Tronco

OHS is part of the international network Open House Worldwide, which operates in more than 35 cities around the world. The OHS is available to the general public, who can enter and test the buildings, get in contacts with the owners and the experts. At the same time it is also intended to promote top experts working in the field of design, design, procurement, construction, operation, maintenance and use of buildings.

Making good architecture is by no means easy. Nowadays it is challenging also in terms of the speed of orders and the advancement of technology. Good architecture is not fashionable, it is one that will be good regardless of the changes brought about by time. In this, the user will feel good, respectful to the environment and sustaining throughout the life cycle.

All the buildings showcased during OHS festivals are presented in the largest network of Slovene architecture. Over the years the largest and constantly expanding collection of contemporary Slovene architecture has been built. In the collection there are over 160 objects where wood has been used as a prevailing material for construction or indoor equipment.  OHS encourages the awareness that buildings are made for long periods, therefore their operation, energy consumption and the right choice of materials are important for a sustainable and conscious social and economic development.

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.

Since Harghita County is rich in wood source, the main aim of this policy is to encourage and promote the use of wood in constructions first of all at the level of public buildings but to enlarge it on business and household level. This successful implementation project from Harghita County we are going to expand this approach on national level in Romania. This policy approach should be taken into account at in other regions of Romania as well. 52% of Harghita County’s turnover is given by forest management and wood processing. 35.6 % of the County’s surface is covered by forest, 47% of these forests are owned by local forest owner associations, the rest being owned by private owners and local public authorities, churches and state. The most important lessons from this best practice is the consciousness and endurance of the local stakeholders. The policy aims to identify how forests can provide new jobs and business opportunities in order to keep rural communities alive. Beside the fact of strengthening the idea of traditional use of wood, there is a need to create new, competitive wooden products with high added value. In order to protect the local wood processing based industry the policy of County Council does not allow the establishment of international investors who would like to exploit the county’s natural resources without adding high value added activity on local level. Taking into account that at this moment there isn’t any big company, investor in the field of silviculture and forestry establish in the county this is already a positive impact of the policy.

The European Forestry and Environmental Skills Council (EFESC) is a membership organization of industry representatives and organisations which manage and monitor the skills and competence certification processes on national level.

Chainsaws are potentially dangerous, so it is important to acquire the necessary skills and knowledge to use it. First checking if your training was set up to meet the European Chainsaw Standards, then next level is European Chainsaw Certificates that ensure skills and competences through detailed description of the required qualification for each level. ECC enhance operator mobility and employability throughout Europe, independent of language and country. ECC guarantee traceability of the licensed certificate holder through registration at the National Agency and in the EFESC database.

European minimum standards (ECS) have been developed for different competence levels of chainsaw use.Currently standards are available for the following competence levels:
ECS 1 : chainsaw maintenance and crosscutting
ECS (Tension) : wood under tension (simulated situations)
ECS 2 : basic tree felling
ECS 3 : advanced tree felling
ECS 4 : windblown and damaged trees
ECS (Height): chainsaw use at height (currently being developed)
Based on each of the above ECS competence levels, a formal assessment procedure has been agreed upon. By taking an assessment in an accredited assessment centre, chainsaw users can acquire a European Chainsaw Certificate. Only EFESC accredited assessment centres can issue European Chainsaw Certificates. From 2012 to 31/12/2018, 12.532 certificates were issued at European level.

The sawmills have made an investment for the purchase of a machine suitable for turning wooden poles. The aim was to use local and naturally durable wood species without adding chemical impregnating agents (chestnut in Tuscany, larch in Trentino) to offer turned stakes for fences, wooden toys and outdoor furniture on the market. The approach was to innovate the production process to better exploit the characteristics of the two species, also with a view to increasing consumers' environmental sensitivity (0 km wood, without the use of chemical impregnating agents). The larch on the Alpine arc and the chestnut on the Apennine ridge certainly are not lacking in Italy, just as the small or less assortments market that could be in this way valued. The investments for the plant and the training of the personnel must be carefully evaluated, but good margins can be imagined. To enhance this type of production, widely used for public urban furnishings, the willingness of Public Administrations to develop "green purchasing" policies must be carefully evaluated. The Casolla sawmill produces around 600-800 m3 of larch turned piles per year, PEFC certified, of which about 70% is turned out of heart and 30% with heart. The product is much appreciated, every year new customers are added to those already established and the practice of replacing, once consumed, pine poles impregnated with those in local larch is spreading. A great result for the Casolla Sawmill was the supply of large quantities of this product for EXPO 2015 (Milan). This aspect represents a negative for the Tani sawmill, because many Tuscan administrations continue to buy turned and impregnated products of foreign origin. The company currently produces around 3,000 q of turned, chestnut but also douglasia, less than the potential it had set for itself.

Since 2005 Cip Calor has focused on woody biomass. Careful to professionalism, safety and quality, the company has explored fields that were little known at the time. The sale of wood was accompanied by contracts for the supply of wood chips to public users and contracting activities. In 2010 it invested in the construction of an innovative biomass platform, today the company's nerve center, where firewood and wood chips can be produced and marketed in compliance with the quality standards required by the market and the relevant regulations. The advantages of this logistic-productive-commercial model are many. The organization and optimization of productivity has improved; thanks to the covered structure it is possible to work even in bad weather days; it is easier to manage the quality control system; the number of customers has increased, seeing in the platform a place characterized by a clear and transparent marketing; also interesting is the aspect of visibility and access to the platform at convenient times, where customers can observe and "touch" the work phases and the product they intend to buy. The platform has been designed in an optimal position for the management of the material: from about half of the wooded area that the company manages, it is even possible to cut the wood with a cable crane directly in the yard, with obvious logistical consequences. Excluding raw wood deposits all production activities are covered, below a 1,400 m2 ventilated structure. The main elements of the platform are: "Chipped" line: deposit for the wood chips to be dried; drier; mini co-generator for the production of electricity and heat; storage for dried wood chips. "Firewood" line: area used for cutting and splitting; roll-off bodies connected to the hot air exiting the co-generator; storage for firewood. Other structures: mini-sawmill for the production of manufactured goods; warehouse for the recovery of tools and staff rooms, heated to the floor with the heat recovered from the co-generator; commercial office.

This company was founded in 2013, when a manager in the IT sector, Carlo Petrolo, decided to renovate a family farmhouse using the trees on the property. None of the few remaining sawmills, however, makes itself available to take a few logs and then saw them. Petrolo sees an opportunity in this crisis situation. Thus was born the idea of ​​preparing a mobile, self-transportable sawmill service, suitable for all those who had the need to work their own wood on site.

The activity appears easily replicable with reduced investments. In addition, a service like this could complement another activity, forest or agricultural. However, a widespread action of promotion and contact with all possible purchasers of the service is necessary: ​​very diversified subjects, since we pass from the forest operator to the private citizen, up to the public administration. In the case in question, marketing activities via internet had a fundamental role, especially through social networks.

The service, initially based on a single mobile sawmill, immediately received great interest from operators in the sector and inhabitants in mountain areas. The service, now expanded also in the Italian territory with several mobile sawmills in action. It has responded to the need of many small private owners or farms who are often in a position to be unable to use their raw materials due to the lack of local facilities still capable of sawing small quantities. This experience has also been the forerunner of numerous other alpine entrepreneurial activities (forest companies and treeclimbers) that have purchased mobile sawmills to enhance the wood that was previously used as biomass or waste.

Silvicultural approach that early selects a limited number of target trees to which ensure a free and harmonious development of crown and trunk. The thinnings are selective or from above and they are oriented to remove the direct competitors of the target trees, preserving the remaining stand. The target trees are chosen as a function of vigor, stability, tree morphology, spatial distribution. The number of released target trees (from 50 to 120 per hectare) depends on the site characteristics, the species, the biotic and abiotic risks, the type of owner, the silvicultural goal. · This approach can be applied in high forests and in coppices, in conifers (as Pinus nigra and Pseudotsuga Douglasii) and broad-leaved species, to social (Fagus sylvatica and Quercus sp.) and valuable (Castanea sativa) or sporadic tree (Prunus avium, Sorbus sp., Fraxinus sp., …) species, in public or private property. To apply this method is necessary: Specific training and care of technicians and workers from tree marker to logging Specific training of people involved in the control of the forest utilization. · From an economic and productive point of view: decreasing the management costs reduction of rotation time increasing of quantity and quality of assortments production of high-quality timber relatively quickly enhancement of phenotypes and / or species potentially able to produce quality timber - From an ecological and environmental point of view: increase of individual and stand stability increase of biodiversity increase of structural complexity maintenance of an irregular canopy cover protection of sporadic species - From a social point of view: integration with the traditional forestry increase of non-wood products increase of landscape value

The Travaglini Company has been active since 1976, when it managed to buy 36 hectares of forest. Over the years, thanks to a correct organization of work, attention to efficiency and quality and a correct use of public funding, she managed to "live with the resources of the forest", giving work to family members as well as seasonal workers. This example demonstrates how it is possible to create efficiency and innovation also in our sector and with our woods. What made the experience of this company great is certainly the mentality and passion with which work and investments have been faced over the years. Having always focused on the efficiency of the company organization and on the quality of the products has given the solid foundation to the company, which thanks to the push towards innovation, of process and product, has made a leap more. The Travaglini family company demonstrates every day how it is possible to work thanks to the forest also in the Apennines, using wood and renewable energy. The first investment was the construction of a large one agricultural storage with innovative features, to be able to work even on bad weather days. Under this structure there is a very well organized line for the production of 4 different types of poles. Subsequently, the company aimed to enhance its production waste, by installing one of the first district heating networks in Tuscany that serves 8 homes. Later the company also focused on the sale of part of the waste as a biofuel. Realizing that many families in the area preferred pellets rather than wood or wood chips, the Travaglini family created a new type of wood chips, called cippatino, capable of replacing pellets. This product, sold in 15 kg bags, costs less than pellets, and therefore is required by customers, but much more than wood and chips, bringing great added value to the company.

Venturini was founded in 1985 as an agricultural company, to then devote itself to forestry work since 1997. With the entry of Michele, the owner's son, the forestry activity took over and traditional work systems led to employment of more modern machines, with large investments. The transformation from a traditional forest company to a modern enterprise has been realized thanks to the Region Tuscany Rural Development Plan 2007-13, which has allowed Venturini Biomasse to completely renovate the machinery and reorganize itself, becoming a reference in the territory for the supply of wood chips.

Venturini Biomasse is a beautiful example of a family-run company that, over the years, has been able to expand, renew and improve. Michele's entry into the family business also marked the change of pace at the business level. It is in fact thanks to his foresight that it has been possible to access public funding with the PRS 2007-2013, by exploiting them productively on the basis of clear, concrete objectives and above all calibrated to company dimensions.

Through the purchased equipment
the company has achieved important goals.
First, working conditions have improved. New technologies have also made it possible to optimize logistics. A strategy of diversification and, above all, of production qualification, has allowed the company to start operating outside the local market, obtaining a positioning capable of guaranteeing better sales conditions and therefore greater profitability. The company is healthy today, with good development prospects, and aims to grow further. There is no shortage of design ideas for the future, such as the expansion of a covered structure to optimize the storage and handling of the chips produced, or the construction of a forced drying plant to speed up production cycles.