European rural areas will boost when their natural resources constitute the basis of innovative and sustainable value chains with a high positive economic impact. In this sense, forests constitute an asset that provide not only ecosystems and biodiversity, but also a valuable and sustainable raw material, “wood”. Wood is consumed by various sectors, including one of the most “raw materials” demanding sector, the construction. The BASAJAUN project is a puzzle composed of 1st and 2nd transformation companies, research organizations, associations and public bodies that are focused on maximizing the forest value through its use in wood construction. Its main goal is to optimize the wood forest resources to enable the construction of a medium sized building (16 dwellings with 4 floors) with the lowest possible forest hectares – that will depend on the tree species and the forest local peculiarities (climate, surface, ...). The whole process will be optimised to maximize the consumption of wood products from the forest (solid wood, fibers, veneers, bark, sawdust, etc.). For this purpose, a) innovative wood-based construction materials (thermal insulation, composites, varnishes, SIPs) and systems (structure, facades, floors, walls, roof and fixings) will be developed and upscaled, b) one full-scale demo building (France) will be constructed and one experimental building (Spain) that use all developed products, c) digitalization of the whole construction value chain (from forest to building) will be done and d) the rural development impact will be studied at regional level. The environmental impact of the products of these value chains will be assessed as well. Besides, to assure a sustainable impact of the project a novel thematic platform to integrate the stakeholders of the wood region with urban areas will be developed. Besides, BASAJAUN leverages the previous results of successful projects where the innovative materials and systems were designed at laboratory and semi-industrial scale.

The Dynamic Response of Tall Timber Buildings under Service Load (Dyna-TTB) project is supported under the umbrella of ERA-NET Cofund ForestValue. Its aim is to quantify the structural damping in as-built tall timber buildings (TTB), identify and quantify the effects of connections and non-structural elements on the stiffness, damping and wind-induced dynamic response of TTBs, develop a bottom-up numerical finite element model for estimating the dynamic response of multi-storey timber buildings, validate the predicted response with in-situ measurements on TTBs and disseminate findings via a TTB Design Guideline for design practitioners. The project aims for a comprehensive understanding of the dynamic response of tall timber buildings under serviceability loads. Full building numerical models’ response will be compared with the experimentally measured in-situ data. The overall chain of information will be traced down to the experimental response of the main building blocks – timber elements and steel connections. The currently missing or uncomplete data will be evaluated (i.e. damping parameters of different types of tall timber buildings) for different types of boundary conditions. The broad set of parameters evaluated at the end of the project will enable a more precise and rational design of tall timber buildings with a higher comfort for their occupants. WP 1 – Coordination The coordination work package is responsible for the administration of the project, including the consortium agreement, information, reports, and external representation of the project. The project coordinator is responsible for the internal project management and project meetings. WP 2 – Laboratory-based experimental determination of dynamic response of components, connections and sub-assemblies The objective of the work package is to experimentally study the dynamical properties for components connections and sub-assemblies for TTBs. The dynamical response will be studied using vibration and cyclic tests on different prototype scales: 1) single full-size timber components, 2) connection details and 3) sub-assemblies with more than two wooden members and non-structural material. The results from laboratory tests will be used to calibrate the numerical models. WP 3 - In-situ measurements A European-wide programme of short term FRF-based dynamic tests will be carried out on a number of representative buildings in Sweden, Norway, France and some other EU countries currently building TTB construction. WP 4 - Numerical modelling of dynamic response The objective of the work package is to experimentally study the dynamical properties for components connections and sub-assemblies for TTBs. The dynamical response will be studied using vibration and cyclic tests on different prototype scales: 1) single full-size timber components, 2) connection details and 3) sub-assemblies with more than two wooden members and non-structural material. The results from laboratory tests will be used to calibrate the numerical models. WP 5 – Dissemination and Exploitation Dissemination of research findings and impact within the timber-based construction industry, is a fundamental part of this project. The activities will ensure that the specific knowledge is transferred to the targeted industrial sector, informing states and municipalities of the latest findings, as well as raising awareness among the general public. Furthermore, the results obtained in this project will have the potential to be implemented in building design codes. For the intermediate period the Design Guidelines published at the end of the project will fill the knowledge gap. https://www.dynattb.com/

To ensure a healthy environment for people living and working in buildings, research and engineering in the area of building acoustics is essential. Developments in modern building concepts, such as sustainable low-energy consuming buildings, buildings with lightweight materials and open plan working environments, as well as the need to build in extremely noisy areas, require involvement of acoustic experts in order to successfully (re)design buildings without negatively impacting upon people’s health and well-being. Taking up current and future acoustic challenges requires innovative solutions based on a thorough understanding and mastering of modern methods and tools, as well as a holistic acoustic approach involving acoustic design, products and subjective evaluation. However, in the complex field of building acoustics, research activities typically are not holistic and have become slightly marginalised. As a consequence, there is a lack of building acoustics experts. To meet the future acoustic needs of the built environment, Acoutect is constructed around two objectives: 1) Establish a long-lasting European-wide training programme on building acoustics, 2) Launch an innovative research programme. With these objectives, Acoutect will equip ESRs with skills to ensure acoustic quality of modern and future building concepts, and with excellent perspectives for a career in industry or academia within the area of building acoustics. The training and supervision to reach these objectives is offered by the Acoutect consortium composed of 5 academic and 7 non-academic participants. This consortium comprises various disciplines and sectors within building acoustics and beyond, promoting intersectoral, interdisciplinary and innovative training and mobility of the researchers within the project.