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Canadian high rise shows that wood is a workable replacement for concrete

For a long time now, the construction industry has been using concrete and steel. Architects stopped using wood altogether after concrete was discovered. But in lieu of the global warming crisis, many have started to think out of the box, bringing wood back into the picture as a viable alternative. Up till now wood was only used to construct low rise buildings but plans for lofty towers are in development. Micheal Green has a designed a 30 story wooden high rise in Vancouver.

wooden skyscraper

As cutting down trees to source wood is not such a good, the plan entails using wood obtained through sustainable means. What’s great is that carbon emissions can be minimized greatly by using wood as the manufacturing of steel and concrete will be reduced. Plans for similar structures are underway in Austria and Norway too. Also, the common bottlenecks associated with the plan have been cracked. For instance, will wooden structures be tough and fire resistant?

To make this wooden structure withstand fires, large chunks of wood will be used instead of thin and undersized pieces. These thin slices will be glued together to form heavyset slabs. Now, you have wooden building blocks that are fire resistant, light and also tough. Combine these slabs at right angles and you have a really robust structure. In case of a fire, only the outside of the wood will get scorched. This seared bit will then prevent the fire from spreading to the rest of the structure. This is just what happens in forest fires, where the tall trees survive the conflagration while the shorter ones get burnt out. Along with the fact that these structures are more eco friendly, they can also be built at a lower cost, which is great considering the shaky economic climate at present.

Via: CNN/ Dvice

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