The latest building material craze in Germany is - gasp - timber

We had planned to write about this for a long time, but now, in the wake of the refugee crisis and the need to create more living space fast, even local and state governments warm to that craziest of building materials: timber.

Timber for residential buildings.

There was, our longtime readers guessed correctly, lots of laughter in the basement newsroom of the K-Landnews as we read the latest article about the benefits of all timber buildings.

To anybody from Northern American, the piece reads like it had come from MISPWOSO, the University of Maximegalon Institute of Slowly and Painfully Working Out the Surprisingly Obvious. *

With the hilarious part out of the way, let's explain a bit. Wood, or timber, in combination with mud was the main traditional building material in the northern European region for thousands of years. Solid stone buildings prevailed in regions that had fewer forests. Over time, waddle and daub half timbered buildings fell out of fashion, and when cement - a Roman building material - was rediscovered, masonry became the standard. The advent of building codes and fire safety 'cemented' the standard.

Something we tend not to realize in this context is that European forests were simply unable to sustain the demands of the industrial revolution coupled with the pressure created by rapidly growing populations.

The percentage of land covered by forests in Western Europe is now greater than at any time since the Middle Ages, and cheap imports are widespread.

In the 1970s or so, prompted in part by environmental concerns and in part by vacation in Scandinavian countries and Northern America, some Germans took their vacation photos of rustic log cabins or brightly colored Scandinavian homes to their housing and urban development agencies and said I want to build like this.

The officials on the other side of the counter pointed to the voluminous building code and responded Not allowed by the code.

After several decades of lobbying, many material and safety studies, and more environmentalism and sustainability concern, German building codes slowly changed. Buildings with structural timber as well as all wooden walls have been going up in residential or small mixed use zones everywhere. Brick and mortar construction times have improved, for example with pre-fabricated floor elements, but they cannot beat the speed and convenience of timber houses with their "IKEA flatpack" appeal.

What makes the article in today's Sueddeutsche Zeitung so special, then? What makes it unique, as far as we can tell, is the outright call for and promotion of timber residences by state and local government and the scale of construction.

According to the article, the south-western state of Rhineland Palatinate is actively engaged in timber buildings that go beyond the common one or two family houses, currently erecting a three-story, 48 units structure for some 200 refugees.

While still roughly just about the capacity of a standard American motel, it is big news over here.

* Read some Douglas Adams, people.

[Update] Added "Brick and mortar construction times..."