The Power of Building with Engineered Wood
January 10, 2017
Text by John Mastera
As an architect, builder or homeowner, you are often looking for a material that is the answer to your prayers, a product that is strong, easy to install and has structural integrity. Do you possibly ask for it to be beautiful at the same time?
Well you can, because wood is the answer. But not just any woodâengineered or cross-laminated timber to be exact. Itâs a layered wood that provides immense strength all within a lightweight wood board. Building with engineered wood offers many benefits because itâs fast, accurate, and fire resistant thanks to the way wood chars. A thick plank of wood will char on the outside, sealing the wood inside from damage while its metal counterpart begins to melt.
Our changing climate demands that we think more carefully about building with a low carbon footprint. Like any crop, wood is renewable, so itâs sustainable. We can plant more trees, but if we canât find more iron ore, we wonât have more steel. Concrete and steel require much more energy to produce and transport as well. Wood is five times more insulative than concrete and 350 times more so than steel. That means less energy is needed to heat and cool a wood building.
Though it may seem aesthetically unique, there is a ten-story wood high-rise building going up along the High Line in New York City. The design won the U.S. Tall Wood Building Prize competition sponsored by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and two lumber trade groups. The building will be made of engineered wood that will have excellent fireproofing ability and will be of sturdy construction. Meanwhile, timber skyscrapers are planned for Sweden, Canada and Austria.
In Chicago, an outdoor pavilion features a self-supporting roof made of engineered wood.
Engineered wood allows architects to create structural shapes that wouldnât be possible with standard lumber. Additionally, itâs strong, pliable and water resistant making it an ideal material for a pergola or canopy roof design. Using high quality wood species give a beautiful warm quality to the structure to expose the woods beauty and patterns.
When looking for the new thing you should consider looking at this building staple reimagined for contemporary building.
Article resources: Popular Science âThe World Most Advanced Building Material IsâŚWoodâ 2/6/14,  Untappedcities.com âShop Architects to Bring NYCâs First High Rise Building to Chelseaâ 1/29/16, Dezeen.com âArchitects Embrace the Beginning of the Timber Ageâ 11/9/15
John R Mastera is an internationally recognized leader in architecture, education, and design. He has been practicing in New Canaan, Connecticut for over 25 years.
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