Wooden skyscrapers could be the future for cities

Wooden skyscrapers are an ambitious and innovative solution to the problems posed by urbanisation. Not only are they faster to build, they have smaller carbon footprints than high-rises made of concrete and steel.
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By 2050 the world’s population is expected to soar to almost 10 billion people and two-thirds of us will live in cities.
Space will be at a premium.
High-rise offers a solution. But concrete and steel - the materials we currently use to build high - have a large carbon footprint.
An answer might lie in a natural material we’ve used for millennia.
Throughout history buildings have been made of wood.
But it has one major drawback. It acts as kindling.
Fire destroyed large swathes of some of the world’s great cities.
But by the early twentieth century, the era of modern steelmaking had arrived.
Steel was strong, could be moulded into any shape and used to reinforce concrete. It allowed architects to build higher than ever before.
So why, after more than a century of concrete and steel, are some architects proposing a return to wood?
Concrete and steel are costly to produce and heavy to transport.
Wood however can be grown sustainably and it’s lighter than concrete.
And crucially, as trees grow, they absorb carbon dioxide from the air, locking it into the timber.
One study showed that using wood to construct a 125-metre skyscraper could reduce a building’s carbon footprint by up to 75%
Regular timber isn’t malleable like steel or concrete, and isn’t strong enough to build high.
But engineers have come up with a solution. It’s called cross-laminated timber, or CLT for short.
CLT is light and it’s comparable in strength to concrete and steel.
But how does it cope when burnt with a high heat source?
London architects Waugh Thistleton are already designing buildings with this new kind of timber.
Andrew and his colleagues designed Britain’s first high-rise wooden apartment block and have recently completed the world’s largest timber-based building.
Behind these bricks is a timber core, made from more than 2000 trees, sourced from sustainable forests.
And this London practice is not alone in advocating the use of CLT.
Ambitious wooden high-rise buildings are also being constructed in Scandinavia, central Europe and North America.
As yet, nobody has used CLT to build beyond 55 metres.
But Michael Ramage’s research centre in Cambridge, working with another London practice, has proposed a concept design of a 300-metre tower, that could be built on top of one of London’s most iconic concrete structures - the Barbican.
Making that jump in height will be a difficult sell.
The cost of building wooden skyscrapers is largely unknown, but those costs could be reduced by prefabricating large sections of buildings in factories.
And city-dwellers will need to be persuaded that CLT does not burn like ordinary wood.
As an attractive, natural material, wood is already popular for use in low buildings.
If planners approve, it could rise to new heights.
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[@Akhiii_]

Just turn off Fire Spread in the settings and bam, you good to go

[@chenyutong7625]

You might need to ask the superior for admin about the world first

[@siddharthnetam1643]

😂

[@chrissie2732]

The charred wood is extremely insullating, when you remove the source of flame it distinguished itself. Moreover, wood burns in a more controlled way than steel does. Steel tends to explode sometimes

[@tariklawhorne7777]

I guess California never got the hint

[@jlcthe87player]

/gamerule doFireTrick false

[@HenryOrtlip]

Front desk.... yeah there is a woodpecker banging on my wall again....

[@Stillman-8436]

Get the BB gun!

[@blackstardragon_]

Henry Ortlip Haha that’s hilarious

[@robynmasters335]

LMAO

[@richardmillhousenixon]

No, fuck the BB gun... I'll get my ladder

[@richardmillhousenixon]

@stefanos2691 ...it means Laughing My Ass Off

[@lemonade2473]

Is the floor creaking... or is it the entire building?

[@momsspaghetti9970]

Wooden structures tend to do that, though its a good thing. If you build in earthquake prone zones, building structures that respond to exterior forces allows for the structure to survive thwt said event. The movement of the wood allows the energy to dissapate into the structure and not in a focused point. Many concrete and steel skyscrapers do this inconjunction with special equipment such as mass dampeners and control joints. The Japanese have been doing this for a long time and most of their temples last for centuries.

[@maticbukovac6966]

@@momsspaghetti9970 actually NO. Their temples are all reconstructions, they need constant repair. The oldest part in one is no more than 100 years old...

[@martinamontanari8040]

Actually, one of the benefits of cross-laminated timber (CLT) floor slabs compared to traditional timber joists and planks is that it is and feels completely solid as though you are walking on a concrete floor (without the cold feeling under your feet). 😊

[@hawk0485]

Jet fuel can't melt wooden beams!

[@benm3318]

hawk0485 ha! Good one!

[@theutopianoutopioan464]

hawk0485, But jet fuel can easily burn wooden beams! In many ways, wood is a worse material than metal when it comes to being flown into. It's best if wood only is used to build low rise structures 4 storeys or less high!

[@benm3318]

The Utopiano Utopioan he's being sarcastic. It's a reference for the twin towers on 9/11. Why else does he get likes for his comment? Inside joke

[@johnsergei]

Nor can a plastic nosecone break them ( you need birds to beak them, er, nosecones that is). But whatever happens. I'm sure the shock will send nearby skyscrapers into freefall? could be the weight of birdpoop? Oh, & for the idiot uploader, CARBON IS NOT CARBON DIOXIDE, MORON! To quote carbon footprint is an utterly misleading thing to say.

[@f00berbot67]

hawk0485 lol

[@abbygoad2020]

“It has the same protection as what a tree uses to protect its self against forrest fires” Cali: “um.....”

[@richardmillhousenixon]

Flabigail - exactly what I was thinking

[@strategicgamingwithaacorns2874]

There are some trees that _aren't_ protected by charring. Eucalyptus Trees, for one. And there's a LOT of flammable brush that can burn.

[@tomewyrmdraconus837]

Think about that for two seconds. If exposed lumber created self-extinguishing insulation as it burned... then why were fires such a problem in the era of wooden buildings? Because the surface he was torching was bare wood. You should be able to do the exact same thing to dimensional lumber, and yet it doesn't seem to work this way in the real world. Odd that.

[@INTCUWUSIUA]

@@tomewyrmdraconus837 wood buildings in the past used pitch and tar for insulation and waterproofing, it wasn't the wood itself that was burning easily it was those materials.

[@PhotonHerald]

The problem is, you have other materials that go into construction (and later, furnishing) that will ignite as well. Increasing burn times and allowing far more severe compromises of the CLT structure.

[@JMH702]

Termites: “I’m boutta end this mans whole career”

[@hagencarter8834]

Quite literally, if that man is a structural engineer

[@tescomealdeals4613]

@Lvis Gaming Roblox YT isa joke

[@99certain45]

Fire: "Am I nothing to you?"

[@TWatcher_]

@@99certain45It's fire proof...

[@TurkishEmpire2023]

nah one minecraft fire can do the job just right

[@trover1922]

Then the fire nation attacked..

[@theraginginfernape9496]

Underrated comment 😭😂😂😭

[@mr.boomguy]

Funny😂. I was just in the Avatar mood for that 👍

[@donaldschmenk4345]

Ooooo oooooooooo

[@datsuna6585]

Fucking underrated af

[@rspoofy]

Is this a joke from Ants Canada?

[@yan_man23]

I am cautiously optimistic. To those using deforestation as an argument against, mining is also quit devastating to the environment.

[@V8Murder]

Yeah exactly. I'd like to see a proper analysis of the tradeoffs between concrete and wood.

[@ry8246]

yes, i live in tropical region. The government need to remove the trees before digging out the iron. Its pretty self-explanatory. Unless you are Russian who mine in the polar circle.

[@Kyle-qe2vd]

So should we have dirt houses then?

[@ry8246]

dafuq are you talking about?!?!

[@bkstructures687]

Deforestation isn't really an argument. The wood used in these project is sourced from managed forests. When one tree is felled, they replace it with (on average) 5 more. After 5 years they harvest the 2 smallest ones, then after 5 more years they harvest the other 2 smallest leaving the strongest to grow to full strength at 30 years. It's a completely certified practice. There's a distinct difference between logging and forestry. The Dalston Lane project (100% CLT building, 121 homes and 3,600m2 of commercial office space) used about 2,325 trees which, if you look at the total growth time of all those trees in German & Austrian forests, took about 3 hours to grow. We wouldn't be able to continue our work if it wasn't sustainable.

[@traveljibaro9325]

Can you imagine living on a 67th floor and have a woodpecker bang your structure everyday lol!

[@mishu9356]

💦😝😝😝😝

[@GABO94BR]

food for termites

[@MistiriousStranger1]

:^D

[@Novusod]

This wood is treated with chemicals that would kill termites. The tallest wooden structure all time was built 700 years ago in Lincoln, England. At 148m tall the Lincoln Cathedral was the tallest building in the world for 238 years and then it blew over in a gale in the year 1549. If a bunch of Medieval artisans and carpenters could build that tall then we could surely beat that record in modern times.

[@zdenek3010]

Not in mild climate, termites are unknown thing for us in Europe and Northern America.

[@Mecrom]

Novusod Producing chemicals doesn't seem that great for the environment.

[@sambravo5253]

Zdeněk Not in North America

[@caplin]

Looks good, sounds good but wondering how big of a forest needed to build one skycrapper..

[@joshyjoshyjoshy]

Miguel Ferreira yeah but what happens when supply doesn't meet demand and they aren't able to regrow trees fast enough?

[@calvincedars6445]

Miguel Ferreira that's cause too many dumb people in your area imported highly flammable trees. It's like when California had all those Eucalyptus trees burning. 1 they aren't native which means that they are taking space from native trees and 2 they contain a highly flammable sap that's basically kerosene.

[@calvincedars6445]

Miguel Ferreira huh that is a really huge problem personally I would say the only trees we should grow commercially are the crappy gmo pine trees we use for paper. Other than that I would say leave it alone. I mean trying to save a species of tree so you move it to a non native location is different then just planting trees for lumber that will ruin eco systems.

[@calvincedars6445]

Miguel Ferreira where I am from in South East Texas there is a huge paper mill and most if not all the tree farms in the area are filled with gmo pine trees. They grow at almost double the rate as most other trees. I bet that place smells horrible I know the paper mill here does. You can watch them pull in trailers full of nothing but pine trees for days if you can stand the smell.

[@calvincedars6445]

Miguel Ferreira hahaha that's so funny it's the same way in Texas. The name of the city the paper mill is in is Evadale but most people who live around it call it evil smell. They don't have filters either but they do keep a large barrier of forest around 75% of it. They get most if not all their trees from family owned tree farms in the area.

[@nm8023]

Is it just me, or is this new "technology" just a Jenga reboot?

[@harsh.thakkar]

I've got serious doubts about this tech.

[@ry8246]

Yu Chen Chen We should not destroy anymore old growth forest. Most "forest" on earth are secondary forest (mainly small trees, shrubs, ferns and tall grasses). We can plant trees in secondary forest, it is even better since big industries will have motivation to restore the forest (so they have abuse it again... cough cough).

[@benharris3100]

He acts like the flame test proves that the material will not burn down. But he put a gas torch to a perfectly smooth vertical face. Any wood wouldn't be flammable in that situation.

[@carguy466]

"Yeah me too. No way I'm getting into that steel bird. How will it even stay up?"

[@carguy466]

Easy. A lot will be invested into transforming open spaces into profitable forests. We'll need less coal mines and steel quarries that pollute the air more by just getting the raw material. The whole point of using timber in buildings is to save the nature, not use it up and be leave ourselves with dicks in our hands.

[@basstion4146]

Yu Chen Chen do not understand that wood stores the co2 in it

[@Touchgrassplz]

As an architect, wood looks nicer but knowing developers, they will over-log forests and forget the sustainability aspect of it all

[@bcubed72]

Not likely if they own the forests. Replant the land and maximize its value.

[@barroldtrumboma9162]

Logging companies are the reason forests have increased in all 1st world nations. Because they replant even more trees then they cut down because the more trees they plant, the more money they get in the future.

[@RoskinGreenrake]

Yeah exactly! they will forget, this would be post-Trump future after all.. And I was also thinking about the nutrients in the soil, if this is to ever become popular a lot of forest space would be needed and the same soil would be used over and over. I admit it looks pretty but ppl really should get their heads out of their arses

[@Bleepbleepblorbus]

@@RoskinGreenrake How's it going now four years ago you?

[@revit-bim-cad-visu8298]

so, you will build further with cement, steel, pushing co2 up, even more ? thats no solution. or? its your duty to change the developers and not just go along with them. the easy way

[@wonderfulcharacter883]

People owning chainshaws could be deadly😂😂

[@v12ish40]

Lmfaoo

[@Cankersoar]

people owning boxcutters flying on planes could be deadly

[@amanmohdihsanmamat1492]

just add a not othin not too thick layer of cement on it

[@aristtara006]

For high-rise building I don't think so... The sheer weight of the building makes it be compressed extremely hard... chainsaw won't work...

[@wonderfulcharacter883]

@@aristtara006 why so serious?

[@Davisurena]

Nobody talks about the fact that wood is terrible in very humid places.

[@sarahhobbes7832]

Yup, In my country it rains almost every day

[@GhostofTradition]

that's why these buildings are only in Europe and Cannada presently

[@nefigushki]

Exactly, the famously dry climate of Vancouver.

[@yungstallion2201]

Plastic spray coating

[@andresrojas3064]

just another problem that science will deal with, and i really think that will find the solution to that

[@YoungSole]

It'd be cool if they built some kind of hybrid skyscrapers with this. The lower levels could be steel and concrete with the top being CLT. It'd be cheaper than building it completly with steel and concrete and lower the risk associated with fire/termites!

[@treeaboo]

Yes I can imagine the bottom few floors being steel & concrete would be a good way to help lessen the risk of termites, as the wood would be a fair way off the ground

[@braedengriffiths4249]

YoungSole Usually can never go wrong with Hybridizing! Not a bad idea!

[@цветок-ш7п]

That's a good idea

[@nayandusoruth2468]

I could see that working, using concrete/steel for a strong, heavy foundation, with a strongish, light and flexible material for the remainder, flexible materials become useful for especially tall buildings that have to deal with wind, could allow for even taller structures

[@jrmcc173]

I think this would look cool too

[@mirrorbythewindow1492]

Someone’s been playing too much jenga

[@lemonade2473]

Fortnite 1 underrated comment lol

[@farkasabel]

jenga!!!

[@paulinotou]

Pretty much lol. Cross laminating sounds fancier though

[@charlesj.easleyii7642]

timmy D, people already do that, though. Plywood is literally based on that concept.

[@tylercook8982]

Just unleash termites in the middle of a city. Billions in property damage.

[@TheTororist]

jenga actually translates to 'build' in my native language. i think the inventor of the game understood swahili

[@scottdavis4439]

Lol

[@ArmyRangerSJ]

Concrete isn't that expensive. Wood is expensive. Usually a tree costs around 1k in the US soooo

[@Zombieguy123]

Layback Studios wow.. you can buy about 1k of tree seeds for less than 10dollars and plant them and you would get about 10k trees :D but that would net a lot of space..

[@Minptahhathor]

Tree is priceless

[@ignore2466]

@@Zombieguy123 it'd need time. That's why it's expensive.

[@zacharytuttle5618]

^^ 10 dollars in seeds and a 20 year wait

[@thechemtrailkid]

And time, and water, and energy and money to harvest, and energy and money to transport to a processing center, and energy and money to process.

[@RMJ1984]

As much as i love this idea and concept. I feel like our time and resources would be better spent in using all that wasted roof space in cities. Can you imagine if buildings were made strong enough so that roofs could be connected together and made into nature parks. Just imagine your city, being able to walk around on the top of buildings, with grass, lakes, tree, bushes, good for humans, good for animals, insects, good for environment.

[@Setsunone]

well that would destroy everything on ground level, making it a sewer like old new york in futurama

[@herman7880]

Lakes on top of buildings?

[@ClarenceBaloyi]

I beg to differ. There aren't enough trees to support this trend. It can take up to 20 years to grow a tree in the forest

[@artyumdragstov8823]

Master Baloyi thinking optimistically it would be possible with strict regulations

[@gbpnzd]

Confucius say: "Best time to plant tree 20 years ago. Second best time is now." So let's plant a few billion trees around the world!!

[@1RAGEACE]

good currency pair however audusd is better

[@Perish1]

Actually wood used for building today comes from sustainable tree farms.

[@_ch1pset]

From my very brief stint of internet research, you are talking about some pretty high-end timber there. There are all kinds of different species of trees that grow at different rates, and some of the fastest growing can be cultivated for timber in under 7 years.

[@alexander_richter]

Next idea: make skyscrapers out of ice

[@Fnargl99]

Next next idea: make skyscrapers out of fire

[@SianaGearz]

A sky scraper, a water scraper, an ice scraper, and a fire scraper... well what would that be... a Super Mario Scraperland!

[@PugOverlord73]

Alexander Richter we actually tried making an aircraft carrier out of ice once

[@eianfederle2715]

bad idea, considering theres a big conflict called global warming

[@alexistoxqui6984]

Fnargl oh shit you just solved the fire hazard problem!

[@user-g3r2d]

dude acting like CLT is new and revolutionary, isn't it basically plywood just thicker?

[@Avandale0]

One other difference is that plywood is made using wood veneer, which is basically the outer, softer part of the trunk. CLT is made using the inside, which is a lot sturdier. But yes, the concept remains the same

[@marcasdude]

@@Avandale0 You are mistaken, they use the whole trunk clear to the core.

[@parch123456]

it is plastic impregnated wood, so we are really talking about plastic building. There so much hype about wood highrise bldg. we know - all the foundation cannot be wood, the core should be steel or concrete, tension members should be of steel. Architects are just salesmen, it is waste of time to listen to them, we want to hear from engineers, manufacturers, specialized agencies, security guys, they should test this system and then architects can coordinate their design with those requirements. Shame on architects who talk a lot about something they know little.

[@chris-2496]

@@parch123456 it's not plastic impregnated - there's two ingredients: wood planks and glue that binds them. I've been to a CLT factory. If you're talking about who's competent enough to talk, then you'd better get your facts straight.

[@EngineeringNS]

How does it not burn like normal wood? Anyone who has ever started a fire know that all wood behaves as that stuff did in their demonstration...

[@tylerpeterson4726]

Engineering Nonsense But anyone who’s started a fire also knows that it takes a lot of time and effort for a large piece of wood to catch fire for a sustained period of time. Logs are awful for burning. That’s why we split them. A building made of CLT would need a high temp and long lasting source of ignition to make the CLT a self sustaining fire.

[@EngineeringNS]

Tyler Peterson things like furnishings--Things that would be inside of a house made from wood. Go put that tourch used in the video against your drywall and let me know if it starts a fire. I bet it would behave better than the wood did in that test, yet houses burn to the ground daily. I'm not saying that the idea is dumb, I love it, but saying that it is better with fire seems silly, given it is being compared to wood and it is... Ahem... Literally wood.

[@EngineeringNS]

Tyler Peterson how is it any different than plywood? Instead of ply they seem to be using 1x8's or something like that, but it is essentially the same thing. Houses are made, in part, from plywood. Js

[@darknightx33x81]

Engineering Nonsense here's a simple test, you can do at home. Start a fire and see how long it takes for some sticks to burn, then compare that to how long it will take to burn through a decently thick log. There is also a logical assumption that it is treated for better fire resistance. Pressure treated wood comes to mind.

[@EngineeringNS]

Darknightx33x I understand that. And that's what I originally assumed when they brought up fire resistance--I thought it had some sort of treatment, but they never mentioned any such thing. It doesn't matter how long it takes to burn if it sets fire in the same time. People on the inside will have sure footing when they burn to death.

[@lendluke]

I find it somewhat hard to believe this material is cheaper and better than concrete and steel. If it was, wouldn't we be seeing its widespread use by now. Developers aren't stupid, if there is a new technology that significantly reduces the cost, they will adopt it, unless it has some drawback not stated in the video.

[@centurion1945]

Luke Rustin CLT is a relatively new creation. More conventional mass timber construction has been around for a very long time and is probably more prevalent then you realize but has quite a few limitations when it comes to large builds which CLT overcomes

[@twaght]

Luke Rustin No, they will keep continuing doing what makes them more money because we live in a capitalist society. Look to green energy for example. Mass production of clothing. Food. The list goes on.

[@tylerpeterson4726]

Luke Rustin If you’re a developer who has been building good buildings that are in demand, you don’t usually go looking to change up your methods.

[@brycerothschadl]

fabio You just helped his point. If they can produce the same thing, at a cheaper cost, then they would all jump onto that new product. Also, what's wrong with capitalism? What would you rather have to replace it?

[@twaght]

Bryce Rothschadl Did I say there was anything wrong with capitalism? I am just arguing how it generally works.

[@travisg336]

The hippies from the sixties are out in full force

[@darkapothecary4116]

I doubt unless they are idiots as this is a death sentence to whole forests

[@zolox4814]

@@darkapothecary4116 except eventually it will cost to much to harvest wood and will be better to use genetically modified trees from likely their own tree farms in the places where they cut down the original trees, and then bring in cheap labor, (amazon rain forest)

[@richardhead8264]

_Steel-Reinforced Concrete:_ *"AM I A JOKE TO YOU?"*

[@thisissketchy9339]

Welp its proved inaffective againt planes🤔🤷‍♂️

[@Kelekky]

ThisIsSketchy yes but imagine what happens when wood explodes. Tiny shards of wood hitting your body at high speeds causing a lot of it to dig deep within your body

[@Ermagron]

@@thisissketchy9339 cuz you should simple concrete in compression and not in tension which melt due planes, steel melt not concrete.

[@CarlosAM1]

@@thisissketchy9339 nah, its ok against planes, its not ok with thousands of liters of jet fuel slowly making steel beams less ressistant.

[@BigCroca]

@@Kelekky concrete explodes violently when heated, wood doesn't. especially the wood they use which is kiln dried.

[@abeneufeld9158]

There is also a question of safety during an earthquake. Since wood is more flexible than steel and concrete, there could be a greater damage limitation factor if buildings are constructed of wood.

[@josht6018]

Using steel reinforced concrete on a building of less than less than ~50 meters is overkill structurally speaking. If timber gets the job done and saves money, then it may find it’s niche in mid size towers

[@marliz9354]

Hundreds of species would go extinct...... besides that ya I guess it works...

[@EmreYavuzalp]

Mined iron, nickel etc. have more carbon print i think. Because you literally put a lot of effort to mine that stuff. But trees, absorb those metals by themselves and make wood. And we can plant them again. A pine tree, could reach to 5-10 meters high in like 5 years, I've seen that. If it is done properly, I think we would be fine.@@marliz9354

[@towaritch]

@Seinfled your "sustainable forests" are Taking the place of primeval forests rich in biodiversity. It s nothing more than green concrete.

[@MechanicWolf85]

For those saying "mah forest" Remember that you can farm a forest without deforesting the planet, Not that I agree with this guy's plans but the forest problem isn't that much of a problem

[@Minecraftizawsom]

@Mr. P. Enis They are clearing the Amazon for farming, not for profiting from logging.

[@Minecraftizawsom]

@Mr. P. Enis fixed it

[@lolguy-x9n]

that's a problem. who will wait for tree to grow in 20 years? it's not maize stalk you know.

[@KrissFliss]

@@lolguy-x9n We do it in Norway

[@lolguy-x9n]

@@KrissFliss Norway is a famous country some of us wish to visit. what do you mean you farm the forest

[@Lancaster604]

Glue tho. Glue hardens and becomes brittle and loses its adhesive quality over time while cement continue to harden over the years. Quite an engineering hurdle there.

[@equalitystateofmind5412]

Brian LO. Not a hurdle. It's the goal. Steel and concrete lasts forever, so there's less money in it for developers over time. Planned obsolescence.

[@Lancaster604]

Equality Four well I suppose that can be a good thing. A lot of the cities built in the past , the planning are largely obsolete due to changes in population size and structure. Makes a society more flexible. But it better be a lot cheaper than concrete these wooden structures.

[@equalitystateofmind5412]

Brian LO. Maybe, but I'm not so sure flexibility is a worthy goal when it comes to housing and working life. England is still trying to recover from the social ills precipitated by enclosure and the industrial revolution. Also, wood burns.

[@erikdumas9873]

Regular timber burns, but CLT doesn't burn like regular timber. It loses structural integrity when it encounters open flames, but no more than steel does. Looking into alternative building materials like CLT could prove to be worthwhile. At least in certain circumstances, it may be the better choice.

[@arnowisp6244]

Erik Dumas Cause jet fuel can burn CTL wood.

[@esinguler5538]

besides all, cutting 2000 trees to build a building is not convincing.

[@darkapothecary4116]

And they will find a way to convenience people it's going green. What jokes.

[@vexcarius7100]

The Cathedral of Notre Dame alone consumed a forest when built.

[@darkapothecary4116]

@@vexcarius7100 and how does it make it right? Nothing against the place but think of the trees that had to die because people needed a external temple than what they already have in them? Still sad to see the place go down but what do you expect from cultist fighting? Makes a person feel dead inside.

[@lltheFacell]

How about some real numbers? There was probably an equivalent ~500k board feet used for this project, U.S. and Canadian forests grow that much wood in 4 minutes. In fact, Less than 2% of the standing tree inventory was harvested with a net tree growth of 3% over the past 50 years, according to "Sustainable Forestry in North America". Trees are incredibly sustainable. Guess what isn't? Sand that we use for concrete.

[@vexcarius7100]

@@darkapothecary4116 Did I say that consuming a forest is right? You are attacking me with a wrong context. My context is that because of man's vanity, we consumed a forest just for a mere cathedral. You are clearly an idiot.

[@Qartveli84]

No thanks, sounds all "green" and all, but I'm not convinced. Sure build 1or 2 tall buildings, but don't make a habit of it.

[@TheLuismaBeaTle]

Qartveli84 moron

[@Qartveli84]

Please enlighten us with you outstanding thoughts on the subject.

[@tylerpeterson4726]

I think perhaps you underestimate just how carbon intensive the cement/concrete industry is. They use natural gas (CO2) to burn off CO2 from mined limestone. The cement industry has a very high limit as to how much it can reduce its carbon footprint.

[@Qartveli84]

Tell us something we don't know Tyler, actually don't bother. Replacing cement and concrete by simply going back to using wood, doesn't solve shit. its the 21st century for fucks sake, I am sure there are more then enough people with brilliant minds to come up with something better in the near future. Just a matter of time.

[@James-pb8xu]

So aggressive, and yet, we still haven’t heard why their idea sucks from you. Why don’t you enlighten us. Pine trees grow under 7 years. 50ft. Their wood doesnt deform unlike the materials used now. Explain why their idea sucks.

[@avaragecracker69]

In Finland we grow more wood, than harvest it.

[@towaritch]

It s artificial forests with low biodiversity.

[@avaragecracker69]

@@towaritch And how many times have you been in a finnish forest?

[@towaritch]

@@avaragecracker69 in German and French forests same problem

[@avaragecracker69]

@@towaritch well we have no biodiversity problem

[@rickbarrington]

2000 trees for a small multi storied building. The world will need at least a billion new homes for the additional 3 billion people. How many trees is that? Add carbon footprint to grow those trees, harvest them, build logging roads, transport them and prepare them to CLT. What a stupid idea.

[@slushpuppie2356]

ummmmmm what happens if it rotts

[@Ian-id7op]

I thought about that. Rotting happens when moisture gets into the wood. I think that because it is made of thin wooden panels that are glued together, the glue would prevent the moisture from entering the inner layers and rotting. IDK though.

[@r3dp1ll]

it's treated .. I've never seen rotten wood in a sport / conference hall

[@joefuckingflacco11tds-0int4]

^ because it's inside

[@guysumpthin2974]

# when it rots

[@guysumpthin2974]

70 yr old furniture: glue dries out and basically disappears, every year goes by increasing the flammability

[@stephen7938]

CLT!!! the industry is using it more than most people know.

[@bryanmartinez6600]

stephen powell sounds like plywood or OBS

[@stephen7938]

HERPY DERPEDY nah bruh way different but commonly misconstrued

[@rhd244]

If the wood is the same then is it a different type of glue used on this type than plywood? Are they pre engineered units like I-beams or channel shapes?

[@stephen7938]

CLT is glued like plywood or OSB but that's all that is similar speaking very broadly as the type of glue is far different. The main difference is that it is made from dimensional lumber rather than random strands of scrap wood or thin wide layers in plywood. Yes, CLT is pre-engineered in a factory. I attached a few articles from case studies on CLT for familiarization. research.cnr.ncsu.edu/blogs/clt-panels/home/ www.woodworks.org/wp-content/uploads/Byle-CLT-Montana.pdf ir.library.oregonstate.edu/downloads/p5547t37x www.archrethink.co.uk/2013/09/glulamclt-what-difference.html www.fpl.fs.fed.us/documnts/presentations/workshop-salt-lake-city-march-2012/Presentation_Mayo.pdf www.structuraltimber.co.uk/timber-systems/glulamclt

[@albertoramirez5977]

stephen powell what’s that like LVL?

[@tyereksmith8946]

what about hurricane winds?

[@moritzk3004]

Wood is elastic, it wouldnt get destroyed in wind that fast, like steal or concrete

[@scottab140]

Skyscrapers are built on land, not in the ocean.

[@gainsandglory6808]

@@scottab140 Yeah because big cities containing large buildings never get hit by hurricanes. Only in the ocean. Waving from Houston, hey how's it goin?

[@matem868]

@@moritzk3004 You want rigid materials for strong winds, like reinforced concrete. You want a 125m tower to sway back and forth?

[@austinhinrichs2289]

@@moritzk3004 yea i don't think my skyscraper being super elastic sounds like a good idea.

[@thebeyondwordser]

So many people in the comments talking about the "risks" and how this is "questionable" when they have likely never worked with wood in a in depth manner. I'm currently studying wood sciences and the physical qualities of wood are incredibly astounding. Plantation grown pines ( Not old growth, no deforestation) can be grown to suitable sizes in 25 years, cut milled and laminated into CLT and GluLam boards. These products are capable of keeping more than half their structural strength even after an hour of being engulfed in fire. Compressed wood, thermally altered wood and so many new engineered products are being developed. The level of wood building is so unlike what has been used before it isn't even comparable. I'm sure there are a lot of doubters and this video really does not do the products justice or pose a very sound argument, but if once you see these products preform in the worst conditions, you will be very impressed. And lets say that this technology is put to an end by doubters, what alternative do we have? The use of energy and fossil fuels to extract concrete and steel is likely going to put us into a major environmental disaster, or serious massive depletion of resources sooner than we can expect. Wood is the only sustainable, renewable building resource we have, either use that, or lose everything.

[@rin_etoware_2989]

Why not just use renewable energy sources in building concrete and steel buildings, like using electric trucks instead of the current ones?

[@chinogambino9375]

Electric trucks are actually terrible for the environment, EVs have a weight to efficiency ratio problem. While Tesla and other automakers market longer range EVs to satisfy the market they would actually be far more environmentally friendly with half the range due to weight savings. I'm sad to say electric truck and perhaps even sprinter van fleets make little sense.

[@thebeyondwordser]

because its not just the trucks and equipment, there is also the smelting, refining and other chemical byproducts in the equation. the process to cut and laminate wood into CLT creates significantly less waste, emissions and chemical byproducts than the creation of creation of concrete or steel I beams. Wood has little to no waste product currently, as every part of the tree can be processed into a usable product (lumber, CLT, OSB, Resins & other lignin based chemicals) and what is left is often burned as Biomass and used to generate energy. Timber is one of the few products where energy can be created from its production, rather than required to smelt the ore/limestone into a usable substance.

[@bcubed72]

Matthew Tolentino Concrete production is horrifically carbon-intensive. The first main chemical step is to turn "Calcuim Carbonate" [CaCO3] into "Calcium Oxide" [CaO] by baking it for several hours. *_What is missing from CaO, that is present in CaCO3, perchance?_* So, EVEN IF YOU COOK IT IN A SOLAR OVEN, you unavoidably produce CO2 in a roughly equal weight to the lime product you end up with. If you use "industry standard practices," try DOUBLE the weight of lime. Dumbass thinks he can just use electric trucks, and everything's hunky-dory!

[@Elliandr]

Don't forget: To be renewable, trees have to be grown sustainably with new trees planted to recut the ones lost on an interval of steady harvesting. If this catches on you will need to expand growing operations globally or you'll over farm. I do agree though that would can work.

[@frank-gavinmoratalla7942]

Interesting idea, however, I found it equally interesting that stresses from wind and extreme weather not to mention seismic activity were not addressed at all.

[@andyd3464]

There are so many things wrong with the logical thinking behind this. There is ABSOLUTELY no way of using wood on this scale and remaining sustainable. Even pole pines take years to grow, and no matter how pressure treated they get, they still dry rot in time. There is, however, an excellent point that concrete and steel structures do indeed tax mining infrastructure. That said, the United States scraps enough steel to build entire cities in China on a yearly basis. There is also a willful ignorance and omission of the true building material of the future to pair with this recycled steel... Air Crete. A relatively small amount of cement is mixed with a relatively large amount of air to create it. It can be blown in around steel beams and entirely insulate them from the heat of flame... Not that any part of air crete is flammable in the slightest. It's also not susceptible to rot or vermin of any kind. The Germans know this. The United States is beginning to use it. This video is extraordinarily misleading given the point of view of the architecture firm not being countered in the slightest. Absurd.

[@equalitystateofmind5412]

Because steel-concrete skyscrapers last forever and there's less money in it for developers?

[@V8Murder]

Steel-concrete construction doesn't necessarily last forever - just look at montreal, it's falling apart. Reduced costs come from standardized building practices with many suppliers. If this new practice of building skyscrapers with wood becomes the norm, it will be just as cheap for developers. It will take an ambitious company's persistence to make it the norm, like tesla has done with pushing electric cars.

[@capras12]

That's not how it works bub

[@saltymonke3682]

wooden structure degrades faster

[@tpfrk8977]

Wood that is properly taken care of can last for a very long time. Let’s just hope that there isn’t a termite infestation in one of these high rises.

[@dominictorettogaming6678]

The Empire State Building is struck by lightning 25 times a year, which is about once every 2 weeks on average. Now take that skyscraper and make it out of wood. This sounds like a great idea.

[@snapverse]

Mites

[@erikdumas9873]

Pressure treated wood.

[@saltymonke3682]

still, wood degrades faster than steel and concrete. Japanese "disposable" house are mostly made by woods, only lasted for 30 years.

[@JoostterLaak]

yes right?

[@saltymonke3682]

Benjamin Connolly Japanese shinto shrines and Buddist temples are maintained heavily every year. Restoration and rebuilding projects are not uncommon for them. But here we are talking about tall wooden structure, while shrines and temples are mostly a 1 to 3 story structure with stones and concrete as their foundation. The only tall structure is the Pagoda which is common in Buddist temple. The tallest one is in Toji temple, 54.8 m tall. It's been rebuilt several times in a timespan of hundreds of years. It is maintained throughly every year. But no one is living in Pagoda, or going in there, except in some occasion. Unlike what we are talking about in here. The more comparable structure is Japanese castle which is a multi story wooden structure sitting on top of pile of stones. They are maintained heavily every year. The cost of their restoration and maintenance are very expensive compared to modern building. Otherwise they won't withstand earthquakes and typhoon. Here they had to move the structure, literally. kzbin.info/www/bejne/gJiziGeNa96mqs0

[@foodadventurist]

"trees are running out" "lets build huge buildings with it!"

[@marshallwnoyes]

R E G R O W T H And T R E E F A R M S

[@foodadventurist]

its not sustainable as of now, and besides, it takes over 50 years for a tree to mature to its full strength (which is necessary for a building that size.) so yeah, we can plant the trees now, no problem, but we need to wait over 50 years for the trees to be usable in a building this size. academic.oup.com/jof/article-abstract/115/5/397/4599897?redirectedFrom=fulltext

[@unregisteredaccount6555]

No, just make more wood.

[@marshallwnoyes]

@@unregisteredaccount6555 And that too

[@INTCUWUSIUA]

@@foodadventurist oh it absolutely is, see literally every first world country and how they practice forestry.

[@DimeF1]

Forest fires... Imagine City Fires...

[@keeganharris186]

Most American cities are already made up mostly of houses made of wood

[@ThatCherriePie]

1920 Steel Skyscrapers 2018 Wooden Skyscrapers 2050 Paper Skyscrapers

[@joeyjo-jojuniorshabadoo6827]

2100 Poo skyscrapers

[@josephb.3841]

2550 helium skyscrapers

[@SanBrunoBeacon]

This is a great idea if you can figure out how to successfully (and I mean successfully in real life, not theoretical, conditions) deal with the combustibility of this new type of wood. We need to go slow on this, and not start filling cities with wooden skyscrapers until we have significant real-life data.

[@tl5606]

Jet fuel can’t melt wood

[@charlescoates636]

What if a wooden plane crashed into it?

[@yohendyC]

911

[@WitchKing-Of-Angmar]

Wood literally can't melt...it's scientifically proven with all non alien substances

[@v12ish40]

Haha people don't get the joke.

[@davidgreen5994]

+T Lee It can't melt steel either... but shhhhh...

[@shappo]

Does the economist not have a single Mechanical Engineer they could have consulted on this? The compressive strength of wood is quite poor, no amount of lamination changes that.

[@diegopenya9349]

philip frick Probably they did, architects can be engineers too. And you think someone is gonna invest in a building made of wood without having the proper structural analysis?

[@Lancaster604]

It's an architectural practice, not two arts major's pipe dream.

[@shappo]

A wooden sky scraper? Pure fantasy.

[@Lancaster604]

They seem to have the dimensions for the structural members calculated so the math is probably solid. They're professionals after all.

[@shappo]

I am saying this is a puff piece. Any engineer, myself included, could have told the writers that the material properties of wood place a finite and low maximum height on wooden structures (this has been known for hundreds or years). In general architects are not engineers and I have never met one that is a Professional Engineer.

[@cynicaldragons6239]

What about the wood rotting..?

[@nonic4vic600]

Jenga

[@notthatguy4703]

Jenga

[@JustAnotherNamelessGuy]

Jenga

[@nitron9575]

Jenga

[@Rhinoch8]

Proper roofing and foundations. Some wooden houses in Europe are 500 years old. Concrete won't last that long.

[@AfricaGeo]

I like the idea,but what about termites???? Pre Treated wood won't last too long. The buildings are too big to wrap in a tent like we do in the southern parts of the US. Maybe in northern states without drywood wood which could sustain a colony above ground. BTW I own tent fumigation company so I speak from experience.

[@YoungGrizzly]

Screw all that call the first Hokage and grow the skyscraper like a real shinobi...i mean architect.

[@md.ehteshamuddinkhan9741]

Past eight years I was thinking about this and you gave me a solution. Thank you In my graduation programme my teachers taught me it is not possible to have skyscraper in wood

[@ArmyRangerSJ]

Actually building regular buildings several stories high are accomplished in a few weeks by prefabricating as well.... Soooo

[@MrLOLSager]

Have they also thought about how damn long it takes for a tree to grow? This idea seems absolutely stupid. Also in a rainy country like the UK, I can’t imagine that these buildings will be able to stand multiple decades

[@olivercuenca4109]

max_agr Pine takes twenty years to be mature. It's perfectly plausible to grow enough, especially when you work with the sustainably harvested forests that already exist and just expand them. How do you think we get sustainable wood already? This is just the principle expanded exponentially.

[@bcubed72]

max_agr Like he said, 20 years to maturity. Much like a human. I can see by your response that you haven't quite hit maturity, yourself... ...and I live in rainy Pittsburgh PA. All of our old houses are wood, and plenty are over 100. I was working in the basement of one; the beams were old enough that they were HEWN, not sawed. That means it must be 150, at minimum. (Now, how old is the typical skyscraper?)

[@GUITARTIME2024]

max_agr most houses and apartment buildings (under 5 stories) in america are wood framed (structure). As long as water intrusion and termites are kept out, wood doesnt decay on its own. We get plenty of rain in north carolina.

[@CoxJoxSox]

Lumber has a LOT of drawbacks - I live in a 3 story wooden building and it's been hard to insure - prone to weather deterioration - termites etc.

[@beldengi]

Insurance of houses is a con. Save your money and make sure you turn off the stove every time.

[@TeslaKuhn8]

people who have no idea what they are talking about should stop talking about it. 1) home insurance covers a great deal 2) it is cheap 3) when something happens, good luck containing/clearing/cleaning up/rebuilding at the cost of homes

[@Rhinoch8]

These are design issues, not material choice.

[@dojokonojo]

If you aren't an engineer (civil, structural, material, etc.), I don't think you are qualified to criticize this material as unfeasible. I'm sure there are many areas where it would be, but I know for engineer, they ask themselves "how can I make this work." Remember, critics told Elon Musk his ideas were unfeasible at first, but his engineers eventually made them work.

[@harsh.thakkar]

dojokonojo Criticism is important too it makes things foolproof and if they really do want to make this idea work they'll need people to believe in it.

[@The757packerfan]

I think it's a middle ground. Criticism is fine and encouraged in order to make a better product. But those on KZbin commenting without a background in engineering should realize that their complaint has probably already been thought of. As long as the armchair criticizers realize that they aren't as smart as the engineers and come with HUMBLE criticism it should be welcomed.

[@anoncx]

iamverysmart

[@user-vg1fu1xb5l]

Fireproof Wood😂

[@bcubed72]

Steel isn't fireproof, either (cough, cough...9/11)

[@ryanray6215]

We need Fireproof Fire :-)

[@user-vg1fu1xb5l]

*_-DEACERING.EGG-_* whats your point of course a simple wood cant start a fire if nothing ignite it

[@AnthonyBrusca]

There's no such thing as fire proof, only fire resistant. With that said, fuck wood.

[@nitaimatan2247]

significantly weaker than a building made of flex tape

[@iammelon8839]

nitai matan why havent we been using flex tape for buildings anyways?

[@carlosbaenanavarro]

Somehow this means we'll live in the trees

[@Touchgrassplz]

...bodies of dead trees..

[@carlosbaenanavarro]

Abdul Kader huh, this sounds creepy

[@gavinstarks2761]

So living in stone building means were living underground? No.

[@gavinstarks2761]

Заклетник is a form of stone*

[@vshah1010]

It's a tree house.

[@EnricoMicheli-jo6bg]

what about thermites and earthquakes how would it handle them

[@ooDirtyMickoo]

is cross laminated wood not strong enough to withstand earthquakes? and im pretty sure there are arid cold climates that hardly have termites, not to mention there are tons of preventative measure you can take with a buildings foundation to prevent termites.

[@alexistoxqui6984]

ooDirtyMickoo what about a plane

[@ooDirtyMickoo]

Alexis Toxqui r u referring to 9/11

[@Cankersoar]

CLTs can handle earthquakes as well as any solid wall construction... solid concrete, cinderblock... ect

[@scottleft3672]

When one burns...for WHATEVER reason....the hue and cry will be..."who's bright idea was it to build in wood?".

[@ebwrigh]

Is CLT not the same thing as plywood?

[@itecnus3490]

Eric Wright nope

[@StingerPhilip]

This is nothing new. basically all houses are built in the U.S. It will always burn with enough heat.

[@htsandy3136]

2:46 jenga isn’t a game , its our future

[@jelleverest]

What's the difference between this cross-laminated wood and plywood? It sounds exactly the same.

[@matheusclarkson3358]

CLT = Plywood with extra steps

[@ira1420]

I would really like to see some wooden skyscreapers in the future, but I don't think they will be the norm

[@mujeebhamid2670]

No fool will invest in making such a building which is doomed to be either kindled by fire or taken into flight by cyclones or made to float by floods.

[@dynnlopez5606]

You talked about fire but you forgot to talk about termites and earthquakes.

[@TheCraftOMine]

Sounds cool, just don't build them here in California.

[@gladitsnotme]

It's like these engineers have never heard of forest fires or Grenfell.

[@treeaboo]

Except Grenfell was because of extremely flammable cladding and the internal fire-slowing systems not working properly (firedoors not functioning, and sprinklers barely working), the cladding was much much more flammable than wood. Solid wood is really difficult to burn, try burning twigs and you'll see them burst into flames, then try with a solid log, that'll take ages, you'll probably run out of fuel before it catches alight, there's a reason we cut logs up into firewood before trying to burn them, because you have to maximise the surface area, and this is normal wood, not treated, you can treat wood to make it much much harder to burn than usual, in fact with CLT and proper treating wood should be more fire resistant than steel and concrete, as steel begins to get soft and with the weight of a building above it, can shear. Concrete begins to crack and isn't strong enough on its own to hold up a building. There's also the whole fact that steel and concrete buildings are awful against earthquakes, whereas wood is much better due to it being able to bend without weakening, whereas steel and concrete are brittle and crack. There's a reason wooden buildings can stay around for hundreds of years in Earthquake prone areas whereas modern concrete & steel buildings collapse.

[@casey9559]

when your Mum tells you to make structures using Jenga 😂

[@accfinorsvallarta5450]

And this applies only to certain geographical locations, what about cities that are prone to earthquakes or hurricanes, those buildings would tumble like a pile of wood.

[@aymansaquib2864]

I am conflicted about whether they told all this with deforestation in mind.

[@AnkhAnanku]

What kind of trees are they planting/farming? I still think bamboo gives the best bang for its buck, since it grows so fast and is super tough for its weight...

[@mossfet]

I come from brazil, and from what i know, a large amount of the Amazon rainforest is deforested. This deforestation is not so much caused by the cutting down of trees, but instead of the burning of the Amazon rainforest. People burn down the rainforest because its soil is very rich. Most of the farms that are made on this deforested land is used to grow palm oil, a very cheap crop which is commonly used in snack foods like potato chips. I would not be suprized if by eating your 40 bags of potato chips, you are creating more deforestation then these people cutting down trees to build a skyscraper.

[@OscarS123]

Ayman Saquib if the wood comes from sustainably managed forests like Forest stewardship council then it’s fine. The importance is where the wood comes from.

[@NatureShy]

Bigdawgphilleep Wood is not that sustainable. It takes hundreds of years for a tree to grow as old as the original forests. Trees over 7 feet wide and 200 feet tall take at least a hundred years to grow to that size; small trees do not provide the same benefit to the ecosystem (or recreation) that older trees do.

[@OscarS123]

Diecastcow it’s true palm oil is causing deforestation but there is another industry that causes way more deforestation in Brazil than palm oil its animal agriculture... they growing Shit lot of soy to feed cattle actually look it up. Almost 90 percent of the deforestation in Amazon is because of animal agriculture.

[@boogerking7411]

Wait until the glue breakdown

[@groupraitodigital9784]

They will make metal frame instead of glue. But what could an obama supporter knows?

[@WitchKing-Of-Angmar]

Group Raito Digital *know not knows, so obviously you don't know

[@clairedalby5043]

@@groupraitodigital9784 Its actually a laminate more than a glue, it has been significantly tested in all conditions and time frames.

[@kalakshepam9000]

Earthquakes, termites,shear stress,high speed winds, Rains can really challenge these.

[@siddoo6778]

I know someone who really loves oxygen and eating wood, it is also orangish red

[@bcubed72]

Trump eats wood? Is that a "reptilian thing?"

[@siddoo6778]

bcubed72 Trump does not like oxygen, silly. He’s a reptillian

[@Kyle-qe2vd]

TERMITES

[@vinesauceobscurities]

Depends on the grain of the wood. Hardwood is harder for termites to dig into, but expecting architectures and contractors to give a shit about what wood to use is a little optimistic.

[@19.tanmoypati13]

If you start doing this, earth will definitely run out of trees

[@keeganharris186]

But like all the houses are already made of wood and we have more forest cover in North America then one hundred years ago

[@19.tanmoypati13]

@@keeganharris186 but if we start doing this then all that forest cover which u r talking about will be vanished to satisfy hungry humans. Please think from a broader perspective

[@ANJIN-p4q]

I thought 3d printed models were the future not cutting down trees to build skyscrapers. That's insane

[@tiespauelsen7983]

PrincePhase you know that wood which is used for buildings is always planted trees, not just some random trees found in a Forrest?

[@nickhardins843]

Trees absorb more CO2 than these wooden buildings

[@kingcarrot1560]

That's the point. The time when trees suck in the Most CO2 is when they are young and growing fast. By cutting them down and planting new ones in their stead you are taking even more CO2 out of the atmosphere. That is why cutting down trees is good for the air because then a new tree that is growing fast will take in more CO2 than if you left the old tree alone. It sounds counter intuititve but using thousands of trees for these skyscrapers is much better to decrease air pollution because then you can plant thoussands of new trees.

[@bobstone2756]

[PLEASE READ, ITS JUST A PERSONAL INSIGHT ABOUT THIS... UHMM... THINGY] I personally like the idea that it would reduce the carbon footprint if they used that material, especially now with the different global issues we're facing such as global warming. But, if we are going to view it in a different perspective, let's say, this will be the very common material that maybe if not all, many structures in the future, it would need more and more trees. I know that the wood will be gathered from a very sustainable and easily replaceable (Is that the right term?) source of wood but if we are to build hundreds of these buildings all at the same time, considering that trees grow in like 20-50 years span for it to be readily cut down, all the trees from that sustainable forest might be cut down and possibly will regrow only for a very long time. Did you get my point (or whoever is possibly reading this)? The Lumber material will be at high demand but only will be available periodically because take this example: Year 2050: + Approx. 1000 new buildings will be built with greatly of the same material -- lumber It would need tons and tons of supply of wood. And where would we get that? Temporary answer: That "sustainable and replaceable forest." BUT, of course we cannot fully empty the forest just to meet the demand of these infrastructures because we also will be needing trees. +At that year, the forest will be replaced again with new trees through reforestation +And at that year, the forest must be wiped out ONLY AT THAT PERIOD, because new trees will be grown again. Year 2051: + In my opinion, no one can build another wooden infrastructure at this time because the source of wood is completely used for the infrastructures of last year and must wait for like decades for the trees to be completely ready for harvesting, UNLESS, another area of forest will be used for the harvesting of lumber, but is risky, because you do not want to completely cut many acres of trees just for infrastructure needs, many animals, mostly classified as endangered, will lose their homes. Year 2080: + New buildings of the same material -- lumber, will be built again since this is the second generation of the reforested forest back in 2050. DISADVANTAGES: + it is a LOSE=LOSE situation for both man and the nature. For the nature, they had to be cut down just to demand infrastructure and i predict that it will be gone for that moment until new generations of trees are fully grown which is a very risky move because without trees at that time, many global hazards and disasters may pass at that time such as flooding and the rise of sea level and that the only thing that could save them are trees, but, there weren't or there are only a few of them left at that time. Also, habitat. Forest has been the home of many increasing number of endangered species and will still continue to rise. These animals play a certain role in our ecosystem that if they were to disappear, many animals will be affected, including us humans. For humans, although it has many advantages in terms of many engineering, construction and architectural aspects, it would take such a long time to build infrastructure like this because the material used are not readily available and is already very critical nowadays because it plays a very important role in the changing global climate, which is very impractical. There might be or there are already many readily available materials that might help reduce carbon footprint other than trees, why not research on that instead of using one of the essential organisms on this planet? QUESTION: WHERE THE HECK IS THAT SUSTAINABLE FOREST??? QUESTION: HOW CAN YOU SAY IT IS SUSTAINABLE IF IT WOULD ONLY BE CUT DOWN AND REPLACED BACK AGAIN??? I don't really get that, can someone clarify that please. Thanks. QUESTION: A THOUSAND GODDAMN TREES ARE NEEDED FOR ONLY 1, JUST 1! BUILDING, WHAT ABOUT, TENS OF BUILDINGS OR EVEN A CITY??? QUESTION: IS THIS SOME SORT OF LIVE ACTION OF THE LORAX MOVIE??? SERIOUSLY??? WELL, WE ALL KNOW WHAT THE CONSEQUENCES ARE AT THE END OF THE DAY... NOTE: THIS IS JUST A PERSONAL INSIGHT ABOUT THIS THINGY, NO HARSH INTENTIONS INTENDED. IF YOU (A RANDOM PERSON WHO IS READING THIS) HAVE SOMETHING ELSE TO SAY, CONTRADICTIONS, ETC. FEEL FREE TO STATE IT... PEACE!!!

[@basharkano9658]

I don't think a sustainable wood source is available everywhere. So please just keep building with concrete, the last thing we need is further deforestation.

[@centurion1945]

Bashar Kano concrete is one of the least environmentally friendly building materials around. Look up the amount of CO2 released during its production

[@AnkhAnanku]

centurion1945 Over it’s lifetime, concrete reabsorbs much of the CO2 released during its production. I doubt it’s totally neutral, since it takes energy to build it in the first place, but the overall carbon balance of concrete is not as evil as it looks

[@retrosking]

Bashar Kano exactly

[@Perish1]

We already have sustainable wood sources. Most of the wood we use today comes from those sources. Deforestation is mostly caused by the need for more farming land.

[@Jacobvb11]

AnkhAnanku how does concrete reabsorb Co2?

[@mrxexes]

2 words term mites... But seriously the world doesn't have enough trees to sustain all the buildings plus skyscrapers they are proposing.

[@emmanuelallapitan3155]

Im an architecture student I would like to learn more about this... But the only downside i'm seing in using this material is that trees takes alot of time to grow and its becoming a scarce material and alot of other products include wood.. The upside is that im seing this as a movement to plant more trees in the later future and help to self sustain its growth and population

[@anthonyburke5677]

Great idea but it's fancy plywood!

[@AnkhAnanku]

Yeah, with all our science I think we can do better than this.

[@Sillywillywam]

What's wrong with plywood? It's super strong and a large version of it is perfect for building with!

[@anthonyburke5677]

William Hurrell I totally agree, "GOOD" plywood is a fantastic material but its not a new material as is being implied!

[@anthonyburke5677]

William Hurrell it's still laminated timber! The difference between good plywood and bad plywood is what it is made of and how it's made. Good sapele plywood is €150 a sheet, cheap plywood is €30 and made of spruce (pine) what is this made of?

[@Sillywillywam]

True, but it's a version which previously didn't exist, and is better for construction. It's usually made of spruce, but graded so that it's strength and stiffness can be accurately designed with (by taking out things like knots or twists).

[@redspin2ify]

But if there's a raging fire how is steel not better to prevent fire spreading than wood? The demonstration with the blow torch suggests that if a serious fire does start the timber wouldn't catch alight but it definitely wouldn't provide a safe barricade from fire like steel. Maybe I'm wrong but it just seems like they're underestimating how fire friendly wood is?

[@kingalbby2497]

I am a student in the fire service. Fire is a crazy thing. Steel untreated still contributes to the growth of a fire. Most materials will. Steel is able to conduct heat allowing the temperatures in other locations to grow and having thing begin to combust. The demonstration shown in the video means nothing, treated timbers, hell even normal untreated wood will act like that. The issue is the glue. The glue melts and burn faster and hotter. The fire service has seen similar processes done with smaller pieces of wood to create "large dimensions timber" using in heavy timber buildings. Unfortunately it makes things worse in Fire conditions.

[@stevei-cj4sc]

Never been in a wood apartment building that wasnt incredibly noisy. cheers

[@haihengh]

question is, what are glue made from? I bet you 100% they are from petrol.

[@gkes4617]

Still better than 100% concrete and steel. Even if it was made from 100% petrol it would be better for the environment than concrete and steel are

[@4jm4l786]

Basically Plywood...

[@ooDirtyMickoo]

bigger plywood. with bigger cross lamination. yeah.

[@TheAgentTexas]

My thoughts. 1. Gotta make sure the process for making the glue is sustainable too. Should have gone into the process of making that as that is a key part of this idea. 2. One of the comments below was someone saying that we might not stay with sustainable tree farms. That we might get to greedy (as we humans often do) and slowly bending the rules until they break. Basically, we would need to make sure that people don't start cutting down natural forests. 3. There would need to be a lot of structural tests to see how well something like a wooden tower can survive natural disasters like hurricanes, tornadoes, forest fires, flood (wood absorbs moisture), and earthquakes. Other than that, seems interesting.

[@ArchstantonsMTgrave]

Fire of London 2.0 🔥🔥🔥

[@penguindiego]

OH........NOW I GET THAT TESLA "FLAMETHROWER" THING OK. OK.😑

[@УбавкаСтојанова-Арсова]

I have always wondered why when there's a fire the building burns it buckles, and here's my answer. Thanks The economist :D

[@NEKORID]

There’s even wood buildings in Chile, where there are earthquakes every year. They behave incredibly better in fires and quakes, so it’s a myth concrete it’s the best. It’s just the easiest.

[@joefuckingflacco11tds-0int4]

But do they make skyscrapers out of wood

[@garnetreds1018]

This is the dumbest idea I’ve ever heard

[@MrCantabro11]

The main concern at least for me would be the the long term durability of the building. Does this CLT rots like normal wood? Can it stand the pressure of hurricanes and earthquakes? And what about bugs? They should awnser this questions before start constructing any building

[@oracleowen]

Bamboo Baby! Grows like a weed

[@messwithgame17]

That would be cool ass skyscrapper..... But can anyone explain how can we prevent from termites from eating it

[@worldmapping4895]

im guessing first floor concrete