Living Lab

The sustainability of construction and materials, energy solutions as well as the climate-related, environmental and health effects of construction affect every consumer and society on the planet.

The Sustainable Development Goals of the UN encourage a transition towards increasingly sustainable means of consumption and production in construction and housing. In Finland, the use of wood in construction is also on the rise in urban environments and apartment building construction.

The living laboratory, or lab, comprises a multidisciplinary research platform provided by the building, which generates measurement data on timber structures and the changes taking place in them over time with the help of, for example, an automated sensor network. Among other purposes, shared data can be used when establishing field-specific standards.

The Hyytiälä Living Lab is part of an international research and measurement network that already includes the George W. Peavy Forest Science Center (PFSC) built in Corvallis, Oregon, by Oregon State University and InnoRenew CoE, the largest timber building in Slovenia managed by the University of Primorska.

 
A one of a kind research platform and unique services

Hyytiälä’s offerings include

  • A multidisciplinary research platform in the new building where continuous measurements generate data on the characteristics of timber structures and their variation over time.
  • Lecture facilities, equipment, laboratory facilities, cold spaces, workshops, accommodation, cafeteria services, transport equipment, etc.
  • Equipment for measuring trees and other plants, and for sample collection
  • Laboratory equipment for basic analyses or sample processing and preservation for later use
  • Expert staff and research services
  • A wide variety of forest industry operators located in the vicinity