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For houses, America is somewhat an outlier. Most of the world builds concrete houses and America uses lumber.
by rhino369 12y ago
For houses, America is somewhat an outlier. Most of the world builds concrete houses and America uses lumber.
- jessaustin 12y agoThere is a trade-off between permanence and sustainability. Mostly, though, lumber construction is only feasible in areas with lower population densities.
- hack_edu 12y agoTake note that about 20% of the country lives in Earthquake Country, where just about all residential dwellings tend to be built of wood.
- deleted 12y ago[deleted]
- _delirium 12y agoWood is a popular choice for smaller (1-3 story) residential buildings in areas that have large timber production and therefore cheapish timber. That's a minority of places, but in addition to the U.S., includes Canada, the Nordic countries, and Russia. It gets less practical for taller buildings, though, which is why the Finnish countryside has predominantly timber-framed buildings, but Helsinki doesn't.
- seanmcdirmid 12y agoLet's not forget Japan. They import lots of wood from Canada and most houses, temples are made of it. Turns out concrete is brittle, which isn't a great property to have during an earthquake. Wood is strong, light, and importantly, flexible.