Wood Central can report that timber frame construction is gaining acceptance in Brazil.
Plantation pine, the primary input for framing, offers benefits such as faster construction, waste reduction and energy savings.
Most recently, the Brazilian Association of Technical Standards – or the ABNT – published updated standards with a significant interest in industrial and commercial construction nationwide.
Timber framing has several advantages, which include thermal and acoustic comfort, shorter construction times and competitive prices.
It is also helping to tackle the housing shortage in Brazil, especially in the southern states of Paraná and Santa Catarina, where a large part of the country’s pine plantations is grown.
Pine-sawn wood and panels are readily available, and framing has emerged as a competitive alternative to steel and concrete-based construction materials.
According to The Brazilian Association of the Mechanically Processed Timber Industry (ABIMCI), the new technical standard “was a significant achievement for the timber industry and the civil construction sector.”
Brazil’s vast pine plantations comprise two southern yellow pine species – slash pine (Pinus elliottii) and loblolly pine (Pinus taeda). In Brazil, they are called just ‘yellow pine’.
The pines have a combination of wood properties that permit use in a wide range of products.
This fast-growing group of species produces some of the most robust wood. Its high density gives it natural strength, weight, impact and wearing resistance.
Estimates obtained by Wood Central show forests in Brazil cover 9.5 million hectares, with 70.1% located in the country’s south and southeast regions.
Among the species planted are 7.3 million hectares of eucalyptus and 1.8 million hectares of pine.
The territories covered with eucalyptus reached 76.9% of the forests planted commercially, whilst 45.4% of the eucalyptus area is located southeast of the country.
