Gyeongnam Office of Education: "If School Facilities Were 'Trees,' CO2 Would Greatly Decrease"

Reinforced Concrete Building Emissions Reduced to One-Quarter Level

On the 12th, the Gyeongnam Office of Education held a public forum to discuss measures for wooden school facilities.

According to the provincial education office, the forum held at the main office's Gonggam Hall was attended by experts from the Korean Society of Wood Science and Technology, the National Institute of Forest Science, the Wood Culture Promotion Association, as well as officials from the Korea Forest Service, Korea Forestry Promotion Institute, and the education office.

About 100 audience members, including officials from related organizations, other provincial education offices, and parents, also attended.

Professor Oh Se-chang is expressing his opinion at the Gyeongnam Office of Education's school facility wooden structure plan discussion.
[Photo by Gyeongnam Office of Education]

Professor Oh Se-chang of the Department of Forest Resources at Daegu University, president of the Korean Society of Wood Science and Technology, gave a presentation titled "A New Wooden Society Starting with School Architecture."

Professor Oh explained by comparing the amount of carbon dioxide emitted in building one house: “Wooden houses emit 18.85 tons, steel prefabricated houses emit 54.06 tons, which is 2.86 times that of wooden houses, and reinforced concrete houses emit 79.98 tons, 4.24 times that of wooden houses.”

Prefabrication refers to constructing buildings by manufacturing building components in advance at a factory and then assembling them on-site.

He proposed ▲restructuring learning spaces to realize continuous and attractive school education ▲the necessity of wooden and wood-based school buildings to respond to climate change and ensure a sustainable future ▲close cooperation among the Ministry of Education, education offices, Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, and Korea Forest Service to facilitate smooth use of wood.

Wi Jae-won, superintendent of the Climate Environment Education Promotion Team at the provincial education office, presented Gyeongnam Office of Education’s climate environment education policies, and Bae Ki-cheol, architect at IDS Architects, discussed the possibilities and considerations of wooden school architecture.

Kim Kwang-mo, director at the National Institute of Forest Science, introduced domestic technologies for wooden school facilities, Park Cheon-young, secretary general of the Wood Culture Promotion Association, explained the effects of wooden school facilities, and Seo Chun-rae, principal of Hamyang Elementary School, shared cases of eco-friendly wood finishing.

Park Jong-hoon, Superintendent of Gyeongnam Office of Education, is speaking at the discussion on wooden school facilities plans hosted by the provincial education office.
[Photo by Gyeongnam Office of Education]

At the forum, participants discussed considerations when applying wooden structures to school facilities, such as enhancing expertise, standardizing budget unit costs, establishing guidelines for design, structure, and maintenance, and ensuring safety.

An official from the provincial education office said, “We are seeking various ways to overcome the climate crisis to realize sustainable education in Gyeongnam,” adding, “This forum was an opportunity to explore whether wooden school facilities, with sustainability and eco-friendliness, could be a solution for future schools.”

Superintendent Park Jong-hoon stated, “In a situation where the climate crisis and carbon neutrality are emerging as key issues, I hope this forum will serve as a catalyst for active discussions on wooden school facilities as sustainable future schools.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.