Taking stock: Progress of the Amsterdam Green Deal Timber Construction!

Taking stock: Progress of the Amsterdam Green Deal Timber Construction!

Yesterday, as part of the week of the circular economy, I attended a session on the status of the ‘Green Deal Timber Construction’, a covenant initiated by the Metropole Region Amsterdam (MRA) and a collaboration between authorities, knowledge institutions and market parties, in total signed by about 140 parties in 2021.

The ambitious goal: to have 20% of new residential buildings built from wood by 2025.

A few years into the initiative, it was a moment to give an update and share the latest figures: around 400 wooden houses have been completed, with nearly 500 more under construction.

Although still small in numbers, taking into account the long nature of development projects, these numbers are just the beginning and show with a delay. Currently, over 2,500 projects are in the tender phase, with nearly 10,000 in exploratory stages, indicating a significant shift towards sustainable building.

The real revelation to me was that that the initiative does a really great job by not passively taking stock and focusing on the numbers. It is all about the understanding behind those numbers and actively engaging with the market to uncover the drivers that encourage bio-based building and especially to identify the obstacles that prevent projects to go though with it.

Learning why some developments shy away from bio-based materials offers critical insights into how we can foster change, whether it be through further incentives, education, and collaboration.

It was also interesting to hear from both speakers and audience members that often a hybrid approach was adopted. While not all projects meet the criteria to be classified as wood buildings, there was a consensus that the initiative isn't solely fixated on wood. The initiative uses wood because it acts as a powerful catalyst - or an 'outboard motor,' as it was described - for reducing carbon impact. But the overarching goal remains to making conscious, sustainable choices in construction.

This approach allows for the use of wood where it makes sense, without becoming fixated on it as the only solution.

As someone deeply invested in sustainable development, seeing the holistic and thoughtful approach of the initiative was inspiring. And seeing so many people show up and companies involved to reducing our environmental footprint with bio-based building gives a lot of energy!

Keep going!