A warehouse made of wood?

Many of the resources required by industry are only available on earth in limited quantities. In view of the scarcity of resources, a change in the use of building materials based on renewable resources must also take place in the construction of new buildings. One modern building material that is increasingly being used in this context is glulam. This is made from several layers of wood, which creates a particularly stable foundation. Furthermore, glulam has a low CO2 footprint compared to other building materials.

In order to achieve the desired stability, wooden boards are dried individually and knots and defects are cut out in the production of this building material. The individual boards are then glued together parallel to the fibers. This creates an elongated beam, similar to a solid wooden beam. The great advantage over solid wood is the higher load-bearing capacity, as there are no more imperfections in the wood and the gluing creates a homogeneous cross-section. The flexible shape and length in which glulam can be produced enables a wide range of applications. The individual sections can be joined together lengthwise to form very long lamellas by finger-jointing. In this way, large beam lengths can be realized, allowing a column-free span of up to 60 meters, which is important for roof beams, for example. For this reason, glulam is mainly used in load-bearing elements such as ceilings, walls and roof trusses.

The use of this building material also makes sense for industrial and logistics properties. The new Edeka logistics center in Marktredwitz shows how it can work. With a construction volume of over 300 million euros, it has been under construction since August 2021 and is scheduled for completion in November 2023. The buildings will cover more than 100,000 square meters, making the logistics center the world’s largest glulam project once completed. From 2025, all 1,000 Edeka stores in northern Bavaria, Saxony and Thuringia will be supplied from there. The number of items picked will double compared to the previous location, while the number of jobs will increase from 450 to 600.

At BUILDINX, the first business platform covering the entire value chain of innovative logistics and industrial real estate, you can find out more about the use of sustainable building materials in your logistics property. With us, you will find the right contacts when it comes to planning and implementing your construction project. Cooperation and networking are our top priorities.

Author: Verena Zieringer