a comprehensive service, from harvesting forest trees to selling timber, processing residues in wood chips and selling chips. They are able to achieve better prices at market. The machinery ring is a good and innovative example of linking forest owners, which by increasing efficiency and professionalism enables increased mobilization of wood from private forests, better silviculture of these forests and higher returns for individual owners.

Forest owners have access to high-quality hardware that cannot be afforded by individual owners. The machinery ring also provides expert advice and the purchase and sale of wood, including biomass for heating, and agricultural services. In the framework of the machinery ring, the training of owners for work in the forest and professional excursions are organized in cooperation with the Forest Service. The members also receive various discounts when purchasing forestry equipment. To make better use of machinery and work on a larger scale, they set up a limited liability company SK Servis, which deals with felling, harvesting and sale of wood, the production and sale of wood chips and the construction and maintenance of skid roads.

The operation reduces the amount of discarded wood, which is otherwise deposited at landfills or burned. A new service life is given to old wood and its lifetime is extended, which directly influence the prolongation of CO2 storage. The key sources of old wood will are defined, technological solutions for the use of such wood was developed and procedures for the production of windows were developed in cooperation with R&D institutions with an emphasis on the analysis of contaminated wood, physical properties of wood and the appropriate surface treatment of such products.

M Sora has developed a prototype of a timber window ReWin made of disposed timber. ReWin window is a unique example of a product that was developed by recycling the disposed timber that would otherwise end up at landfill, and represents a completely fresh idea and innovation in the field of builders’ joinery.

TEGA operates in urban public services area and initiated large campaign for wood residue collection in cities/villages in Covasna County. TEGA uses wood chips as fuel in its heating plant and provide heating for its workshops, offices. The capacity of the heat boiler is 200 kWt.
The idea was to collect wood residues from green areas. Collected wood residues are chopped and crushed and can be delivered for energy production. Types of collected waste wood: i.e. forest sanitation, gardening cuttings and cleaning operations. The types of biomass used are wood residues (barks, chips, branches).

Energy problems are so acute, that it is no longer possible to satisfy the local’s constantly growing needs. This growth of energy demand must be increasingly satisfied by diversified energy sources, including sustainable and renewable resources. Biomass is a renewable energy option that can be practical and safe, can strengthen the circular economy, and can help ease the urgent strain on our planet’s ecosystem.

TEGA company promotes and invests in acceleration of the entire biomass chain. The company members participate in collection, chipping activities and produce more than 500 m3 woodchips. They use this biomass material and valorize at the company. Moreover, training sessions on bioenergy issues, active involvement in local projects such as at waste collection actions TEGA company was actively involved.

The ashes can be used in a road building among gravel. The use of ash from neighboring heat plants reduces the use of natural aggregates. The use of ash in the construction of the road has been limited, as it is currently subject to environmental permits.
In the forest and energy industries, burning wood produces a lot of ash, which is placed in landfills. The forest industry alone generates more than 300 000 tonnes of exploeable ash every year. The increase in wood energy increases the amount of ash even further. Current measures to benefit from the use of ash do not correspond to the principles of sustainable consumption and production. It would be essential to influence the legislation in order to ease the utilization of ash. It is important to perform carrying capacity measurements and research and test different mixtures of gravel and ash. The environmental issues need to be surveyed.

In Finland there are 135 000 km of forest roads where maintenance is necessary for wood procurement. According to the National Forest Programme 2015, forest car roads should be upgraded to 4 000 km annually. In the construction of roads, cost-effectiveness is most essential. The biggest challenge in most cases is the availability of affordable gravel or crushing near the forest road project. Utilization of ash as material for road construction and maintenance has produced excellent results in terms of both the technical suitability and the environmental impact.

Wooden raw material is during production process in Spačva Ltd. fully utilized. In every processing step, one final product it is created, and potential of ash use as fertilizer is being researched.

Different parts of wood are used:

- bark as fuel for boiler-room,

- energy produced is used for biomass dryers, lumber and veneer dry kilns, steaming of logs and heating of press machine and industrial space,

- saw dust and leftovers are used for pellets production and low-quality veneer parts

- flitch residues, after veneer slicing, are dyed in dying kilns and processed in saw-mill,

- more quality parts are used for floors and doors production, while low quality parts and residues after precise cutting of the veneer are used for pellet and briquette production,

- veneer sheets are used for production of final products,

- elements from finishing saw-mill are used for floor and door production and its residues for briquette and pellet production.

In that way of production organization, efficiency in using of forest resources in the form of logs, is significantly increased.

As a result, company expended its product line, increased productivity, competitiveness and market share.

Still, there are opportunities for enhancement in new technologies and new possibilities for ash exploitation. Cogeneration project is in preparation for bringing additional cascade in cascading use of wood and to bring additional added value in this value chain. Also, there are possibilities for re-using and recycling of final products as veneer, floors and doors after their end of lifetime.