Michael Green, a well-named architect to promote environmental material, has given a great illuminating Ted Talk, ‘Why We Should Build Wooden Skyscrapers’. He states that we are at the beginning of a revolution in building skyscrapers with wood, a skill required if we are to continue to urbanise at the pace we predict without damaging the planet. He believes the engineering is the easy bit. Changing society’s perception is much harder.
How come wood is part of a new revolution? Two of the authors of the book are Engineers. They spent forty year careers in Defence Electronics, Aerospace Technologies, Oil and Gas Engineering and Pipelines. Neither of them realised that Glulam, the laminated wood strengthened by glue, was capable of replacing concrete and steel. The third author, who had managed many small property developments and had drunk many cups of builders’ tea, had not heard of it’s significance either. They only understood the potential when they started researching the potential from wood about two years ago.
Have you heard of Glulam 12-storey skyscrapers being built now?
Forward to the past! Glulam is the simple sandwich of traditional wood with glue that can create a material as strong as structural steel. It is the natural alternative to steel or concrete. The German structural design engineer Otto Hetzer received a patent described as ‘a bent structural component of timber for building applications’. Glulam was born way back in 1906. It consumes less energy than any other building materials.
Most people had not seen this new revolution coming. Egon Glesinger was an exception. He wrote a book entitled The Coming Age of Wood in 1949. He just got his timing a bit off! What he did not foresee was the rapid reduction in coal and oil prices that encouraged other materials. Nor did the world highlight the nasty environmental impact of steel and concrete (3 and 5% respectively of the world carbon emission- remember aviation, that’s only 2%). Now that we have raised oil prices substantially and seen the environmental damage, Egon’s time has finally come.
Companies such as Forest Products Lab are producing wood-based nanomaterials that can be used to make computer chips, car panels, and replacement tendons for humans. Plyscrapers are appearing throughout the world made of cross-laminated timber from layers of wood crisscrossed and held together by glue. The Coming Age of Wood is finally coming 50 years later.
How could Scotland become part of this revolution? Simple really. Plant five billion trees, change building regulations radically in favour of wood, increase University R&D on wood innovation and radicalise Architects’ and Designers’ training.
Our biggest fear. Its Michael Green’s fear. Trying to get five million people including politicians in Scotland to think that the wood-based revolution is as great an opportunity as Artificial Intelligence, 3D printers, Gaming Software and Robots which all sound much more exciting. Try that idea out on your neighbours, ‘Do you know the wood revolution is coming?’!