TreeHugger reports:
Sumitomo Forestry, an industry giant in Japan, [is] pivoting to plyscrapers and proposing a 70-story, 350 meter (1148') tower for the Marunouchi district in Tokyo. It's called W350, the plan being that it will be finished in 2041, the 350th anniversary of the founding of the company.
[...] Using a hybrid 9:1 ratio of wood to steel, Sumitomo Forestry aims to replace concrete, which is one of the world's largest carbon footprint contributors. The skyscraper would be a 70-floor mixed-use building that would include a hotel, office space, commercial space, and residences. Wrap-around balconies at different intervals would be planted with lush wildlife. And greenery would extend throughout the entire complex, creating a vertical forest where humans and wildlife can flourish.
[...] It is a brace tube structure, "a structural system that forms a cylindrical shell (brace tube) with columns / beams and braces. By placing braces diagonally in a set of shafts assembled with columns and beams, it prevents the building from deforming against lateral forces such as earthquakes and wind."
The images are beautiful.
Previously: Super Wood Could Replace Steel
The Case for Wooden Skyscrapers
Can You Build A Safe, Sustainable Skyscraper Out Of Wood?
Related Stories
The Center for American Progress reports:
North America's tallest modern all-wood building is nearing completion in Prince George, British Columbia [...] Other wood buildings are in the works across the world as it gains a reputation for climate friendliness, beauty, and yes, even fire safety.
[...]
no new wood building yet has surpassed the world's tallest, built in the 18th century. The Kizhi Pogost is a UNESCO World Heritage Site located on an island in northern Russia, and has a central cupola 37 meters high (121 feet), a few meters above the tops of the new wood high-rises. But it likely won't hold onto the title of tallest wood building for long.One all-wood building in northern Norway will be 17 stories high (52 meters), and there's also talk of a more theoretical 34-story wooden skyscraper in Sweden.
[...]
A lot of wood's appeal is counter-intuitive. It's not a bigger fire risk--in fact, thick wood planks stay strong in a fire, forming a protective char that keeps the integrity of the material intact. Steel can lose its strength when it burns, becoming "like spaghetti," according to B.J. Yeh of the Engineered Wood Association.This new interest in wood is driven in part by the rise of cross-laminated timber (CLT), essentially a highly advanced form of plywood that can rival steel in strength. It works, basically, by gluing and pressing small beams together into giant boards that can be up to six inches thick, and are custom-sized for their part of a construction project.
An article in The Economist makes the case for "wooden" skyscrapers:
New techniques mean that wood can now be used for much taller buildings. A handful are already going up in cities around the world. The 14-storey Treet block of flats in Bergen, Norway, is currently the tallest. But Brock Commons, an 18-storey wooden dormitory at the University of British Columbia in Canada, is due to be completed in 2017. That is when construction is expected to begin on the 21-storey Haut building in Amsterdam. Arup, a firm of engineering consultants working on the project, says it will be built using sustainable European pine. Some architects have even started designing wooden skyscrapers, like the proposed Tratoppen ("the treetop" illustrated above), a 40-floor residential tower on the drawing-board in Stockholm.
Wood has many attractions as a construction material, apart from its aesthetic qualities. A wooden building is about a quarter of the weight of an equivalent reinforced-concrete structure, which means foundations can be smaller. Timber is a sustainable material and a natural "sink" for CO2, as trees lock in carbon from the atmosphere. Tall steel-and-concrete buildings tend to have a large carbon footprint, in part because of the amount of material required to support them. Using wood could reduce their carbon footprint by 60-75%, according to some studies.
There are two main concerns about using wood to build high. The first is whether wood is strong enough. In recent years there have been big advances in "engineered" wood, such as cross-laminated timber (CLT) made from layers of timber sections glued together with their grains at right angles to one another. In much the same way that aligning carbon-fibre composites creates stronger racing cars, aircraft and golf clubs, CLT imparts greater rigidity and strength to wooden structures. A recent experiment by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, a firm of architects, and Oregon State University, shows how strong engineered wood can be. The researchers used CLT in a hybrid form known as concrete-jointed timber. This featured an 11-metre wide CLT floor section with a thin layer of reinforced concrete spread across the surface. Thicker sections of concrete were added where the floor was supported by pillars. It was put into a giant test rig where a powerful hydraulic press pushed with increasing force onto the surface. The researchers wanted to see how the structure moved under load, but kept pressing in order to find its limits. The floor finally began to crack when the load reached a massive 82,000 pounds (37,200kg), around eight times what it was designed to support.
If you want to know what the second main concern is, you'll have to read the article. 😉
Engineers at the University of Maryland, College Park (UMD) have found a way to make wood more than 10 times times stronger and tougher than before, creating a natural substance that is stronger than many titanium alloys.
"This new way to treat wood makes it 12 times stronger than natural wood and 10 times tougher," said Liangbing Hu of UMD's A. James Clark School of Engineering and the leader of the team that did the research, to be published on February 8, 2018 in the journal Nature. "This could be a competitor to steel or even titanium alloys, it is so strong and durable. It's also comparable to carbon fiber, but much less expensive." Hu is an associate professor of materials science and engineering and a member of the Maryland Energy Innovation Institute.
The process seems to hinge on fine-tuning the amount of lignin present in the wood.
An abstract is available but the full article is paywalled; Journal Reference:
Jianwei Song, Chaoji Chen, Shuze Zhu, Mingwei Zhu, Jiaqi Dai, Upamanyu Ray, Yiju Li, Yudi Kuang, Yongfeng Li, Nelson Quispe, Yonggang Yao, Amy Gong, Ulrich H. Leiste, Hugh A. Bruck, J. Y. Zhu, Azhar Vellore, Heng Li, Marilyn L. Minus, Zheng Jia, Ashlie Martini, Teng Li, Liangbing Hu. Processing bulk natural wood into a high-performance structural material. Nature, 2018; 554 (7691): 224 DOI: 10.1038/nature25476
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday February 20 2018, @09:54PM (1 child)
(Score: 2) by arslan on Tuesday February 20 2018, @10:25PM
They already have a century old solution to fire: http://www.ninjaencyclopedia.com/techniques/ninjakite.html [ninjaencyclopedia.com]
Low tech wins again!
(Score: 2) by Freeman on Tuesday February 20 2018, @09:56PM (5 children)
Wood is Organic. It will decay much faster than metal or rock. They may be able to treat the wood in such a way as to not make it into a giant tinder box, but I would not have good feelings about working in one every day. Wood is beautiful, but fire can be as well. Fire's not so beautiful, if you're surrounded by it in a burning building. How quickly would the Twin Towers have gone down, if they had been made of wood? How many would have made it out by comparison?
Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
(Score: 5, Insightful) by takyon on Tuesday February 20 2018, @10:06PM (1 child)
Jet fuel can't melt wood beams.
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 2, Troll) by realDonaldTrump on Thursday February 22 2018, @01:36AM
They say it was Jets, you may find it was THERMITE. We went after Iraq, they did not knock down the World Trade Center. It wasn’t the Iraqis that knocked down the World Trade Center, we went after Iraq, we decimated the country, Iran’s taking over, OK? But it wasn’t the Iraqis, you will find out who really knocked down the World Trade Center. Because they have papers in there that are very secret, you may find it’s the Saudis, OK? But you will find out.
(Score: 5, Interesting) by bob_super on Tuesday February 20 2018, @10:12PM (1 child)
Solid wood is a terrible heat conductor, and burns very slowly. That's why you put he big log in the chimney to last the whole night.
While it's burning, it may retain more strength than many metals exposed to the same amount of heat (they're not burning, but everything but the concrete does). Also, the assembly process and the fastening being very different, it would be hard to tell how long the Twin towers would have stood if made of wood. The blunt trauma would have sheared off some columns, but the explosion might have had less impact.
As far as decay, TFA explains that the structure is designed to enable swapping timbers.
Most modern buildings are only designed for a hundred years or so, while wooden beams in castles can be a thousand years, and many battles, old.
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday February 21 2018, @01:48AM
In the chimney? I put mine in the stove and keep the chimney clear.
(Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Wednesday February 21 2018, @12:00AM
The thing I dislike the most about wood construction around here is mold, and termites. Wood (even when treated) supports the growth of all kinds of things in the dark, and if you should ever get any water on it, it only gets worse.
🌻🌻 [google.com]
(Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Tuesday February 20 2018, @09:57PM (5 children)
Sure, it can (and will) be made fire resistant, but once that candle lights....
🌻🌻 [google.com]
(Score: 4, Interesting) by zocalo on Tuesday February 20 2018, @10:12PM (2 children)
UNIX? They're not even circumcised! Savages!
(Score: 3, Interesting) by frojack on Tuesday February 20 2018, @10:34PM
An hour long fire is pretty normal for fires in large buildings. It takes half that long just to get fire fighters to the scene, and up the stairs. Yet most of these buildings are saved. Even if one apartment is totally gutted by fire.
And maybe wood buildings would be saved as well. But the water used for firefighting also extracts a toll on wood, but not so much concrete and steel.
I'd fear water more than fire. Fire you put out and replace parts. Water gets everywhere, and you have rot showing up in hidden places for 20 years.
No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
(Score: 2) by fliptop on Wednesday February 21 2018, @04:50AM
Yes and no. The outer veneer may be wood, but the inner layers are typically made of gypsum.
Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.
(Score: 4, Funny) by DannyB on Tuesday February 20 2018, @11:09PM (1 child)
So here is a distraction while you wait for the firefighters.
In each of your Google, Amazon and Apple "TO DO" lists, you create a single TO DO item that reads like:
"I don't know what it is, but I know how to find out. ${OTHER-THING} what is on my TO DO list?"
Then to get the dominoes falling you say:
Alexa, what is on my to do list?
And here is the endless loop you get:
ALEXA SAYS: There is 1 item on your to do list. I don't know what it is, but I know how to find out. Hey Google, what is on my TO DO list?
GOOGLE SAYS: There is 1 item on your to do list. I don't know what it is, but I know how to find out. Siri, what is on my TO DO list?
SIRI SAYS: There is 1 item on your to do list. I don't know what it is, but I know how to find out. Alexa, what is on my TO DO list?
ALEXA SAYS: There is 1 item on your to do list. I don't know what it is, but I know how to find out. Hey Google, what is on my TO DO list?
GOOGLE SAYS: There is 1 item on your to do list. I don't know what it is, but I know how to find out. Siri, what is on my TO DO list?
SIRI SAYS: There is 1 item on your to do list. I don't know what it is, but I know how to find out. Alexa, what is on my TO DO list?
etc . . .
It will keep you entertained for the rest of your life!
The lower I set my standards the more accomplishments I have.
(Score: 4, Touché) by insanumingenium on Tuesday February 20 2018, @11:11PM
All you are missing is some way of keeping state so that after 10K iterations Alexa can turn on your "hall lamp" starting a fire long after you left town.
(Score: 4, Informative) by frojack on Tuesday February 20 2018, @10:23PM (3 children)
Un-necessary green washing. We could do that with steel and concrete, but its seldom cost effective, or even all that desirable. Nothing about wood makes this easier.
Wood has some structural advantages over steel. In a fire, wood will give adequate warning of collapse, (cracking sounds and actual fire), whereas steel will simply collapse with no warning when the temperature reaches its ductile point. Firemen can and do go into a wood building on fire, but are very cautious about entering steel frame buildings.
Wood has the highest tensile strength per unit of weight or cross section of any building material known to man. (Not that our buildings are designed to take advantage of tensile strength. Few are, other than some Japanese designs).
The problems glossed over in the Treehugger article is that the whole thing would be composed of glue-lams, and its the "lam" part that has historically been problematic. Then there is the exposure of wood to the elements, (not to mention all those cute animals and insects they want to invite inside). And even a small fire, triggering sprinklers could cause water damage to exposed wood.
No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday February 21 2018, @12:43AM
Well, the site is called Tree Hugger.
-- OriginalOwner_ [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 3, Funny) by linkdude64 on Wednesday February 21 2018, @02:04AM
I for one welcome our new cute animal and insect officemates.
(Score: 2) by mhajicek on Wednesday February 21 2018, @02:14AM
Wood does not have the highest tensile strength by weight or by cross section. Perhaps you meant to phrase that differently?
The spacelike surfaces of time foliations can have a cusp at the surface of discontinuity. - P. Hajicek
(Score: 5, Funny) by DannyB on Tuesday February 20 2018, @11:01PM (6 children)
In the US we make buildings out of wood. They last 100 years. Longer if very well maintained.
In the UK they make buildings out of stone. They last 1000 years. Longer if ignored.
The lower I set my standards the more accomplishments I have.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by frojack on Tuesday February 20 2018, @11:17PM (2 children)
And they all end up ignored, or deeded to the national trust, having bankrupted countless generation since they were built. Entire family fortunes have been sunk into keeping these things standing.
No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
(Score: 3, Informative) by Nuke on Tuesday February 20 2018, @11:52PM
A stone or brick building is not entirely of stone or brick. It usually has lots of wood in it - floors, roof beams, windows, It is those wood bits that need 95% of the maintenance.
There are a few deserted villages in the UK, some very old indeed. What is left of them is the stone bits; the wood has practically gone. I live in the damp hills of Wales and struggle to keep the wood going on my 80 (only) year old house; the brick part is no problem.
(Score: 4, Informative) by PiMuNu on Wednesday February 21 2018, @12:49PM
I thought it is not the houses that have bankrupted countless generations, but inheritance tax. Inheritance tax is a Good Thing!
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday February 20 2018, @11:31PM
UK isn't on The Ring of Fire. [google.com]
Japan is. (Volcanism and earthquakes.)
Like realtors say: Location. Location. Location.
-- OriginalOwner_ [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 2) by c0lo on Wednesday February 21 2018, @12:00AM (1 child)
In an effort to harmonize with their US role models, the new British construction code for public housing indicates they are to be build out of concrete then clad in highly flammable insulation [wikipedia.org].
I reckon the pragmatical reason behind this choice is that a cut to social services can be implemented swiftly and with visible results.
(grin)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 3, Informative) by MostCynical on Wednesday February 21 2018, @01:30AM
So we need to cut put the middleman: make public housing out of recycled social services recipients; anyone found guilty of rorting the system is turned into building materials.
Otherwise, just bring back the sacrificial wickerman.
As for the wood: many of the ancient buildings only fell apart when people started using the timber for their fires, or the rooves were removed (decay, or the effects of the roof tax https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/roof_tax [oxforddictionaries.com] or window tax http://www.historyhouse.co.uk/articles/window_tax.html [historyhouse.co.uk] )
"I guess once you start doubting, there's no end to it." -Batou, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
(Score: 3, Interesting) by captain normal on Wednesday February 21 2018, @12:41AM (2 children)
One bit I don't get: "... with a shrinking population and a dislike of immigration, there are not a lot of houses being built. So they are pivoting to plyscrapers..."?
Not the "plyscrapers" part, the "shrinking population" part. Is the population of Japan shrinking unlike the population of virtually every other country on the planet? If so why do they need massive high rise buildings.Or is it maybe there are just too many architectural firms looking to build monuments.
Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not to his own facts"- --Daniel Patrick Moynihan--
(Score: 3, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday February 21 2018, @01:01AM
Yes, the Japanese population is shrinking. Unfortunately most young men prefer tentacle porn to actual women, even though Japanese women are very attractive, so the result is a low birth rate. This is exacerbated by frequent Godzilla attacks.
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday February 21 2018, @02:21AM
People who live in conditions such that they aren't sure if their children will live until the parents are dead tend to have -more- children to extend the odds.
In some cultures, lots of children are seen as a sign of wealth.
Japan has a universal healthcare system, so the first condition has largely gone away for them.
It seems that the current generation of Japanese people gives little credence to the second notion.
So, geometric expansion of their population, recognized as a stupid goal, has been abandoned.
Add in bots, unemployment numbers, and Capitalism (stagnant wages; globalism; exported jobs) to complete the picture.
-- OriginalOwner_ [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 2) by MichaelDavidCrawford on Wednesday February 21 2018, @02:21AM (2 children)
Concrete is a mixture of rocks, sand and Portland Cement.
To make Portland Cement if I understand correct you roast limestone in a kiln
Yes I Have No Bananas. [gofundme.com]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday February 21 2018, @07:18AM (1 child)
And that limestone can be roasted with CO2-neutral heat instead of gas meaning that concrete can be CO2-neutral too.
Anyway, concrete production is not what is driving global warming. What is driving global warming is us digging up carbon from the ground - coal, oil and gas. What we use it for doesn't even matter too much then.
(Score: 2) by PiMuNu on Wednesday February 21 2018, @01:00PM
> What is driving global warming is us digging up carbon from the ground
Don't be woolly. Greenhouse gases drive global warming.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday February 21 2018, @07:12AM
Since it's basically "engineered wood products", it's basically plastic. And definitely not something I would like to be in while there is any remote posibility of anything on fire in there.
(Score: 2) by pkrasimirov on Wednesday February 21 2018, @03:35PM
Yay, Teldrassil was planted!
Looking forward to Civ VII DLC 14 where this thing will be buildable.