Building with wood is not a new invention. For example, remains of Pfahlbauten (stilt houses or lake dwellings) have been discovered in the Lake Constance region, the oldest of which date back to the Neolithic period (approx. 3900 BC). Wooden piles were driven into the shallow water on the shore to build huts made of wood, straw and clay on a jetty. The construction of these Pfahlbauten offered the inhabitants protection from raids and direct access to the lake, which served as a transportation route and food source (bodensee.eu 2023).

Today's motivation for using wood as a building material is fundamentally different from that of our ancestors. Thanks to a variety of alternative building materials, we are no longer exclusively reliant on the use of natural building materials, but wood offers some important advantages that speak in favor of its increased use today:

• In the face of climate change, the substitution of CO₂-intensive building materials with wood, which can lead to a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, is desirable.
• Furthermore, wood as a building material can represent a carbon storage option. As already explained in Chapter 2, in plants the gaseous CO₂ from the atmosphere is converted into solid molecules (e.g. carbohydrates) through the process of photosynthesis, which form the basic building blocks of the macromolecules cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin, the main components of lignocellulosic plants. By using these molecules in the form of wood as a building material, the carbon remains bound for the life of the building. In combination with sustainable forestry, a CO₂ sink can be realized.
• In contrast to mineral building materials, wood is a lightweight building material. This offers ecological and economic savings, particularly with regard to transportation costs.
• In addition, wood has a lower thermal conductivity than conventional building materials such as steel or concrete, which is a favorable characteristic, particularly with regard to thermal insulation and the energy required for heating and cooling.
• The wide range of applications for wood as a raw material offers the opportunity to reuse disused building material wood, also known as waste wood. The further use of waste wood by means of so-called cascade use is explained in more detail in chapter 10.3.