-More than 85% of the structure made in PEFC-certified wood-

OSAKA, May 15, 2025 /ANSA=Kyodo JBN/--

The Italy Pavilion is the structure with the highest percentage of wood coming from sustainably managed forests, in relation to its volume, as part of the sustainability policy of Expo 2025 Osaka.

Such excellence was reported by the organizers of the universal exhibition who summoned PEFC Italy  (Programme for the endorsement of forest certification schemes), or the Italian branch of the agency outlining the rules for the sustainability and traceability of forest products.

“We had a meeting with pavilion representatives”, explained Antonio Brunori, secretary general of PEFC Italy.

“Out of 60 structures, 24 were in wood, and out of these 24 only six” were built with wood supplied from sustainably managed forests, explained Brunori.

He added that, “out of the six, Italy had the highest quantity of wood and came top in terms of traceability and sustainability”.

In detail, out of the construction’s 742,57 cubic metres, the Italy Pavilion used 529,5 cubic metres of PEFC-certified laminated beams (in pine and red spruce).

In addition, the structure has 102,31 cubic metres of X-Lam wood panels, certified as legal and local, and an additional 110,76 square metres of plywood.

In total, 631,81 square metres out of 742,57, or 85.1% of the total, are built with certified wood – the highest percentage used in Expo’s facilities.

The Italy Pavilion “is entirely in wood, 100% PEFC-certified wood, 60% of which comes from Austria and 40% from Japanese forests”, said Marco Bussone, president of PEFC Italy.

As an example, the Grand Ring, one of the largest wooden architectural structures in the world, was built with 27,000 cubic metres of wood, of which 7,000 were used for the roof – 100% PEFC certified - and 4,500 with laminated timber from Fukushima.

Built on a project by Studio Cucinella, the pavilion highlights the excellence of Italian design through the use of wood coming from local or at least certified supply chains, symbolizing a responsible management of forest resources.

The architecture firm, in fact, with the project tried to “privilege the use of one of the most highly available local resources – wood coming from local and certified suppliers”.

Source: General Commissioner’s Office of Italy for Expo 2025 Osaka