Poster- The Sustainability of Tall Wood Buildings
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The Sustainability of Tall Wood Buildings Today’s world calls for us to become more environmentally friendly and innovative, yet the thought of using wood over concrete and steel calls a lot of questions into play as to just how effective and sustainable these buildings would be. The purpose of this poster is to show that a primarily wooden structure can, in fact, be much more sustainable and environmentally friendly in the long run. Will these buildings be sustainable in the long run? Wood has been used for hundreds of years for buildings and has survived, e.g. 7 &10 storey buildings of heavy timber constructed 100 years ago in Vancouver, the Horyu-ji temple in Japan, built in the 7 th Century and still standing safely, and their 19 storey Pagodas built 1,400 years ago in wet, high seismic climates. How will these buildings fare against the elements- Fire, rain, etc.? The buildings are all equipped with automatic sprinklers, have 2-hour fire resistance and the wood is engineered with charring or encapsulation methods. Wooden buildings have also seemed to fare well throughout history Are they more expensive and difficult to build than typical buildings? Price estimations in various parts of Canada show that Mass Timber buildings are similar in costs to concrete buildings of the same dimensions. They are also quicker to build given that many of the pieces come pre-fabricated and just need to be set in place. Are they really sustainable, considering they create a huge demand for wood, causing huge deforestation? While there is a large demand for wood, with sustainable forest management deforestation will decrease. This method will help with climate change challenges as wood not only reduces GHG emissions in comparison to the emissions concrete/steel creates, it stores it until its end of life. Are they suitable for building high-rise, or are they only suited to medium and low-rise buildings? There are currently only low and medium-rise buildings however Michael Green has done extensive research into high-rise (30storey) buildings. They have shown that these buildings are possible to build safely and sustainably, but currently many countries have caps on how tall Mass Timber buildings can be constructed to. References: •Green, M. (2012) The Case for Tall Wood Buildings: How mass timber offers a safe, economical, and environmentally friendly alternative for tall building structures . Vancouver, Canada: mgb Architecture + Design. Available at: http://www.ctbuh.org/LinkClick.aspx? fileticket=%2bEVgny1u6AE%3d&tabid=5831&language=en-GB [Downloaded: 10 November 2014]. •Thytye, T. (2013) Horyu-ji Temple [Photograph]. Japan: Worldsgreatestsites.com . Available at: http://www.4gress.com/sights/entry/100079.html [Downloaded on: 11 November 2014] •Pryce, W. (2009) Stadthaus [Photograph]. London: Waugh Thistleton Architecture. Available at: http://www.e-architect.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/stadthaus-murray- grove-319x400.jpg [Downloaded on: 10 November 2014]. •mgb Architecture + Design (2012). Option 2 illustrated with a glulam curtain wall and podium base [Image]. Vancouver: mgb Architecture + Design. Available at: http://media.treehugger.com/assets/images/2012/03/exterior2.jpg [Downloaded on: 10 November 2014]. “Mass Timber structures can meet relevant structural design criteria and fire and life safety needs, and do so within cost competitive marketplace conditions.” Will Pryce (2009) mgb ACHITECTURE + DESIGN (2012) By: Áine Bourke (111380481) Conclusion: Through the sustainable management of forests and correct safety procedures, it seems that Mass Timber buildings would be a very sustainable way of construction that could drastically help with GHG emissions and climate change challenges of today. Timothy Thytye(2013)
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Transcript of Poster- The Sustainability of Tall Wood Buildings
The Sustainability of Tall Wood Buildings Today’s world calls for us to become more
environmentally friendly and innovative, yet the thought of using wood over concrete and steel calls a lot of questions into play as to just how effective and sustainable these buildings would be. The purpose of this poster is to show that a primarily wooden structure can, in fact, be much more sustainable and environmentally friendly in the long run.
Will these buildings be sustainable in the long run?Wood has been used for hundreds of years for buildings and has survived, e.g. 7 &10 storey buildings of heavy timber constructed 100 years ago in Vancouver, the Horyu-ji temple in Japan, built in the 7th Century and still standing safely, and their 19 storey Pagodas built 1,400 years ago in wet, high seismic climates.
How will these buildings fare against the elements- Fire, rain, etc.? The buildings are all equipped with automatic sprinklers, have 2-hour fire resistance and the wood is engineered with charring or encapsulation methods. Wooden buildings have also seemed to fare well throughout history surviving monsoon weather.
Are they more expensive and difficult to build than typical buildings?Price estimations in various parts of Canada show that Mass Timber buildings are similar in costs to concrete buildings of the same dimensions. They are also quicker to build given that many of the pieces come pre-fabricated and just need to be set in place.
Are they really sustainable, considering they create a huge demand for wood, causing huge deforestation?While there is a large demand for wood, with sustainable forest management deforestation will decrease. This method will help with climate change challenges as wood not only reduces GHG emissions in comparison to the emissions concrete/steel creates, it stores it until its end of life.
Are they suitable for building high-rise, or are they only suited to medium and low-rise buildings? There are currently only low and medium-rise buildings however Michael Green has done extensive research into high-rise (30storey) buildings. They have shown that these buildings are possible to build safely and sustainably, but currently many countries have caps on how tall Mass Timber buildings can be constructed to.
References: •Green, M. (2012) The Case for Tall Wood Buildings: How mass timber offers a safe, economical, and environmentally friendly alternative for tall building structures. Vancouver, Canada: mgb Architecture + Design. Available at: http://www.ctbuh.org/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=%2bEVgny1u6AE%3d&tabid=5831&language=en-GB [Downloaded: 10 November 2014].•Thytye, T. (2013) Horyu-ji Temple [Photograph]. Japan: Worldsgreatestsites.com . Available at: http://www.4gress.com/sights/entry/100079.html [Downloaded on: 11 November 2014]•Pryce, W. (2009) Stadthaus [Photograph]. London: Waugh Thistleton Architecture. Available at: http://www.e-architect.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/stadthaus-murray-grove-319x400.jpg [Downloaded on: 10 November 2014].•mgb Architecture + Design (2012). Option 2 illustrated with a glulam curtain wall and podium base [Image]. Vancouver: mgb Architecture + Design. Available at: http://media.treehugger.com/assets/images/2012/03/exterior2.jpg [Downloaded on: 10 November 2014].
“Mass Timber structures can meet relevant structural design criteria and fire and life safety needs, and do so within cost competitive marketplace conditions.”
Will Pryce (2009)
mgb ACHITECTURE + DESIGN (2012)
By: Áine Bourke (111380481)
Conclusion:Through the sustainable management of forests and correct safety procedures, it seems that Mass Timber buildings would be a very sustainable way of construction that could drastically help with GHG emissions and climate change challenges of today.Timothy Thytye(2013)
