Sustainable Construction in Switzerland: The Potential of Wood Reuse for Reducing Carbon Emissions
Switzerland has set the target of achieving net zero balance for greenhouse gas emissions (GHG). To meet this goal and address the challenges of global warming, the high-emitting construction sector must be a key focus. One promising approach is timber construction combined with multiple cascading uses of construction wood. This thesis investigates the potential of wood reuse in the Swiss construction sector for reducing carbon emissions. Using system dynamics modelling, it explores the dynamics of the Swiss wood material cycle over a 300-year time horizon and quantifies the corresponding environmental impact. The analysis focuses on two important aspects for scenario creation, namely waste wood processing efficiency (WWPE) and wood supply projections. The findings suggest that timber reuse and cascading use in the construction sector could substantially reduce carbon emissions. By the year 2320, with a reuse rate of 0.11 and a recycling rate of 0.22, we found that approximately 42 mio. m3 more wood could remain in the technosphere, and 5.35×1010 kg CO2 emissions could be avoided due to reduced incineration of waste wood compared to the baseline scenario. The results also indicate that the average residence time of carbon in the technosphere increases with a higher level of WWPE. However, significant challenges remain for the real-world implementation of cascading principles, coupled with numerous barriers specific to the Swiss context.
By: Leo Kieffer
Work: Bachelor thesis, 2025
Supervisor: Dr. Giacomo Vaccario (ETH Zurich)
