New Uses for Wood in Construction

Wood is a versatile construction material. It has been used for thousands of years. It has low embodied energy compared to many other building materials, and it serves to sequester carbon. But, compared with steel, it is relatively weak, and that, combined with its inherent combustability, has meant that wood is not used for structures more than a few stories tall. Now, a new development in wood construction called cross-laminated timber (CLT) is making new possibilities available in wood construction.

Cross-laminated timber panels are like massive plywood boards. Instead of shaving a log into a veneer and then gluing it together to make a board a few eighths of an inch thick, a CLT panel is made from pieces of sawn wood and is several inches thick. Like plywood, alternating layers are laid perpendicular to one another, so that the finished panel is stronger and more dimensionally stable than plain wood would be.

Because the panels are many inches thick, there is an inherent fire resistance to the material, which, in the event of a fire, will char on the outside but will not burn through quickly. Construction with CLT is also faster and requires fewer workers and lighter equipment, which can make construction more affordable.

The Stadhaus is a 9-story residential building in London which was built using CLT and is the tallest modern building constructed with wood. At present, CLT is primarily a European development, but fabrication plants are under construction in the US, and CLT panels should start to be available within a couple of years.

image: Wood in Design

via: JetsonGreen and BC Forestry

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