The ARE project located in Norway creates wooden building elements using wood from local spruce and pine trees. These trees capture about 1.8 tons of CO2 during their growth period. As they die and decompose or are cut for economic reasons, this CO2 gets released into the air. The ARE project prevents this release by converting the wood collected from these trees into glulam, a special type of laminated construction timber that can store the carbon for 50 years. Glulam is used to make roof trusses, joists, and other pre-cut wall elements for building construction. The project ensures that the local forests used to make glulam are sustainably managed and new trees are replanted, following Puro.earth’s Wooden Building Elements methodology. However, because glulam is used in areas of northern Europe where burning of wood used in construction is illegal, waste glulam-based materials end up getting converted into soil amendments and insulation materials, increasing the period for which the CO2 remains stored in the wood.  ARE’s emissions in the production of glulam are performed in accordance to ISO 14067 certification standards and are independently verified regularly. The project helps reduce the dependence of the construction industry on endemic trees by providing alternate building materials to wood and timber.