Design & architecture
Mass timber: building skyscrapers out of wood
11 min
Engineered wood is strong enough to raise tall buildings while storing carbon instead of emitting it. Explore how mass timber works and why it could transform one of the world's dirtiest industries.
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Show notes
Overview of Cross-Laminated Timber (CLT) and Glulam engineering.
Analysis of carbon sequestration in tall wood buildings.
Safety breakdown: How charring protects timber from fire.
Case study: The Ascent building in Milwaukee and the Hive in Vancouver.
The impact of the 2021 International Building Code on skyscraper design.
In this episode
- 1Intro1 min
- 2The Engineering of Mass Timber3 min
- 3The Carbon Math of a Wooden Skyline3 min
- 4Safety, Fire, and the Height Race3 min
- 5The Human Element and Urban Future2 min
- 6Outro1 min
Sources
- The skylines of the future will be made of wood | Grist
- Wooden skyscrapers point the way to more sustainable cities
- Mass Timber Could Drive Forest Expansion and Cut Emissions
- Tall Mass Timber - WoodWorks | Wood Products Council
- Mass Timber - American Wood Council
- Sustainable building movement embraces the use of mass timber construction | Knowable Magazine
- S2. Ep. 05: Setting Up Tall Mass Timber for Success | Listen Notes
- Mass Timber Group
- Tall Timber: The Future of Cities in Wood - The Skyscraper Museum
- The skylines of the future will be made of wood | Popular Science
- A Review of the Performance and Benefits of Mass Timber as an Alternative to Concrete and Steel for Improving the Sustainability of Structures
- As Mass Timber Takes Off, How Green Is This New Building Material? - Yale E360
- What is mass timber?
- Cross-Laminated Timber
- Introduction to Cross Laminated Timber
- https://www.wbdg.org/FFC/ARMYCOE/TECHNOTE/technote23.pdf
- Mass Timber Structural Design: Engineering Modern Timber Structures
- What Is the Impact of Mass Timber Utilization on Climate and Forests?
- Comparative Cradle-to-Grave Life Cycle Assessment of Low and Mid-Rise Mass Timber Buildings with Equivalent Structural Steel Alternatives
- Global land and carbon consequences of mass timber products | Nature Communications
- The potential use of mass timber in mid-to high-rise construction and the associated carbon benefits in the United States | PLOS One
- Mass Timber: IBC Type IV-A/B/C, CLT/Glulam/NLT/DLT/MPP, and Building Tall in Wood | ForestSource
- Ascent - Think Wood
- Ascent MKE | Thornton Tomasetti
- The Rise of the Wooden Skyscraper: How Mass Timber is Redefining Urban Resilience and Sustainability
- Fire Requirements for Mass Timber Elements - Code Applications, Construction Types, and Fire Ratings
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