On August 18, the doors of Latvijas Finieris new Furniers mill warehouse building – one of the rare industrial buildings of large-sized wooden constructions in Riga – were opened.
“The forest is our main asset, natural resources have always been the ones that support our economy,” emphasized the Minister of Economy, Ilze Indriksone, at the opening event. “Therefore, I am pleased to say thank you for this good example and to congratulate Latvijas Finieris on another wooden construction building in Latvia.” The minister also invited other entrepreneurs, state and municipality institutions to take the initiative and set a good example by setting demands for wooden structures and sustainable construction solutions in their design and construction procurements.
The construction of the more than 3750 m2 Furniers mill warehouse designed by the architect Ingus Bērziņš of SIA “REMM” and implemented by SIA “Castor Construction” was started in the spring of 2021 and 3.3 million euros were invested in the project. Almost 400 m3 of wood was used in the building as glued wooden beams, CLT panels and other wooden structures. This means that for many years, carbon in the equivalent of more than 350 tons of CO2 has been captured and stored. “The new building meets Latvijas Finieris conviction and experience, using a renewable resource – wood – in construction. Many thanks to all partners and colleagues who implemented this project,” emphasizes Aigars Veitmans, Latvijas Finieris Executive Board Member.
Latvijas Finieris, realizing the ecological, economic and social advantages, made a strategic decision more than 15 years ago to use wood products as much as possible in the construction of new industrial buildings. Since then, two rounds of development of RSEZ SIA “Verems” have been realized in the solutions of large-sized glued wooden structures, a plywood production workshop at the “Kohila Vineer” mill in Estonia, the Impregnation workshop of the Chemical Products Plant in Bolderāja, as well as wood products have been widely used in a series of smaller construction and renovation projects.
“Sustainable forestry and the widest possible use of wood products, creating long-term carbon stores and replacing fossil-based materials, is a way in which the forest sector makes an important contribution to the implementation of the European Green Deal and the achievement of global climate goals. In the future, we have even wider opportunities to use the potential of wood, but this requires smart decisions,” Jānis Ciems, Latvijas Finieris CEO, is confident.
