Sweden, like Canada, has an abundance of forests. But unlike Canada, the Scandinavian country is starting to take advantage of its natural resource to prefabricate timber buildings of all types and sizes. Swedish developer Folkhem is one of those leading the charge, illustrating the environmental advantages of wood construction. But there are other reasons for choosing wood. Folkhem’s Strandparken, a 34-unit twin eight-storey housing complex just outside Stockholm, was built with cross-laminated timber (CLT) in seven months, largely because 80 per cent of the development was prefabricated — right down to the insulated walls and windows, Sandra Frank, the company’s marketing director, told delegates during a panel seminar recently at the Toronto Wood Solutions Fair. She said it takes Swedish forests only about one minute to produce the wood (120 cubic metres) required to the build Strandparken.