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It's actually less about insulation and more about air sealing. A hermetically sealed home with no insulation is generally warmer than a leaky home with walls s

It's actually less about insulation and more about air sealing. A hermetically sealed home with no insulation is generally warmer than a leaky home with walls stuffed with insulation. Also regarding wood, this isn't the kind of wood you're thinking of. It's called pressure treated lumber, and it's an order of magnitude stronger than normal wood. The lumber has preservatives injected specifically to prevent rot, insect damage, and fire resistance.

Sharlin 9y ago
> A hermetically sealed home with no insulation is generally warmer than a leaky home with walls stuffed with insulation. Warmer, maybe, but bad for people and good for fungi. Many contemporary buildings are built too airtight, lacking natural ventilation, which causes huge problems with interior air quality and traps moisture inside structures, creating places for mold to thrive.
- swampthinker 9y ago
  Airtight buildings are perfectly fine with a proper Heat recovery ventilation system (HRV) that they should be using. HRV's are mandatory when building the PassiveHaus spec.
  - Sharlin 9y ago
    True. Unfortunately, at least around here a lot of buildings have been built in the past five or so decades that are fine insulation-wise but sorely lacking in ventilation, natural or otherwise, leading to widespread health issues. Many prefab concrete buildings from the 60s and 70s, even 80s, are practically ready for demolition.
neonblack 9y ago
What about slashing or bludgeoning damage?
richjdsmith 9y ago
I think the wood found in homes is pressure treated lumber which I don't believe is structurally any stronger than non-pt wood, but helps wood withstand the elements and wards off termites, microorganisms and fungal decay. The most common types of Pressure Treatments (at least that I am aware of in Canada) are Alkaline Copper Quaternary (ACQ) and Copper Azole (CA). However, the wood material usually used to build these mid-rise buildings is cross laminated timber, which does add significant strength to the wood materials. Really cool material actually! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cross-laminated_timber https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cross-laminated_timber
- kevhito 9y ago
  Does Canada really build homes out of pressure treated lumber? I have never once seen this in the US. Aside from outside uses (decks, patios, landscaping etc.), pressure treated lumber of one sort or another might be used for a few select applications for home construction, such as sill plates or a bathroom subfloor. Nearly all of the wood used for regular homes is non-pressure treated, at least everywhere I have seen in the US.
  - buttcoinslol 9y ago
    No, they don't use PT lumber for framing whole houses in Canada, that guy is just making assumptions. They use it exactly like we do, for wood that comes into contact with concrete. PT wood is roughly 4x the cost and substantially heavier, framing a whole house in it would be nuts.
    - jschwartzi 9y ago
      It will also destroy any fasteners that aren't galvanized or stainless steel, so you definitely wouldn't build a whole house out of it. Depending on the straps that are installed in the foundation, you'll see people use Teco nails or galvanized 10- or 16-penny nails. But regular vinyl sinkers will rust out really quickly.
- swampthinker 9y ago

Sharlin 9y ago

> A hermetically sealed home with no insulation is generally warmer than a leaky home with walls stuffed with insulation. Warmer, maybe, but bad for people and good for fungi. Many contemporary buildings are built too airtight, lacking natural ventilation, which causes huge problems with interior air quality and traps moisture inside structures, creating places for mold to thrive.

swampthinker 9y ago
Airtight buildings are perfectly fine with a proper Heat recovery ventilation system (HRV) that they should be using. HRV's are mandatory when building the PassiveHaus spec.
- Sharlin 9y ago
  True. Unfortunately, at least around here a lot of buildings have been built in the past five or so decades that are fine insulation-wise but sorely lacking in ventilation, natural or otherwise, leading to widespread health issues. Many prefab concrete buildings from the 60s and 70s, even 80s, are practically ready for demolition.

neonblack 9y ago

What about slashing or bludgeoning damage?

richjdsmith 9y ago

I think the wood found in homes is pressure treated lumber which I don't believe is structurally any stronger than non-pt wood, but helps wood withstand the elements and wards off termites, microorganisms and fungal decay. The most common types of Pressure Treatments (at least that I am aware of in Canada) are Alkaline Copper Quaternary (ACQ) and Copper Azole (CA). However, the wood material usually used to build these mid-rise buildings is cross laminated timber, which does add significant strength to the wood materials. Really cool material actually! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cross-laminated_timber https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cross-laminated_timber

kevhito 9y ago
Does Canada really build homes out of pressure treated lumber? I have never once seen this in the US. Aside from outside uses (decks, patios, landscaping etc.), pressure treated lumber of one sort or another might be used for a few select applications for home construction, such as sill plates or a bathroom subfloor. Nearly all of the wood used for regular homes is non-pressure treated, at least everywhere I have seen in the US.
- buttcoinslol 9y ago
  No, they don't use PT lumber for framing whole houses in Canada, that guy is just making assumptions. They use it exactly like we do, for wood that comes into contact with concrete. PT wood is roughly 4x the cost and substantially heavier, framing a whole house in it would be nuts.
  - jschwartzi 9y ago
    It will also destroy any fasteners that aren't galvanized or stainless steel, so you definitely wouldn't build a whole house out of it. Depending on the straps that are installed in the foundation, you'll see people use Teco nails or galvanized 10- or 16-penny nails. But regular vinyl sinkers will rust out really quickly.
swampthinker 9y ago