For more than a century, countries have raced to build the world\u2019s tallest buildings with concrete and steel. Now, a quiet contest in constructing tall wooden buildings, from Amsterdam to Tokyo, underlines growing environmental concerns over concrete.<\/p>\n
With rapid advances in engineered wood, and authorities relaxing building codes, wooden structures are sprouting across Europe, Canada, the United States, and in the Asia Pacific region.<\/p>\n
At 73 meters (240 ft), Amsterdam\u2019s Haut building is said to be the world\u2019s tallest wooden residential tower.<\/p>\n
Vancouver plans a 40-storey building it says will be the world\u2019s tallest, a title also claimed by Sumitomo Forestry\u2019s 350-metre skyscraper in Tokyo.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe interest is definitely being driven by environmental concerns – the amount of damage we\u2019re doing with concrete is unbelievable,\u201d said John Hardy, a sustainability expert in Bali, Indonesia.<\/p>\n
\u201cBamboo and wood are carbon sequestering materials. So the other advantage of building with them is that you will look better to your children and grandchildren,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Construction of office towers, bridges, airports and highways is booming in developing nations across the world.<\/p>\n
The manufacture of steel, concrete and brick accounts for about 16% of global fossil-fuel consumption – and up to 30% when transport and assembly of the materials is considered, according to the Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies.<\/p>\n
Concrete is also blamed for rampant sand mining, which has damaged the environment and hurt livelihoods in Southeast Asia.<\/p>\n
In addition, an abundance of concrete has worsened urban flooding, and made cities hotter, environmentalists say.<\/p>\n
In contrast, wood requires fewer fossil fuels to transport and assemble, and also effectively stores large amounts of carbon – trapped as the trees grew – for years, helping curb emissions, said Andy Buchanan, professor of timber design at the University of Canterbury in New Zealand.<\/p>\n
MORE ATTRACTIVE<\/p>\n
Each cubic meter of timber used in construction stores a carbon equivalent of over 900 kilograms (2,000 pounds) of CO2 emissions, meaning a reduction of 135 kg-360 kg of CO2 emissions per square meter of floor area, said Buchanan.<\/p>\n
Innovations such as glue-laminated timber, laminated veneer lumber, and cross laminated timber – strips of wood glued together to make beams – are creating more uses for structural timber in residential and commercial projects, he said.<\/p>\n
Structural timber is much lighter than concrete, cuts risks in earthquakes and can \u201ccreate far more attractive interiors\u201d, he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs tall timber buildings become more popular, the perceived disadvantages – fire safety, durability and the supply chain – are being overcome with good design, excellent case study buildings, and technology for engineered-wood products.\u201d<\/p>\n
Examples are easy to find, from London\u2019s nine-story residential Stadthaus to Melbourne\u2019s 10-storey Forte apartment building.<\/p>\n
A 54-metre wooden building in Vancouver that was thought to be the world\u2019s tallest was quickly overtaken by an 85-metre tower in Norway.<\/p>\n
Amsterdam\u2019s 73-metre Haut will begin handing over its 55 apartments from 2021. Vancouver\u2019s planned 40-storey building will include 200 flats, while the 70-storey Tokyo tower is slated to be completed by 2041.<\/p>\n
\u201cNew technology, combined with accurate computer fabrication, now enables a wooden building to be assembled incredibly fast, like a giant piece of flat-packed furniture,\u201d said Andrew Lawrence, a timber specialist\u00a0at Arup, which designed Haut.<\/p>\n
\u201cWood is ideally suited for lower rise buildings, but it is really exciting that engineers and architects worldwide are experimenting with the use of wood for taller structures,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Such buildings are particularly suited to cities, where buildings are constantly being adapted and refurbished for new uses, said Eleena Jamil, a Malaysian architect who has designed residential and commercial structures with bamboo and wood.<\/p>\n
\u201cCities go through fast-paced changes. The advantage of using bamboo and timber is that they are easy to dismantle, reuse and adapt, compared to concrete,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
But with excessive logging and deforestation already a problem in many Southeast Asian countries, it is important to balance demand for wood with \u201ctighter regulations and more efficient management of forests,\u201d she cautioned.<\/p>\n
WOOD FIRST
\nUnder pressure to act on a material that produces 7% of the world\u2019s carbon dioxide emissions, cement manufacturers also have been experimenting with lower-carbon concrete.<\/p>\n
Authorities in several U.S. states are exploring the use of carbon-injected concrete that will use less cement while trapping carbon emissions.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, policy initiatives are hastening the move to wood from steel and concrete.<\/p>\n
In New Zealand\u2019s Christchurch, where authorities have encouraged a more environment-friendly approach after a 2011 earthquake that flattened much of the central business district, timber is a favored material.<\/p>\n
The city, which creates about 600,000 square meters of new buildings each year, has the opportunity to store the equivalent of 30,000-200,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions per year if all new buildings were made of wood, said Buchanan.<\/p>\n
Regions including British Columbia and Tasmania have adopted a \u201cwood first\u201d or \u201cwood encouragement\u201d policy that requires building designers to show that they have considered wood as an option.<\/p>\n
Japan has a law to promote use of wood in public materials.<\/p>\n
Such policies are \u201cprobably the most effective to encourage greater use of wood as a construction material, especially if supported through a carbon encouragement grant\u201d, Buchanan said.<\/p>\n
But the decision to use wood must be a considered one, said Amy Chow, a designer in Hong Kong who curated a show on wood, paper and bamboo.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou can\u2019t start off saying: let\u2019s build this out of wood,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt has to be the culmination of a process to determine what works best in that context, what is most sustainable, cost effective and efficient,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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