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Glulam beams are actually pretty ecologically sound. They're made from laminations of smaller pieces of wood, so there's less demand for old-growth trees. It
by chiph 10y ago
Glulam beams are actually pretty ecologically sound. They're made from laminations of smaller pieces of wood, so there's less demand for old-growth trees. It can also be made of the smaller pieces left over from cutting larger pieces. And of course, trees are a renewable resource, if managed right via sustainable forestry.
Another benefit to them is that a single glulam beam can replace several ordinary dimensional pieces of lumber. So you end up using less wood because they're stronger.
And when used as architectural elements, they're attractive.
https://www.apawood.org/glulam https://www.apawood.org/glulam
- Gravityloss 10y agoI'm more than a little bit suspicious of these glues. They form moisture barriers for one. How is the longer term durability (100, 200, 300 years)?
- chiph 10y agoThe ones I know about are coming up on 55 years in use and still look good. I expect as long as you keep them dry and insect-free they'll last a long time.