Mass Timber, is it all that it's hyped to be in architecture and construction? Is it Eco friendly?
Mass Timber, is it all that it's hyped to be in architecture and construction? Is it Eco friendly?
by Nima Nikroo
What is Mass Timber?
Made of multiple layers of wood that are glued, nailed, or dowelled together, forming a strong material that can be used to create large structural panels, posts, beams, columns, etc.
What's its promise?
Often used in type IV buildings, but also in any construction that allows wood. Mass Timber can have a high strength-to-weight ratio resulting in better performance during both tension and compression events because of how its form. (wood grains are layered perpendicular to each other).
It's also fire resistant and sequencers CO2.
But how? Wood isn't fire resistant and deforestation isn't eco-friendly...
While traditional wood construction can easily burn through the grain, and steel construction can easily melt; Mass timber has a unique feature where the fire burning on the outside creates a layer of ash and soot on the outer layer of the material. This in turn becomes a barrier preventing oxygen from further entering the wood grain and choking the fire out from the structural core.
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But how is deforestation eco-friendly?
Never said it was, but mass timber is more eco-friendly than concrete or steel. Whereas other building materials cannot be replenished after it's mined. Wood can, by replanting more tree's that are removed or cut down.
By using sustainable trees that grow faster, take in more CO2, and entrap them within the wood, we can rebuild our aging cities with mass timber.
- Bamboo - grows 20' per week in a year's time
- Hybrid Poplar - can grow 40' in 3 year
- Black Locus - can grow 3' per year
- Empress Splendor - can grow 10-20' in its first year
Even better, there are scientists and companies working on genetically modified trees using genes from pumpkin and green algae to enhance how trees can grow faster, use less water, take in more CO2 from the atmosphere, and draw in more metals from the soil to entrap the CO2 more effectively in the wood.
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What do you think about mass timber?