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Properly built older buildings can be much better quality than shoddy new ones. For example, in Australia, many older buildings were double brick (two layers),

Properly built older buildings can be much better quality than shoddy new ones. For example, in Australia, many older buildings were double brick (two layers), which is sturdier and insulates better, but virtually all new brick buildings are brick veneer, meaning a single layer on a wooden or steel frame. Of course, there's significant survivor bias here, because there were plenty of shoddy older buildings that have been torn down.

midoridensha 4y ago
In Japan, older buildings are much poorer quality than new ones. They don't survive earthquakes well, they have no insulation in the walls, they're really quite horrible. Building standards are constantly rising, so newer units are almost always better than older ones. Brick buildings don't exist in Japan. Any such structure would quickly collapse in an earthquake. Any older buildings that still exist were either exceptionally well-built for the time, and/or were retrofitted to meet modern earthquake standards. So some historic buildings are still around because they're valuable for cultural or historic reasons, but this doesn't include housing built in the last century.
yourusername 4y ago
By double brick do you mean a "full brick" wall that is as thick as one brick is long or a cavity wall with a air cavity? Both have pretty terrible insulation, basically negligible and i can't imagine anyone is building modern wood framed buildings with worse insulation. Even 5 cm of rockwool has 4 times the insulation value of a basic cavity wall, 6 times as much as a full brick wall. With a cavity wall the outer layer is not structural so it's not really sturdier. I'd take modern wood frame construction or aerated concrete with insulation and a brick veneer over a cavity wall or a full brick wall any day.
- sokoloff 4y ago
  I live in a 1920s full brick house in New England. The insulation in the unrenovated spaces is poor, but the mass of brick has the effect of modulating summer temperatures to a reasonable level of comfort without AC for most of the summer. It takes about 4 consecutive days in the high 80s/low 90s before the house gets uncomfortable. Winter gets and stays colder 24 hours a day, so heating costs about $450/mo for December-March. This place will likely be here largely as-is 100 years from now.
  - yourusername 4y ago
    We've been having regular long summer heatwaves in the Netherlands the past 10-15 years where it stays 30c+ for over a week. At that point the thermal mass of the brick starts working against you in the summer as well as the short nights (less than 8 hours in summer) are not enough to cool the house down and the brick radiating heat keeps the house uncomfortably warm 24/7.
    - sokoloff 4y ago
      True. We’re about 10° farther south (than Amsterdam) so we get a slightly longer night in summer, but most importantly we run the window shaker ACs for that week which allows the house to be bearable.

midoridensha 4y ago

In Japan, older buildings are much poorer quality than new ones. They don't survive earthquakes well, they have no insulation in the walls, they're really quite horrible. Building standards are constantly rising, so newer units are almost always better than older ones. Brick buildings don't exist in Japan. Any such structure would quickly collapse in an earthquake. Any older buildings that still exist were either exceptionally well-built for the time, and/or were retrofitted to meet modern earthquake standards. So some historic buildings are still around because they're valuable for cultural or historic reasons, but this doesn't include housing built in the last century.

yourusername 4y ago

By double brick do you mean a "full brick" wall that is as thick as one brick is long or a cavity wall with a air cavity? Both have pretty terrible insulation, basically negligible and i can't imagine anyone is building modern wood framed buildings with worse insulation. Even 5 cm of rockwool has 4 times the insulation value of a basic cavity wall, 6 times as much as a full brick wall. With a cavity wall the outer layer is not structural so it's not really sturdier. I'd take modern wood frame construction or aerated concrete with insulation and a brick veneer over a cavity wall or a full brick wall any day.

sokoloff 4y ago
I live in a 1920s full brick house in New England. The insulation in the unrenovated spaces is poor, but the mass of brick has the effect of modulating summer temperatures to a reasonable level of comfort without AC for most of the summer. It takes about 4 consecutive days in the high 80s/low 90s before the house gets uncomfortable. Winter gets and stays colder 24 hours a day, so heating costs about $450/mo for December-March. This place will likely be here largely as-is 100 years from now.
- yourusername 4y ago
  We've been having regular long summer heatwaves in the Netherlands the past 10-15 years where it stays 30c+ for over a week. At that point the thermal mass of the brick starts working against you in the summer as well as the short nights (less than 8 hours in summer) are not enough to cool the house down and the brick radiating heat keeps the house uncomfortably warm 24/7.
  - sokoloff 4y ago
    True. We’re about 10° farther south (than Amsterdam) so we get a slightly longer night in summer, but most importantly we run the window shaker ACs for that week which allows the house to be bearable.