• sustainability
• modular system
• life cycle assessment
• energy efficiency
• CLT panels
• timber
• wooden structures

The research aims to study the possibility of extending a reinforced concrete building, through the use of a modular structure for rapid assembly, made entirely of cross-laminated wood panels (CLT); demonstrating the environmental and economic advantages deriving from the use of this material, through an LCA study. The vertical walls of the structure, made using continuous CLT panels, with a height equal to the maximum transportable length, and the floors, obtained from separate CLT sheets and held together by means of post-tensioned steel profiles and cables, make the system suitable for prefabrication of the elements and installation on site, with reduced construction costs. The connections used between the CLT slabs, are a novelty that avoid the use of additional metal fasteners, as occurs in traditional wooden structures. Attention was then paid to the modularity of the structure, whose architectural variability was analyzed through the LCA study, for the environmental impacts, in relation to the three alternatives proposed by the study. The evaluations refer to a research project developed at the Technische Universität München, in the context of which a reinforced concrete building located in Brasov (Romania), was taken as a case study, to apply the wooden structure.