You can’t help but wonder why we don’t make use of wood to build skyscrapers when we use the same for residential buildings. Well, the reason is because wood isn’t as strong as steel, burns easily, and isn’t sustainable. Not to mention, termites and wood worms would be having a feast. But this hasn’t seemed to stop architects from Canada’s Vancouver from planning to build a gigantic 30-storied wooden skyscraper. The undertaking won’t be easy but we’re eagerly waiting to see the result.
While wood is eco friendly if harvested from sustainable sources, it falls short of meeting modern housing and commercial requirements. For a skyscraper to be built and withstand both time and weather conditions, it needs to be strong enough to support its own weight. After a couple of floors, wood just can’t deal with that unlike concrete which can bear the weight of many levels.
However, using large pieces of glued laminated timber can be the solution for these problems. Laminated timber, also known as Glulam, is a type of timber made of many layers of dimensioned timber stuck together with moisture resistant adhesives which makes it durable. This results in timber that is strong and lightweight which can be used as horizontal beams or vertical columns. Laminated timber is also the only manufactured or engineered wood that can be produced in curved shapes which offers builders and designers unlimited design flexibility.
Wood in actuality has far more tensile strength as compared to steel, as much as twice on a strength to weight basis plus better compressive resistance than concrete.
The Canadian architects may have just set a precedent to building skyscrapers from wood. If sourced from sustainable areas, it is far more eco friendly than concrete which gives out approximately 9 kilograms of carbon dioxide for every 10 kilograms of cement used.
Via: Dvice
