The promotion of the use of Uruguayan wood in the construction of social housing is one of the objectives of the Ministry of Housing and Territorial Planning (MVOT) for this period, highlighted the head of the ministry, Irene Moreira. The Forestry Law, from 1987, favored the exponential growth of an industry that today has an area of more than one million planted hectares, she added.
Moreira participated this Tuesday, the 23rd, at the Executive Tower, in the launch of the Wood initiative: Innovating in Architecture of Social Interest, which integrates the roadmap for building social housing in wood, of the MVOT, with the support of the Inter-American Bank of Development (IDB).
The plan seeks to encourage the dissemination and development of innovative construction systems with the aforementioned element, through the construction of different types of buildings of social interest. In this sense, the Secretary of State recalled in her speech that wood is one of the most efficient materials for preserving the environment. She explained that in Japan it is fully or partially used and exceeds 60% of new homes, in Scotland 70% and in the United States 85%.
The minister asserted that the national government promotes construction and carpentry with this component to make use of the large volume of resources available with added value. She recalled that, thanks to the implementation of the Forest Law, No. 15,939, of December 28, 1987, this industry grew exponentially and extended from less than 100,000 planted hectares to more than one million today.
In this context, one of the objectives of the portfolio is the promotion of the use of national wood in constructive solutions to increase the supply of public housing. To this end, it created in 2021 the Office of Advice, Planning and Development of Wood Construction. Moreira indicated that products made of this material generate fewer greenhouse gas emissions throughout their life cycle and that their use contributes to mitigating climate change.
At the launch, three international calls were presented: for housing in extension, in height and a polyclinic. In the first case, it is an architectural draft for the development of new types of houses in extension, with wood technology, of which a set of 20 will be built, in the city of Tranqueras, department of Rivera. These will be managed by Mevir.
The high-rise homes will be managed by the National Housing Agency (ANV) and the plan consists of the design and construction of a building with a wooden structural system of between 24 and 30 units, in the city of Durazno.
With the third call, an attempt is made to establish a polyclinic with three offices with wood technology and a building in the Cauceglia neighborhood, of the Neighborhood Improvement Program, in Montevideo. The latter and the State Health Services Administration (ASSE) will manage the health center.
Moreira was accompanied by the undersecretary of the portfolio, Tabaré Hackenbruch; the presidents of Mevir, Juan Pablo Delgado; the National Housing Agency, Klaus Mill, and ASSE, Leonardo Cipriani; the mayor of Durazno, Carmelo Vidalín, and representatives of the mayor of Rivera and the IDB, among other authorities. Presidency
