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Sigh. This trope again? Light frame wood construction (the technical term for this) is a robust, strong, and energy and environmentally friendly way to build w
by insaneirish 5y ago
Sigh. This trope again?
Light frame wood construction (the technical term for this) is a robust, strong, and energy and environmentally friendly way to build when done right.
You can do anything poorly, but you can build very, very good structures with wood. Wood buildings failing during storms, seismic events, and over time because of water intrusion are construction quality issues--not fundamental problems with the material.
Masonry buildings are not necessarily superior. They use much more concrete (huge producer of CO2), are often trickier to air seal (energy penalty), and trickier to insulate (energy penalty).
- BizarroLand 5y agoThe other thing is maintenance. Any building will eventually collapse if not properly maintained. Second law of thermodynamics is that entropy always increases. The only way to decrease entropy in a closed system is to open the system and extract the entropy by some means. For a house that means cleaning, replacing broken and damaged parts, painting and general maintenance. Without releasing the entropy from time to time even a home made of solid stone will eventually weather away to ash and dust.
- alkonaut 5y agoMany countries all over the world does light frame wood construction. The question is perhaps why that’s done flimsier in the US then. Or isn’t it? An 8-10” stud framed house is a reasonably well built and insulated construction. A building framed with 2x4” studs is an uninsulated bike shed.