Wood may be viewed as a more old-fashioned type of building material, but wood skyscrapers may actually be the buildings of the future. And now, one renowned Japanese construction company has recently completed a fully wood-framed tower near Tokyo, as Bloomberg reported.
Obayashi Corp. completed Port Plus, a training and education facility in Yokohama using a technique called mass-timber construction, which uses thick, compressed layers of wood that create strong, structural load-bearing elements that rival materials like steel and concrete, according to the information platform naturally:wood.
Unlike steel and concrete, though, wood is a much more planet-friendly building material. Per Bloomberg, Obayashi estimates that building Port Plus generated the equivalent of about 2,500 metric tons (more than 2,750 tons) of carbon dioxide, whereas making the same building out of steel would have resulted in 4,200 tons of carbon dioxide equivalent. The same building made out of concrete would have generated 8,600 tons.
As builders and their clients become more aware of the environmental drawbacks that materials like concrete bring — concrete production accounts for roughly 7% of the world's total heat-trapping carbon pollution per year, according to The Wall Street Journal — they are looking for solutions to reduce the environmental damage that erecting new buildings causes. Some of those ways include engineering cleaner forms of concrete. Looking toward alternative materials like wood may be an even better option.
There is "strong demand from our clients to build this kind of building,'' Shinji Yamasaki, chief engineer in Obayashi's timber construction promotion department, told Bloomberg. In creating Port Plus, Yamasaki said, Obayashi has proved the viability of wood as a material for large-scale buildings. "We learned that a building can be fully made out of wood," he said.
Obayashi is not the only company looking to make wood skyscrapers — it seems to be a growing movement. Other examples include the Sara Culture Center in Sweden, T3 in Minneapolis, and the 25-story Ascent in Milwaukee.
"We believe that the utilization of forest resources will lead to the realization of a low-carbon society and the revitalization of local communities," Yamasaki said.
Join our free newsletter for easy tips to save more, waste less, and help yourself while helping the planet.
Cool Picks
