How We Engineered Incredible Wooden Buildings

The first 100 people to use code UNDECIDED at the link below will get 60% off of Incogni: incogni.com/undecided Aside from a concrete garage and elevator shafts, Ascent Milwaukee is a 25 story-tall building constructed almost entirely from wood, making it the tallest mass timber building in the world. It might not hold this title for long though because wooden skyscrapers are rapidly growing in popularity due to a host of benefits including sustainability. But how are wooden skyscrapers possible? And isn’t it a little foolish to make a timber tower when a little thing called “fire” exists?
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[@UndecidedMF]

Is wood a good skyscraper material? The first 100 people to use code UNDECIDED at the link below will get 60% off of Incogni: incogni.com/undecided Watch the full interview with Jason Korb here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/oquznap3rZ6Haqc If you liked this, check out Why Are Floating Wind Turbines So Huge? kzbin.info/www/bejne/bmSpoqSchKmgo8k

[@eliinthewolverinestate6729]

Not a fan of glulam wood. It freezes at different temps and needs to expand and contract. Then you get splitting. That is on 3 ply and 4 ply post for post framed buildings. They need to turn one of those plies 90 degrees. I do like the glulam sailboat mast. They are made in an octagon shape. We grow more wood now in same amount of area in C.F.A. lands. Commercial building codes with timber post don't need fire suppression. It's why houses burn to the ground while trees are still standing after wildfires. A steel beam collapses under it's own weight in 15 minutes at 1400F. A 1400F wildfire takes 5 hours to burn an 8 inch round log. I actually build timber frames. I am using x2 2x12's glulamed with tenons under my 6x6 beams to get my needed square inches of header. Glulam started with people making their own timbers on a job site. The newer mass timbers have insulation and thermals breaks built into them. Like the log homes with insulation in the center of the logs. They way we build houses is meant to cost people money every month. With better passive solar designs you can eliminate such housing cost.

[@SacGeoTV]

And Bamboo 👈🏼✅ replaces tree wood w/ ONLY 2-years growth, and with higher strength.

[@julianshepherd2038]

They get blown away. By wolves.

[@MorningAspirations]

Nucor Steel has a new steel that is 0 emnmisions, look into it, pretty cool.

[@digiryde]

This is a great topic to stay on top of. I have been following this for years. There are definitely some interesting challenges in providing enough material, but that is something that can be overcome with time in many places. What I do see as a potential future path is actually building these in standardized "Lego" style bricks and components, which lends itself to mass manufacturing and the benefits that come with that. Doing this allows building to be designed much more easily and make the lost piece issue a non-issue. This is a good path forward for many reasons, and due to the nature of wood products weight, strength, and relative ease of use, this could reduce prices and shortages globally. That is if the companies let that happen.

[@HopefullyUnoptimistic]

3:37 One notable problem with this sort of replanting is that the replanted trees are often a mono-culture. From the perspective of a logging company it makes sense, mono-cultures are easier to harvest, you get all the same type of wood which makes the structural properties of engineered timber products more consistent, and you can pick fast-growing trees like the pine being planted at 4:07 . Mono-cultures have significant problems as well, the most notable being disease, pest, and sometimes drought resistance.

[@Potrimpo]

That was one of my concerns.

[@CNR_ADMS]

Came to the comments to make the same point. Many Mono-cultures are at the expense of old-growth forests, making the ecological argument that wood frame structures are environmentally viable, due to the swathes of mono-cultured forests required to support it... Isn't really the full picture.

[@timwildauer5063]

True, but that’s on the company that plants them. If those pests/diseases crop up, that company has to deal with it. They’re directly incentivized to avoid those issues. It’s not like a city that plants all one kind of tree and 20 years later they all die and no one has to do anything about it.

[@UndecidedMF]

Correct. These aren't trees that are meant to grow wild forever. They're a crop that they're going to cut down again, replant, regrow, etc. The company is going to be very interested in maintaining a healthy crop. BUT ... I do get the concern about large monoculture crops of trees in a region. There are other knock-on effects on the local ecosystem to be concerned about.

[@Zantsak]

I have the same concern. In my region, the plantations are nearly decimating the water table. This has severe knock-on effects downstream. The wood used is fast-growing and is meant for paper, but any industrial application of timber will be problematic.

[@john38825]

My first thought wasn't fire, it's humidity and water leaks. If a pipe goes a few days with a small leak then the lumber by it's self would absorb the water and rot causing structural issues. I know with wood finishings on boats, it's never the salt water that causes rot but freashwater from rain, and I see a building full of pipes of clean water and I only see a problem waiting to happen.

[@WolfeSaber9933]

You could just cover the outside like any other building for protection against rain, and the wood finishings for the inside against leaks from the pipes.

[@ThePentosin]

Wood doesn't rot from beeing wet for a few days. It rots from beeing moist for long periods. Leaks happens, but it's fixable.

[@anoukk_]

Concrete doesn't like leaks over long periods of time either. Leaks in general can cause severe damage to a building. There are probably differences but I don't see there not being solutions.

[@john38825]

@@WolfeSaber9933 I never thought it would be exposed to the elements, but for normal 1-2 story residential buildings with wood frames don't use any water resistance coatings on them because it's protected by the house. But their are tons of cases of of wood rotting from AC units having issues and the water pans leaking or a leaky pipe giving a slow constant leak. At my house due to a small leak under the kitchen sink it seeped into the subfloor and joists causing thousands in water damage. I've never heard of wood that goes inside a building where no water should go being finished to prevent water damage.

[@WolfeSaber9933]

@@john38825 The construction method in the video goes with layers, meaning that some of the wood is sacrificed to protect the others. Plus, you can also treat the wood to resist the water.

[@PeterRanieriII]

structural engineer here - we've had a few mass timber projects come through, unfortunately, none were ever built. The reason is always the same, when it actually goes out to bid the cost is significantly higher to build than CIP, block and plank, steel and plank so the people footing the bill always choose to go with the more trusted and cheaper method. Also, it is very difficult to design these engineered lumber builds since everything is custom sized. There are no "guidelines" in place yet and wood is difficult to model its behavior, especially with regard to the connections that are not standardized. in summary, you need extra time and money to do this as well as take on extra risk, its going to take some time for this to gain traction

[@SxWerks]

Sourcing is limited so bids aren’t competitive. Construction is faster so there is quicker delivery to market and less financing. There needs to be more fabricators available and a more streamlined production system.

[@SxWerks]

@@charonstyxferryman Fabrication and production are already engineered. More buildings need to be made and demand increased so resource competition can be achieved.

[@godswillpeter5070]

If you ever need to hire someone I'm available

[@jessegriffin9]

Strand woven bamboo is 2x to 3x harder than hardwood. I would love to see a SWB skyscraper.

[@richard-gn3es]

Thats a cool idea

[@TrogdorBurnin8or]

It's "harder" in the sense that hardwood is semi-hollow cellulose fibers bound in lignin glue, and strand woven bamboo flooring is semi-hollow cellulose fibers bound in a bit of lignin but mostly a very hard type of epoxy. A general principle of building with wood is minimizing the epoxy/glue/resin content, because of its expense & flammability if not its carbon impact.

[@MasterBlaster3545]

@@TrogdorBurnin8orYea the flammability sounds about right with bamboo. It is rock hard and treating it with some sort of flame retardant seems like it would be a more difficult job than plywood. Maybe I am wrong thinking that.

[@angelotorrelli7478]

Should be interesting to see how to solve the fire issue.

[@GeshronTyler1]

I don't know about strand woven bamboo, but there certainly are species of bamboo that are used directly to build housing after harvesting/drying, before even getting into the potential for engineered bamboo products. And bamboo, even the "giant" species, are one of thd fastest growing plants on the planet. So reforestation is much less a concern.

[@mlssn]

I'm a structural engineer specialized in wood construction since the start of my career in 1998. I've been reading the comments below and I see the same questions in each and every project and thus far I haven't seen a single project that in real world usage had an issue with these things, it's all about the design. The big challenge now is communicating the knowledge across all disciplines in the construction industry. I try do my part by holding lectures at universities, trade shows and international summits. We try to openly share our technical solutions & knowhow with "competitors" in the engineering field, but we are a smallish company and our resources (time mostly) are unfortunately limited. Fire - a lot of research has gone into this area and as stated in the video the behavior of wood is well understood and there are several methods to use for the design that has been proven to work. There are 2 main design goals: Structural capacity & fire containment. These two requirements requires different solutions, so in many cases large part of the wood structure is clad in something non-combustible, to decrease the amount of burnable surface area in a fire compartment. Moisture - here there are also a lot of tools available for design. If you get damage from the technical installations in the building it's just a question of bad design. Modern wood buildings should be built with pipe-in-pipe systems with controlled drainage points. Bathrooms and similar areas you add water tight membranes and such to protect the structure. The time it takes for rot to develop to a point where it threatens the structural capacity in these large sections is months if not years, if it is well designed the water damage is readily apparent on room surfaces well before that and can be remedied. The biggest design challenge is our changing climate and designing for a future imaginary state where we could get problematic diffusion transport of moisture in the climate separating building parts and trap moisture inside these parts where it won't be discovered for years. Monocultures is a problem and there is no easy solution. Though the lumber used for structural applications needs to have different properties, compared to lumber used for pulp. This in turn opens up for less monocultures not more, since pulp is the dominating wood product today (in volume). For structural lumber it's just not about net production of cubic meters (or feet) of raw wood. It has to grow with the right properties, which favor slower growth and older forests, opening up for greater biodiversity in these forests. Add to this the need for lumber which is suitable for furniture or lumber for claddings and so on. The more uses we find for lumber, the less monocultures we will see, because different species of trees are good for different things.

[@briannelson4122]

My main concern with using a natural product is rot. Wood takes maintenance when exposed to the elements. It's often a reason for using/ not using wood in some projects. Absolutely love the look though!

[@TheCountess666]

Steel is really no different though. Also the structural parts of the building don't need to be expose to the elements at all. The outside can be any material you want.

[@Islander185]

I live not far from the ocean. Wood, especially the right type lasts a lot longer then steel here. But in the outback termites eat timber so everything is made of steel but it's so dry that it takes a very long time to corrode. Which is longer lasting really depends on on the location, but timber can hold up well.

[@memofromessex]

Sidenote - In the UK wooden residential buildings were effectively banned after the Great Fire of London. Then they began to be built and then Grenfell happened and they've been effectively banned - which is silly because the building was conventionally built and then wrapped in highly flammable illegal insulation. (Or that's at least my friend who works in engineering told me.)

[@nadeemchaudhry6585]

CLT was all set to be a game changer in UK construction. But as you said, we got hit the tragedy of Grenfell and rather than government learning and looking at alternatives like CLT. They seem to have run away from the technology, despite test after test proving the technology is cheaper, greener, faster and far superior to concrete and steel. Fingers crossed within 10 years, we see sense here in the UK and start to see more CLT buildings in the UK

[@smokeyninja9920]

Spurred me to do some reading, combustible siding, electrical insulation, and an air gap facilitated rapid spread of the fire, Uk parliament is due to release another report about Grenfell sometime in the next 5 months. In the aftermath, it was found there are a whole bunch of other buildings in the UK with the same kind of exterior siding/insulation. In 2019 there was the Bolton Cube fire, using a different siding material, but similarly burned rapidly, leading to expanding the search for dangerous conditions in buildings. There were many buildings built without proper fire deterrents, or having severe safety issues of another nature. In all to remedy the existing issues it's estimated the cost will exceed $15 billion.

[@crankfwd8209]

Grenfell was on my mind when designing my building, that I call a vertical suburb. That's a rough version on my thumbnail, but the finished version would have four fire escapes and sprinklers underneath every cantilever/platform to protect the unit below. The whole building is wrapped in a mesh, which lets in light and air, but keeps out rain and severe wind. So wood could be used for the units because they are protected from the elements. The mesh is tightened at the rear of the building, like a giant corset, and this helps stiffen the whole tower. I designed it as an alternative to the vast ugly housing estates we have in the UK which eat up our green spaces and require miles of new roads and streets to be built, just to get to each house. Unlike a block of flats, there is one 'house' to each level and the tower doesn't block out the sun at ground level because the mesh is transparent.

[@philiptaylor7902]

Prefabricated timber frame buildings are increasingly popular in the UK. Better insulated, quicker to construct and often cheaper than brick built. I don’t think there are any issues with fire safety.

[@Mallchad]

From memory Grenfells cladding was not up to fire safety spec, but it would've been tested by say, setting it on fire.. Which didn't work However, if you have a different thing on fire, and sits next to our user the cladding for a while, it gets hot enough to melt and the drips ended up being highly flammable. So it increased flame spread Wood is kinda similar, wood isn't very flammable but once it gets going it's really hard to stop. Same with metal.. Plastic burns readily in comparison

[@nicolasguinoiseau4168]

Its important to note that forest and tree farms are very different! Those grid shaped pin “forests “ we see at the beginning have a much lower biodiversity compare to a normal forest and they dont nearly have the same benefits (or amount of benefits). So increasing the amount of tree farms does not increase the amount of forests

[@zweigackroyd7301]

The footage was from North America. Other parts of the world have managed forests. Sure, a non-managed forest has significant benefits, but then what will we build with? The continued use of concrete and steel aren't particularly good for forests, either.

[@inurear]

What is overlooked too often is the glue the engineered wood uses. I imagine that it's neither a ignorable quantity of glue and the production of the glue has some environmental consequences.

[@mathalphabet5645]

Also the energy to produce those glued planks

[@MonkeyJedi99]

@@mathalphabet5645 Yeah, lots of milling, then the pressing and sometimes heat to make those composite wood products.

[@a-aron2276]

All of that is more than likely included in the calculations. They're all really basic steps.

[@Firth33300]

In glulam, you have about 2% of the weight of the beam that is glue. In CLT, it should be about 3% (Source: I work for a major CLT manufacturer). They are also working on bio sourced glue that could be made from chemicals naturally found in certain species of wood.

[@Firth33300]

​@@mathalphabet5645not that much energy, when you compare it with the energy for the components of concrete (part of it needs to be heated to 1300°C), and steel goes without saying.

[@mattymattffs]

Would be interesting to see how they hold up over the next decade or two. And what about other risks like water damage? Drain? Pests?

[@Firth33300]

Water damage is an issue, but wooden buildings are designed so that water doesn't stagnate anywhere (that's when the problems start). And wood is, most of the time, not vulnerable to fungi and insects unless it's damp. So if it is kept dry, it's safe. And it Can also be treated for a second layer of safety. Some 1000 years old timber buildings still stand, after all.

[@one_field]

I wondered this as well. I live in a log cabin in a humid warm temperate climate (Virginia, USA) where relative humidity is often above 80% and temperatures sit well over 70F for months, with high temps around 105F. Mold is a major problem and several of the log walls have had to be replaced over the years thanks to rot. Carpenter bees and termites are also a serious concern...

[@Firth33300]

@@one_field quite sure bees aren't a problem. Termites are and in areas prone to them, buildings usually have (and sometimes have to have) a protective layer on the ground to prevent them from reaching the timber. And yeah, sounds like walls not "inside" the livable areas in the kind of climate you have may not be a good idea! Look for Keylwerth diagram, and look at where the wood equilibrium is in your place. If it's over 30 : mold will naturally occur

[@one_field]

@@Firth33300 The carpenter bees, specifically, love soft wood and manufactured wood in our climate. The glue doesn't bother them and paint, even thick latex, barely makes a dent in their activity. Any wood structure needs serious protection from them here, or the boards are soon hollow shells. They fly as high as 35 feet so protection needs to extend that high. Pressure treated wood is just as susceptible to them; char and creosote are the only preservatives that I've seen really keep them from chewing on wood.

[@HeavyMetalorRockfan9]

@@one_field i wonder if they could char the engineered wood during production (or at install). Traditional japanese buildings (the ones that locked together like lego) were frequently intentionally charred during building to make them more resistant to the elements/wildlife

[@_NoName_314]

i have a few questions that weren't explored in this vod. 1) Longevity of the building 2) Humidity 3) Maintenance and replacement of degraded sections I have no idea of how good engineered lumber is. And if so, how good is for large buildings.

[@bryanmyers9977]

I wonder how two things would be dealt with: 1) termites... how do you tent a 20 story building? 2) how do you repair fire damage to structural members? You have a 40 inch piece of wood that now has the top inch or two charred which would smell like a campfire. Scrap and re-surface somehow? Or do they have a way to simply unbolt it and replace it with a whole new one?

[@robertbailey5239]

I would like you to do a video on smaller applications of mass timber construction, like 3 - 6 story apartments, shopping centers, and single family homes.

[@UndecidedMF]

Great suggestion!

[@markreed9853]

@@UndecidedMF ...add this to going to 3 story family homes with same floor area so less land is needed possibly saving costs?

[@amermeleitor]

@@UndecidedMF in my small city we have a great semi public gym with a basketball court, all entirely build with engineered wood and steel joints. It's a big structure overall, like a very big industrial shed with wood pillars and, well, everything made of wood. It's beautiful, with the pillars designed in a curve way. (The court is in the front and center, in the sides are the seats structure of 4 lines height (it's a small city), and more to both sides are gym rooms, with machines, free weights, or other activities, the second floor in the sides have small rooms that are not in use now. In the back in the first floor are the bathrooms, showers, lockers, dressing rooms, and in the second floor is a big room for dancing, yoga, or any other group activity)

[@MonkeyJedi99]

@@markreed9853 I live in a 3-story building that has 6 apartments and is wood-framed. There are a LOT of wood-frame 2 and 3 story apartment buildings in my state.

[@upnorthandpersonal]

@@UndecidedMF My log house here in Finland is built with engineered log (basically the same as what you talked about). It's also off-grid. If you're ever in this part of the world, and would be interested in seeing it, let me know.

[@thebuildreview]

Great video Matt!

[@danoneill8751]

"besides from concrete elevator shafts" I suspect the larger of those shafts does quite a lot structurally. Not discounting all the points about wood at all and clearly those parts far from the shafts must be supporting their weight, I just remember from uni that the elevator shafts are often a huge stiffener in the structure so might still be pretty vital for a very tall building.

[@deniskhafizov6827]

Wood has at least two massive disadvantages, that also go together well. First, wood piece sizes strongly depend on temperature and humidity. Huge forces of elasticity easily rip wood apart, not only producing noises or making wood weaker, but also opening a lot of crevices. Second, a plenty of species are great at inhabitng wood, both microscopic ones like mold and mushrooms and more conspicuous like wasps and woodworms. Especially the cracked wood. Together they can destroy wood quite fast.

[@fostena]

I wouldn't feel safe living in a wobbly fire hazard that doubles as pests' food. Maybe it's because I always lived in houses made of bricks, but wood is very counterintuitive to me

[@eDoc2020]

Wood expands perpendicular to the grain. Engineered wood products like plywood and CLT cross layers so the strength axis of one stops the next layer from expanding. This also eliminates most cracking and I don't think bugs like eating the glue that holds it together, especially if each layer has been treated. I'm not an expert by any means, but I do wonder how this susceptibility compares to steel's ability to rust.

[@eliinthewolverinestate6729]

I have noticed a few code changes in building. Can now use smoke detectors for boats and r.v. in residential builds. Which helps if offgrid and using d.c. power. Plan on building my cottage to run all d.c. appliances like a sail boat. They also are allowing foam board insulation under concrete floors. Which is great if you live in the north. That ground is always cold. It's why people in the far north build off the ground. By the equator I would want the ground to cool the house. Thermal breaks around the windows help too. Surprised they don't have premade thermal break corners. Most heat loss is around windows, doors, and corners. That's the main take aways I got from taking continuing education classes for contractors license.

[@PedroRafael]

I was not aware of this new/old construction material. Thank you for sharing!

[@davidcrook4814]

This reminds me of a story my college professor told us about the early space program - he was one of the very first engineers working on programs like Mercury, Gemini and classified gov't projects. He said they had investigated the idea of using wood as a heat shield for re-entering spacecraft. It worked because of the same charring phenomenon you discuss. It would protect the spacecraft from overheating, but due to the ablation effect of re-entry friction, they had to have a shield (I think he said they studied oak) about 3-4 feet thick for the full re-entry profile. He said it worked, but in the end was far heavier than any of the other options they had. And in any kind of flight, low weight is key.

[@jopo7996]

As this technology advances, I can see these tall buildings becoming more poplar.

[@Ben-rz9cf]

I can appreciate you trying to spruce up the conversation a bit but your wooden puns make me face palm.

[@UndecidedMF]

😂 well done to you both. Well done.

[@youdontknowme5969]

dude 🤣🌳

[@masterimbecile]

Don’t be ash-amed of your puns! I find them aspen-rational.

[@MonkeyJedi99]

I'm pining for puns, and that one was oak-kay.

[@quantx6572]

The benefits of building large structures with wood sounds incredible. But its so psychological with wood and fire. My biggest fear of wood is still fire even after watching this video, lol. I would love to see an experiment with two finished 10-20 story structures side by side. One concrete and steel structure and the other engineered wood construction, both built out the exact same on the inside. Put all types of sensors everywhere..temp, load, stress, etc, etc. Set ‘em on fire, let them burn for a while and then let the fire department attempt to put them out. I would be interested in seeing the end result and all the sensor data.

[@PatrickSamphire]

I think it's got enormous promise. There are definitely obstacles to be overcome, as you highlighted, but we're perfectly capable of overcoming them. And, honestly, these building are just cool.

[@justinmyers6737]

Great stuff Matt

[@GeniusUnleashed]

Looks interesting. it's always refreshing when you point out potential pitfalls.

[@orazha]

Thanks for providing this excellent insight into possible ways that construction may change. I had an experience in the mid '90s in Wisconsin that is along those lines regarding timber construction. My wife and I met a man (I don't remember many details) who offered to show us one of the houses he was constructing in the middle of the woods in southwestern WI. The house he took us to was immense - one of the most unusual houses that we've ever seen (and we've seen and lived in many unusual homes). To make it simple, he brought in huge timbers that he drove into the ground and used them to provide the support for the floors which could be placed at just about any height on the posts. I'm guessing that the home would eventually be between the equivalent of 3 to 4 stories, though the house wasn't divided into stories. The exterior walls between the posts that were up so far were huge panes of glass. This man was in the construction trade in Chicago. He told us that he was getting his supplies from older wood structures in Chicago. He would purchase what he referred to as skyscrapers but I doubt that they were that tall. He would take the materials and repurpose them for the homes he was building in Wisconsin. He indicated that the wood structures that were demo'd in Chicago would be replaced with steel structures. I don't remember this building having any laminated posts. They were all solid wood. I can't imagine how he got those beams and the huge plate glass out of Chicago. So, apparently, tall buildings have been made of wood for quite a long time.

[@Greedisback]

Very cool technology and a very nice video. Well done ^^

[@taznz1]

You said nothing about the glue (commonly Urea-formaldehyde), or the preservatives used. While the building in the video look to mostly use glulam, other forms of engineered timber like laminated strand lumber and parallel strand lumber have a high percentage of resin/adhesive, to the point I've seen it referred to as petroleum-based wood.

[@one_field]

Could you do an episode on sustainable cellulose? That would include coppice grown timber, short rotation coppiced willow and poplar, bamboo, miscanthus grass, hemp, etc. It's completely reshaping the wood lumber, pulp and cellulose calculations for speed of growth and ecological impact, plus improving the fiber profiles of the wood products themselves. It would tie in very nicely with this episode.

[@shumann1605]

Very interesting Matt. Great video

[@UndecidedMF]

Glad you enjoyed it

[@cinmay05]

Cool.😀 At my previous job, Me and my team made the timelapse including the camera system for the building shown in Norway. It was a lot of fun and a really exciting project to be a part of.

[@HammerOn-bu7gx]

I liked, very much, your comparison of the up-side and down-side of this technology. Most channels can't get past the "Gee-Wiz" factor and make no attempt to highlight some very serious downsides... such as the fully electric car industry; Where are you going to get all the copper and lithium for the electrical systems... etc. Thank you so much for making the attempt and doing a passable job!

[@UndecidedMF]

We try. Thanks.

[@CanCobb]

"Clear cut answer," lol, stop. I love this technology. One thing Matt did not mention is the beauty of the exposed pillars and beams in condo/apartment units. There's a warmth to wood that you just can't get with steel or concrete. Crews would need to get used to working with a finished structural material, I imagine. I first learned of this material on an architectural channel, and the carbon sequestration was only a minor point: he loves the look of it. I wood assume that engineered lumber would be fabricated in a way to not require ongoing inspections either, like post-tension concrete - a MAJOR expense to condo corporations here. I'm very excited to see how this material will be incorporated into new buildings of any height.

[@Wrackey]

Would have loved to learn a little more on how they are maintained. Is it treated in any way? Does it rot ? Does it expand/contract/move ? What about woodworm ?

[@whiterabbitobj101]

This is a great. Hope this is used more in the UK. Would love to see a video on if we could create a process that could be created using excess night wind energy to power desalinization. Then the excess brine from that being using to create thermal energy storage. Is that feasible?

[@13thravenpurple94]

Great video Thank you

[@world_still_spins]

I would be concerned with the off gassing of vocs from the glue, fireproofing, waterproofing, and other treatments applied to the wood. The potential for off gassing may increase as the material ages.

[@Jourei_]

I'm happy that you made a video about this. Here in Helsinki, it's not unheard of to come across a building site where they're building a wooden house like this.

[@LazyLifeIFreak]

There's way to mitigate fire, like heat resistant paints which when burnt creates an insulating layer. Termites and other pests can be mitigated with impregnating the wood, either through passive or pressure systems. There's other issues but the issues are not insurmountable, it all comes down to the pro's and cons, cost vs benefit etc etc.

[@madnessbydesign1415]

I live in the Pacific Northwest, and while logging companies say (perhaps truthfully) that they plant 2 (or 3, or whatever) trees to replace each cut tree, that isn't the whole story. Those trees are typically clear-cut, meaning huge areas (typically hills) are left almost bare. Plant new seedlings, and often their numbers are heavily diminished by animals grazing on them, and floods (nothing to keep the soil in place anymore). Long story short: you're not getting 2-3 trees for every one cut down. Not to mention that the new trees are typically monoculture, which is not great for the environment (other commenters here have tackled that issue). Still, it might be a better alternative to concrete and steel...

[@ronm6585]

Thank you Matt.

[@jeffreymoorbeck5039]

Wow! I live in Milwaukee, but never knew Ascent was made from wood. I'll have to walk over and check it out.

[@flyingbanana4179]

Yeah, it's pretty cool. A new mass timber building will be constructed by the river, and it will be taller than the ascent. It's called the edison and construction will start in spring.

[@am2schmarvelous]

I just watched a video about a glulam bridge collapse. It was somewhere in Scandinavia. There have been several failures due to joinery splitting the wood. I think the technology is still in process.

[@mackie169]

I found myself feeling quite pleased as this story progressed. I always assumed that wood was limited by load strength for taller buildings, but never considered engineered wood products as a possibility. Even with a small amount of craftsmanship at home using plywood has demonstrated just how tough and flexible a building product it can be. Also, modern architecture needs a shakeup to try some new ideas (at least visually). I live close to Toronto, and the core of that city has turned into a boring collection of steel and glass bricks. There are, of course a few standouts, but really there isn’t much to get excited by. Some of the samples shown in this video were absolutely gorgeous. And to be made with renewable, low carbon materials put a big smile on my face. 😊

[@jokuvaan5175]

Wooden buildings also withstand earthquakes better. It also breathes better improving air quality of the house and preventing mold growth(?). Also an added problem would probably the shrinking and expansion of wood as it ages.

[@joewilson3393]

My lottery dream house here in AZ is a nice cave. The Pueblo people built great adobe houses here. The walls could be several feet thick, effectively making them a cave. They were amazing pre air conditioning innovations.

[@silverharvest753]

I personally believe we will see a shift back to wood primarily structures. Partly due to how renewable it is and if planned properly can consistently be supply of material.

[@Belas_Photography]

Well done, Matt. We definitely need to think of alternatives to steel-concrete in tall buildings, and, as you show, wood is a good option. One issue that I worry about is harvesting and replanting trees in monocluture, ie., one species in a large area for use in tall building construction. The lack of tree diversity harms the biodiversity of the forest ecosystem, not something that anyone wants to see. Just something to consider when thinking about using wood in place of steel and concrete. Thanks for your video and channel.

[@UndecidedMF]

Thanks for the comment! That sentiment is coming up a lot in the comments. Definitely noted for future videos.

[@IronmanV5]

You nailed it with this one

[@UndecidedMF]

Glad you think so!

[@Goatcha_M]

One question still remaining, how long will a timber skyscraper last? Is that comparable to steel and concrete? Also, earthquake resistance? Got to be better than steel right?

[@rcollinge325]

There are alot of really old,500 years plus, all wood buildings in Japan.

[@jouaienttoi]

@@rcollinge325 Cool, but steel and concrete buildings can last for thousands of years if maintained.

[@PopeGoliath]

@@rcollinge325 those buildings are continuously maintained. Old pieces are replaced with new ones, and entire sections get lovingly reconstructed. It's like the Ship of Theseus, but they've firmly decided that the new and old ship are the same.

[@DanielBoger]

This was one of my thoughts also. I remember seeing something a while back about how stick built homes are more resistant to earthquakes than masonry houses, because the wood house can flex. Although for a “skyscraper” you probably don’t want it to say too much. Maybe wood skyscrapers would need something like a mass damper to counteract the sway

[@JayForsure]

It's LITERALLY impossible for it to outlast a steel and concrete building. Even houses that are built with wood dont even come close to lasting as long as brick houses like those in Germany. American wooden houses typically last 50 years.

[@jameseddy6835]

Matt transportation isn't quite the problem you think. My father use to ship main line water pipe from detroit to Cleveland, Toledo, Milwaukee and Chicago by water. These pipe weren't going by boar but tugged by tug. Some of these pipe were 18 feet in diameter 40 feet long with an outer wall of 5 inches. They were made of a steel sleeve, cement, prestress wire and more cement. He would transport the pipe a few miles by truck to the Detroit river, a water tight cap was put on each ent, chained together and then towed to the final destination. It was not unheard of at the time. Underwater tunnel sections were handled this way. They just didn't travel as far. Perhaps they could float the structural lumber that way.

[@mohammedfarismakhdoom9867]

3:00 I love this shot.

[@alisavas9526]

Another great, thought-provoking subject. I always wondered if high-rise buildings could be built using a combination of materials such as engineered wood. Now I know :)

[@shonlondon7566]

Thanks!

[@UndecidedMF]

Thank you!

[@Majere613]

There's also the Belgian company, Gablok, who effectively make wooden Lego bricks for housebuilding. Their system has almost no custom parts, allowing the vast majority of the blocks to be kept as inventory rather than needing to be made on-demand.

[@OhHeyTrevorFlowers]

Hardboard and hide glue is one of the only combinations for engineered wood that is truly decomposable.

[@zackaryandraka5812]

I don’t know if I somehow missed them talking about it, but isn’t rot/humidity a significant concern? For a building of that size I imagine they are wanting it to stand for at least 100 years.

[@AC-im4hi]

I'm sure this building will be conditioned

[@glenndennis6801]

If the wood is not allowed to get wet or is able to dry after getting wet it will last for hundreds of years. We have dozens (if not hundreds) of two hundred year old barns here in Southern/ eastern Ontario and they are not the best looked after. We have taken down several to reuse the frames for custom homes.

[@doomedoptimism1015]

I wonder how these buildings compare when you look at other degrading factors like rot, water damage, or even pests like termites. Since they are so much lighter too, I wonder how they stack up for things like extreme weather events or earth quakes. Overall though, it seems to make a lot of sense to use wood that can be grown pretty much anywhere and in any country versus having to mine the ore for steel, process it at foundries, and then ship these hulking components to the final destination.

[@Potrimpo]

Has anyone looked at ways of engineering bamboo or something? I briefly read something that 2x4 bamboo boards are SUPPOSEDLY stronger and cheaper than spruce. But there is that knot which would compromise bamboo 2x4 or other sizes, but wondering if it's at all possible to eliminate the knot, or stretch it out where it's past the 8', 10' .... 16' mark?

[@MrNickp2300]

For shorter scale buildings I think it's an interesting option,after about 20 stories or so Im not sure what sort of flex you'll have to counter, steel flexes too but the engineering to combat that, and even use it advantageously has decades of evidence to back it up. I'm guessing the good ol core style solution will be the inevitable solution for that problem. Just build an extra large elevator shaft with a few branching stems every few feet to distribute all that weight

[@BilichaGhebremuse]

I love homes..excellent

[@fedorbutochnikow5312]

Imagine the fire insurance on wooden buildings!

[@thomas6502]

Interesting topic. (fwiw, I'd love to see a conversation between you and Belinda Carr on this topic (she runs a youtube channel as well.) For me, affordability is the prime mover at the moment, but balancing that with responsibly sourced and performant materials and process is a huge competing/complimentary draw.)

[@JenniferA886]

As soon as I saw the title I thought about one word… fire… and now I’m watching the video 👍👍👍

[@KeithChastain-YouGotKeith]

I love mass tember it's beautiful

[@stavrosTX]

I've been researching CLT and GLULAM for a hard-to-reach build site. Finding an architect or team with experience has been very challenging.

[@TheCornucopiaProject-bd5jk]

Engineered wood product surly open the doors to some very interesting construction projects. I love Wood. And I’m still going to build my home with concrete

[@MYJ61]

I grew un in an era when companies like Georgia Pacific had an ad campaign saying “Trees, America’s Renewable Resource”. We seem to have forgotten that fact. With so much environmental impact concerns many have protested the responsible harvesting of forests.

[@MarilynStangl]

What about the concept of a 'living' house? One that is grown on site by using different plants like bamboo for the framework with different vine plants like kudzu filling in the gaps between the bamboo stalks. The floor could be compacted earth or a woven tangle of vines! Since bamboo generally grows in the tropics, a centrally-located brick or clay oven/furnace would help keep the 'walls and ceiling' alive during cold weather! South-facing windows made of glass of mica could provide sunlight for the interior plants as well as a view, with other small windows going you that 360 degree view! At least two rings of bamboo with maybe 6-12 inches of space between them would be grown into a fat cone shape with the apex being overlapped like the top of a teepee with a double-insulated exhaust pipe, spark arrester and conical cap sticking thru the center top hole! Some good points would be very low construction costs and very eco-friendly structure, with only one or two persons needed to 'grow' it. Some bad points would be long 'construction' time, probably a year or two depending mainly on how fast the bamboo grows and maybe higher fire risks but the fact that living plants contain more moisture will help to mediate this potential problem, landscaping around the structure would help as well! The 'builder' would probably be only working part time depending on how many structures he/she is growing at any one time! Plants producing food such as berry briars could easily be included! If you don't use chemicals, then your waste water and organic waste could simply be buried in holes dug along the exterior of the structure to help fertilize the plants! The door(s) could be overlapping flaps of woven vines, though they may tend to grow together if not trimmed when needed! Maintenance shouldn't be much more than maybe yearly trimming and watering and fertilizing as needed! A big bonus would be no toxins involved! Though this structure wouldn't be air-tight, you don't want it to be and any holes could be filled with mosses!

[@BRUXXUS]

I love it! Wood is still quite an amazing engineering material in a lot of ways. Of course, there’s no free lunch in engineering, but I like how it’s getting more attention as an option.

[@RockyRacoon-lw3yd]

Great video! Is iron bamboo feasible for this purpose?

[@vipondiu]

My main concern would be fire of course, but we have fire retardants good enough today to make it a non-issue anymore... So my next concern is longevity. Concrete is artificial rock and even though it eventually corrodes steel, it lasts more than wood. Also, can we reliably assess the safety of a wooden structural element after some decades of neglect the same as we can with concrete? And then there's water-damage. I live in a brick+concrete building that seems impossible to water-proof against rain, and water doesn't rot bricks or concrete... I'm not trying to sink the idea, I just want to be sure we are at a point where we have an ACTUAL substitute to concrete+steel, that performs the same or better...especially if we are building skyscrapers with it. I wish, as always, that you had asked more about the possible negatives and not only shown the optimistic side of the topic, even though adressing the elephant in the room of fire is a good start

[@woolfel]

In japan, charring wood is a method to preserve wood for external applications. Interesting development.

[@mnhtnman]

Thank you and good morning!

[@UndecidedMF]

Good morning!

[@paulm.sweazey336]

All the older houses and almost all the barns here in our part of rural Germany are built with large timbers, and with reasonable maintenance they remain standing for HUNDREDS of years. So I don't think that the humidity/rot issues are likely to be an insurmountable problem.

[@stoneomountain2390]

Yeah. The trees were barked years before harvesting them. Causes the wood to retain a thicker resin that gives it Anti fungal and water resistance.

[@mythiccass3837]

I'd imagine you could mix it up and have buildings using some wood, concrete & steel. Wouldn't have to be entirely or mostly wood.

[@benzero75]

My first concern wasn't fire, but general lifespan, particular when exposed to decades of natural weather and temperatures and extreme weather events. Every building material will break down over time, and I would have like to see where it compares to steel. Stone/brick has the longest lifespan, (far longer than steel), but with wood being biodegradable, I just wonder where it would fall comparatively. That's not to mention that these wood structures still appear to have metal connectors/joints to assemble them, and isn't the real strength of the structure also related to those parts?

[@Nathan-vt1jz]

The big issue is cost, if the costs can be driven down this could be a great option for building. The laminated wooden beams have a great strength to weight ratio. Maybe I missed it, but I wonder what’s the expected longevity of this type of wood construction?

[@janshuster1426]

Termites, the wood is treated. Fire, the wood is actually better as wood doesnt deform from heat and large pieces of wood take a long tine to burn thru and form a protective insulating layer as they burn, so as long as they are using 12 in x 12 in members as opposed to i beams made with a 1/2 in sheet of plywood and a 2x3 top and bottom which could burn thru in 10 minutes wood can have good fire resistance.

[@cummerou1]

I've personally been really interested in this concept, Paulownia wood is very interesting, super quick growing, very strong, and very fire resistant. Though if this happens on a larger scale, we would need to seed perennial flowers between the rows or other such things, to prevent a dead monoculture landscape.

[@michaelmayhem350]

Maybe it's just because I live in the tropics but my first thought wasn't fire but termites and rot from moisture.

[@ezachleewright2309]

Wouldn't treating the limber make it immune to rot?

[@michaelmayhem350]

@@ezachleewright2309 maybe from humidity but I leave in the Caribbean, I'm willing to bet even if a hurricane doesn't blow it over it will force moisture into the boards which will eventually warp and rot.

[@Evan-rj9xy]

​@@ezachleewright2309 At the end of the day wood is a natural or "living" material. It's always going to rot or break down or be eaten. Treating it helps a lot but it won't stop everything and treatments almost never last as long as the wood itself. Aside from rot, carpenter bees are a huge problem where I live and they will happily tunnel through paint and other coatings if they decide they need to. They've even chewed up some pressure treated wood on my property. Insecticides kind of work but they're obviously toxic, they need to be constantly reapplied to be effective, and they only kill the insects after they've already started eating the wood and doing damage.

[@sukeysstuff5360]

Great video and interesting comments. Great to hear you might do a follow up video. As a structural engineer who has worked in the sustainability field for years, I recommend checking out Climate Smart Wood. They have information on forestry management practices that go beyond the regulatory floor and look at not just the climate health (carbon) but also the ecological health (biodiversity). Third party certifications like FSC does this as well and includes social health (local communities ). It’s important to understand that not all wood is equal and the forestry management practices play a key role. Check out “Mythbusting Mass Timber” put out by atelier ten and LEVER architects last year. It has an interesting graph in there that shows timber can sometimes be higher embodied carbon than conventional building materials when not harvested/transported sustainably. One last resource in our own backyard here in New England is NEFF’s 30% Climate Solution which looks at the potential of Exemplary Forestry approaches versus current forestry practices.

[@liarus]

There's actually a couple of wooden buildings in construction where i go to work in paris, and I've never seen these before, funny that i see you make a video about it now

[@Dan-Simms]

Wood is an amazing building material, both my dad and his dad built wooden houses and boats, and mine has been involved in a couple of mass buildings and also interesting things like stawbail and glass bottle houses.

[@vacuumdiagram]

Glass bottle? That sounds interesting! My mind is picturing something between a 70s Italian restaurant, and a greenhouse ,though, hah! What did it actually look like?

[@Dan-Simms]

@@vacuumdiagram heh pretty much like a greenhouse b/c they used mostly old green glass bottles, they are layered between grout lengthwise, so the width of the wall is the full height of those bottles. It's cool when the sun hits it and shines through.

[@vacuumdiagram]

Nice! 😎

[@southernkei]

One little plumbing leak could be catastrophic......

[@c.i.demann3069]

Matt, I'd love it if you did a video on that "the wood fiber in that forest is replaced in 25 minutes" claim. I'm not saying it's a lie, I just want to know the details on how it works and how the researchers figured it out.

[@philipvecchio3292]

They're saying that all the forests in North America grow enough to replace it. North American forests are massive, but it requires only small amounts of growth in each forest.

[@emilklaric5218]

It's been briefly mentioned in the video - what are the properties of this type of buildings regarding winds and earthquakes?

[@johnpoldo8817]

Fascinating, I was concerned about the building becoming a fire hazard.

[@incognito_incognito]

The principle of burnt outer layer of wood protecting the inner layer is great enough that Japanese carpenters pre-burn their wooden structure. It's called yakisugi and its benefits include pest deterrence, and weathering resistance.

[@pradeepmagan6951]

amazing and very surprised as we don't building wooden building here in NZ, when we are covered by forests

[@chrishusted8827]

Trammel Crow is supposed to be bringing a wood office building to North Dallas at the corner of 121 and the Dallas tollway. (publicly published knowledge). I want to go see it as it goes up.

[@Graghma]

The main reason I don't like wood in a big apartment building is that it doesn't do much for the sound. I'm sure they can do things with the construction of wood to mitigate that but are they thinking about it? Plants that grow on the outside of the building sounds amazing but I worry about plant roots growing into the structure wood.

[@SunriseTequila523]

A question... How do those engineered resist against weather conditions? And for how long? How many years do they last before they need any sort of replacement/maintenance?

[@shadowscribe]

As long as the sourcing is smartly done, this sounds attractive.

[@valdius85]

It’s a great alternative and will be good choice is some places. That is good enough. There is no silver bullet. Depending on a building, timber member can be exposed as they nice to look at. This would limit plasterboard and add thermal mass. I’d personally like to live in a engineered timber house. With heavy slabs so that there is a lot of thermal mass and limited sound.

[@RS-ls7mm]

In CA the termites would reduce the building to dust in 5 years.

[@ICDeadPeeps]

How about concerns pertaining to long term susceptibility to things like mold, wood rot, pest related damage (ex. termites)?

[@davidallyn1818]

Thanks for this video!! I believe we shouldn't be mass producing and shipping materials - locally sourced materials are best. Yes, for those in the mid and north west, this would be awesome!! for people living in Phoenix, though, their materials should come from the desert floor (adobe), which is extremely strong and has amazing insulation properties.

[@agw5425]

Wide usage of e-wood building makes it worthwhile to have extras in stock, especially if the buildings start using standard elements and not one of custom parts above the bare minimum. That way you just order the number of parts you need and any damaged ones can be easily and quickly replaced increasing the savings in the material costs and the ease of planning. It is after all better to use over provisioned/engineered parts than the bare minimum required to know it will last at least as specified or more regardless of fire or wind. That way post fire/damage repairs would be far easier by braising, un bolting and replacing the damaged parts only and not need to demolish the whole structure losing all and need a 100% replacement building, insurance could be far cheaper and more profitable for both parties in that situation, after all 25% of a building is far cheaper to repair/replace than 100% + demolition and disposal.

[@yay-cat]

If you want your structure to have reasonable acoustic performance you’re going to have major cost jumps with timber. Like you’re gonna need very special acoustic “resilient” connectors to limit structural noise transfer (dense rubbery sponge - but polymer/ petrochemical based). And the light weight is only good for the structural guys because mass stops airborne noise (sound insulation). And no you can’t just fix the problem with a lightweight sound absorbing panel because that just deals with echo. If you want a lot of people to live in the same building you need to have acoustic separation between units else they’ll all just move to the suburbs. Sound isolation works with the mass law (double the mass gets another 5dB performance), structural isolation needs the noise souse isolation with a resilient connection (footfall noise, mechanical equipment, etc), and lastly sound absorption is light fluffy stuff that makes a room less echoic but is very important for schools restaurants and offices.