Entwicklung der Rahmenbedingungen für das Bauen mit Holz in Deutschland: Eine Innovationssystemanalyse im Kontext der Evaluation der Charta für Holz 2.0

The Charter for Wood 2.0 aims to increase the contribution of sustainable forestry and wood use to climate change mitigation, value creation and resource efficiency. Using wood in the construction of buildings can be an effective option to support these objectives. Apart from carbon storage in long-lived harvested wood products, wood use can contribute to a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions if it substitutes materials that would have been more energy-intensive in their production. Conserving non-renewable raw materials contributes to the resource efficiency of the economy. Additionally, the use of wood in construction strengthens value creation in the forestry and wood cluster and offers employment perspectives for rural areas. However, there are several known challenges that inhibit market growth, particularly when it comes to innovative, multi-storey wood construction. Examples are path dependencies, which affect the design of building regulations or education structures; a lack of information on the part of potential customers; as well as a tendency to neglect environmental impacts of construction and end of life phases of buildings. In recent years, however, the framework conditions for wood construction have developed dynamically. The Charter for Wood 2.0 working groups, which support the Charter’s implementation as part of a dialogue process, develop further measures to address challenges. This study therefore focuses on the question of whether recent changes in market, legal or political framework conditions have contributed to solving known challenges for wood construction. The assessment of developments is based on literature and document analyses as well as on interviews with experts from associations, science, administration and the wood construction industry. In order to gain a systemic understanding of the way in which changes interact, we use the innovation system approach as a theoretical framework for our analysis. Innovation research points to distinct system functions that support the development, diffusion and use of innovations. By analysing whether developments in framework conditions have strengthened these functions, the study provides a theory-based foundation for identifying further needs for action. In this way, it supports ongoing efforts in the Charter for Wood 2.0 dialogue process. The study was conducted as part of the learning-oriented evaluation of the Charter for Wood 2.0.