Dive Brief:
-
As skyscrapers crowd cityscapes and pump more than their fair share of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, architects around the world are switching from traditional, light steel frames to engineered wood—which they say is better for the environment.
-
So-called “plyscrapers” in England, Canada, and China could be the prototypes for the next generation of multi-story structures, the British newspaper The Guardian reports.
-
Engineered wood, architects told the newspaper, produces less waste during construction and fewer CO2 emissions over the life of the building. Builders can’t use traditional wood products to support the expansive spans of a skyscraper, the architects said. Instead, they’re specifying engineered wood—layers of wood glued together for greater strength and longer spans.
Dive Insight:
A proposed, 30-story building for downtown Vancouver, British Columbia, would become the world’s tallest wooden structure if it’s built. The architect, Michael Green of the Vancouver firm MGA, is giving away his 200-page The Case for Tall Wood Buildings with the hope that other architects and engineers will specify engineered wood, which he says captures and holds carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, saving it from polluting the air.
