Our method · Biobased construction material · CO₂ removal
Constructing biobased foundations with PEFC-certified wooden foundation piles
Replace polluting concrete driven piles with biobased building material: PEFC-certified spruce trunks that are driven into the ground as foundation piles. Once below the groundwater table, the decay process stops and the CO₂ is removed for over 100 years.
Our approach in a nutshell
Three steps to permanent CO₂ removal
PEFC-certified Spruce
We use Norway spruce trunks from PEFC-certified forests. The wooden piles are traceable and meet PEFC standards.
Anoxic storage
The wooden piles are placed vertically into the ground down to deep anoxic (oxygen-free) soil layers. Without oxygen, the wood does not oxidize and the CO₂ remains permanently removed.
Age-old methodology
We revive a centuries-old foundation technique in service of the climate. The Royal Palace on Dam Square has been resting on wooden piles for more than 750 years, and Venice for more than 1500 years!
Underground Forest Method
How a wooden pile foundation works
Entry point of the spruce log, PEFC-certified wood
The transition to permanently saturated soil
No oxygen → no oxidation → permanent CO₂ removal. Here rests the top of our wooden pile, safe and far below the groundwater table.
Proven historical example
Venice rests on ±10 million wooden piles, which are in the ground for over 1,000 years without decay.
Context & relevance
Why does this matter?
Construction emissions
The construction sector accounts for nearly 40% of all fossil emissions worldwide, with concrete production making up a significant share.
Abandoned technique reintroduced
Around 1940 wooden foundations were abandoned as concrete proved cheaper. We reintroduce it at industrial scale as a climate solution.
Years of permanent removal
Our method permanently removes carbon from the atmosphere in a scalable, industrial way, for 100+ years.
By reintroducing foundations with wooden piles, the construction sector permanently removes CO₂ from the atmosphere in a scalable, industrial way.
Common questions
Two questions we often hear
Isn't it wasteful to bury good wood instead of building with it?
In a sustainably managed forest, only around 70% of the annual regrowth is harvested, and of that timber only about 30% goes into construction — the rest is burned or left to rot, releasing its CO₂ either way. So there is enough sustainably harvested wood for both building and burying; it is not a choice between the two.
Shouldn't we be planting more trees instead of cutting them down?
A healthy forest needs room to breathe. We strategically remove only mature trees — at most 2% per cycle of a PEFC-certified forest — so new seedlings get light and space to grow. For every tree we harvest, roughly five new ones are planted. The forest keeps absorbing carbon, and the harvested trunk becomes a permanent carbon vault.
Want to know more about our approach?
Explore our additionality, MRV and certification processes.