The seemingly radical idea of building a skyscraper out of wood is not so strange after all, as architect Michael Green is quick to point out, because of two main advantages wood has over concrete and steel-it's eco-friendly and cost effective. Here's more on Vancouver's Tallwood project:
‘Tallwood’ would be made of large panels of ‘laminated strand lumber’—a composite made by gluing together strands of wood.
Trees are a renewable resource, and they help to reduce air pollution. Sourcing from sustainably-managed forests could be deemed more environmentally sensitive, according to CNN.
Unlike concrete—which produces about 6-9kg of carbon dioxide for every 10kg of concrete—wood sucks carbon out of the atmosphere.
And contrary to popular belief, wood actually is quite fire-resistant.
“It may sound counter-intuitive, but performing well in a fire is something inherent in large pieces of wood, that’s why in forest fires the trees that survive are the largest ones,” Green said.
I don't know why, but the preliminary photos of this project remind me of the tabletop game Jenga...
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-Even up to very high temps.
By contrast, in buildings with steel, it just gets hot, warps and buckles. Iirc, there have even been a few where it got hot enough to partially melt some of the steel.
-Cousin of state licensed fire-inspector, who is a graduate of many courses and friend of several firefighters.
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+Oh, and don't buy a house where the roof is made of trusses, no matter what they say, the nail-plates heat up, pop off, and the roof just caves in.