We put a few questions to Céline Laurens, Managing Director of Francilbois (which will change its name to FiBois in September 2020). FiBois is a major player in the wood industry, and has been federating the wood sector in the Paris region for 16 years.
Can you introduce yourself? What's your background? What brought you to Francilbois?
After studying at Sciences-po Paris (master's degree in territorial and urban strategy), I started as a project manager in Issy les Moulineaux in 2005, working on development projects such as Fort d'Issy. Two years later, I began my adventure in Greater Paris as part of the SDRIF mission for the Ile-de-France region. From 2012 to 2014, I became a Metropolis advisor in Bertrand Delanoë's cabinet, where I helped design the Maptam law and then the NOTRe law. Then, from 2015 to 2019, my professional life will be punctuated by the Olympic and Paralympic Games and their impact on the changes in Greater Paris: from the drafting of the "Paris 2024" bid file within the JOP mission of the City of Paris to the transformation of the territories through the various strategies (environment, employment, accessibility and public participation) for Solidéo, where I was Director of Ambition and Legacy.
After drawing up the environmental strategy for the Solideo and, in particular, for the future athletes' village, since September 2019 I have been responsible for implementing this strategy with the wood industry. As General Delegate of Francîlbois, the interprofessional organization for wood and forestry in Ile-de-France, I'm keen to promote the use of wood by the project owners and developers of Greater Paris, to support the ecological transition to the low-carbon city, and to structure the wood industry players to meet this challenge. I love taking on new challenges, and the one facing the wood and forestry industry is a major one, responding to the environmental urgency we all face. I'm delighted to be adding my "plank" to the edifice.
What role does Francilbois play in the wood industry and in eco-construction?
Francilbois, which will change its name to FIBois Ile-de-France in September 2020, has been federating all forest and wood professionals in the Paris region since 2004. The association is a member of the France Bois Régions network. This network brings together France's 12 regional interprofessions, and is also part of the French National Forest and Wood Program. The network is also part of the Stratégie Nationale Bas Carbone. The association is supported by the French government, the Ile-de-France region and France Bois Forêt.
It represents the entire industry, from forest owner to wood energy, to wood planner and end product (construction, furniture, fittings). It also supports the development of professionals and public awareness (forest visits, press articles, workshops, etc.) through training, prescriptions and promotion. Through its actions, Francîlbois also supports local authorities in the implementation of their climate plans and low-carbon strategies, and thus contributes to the evolution of decision-makers' ways of thinking towards eco-construction.
What difficulties do you encounter on a day-to-day basis in carrying out your mission?
On the one hand, the general public is increasingly embracing the wood solution for construction, as an ecological, renewable product that replaces concrete, reduces the carbon footprint and is a great place to live. On the other hand, logging, an integral part of wood production, is often associated with deforestation and leads to local opposition.
The challenge is to communicate better on forest management to the general public, but also to elected representatives and downstream industry professionals, who still have preconceived ideas about wood, for example concerning its resistance to fire, its susceptibility to various parasitic attacks or its structural stability, and whose mistrust has no regulatory basis whatsoever. Nonetheless, we sense that the construction industry is ready for a fundamental change in its business model. The timber industry needs to structure itself in order to exert greater influence on public policies and regulations, and to communicate more widely on common messages.
What successes can you look back on?
Since September 2019, the Francîlbois team has been completely renewed, as has its action plan. Among the flagship actions implemented, Francîlbois can look forward to the success of its first États Généraux de la Forêt et du Bois, in January 2020, at the Cité Fertile in Pantin. Intended to be the annual meeting of the industry in the Paris region, the event brought together players and professionals in the wood sector around the central question "Are forests and wood going to save the planet?", but also opened up these issues to civil society: environmental associations, students, architecture schools, philosophers, scientists... In all, more than 200 people attended.
The team is also in the process of concretizing the Pacte Bois Biosourcés. A wood prescription tool, the pact is based on a voluntary commitment by owners, project managers, design offices and architects to build differently, by integrating wood and bio-sourced materials into their real estate projects. By encouraging the use of wood, this pact contributes to the development of the French timber industry and forest renewal, and aims to provide an effective and satisfactory response to the challenges of the National Low Carbon Strategy by actively developing the use of renewable wood and bio-sourced materials in construction. It also provides an opportunity to train downstream industry players and raise their awareness of the issues associated with the sector. On November 5, some twenty developers will sign the pact, committing them to building between 10% and 40% of their surface area in wood.
Finally, raising public awareness of forest issues in the Paris region is one of Francîlbois' missions. For this reason, we have decided to launch the first edition of the "Festival des forêts en Île-de-France" on October 2 and 3, 2020, with a number of partners.This festival will take place in two stages: An evening launch event on October 2 in the form of a theatrical debate - the "Tribunal for Future Generations" & multi-site daytime events on October 3 (guided forest tours led by forest managers, visits to sawmills or carpenters, theatrical tours...) at some fifteen public and private forest sites, where each partner will be presenting a wide range of scientific and artistic activities linked to the multifunctionality of the forests of the Paris region. We hope it will be a success, and that it can be repeated every year.
What are the difficulties specific to the Ile-de-France region?
The difficulties specific to the Ile-de-France region stem from its highly urban nature. In some areas, strong societal pressure on forest management can lead to difficulties in maintaining and exploiting the wood, as well as additional costs. The same is true of wood processing: local opposition and the high cost of land have led to the virtual disappearance of processing activities (less than 1% of wood from Ile-de-France forests is processed in the region). This has led to a breakdown in the value chain between the upstream and downstream parts of the industry.
Finally, as the capital of France, the Île-de-France region is a major consumer base. Regional production of energy and materials is unable to meet the region's needs. These challenges are particularly acute in the construction sector, which requires large volumes of wood, particularly softwood, whereas 94% of the region's forests are hardwood. The viability and development of the sector thus depend on the coordination of players at supra-regional level.
These various factors may represent obstacles to the development of the forestry-wood industry in the Paris Region, but they are not insurmountable barriers. They simply require targeted action - in particular, increased investment in wood-processing industries in the Paris Region and coordination at inter-regional level - to remedy them.
Today, wood accounts for around 5% of total housing construction in Ile-de-France, which is lower than the national average and half that of Alsace, where a wood culture exists. Francilbois is trying to involve all players in a systemic change of culture, because building with wood is not the same as building with concrete. This means transforming the "software" of the entire chain of players.
How do I become a member?
To become a member, simply contact us at contact@francilbois.fr. We'll then send you the membership package, adapted to the structure concerned. You can also visit the Francilbois website, which will be revamped in September by becoming
www.fibois-idf.fr.
Do you think wood is a material of the future?
It's obvious to me. Wood offers many advantages in the construction sector.
Wood, and more broadly bio-sourced materials, are part of the solution to the challenges of sustainable development. Natural, renewable and carbon sinks, these solutions enable us to build low-carbon buildings, neighborhoods and cities that are more respectful of the environment and people. This material represents an essential opportunity to meet the objectives of carbon neutrality (carbon storage in forests and in the material, substitution for materials that emit more carbon), as well as energy renovation of buildings (high thermal efficiency). The RE 2020 environmental regulations, which will succeed the RT 2012 thermal regulations, should encourage the use of this material, taking into account the carbon footprint of construction.
The appeal of wood is even greater in the Paris region, where 70,000 new homes are to be built every year over the next fifteen years, along with a host of new facilities in an already dense urban environment. This is where prefabricated wood solutions (dry process) become a decisive asset: two-thirds of the process is carried out in the factory, which also reduces water consumption and inconvenience to neighbors, as well as cutting construction times.
As a source of innovation and an industry rooted in short supply chains, the use of French wood not only optimizes the use of an abundant, locally available resource, in a spirit of interdependence between the various links in the chain, but also contributes to the renewal of French forests. This optimization leads to the revitalization and relocation of high value-added activities (processing) and goes hand in hand with the growth of jobs that cannot be relocated... and a virtuous local economic spiral.
Many thanks to Céline Laurens for taking the time to answer our questions!