Kährs Group in unique research project on wood’s effects on indoor climate

Wood releases heat when it’s cold – and cools down temperatures when it’s hot. This means that using wood floors, ceilings and walls, for example, can contribute to saving energy. This is one of the conclusions of an extensive, pan-European research project on the effects of wood on indoor climate. In the project Wood2New, the industry, including Kährs Group, cooperates with scientists to stimulate increased use of wood in interiors.

Photo by Kährs, wood floor oak Essex
  

We spend, on average, 90 per cent of our lives indoors. This means that the air quality and indoor temperature not only affects our health, but also our quality of life. But exactly in what way and how much has previously not been mapped out. In order to fill this gap in existing research, an international research project was initiated in 2014 in which a number of wood industry companies and universities participate.

“We were lucky to be able to engage such committed partners in Europe, including Kährs,” says Yrsa Cronhjort at the Aalto University in Finland, who is project coordinator of Wood2New.

The overall goal of the project is to contribute to creating competitive and sustainable wood based interior products and systems for modern wood constructions through:

• Identifying opportunities and limitations for using wood interior elements.
• Examining if, and how wood may affect human health.
• Developing, designing and evaluating concepts for sustainability, value-adding, multifunctional wood based interior products and systems.
• Developing business models based on the acquired facts of how wood affects health.

The research project is conducted, apart from the Aalto University, also at the Linköping University, Holzforschung Austria, Norsk TreTeknisk Institutt (Norway) Building Research Establishment Ltd (UK), European Confederation of Woodworking Industries and Technisches Büro für Chemie - Dr. Karl Dobianer.

“The results will be presented at a seminar at Linköping University in February 2017 and a final report is expected at the latest in March. But we have already reached some interesting results in different parts of the project. Apart from the purely technical aspects, we have also measured the emotional aspects of wood through using focus groups in a number of countries. It’s interesting to note that irrespective of culture, wood is perceived in the same way – i.e. as natural, warm and cosy,” Yrsa Cronhjort says.

The project is part of the international program WoodWisdom-Net+ Research, aimed at strengthening the competitiveness and sustainability of Europe’s forest and wood industry by developing long-term cooperation between different players. Head of the project at Kährs Group is the company’s Environmental Ambassador Bruce Uhler. Read more about the project on www.wood2new.org

For more information, please contact:
Bruce Uhler, Environmental Ambassador, Kährs Group, tel: +46 70 253 04 76

Helén Johansson, Corporate Communication, Kährs Group, tel: +46 70 364 60 30

Yrsa Cronhjort, Architect SAFA, Aalto University in Finland, tel: +358 50 566 0802
  

About Kährs Group
Kährs Group is a world-leading flooring manufacturer in hardwood and resilient flooring with a number of strong brands in its product portfolio, including Kährs, Karelia and Upofloor. The Company's innovations have shaped the industry throughout history and Kährs Group is dedicated to providing the market with innovative new flooring solutions. Kährs Group, which delivers products to more than 70 countries, is the market leader in Sweden, Finland, Norway and Russia and holds a strong position in other key markets, such as the UK and Germany. The Group has approximately 1,600 employees and annual sales of EUR 300 million. www.kahrsgroup.com

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