The Ministry of Housing and Territorial Planning (MVOT) and the National Housing Agency (ANV) announced, August 4, the winning project to build wooden houses in height.
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The six-story building will be located in the city of Durazno and construction will begin in November 2023. The head of the Secretary of State, Raúl Lozano, stressed that the initiative represents a milestone for the country.
Lozano was accompanied at the activity, which took place at the ANV headquarters, by the undersecretary of the portfolio, Tabaré Hackenbruch; the president and vice president of the agency, Klaus Mill von Metzen and Gustavo Borsari, respectively; the owner of Mevir, Juan Pablo Delgado; the sector specialist of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) in Uruguay Verónica Adler, international, national and departmental authorities.
The ANV launched a call for the design and construction of the first tall wooden building in Uruguay, whose period for receiving proposals was between January 23 and May 15, 2023.
After analyzing the five initiatives presented by companies national and international, on July 11, the agency's board of directors selected the winner of the project, which will be developed on land located in front of Parque Bicentenario, in the city of Durazno.
The work is expected to be completed in October 2024.
In his speech, Lozano stressed that the beginnings of this event date back to 1987, with the approval of the Forest Law, which allowed the large-scale development of this activity. As an example, he recalled that that year in the country there were 70,000 forested hectares, a figure that, to date, has increased to 1,100,000.
In this sense, he said that currently wood is one of the main resources of the country and, therefore, it was thought to promote and strengthen this construction method, which will increase jobs in the wood industry.
In addition, he stressed that this type of building favors the government's policy of reducing carbon emissions in the face of climate change, since wood is characterized by absorbing that element. Likewise, this method is of great constructive quality and friendly to the environment.
"Without a doubt, we have a very auspicious future, this represents a milestone for the construction sector and for the future of the country; for this reason, from the portfolio, we promote the use of wood as an alternative construction system in Uruguay for low-income housing. social interest," he said.
For his part, Mill pointed out the innovative aspect of the strategy, which seeks, among other aspects, to reduce work times, costs and, likewise, promote the national industry.
He agreed with Lozano that the call represents the agency's commitment to sustainable construction that is respectful of the environment and that this resource strengthens local development and the circular economy.
In his opinion, the use of wood in high buildings is a step towards the future, a way of innovating and diversifying the construction industry. ■
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