The next big test for mass timber? A ride on UCSD’s shake table - a giant table that’ll shake a 10-story mass timber building. See more about that project here: nheri.ucsd.edu/projects/2022-tallwood/ -Phil
Yeah, since the base structure is concrete and what looks like as much as 8 stories this is not close to being the tallest timber building in the world. The Mjøs Tower in Norway (Mjøstrånet) has a 100% timber structure and stands at 85,6 meters tall and si much more impressive than this hybrid building!
I think it's strange that Canada and the USA have a big timber industry, but instead the timber comes from all over the world. It looks to me like a big selling point if you can say you worked with (relatively) local sourced wood. Also from an environmentally view.
since mass timber is catching on, I'm sure there would be a market to open a north American factory to make it out of local lumbar and supply it to building projects here instead of having to go all the way to austria.
I think this goes back to the regulators and the manufacturing of wood. The Austrian wood was certified that it could withstand 3 hours of fire. Maybe the CANUS wood doesnt have the same properties.
it more has to do with the glulam and CLT having to be processed and made. The raw wood is made in the US and Canada, but it is not refined into the proper building materials here. I would hope these sorts of factories can be built up in the US and Canada to cut down on the possible logistical bottlenecks and bring down the carbon footprint, but that of course will take time and the expansion of the mass timber market.
Difference is the factories and regulations, for years Timber wasn't allowed to go above a certain height, so the US and Canada doesn't have factories with machines to make CLT. Things are changing now of course, but it really starts with building code first.
Making this happen in the African continent is the next big thing with locally grown commercial forests. We at BuildX Studio are proud to be among the first to do this in Nairobi Kenya.
I know those buildings stays warm better in winter that insulating property should apply in hot climate too right, How does it compare in summer? Does it keep heat & radiation out better?
@@whatever_12 probably depends on the designs employed too, you might have longer awnings for shade and higher ceilings or regular vents for better airflow. hopefully it'd be a push to more locally suited architecture
Hello.. I run a startup designing modular multi-family apartments for the African Market using CLT to be manufactured at scale. We could talk if you don't mind
My parents actually have a hybrid house like that. Obviously smaller, a family home, but it is built similarly. While it is great to see that buildings are built from wood, it is important to note that timber production has significant ecological and environmental problems as well. For one you can't think of wood plantations as ecologically valuable forrests. They are devoid of ecological diversity due to the use of only one crop, planted so tightly that nothing can grow under it, so they aren't habitats for animals or plants. They are also primarily spruce or pine, so conifers, which are really drought sensitive so not resilient in the face of climate change and prone to burning. these are problems we should be concerned about as well as the impact of importing or exporting plant pathogens through global trade
Very true. However. The world also needs to figure out the sand issue for the concrete structures. The mass development of concrete structures has put a huge strain on the natural river beds and ocean sides alike. You have sand mafias the steal sand for concrete production in India. Chinese helped drive that but still, something has to happen to reduce the dependency on concrete. One thing that worries me is the furthering of reduction to labor. What is the world going to do with all the extra humans and no actual work to do or means to make a living?
Really, we need to change most of industry and agriculture to use native or noninvasive plants and in a way that allows for an ecology to form and maintain itself and maybe benefit from our presence for once. If we as a species were to begin to tailor farms to be polycultures incorporated into the ecosystem then it would undo a lot of the harm done by modern agriculture and the history leading up to this. It can be done if you know what you're doing, there's enough energy hitting the ground and it's just a matter of figuring out how and getting people on board. We could theoretically grow wood in a smarter way, I'm no expert but maybe allowing some underbrush to grow and harvesting half the trees at a time in rows only big enough to get the equipment through would allow for at least some diversity to persist. It shouldn't even effect production in a negative way if it's well planned out, you can harvest the same number of trees just with half the yield each time, they would sequester even more carbon, and maybe grow faster too since the soil would actually be healthy.
I saw a few of these mass timber buildings rise here in Helsinki, two ~10 story apartment buildings and one similarly sized office building next to them. Very interesting technology.
It's also worth mentioning that lumber is essentially stranded carbon foam, so a wood-framed building is TECHNICALLY a form of carbon sequestration, which makes it a sink and not a carbon generator like concrete.
I got to visit the ascent while it was under construction. It's so wild being up 300 ft in the air and all you see around you is wood. Messes with your brain. Feels like it shouldn't work but it does. Also shout out to the developer New Enterprise. They are doing something that has never been done before for and taking a huge risk just to prove it's possible
Also shout out to the developer New Enterprise. They are doing something that has never been done before for and taking a huge risk just to prove it's possible Ancient Chinese carpenter am i joke to you?
🎯 Key Takeaways for quick navigation: 00:00 🏢 *Ascent Milwaukee is a 25-story, 284-foot-high wood skyscraper with wood slabs, beams, and columns as structural elements.* 01:10 🪵 *Mass timber, like glue-laminated timber (gluelam) and cross-laminated timber (CLT), is becoming popular in construction due to its strength, environmental benefits, and aesthetic appeal.* 03:17 🏗️ *Mass timber construction involves extensive planning, digital modeling (BIM), and coordination to ensure precision, as mistakes can lead to significant delays.* 05:13 🔥 *Mass timber undergoes fire resistance testing, and its char layer can protect its structural integrity, making it safe for use in tall buildings.* 07:20 🚚 *Sourcing mass timber involves transporting large pieces worldwide, requiring careful logistics and considerations for cost and wood grade.* 09:21 🧼 *Mass timber construction results in cleaner working conditions for laborers compared to traditional concrete and steel construction.* 10:53 🏗️ *Mass timber construction reduces the need for a large workforce on-site, with more work done in factories, promoting efficiency and waste reduction in building construction.* Made with HARPA AI
I'm a fire protection engineer who's currently work as a consultant; gotta say, it's fascinating to see how this suddenly reaches mainstream discussion. Mass timber is awesome. It used to take more work to get project with it approved, but thankfully the code just changed in my state (CA) to address them. I'm guessing this will accelerate things.
The fact that the timber building looks like any other condo on the continent just goes to show how rigid the building codes are that even when you use a novel material like compressed timber, you get the same result aesthetically
Ye its a shame, even globally, all major cities are creating buildings that are so similar. No longer can you travel to another major city and see design styles unique to that area or region.
Building codes aren't the problem to design, designers are. As long as the building is sound, inspectors don't care and more aesthetically pleasing designs only add value to the cities but designing the building requires accepting what the market wants. Architects have this problem internationally when they want to explore more of a country's culture but are limited by the client to look more modern and "western". That building was built to sell units, not to make a statement and a building that looks like what's trending is more of a sure sell.
A friend of mine got an apartment in the building. It's a really nice apartment complex, lots of amenities, and the exposed wood beaming is super cool.
Great video, another benefit of mass timber building, is that it can be paired with sustainable wood production and greatly reduce overall pollution and in my opinion, improve mood and mental health
The people who built the Titanic bragged that it was unsinkable... I guess... After they've put enough in cities around the world to squish the population-we'll see if they stand the test of time ...😊
I think using wood/tiber as a main construction material would be the most efficient in low or mid-rise buildings. It would still help with reducing local pollution in construction and demand for labor.
It really depends on the design criteria and cost at the end of the day. Every material has its place. It's those extremists who insist that one material is the best for all applications that are the problem.
This is already how the most popular mid-rise structures are built. Frequently referred to as the "5 over 1", they are a single story of concrete with 5 stories of a wooden structure built on top. I live in a 5 over 1 building now with several flanking the Greenway in my city.
I would wonder about rot, and I'm sure there's thousands of other issues. I'd like to see a follow up, even if it's just an article, about the older buildings and how they're fairing, especially around the foundations
My grandma has a wooden hut which we stay in every holiday in austria and half of it consists of ~175 year old wooden beams. The surface isn't that even anymore and there are a lot of visible paths from woodworms, but they still hold up nicely.
Our CLT home originally was calculated to be 2% more expensive than a traditional brick home. However, due to the corona pandemic and increase in wood prices (Americans started buying up all european wood) it ended up more like 5% more expensive. However, one Russian invasion later, European energy prices are so high that the manufacture of bricks became a lot more expensive as well. I didn't know where the prices ended up, but I imagine it's a lot closer now again.
When talking about a skyscraper/mid rise building, it’s actually cheaper because of the lower labor costs. Concrete is cheaper than CLT, but the fact that you can build with CLT like big legos makes it much faster and simpler to build. Steel is more expensive than both of them so that is irrelevant.
Love when vox comes to town! I recognized the building straight away in the thumbnail. I did a report on this for the school that actually is right on that road.
This is so exciting for me as this is a dive into the industry I work in! For anyone asking why we don't produce in North America, the answer is we do, but we just don't have as many manufacturers of Mass timber products. We really need more large manufacturers. We are notoriously bad at creating jobs for the amount of timber harvested. The lead times for projects with Canadian/US companies are longer than the shipping times from Europe. We have a great availability of Douglas Fir, which can result in a higher quality slower burning Glulam than European Spruce, but we just don't have enough large manufacturers.
We say its a wooden skyscraper but a big part is Oil, the Glue (makes this structures feasible [2:14]), which is from Exon or Shell. This is just replacing a environmentally bad product (concrete) with another environmentally bad product (Oil). The real problem isn’t Concrete it’s Skyscrapers, city planning, and the missing middle.
Yeah, because by volume and mass, you'd use as much glue as concrete which is basically the worst material on Earth if we talk about emissions of CO2. CLOWN. You can only complain just for the sake of it, not because you care.
Lots of different types of glue. I’m in school for forestry and work in the school’s construction lab. New technology is being developed to make petroleum free polyurethane glue. That being said the carbon footprint of mass timber is still significantly lower then traditional construction.
@Zaydan Naufal A high speed train would be nice in some locations, but due to some of the highest population concentrations in the world, there's more pressure for it in Japan.
In Kathmandu Nepal there is one wooden building constructed atleast 300 years ago which is 9 storied tall. It's part of a palace. It has gone through 4-5 mega earthquake and still stands tall. It's part of a museum now, I reached the top floor about 30 years ago and was soooo soo frightened 🙏🙏
Thank you for creating and uploading this Vox. I'm all for more people appreciating the amount of work and effort it takes for any building to be constructed.
They never explained the effect of weather on this wood structure. This intrigued me because from where i'm come from ,its tropic and humidity is at most high.
Those are treated timber. They didn't just chop it down, cut it in shape and ship it out. Beside, wooden house is still common in tropical country. Before concrete becomes very common. I'm less concerned with the engineering, instead more about corner cutting of the developer and incompetent/corrupted inspector.
I lived in both mass timber hybrid and almost pure concrete condos that is built in the last 10ish years in Toronto. There have pretty much the same price point when adjusted for location. The concrete one is significantly quieter. In the wood one, I know when my upstair is having a large gathering and when my neighbour who is a nurse that wakes up at 5AM for work... I meant in the concrete one, I can still hear noise when my neighbour is having a party, but it is nowhere compared to the wood one. I am also concerned about the water and moisture when using mass timber, especially when it is unprotected and used as a crucial support column right next to the kitchen, like the one at 8:16.
I live in a mass timber hybrid and can hardly hear my upstairs neighbors. The builder did have to adhere to Dutch building codes for noise isolation between floors, which are rather stringent. The floor packaged got rather complex with several several sound decoupling layers between floor layers and between the floor and the walls.
@1:12 your post-tensioning cable is draped the wrong way. The cable is higher at the ends and lower in the middle, so that tensioning it creates a camber in the beam - with the center bowed upwards. Your sketch would be a disastrous situation, it would pre-weaken the beam!
@@aredditor4272 Same case with a concrete or steel building. The only job of the building in a large fire is not to collapse. Large amounts of damage are expected.
All my life I’ve been told how terrible Milwaukee is…. I finally explored the city a few weeks ago and I was extremely impressed. It seems everything in and around downtown is either brand new or remodeled. It’s definitely on my short list of favorite cities now and I recommend everyone should check it out. Kenosha was another surprise… absolutely beautiful small city. Racine needs some work but I’m sure it’s not far behind.
Back in the 1970, we were told that because concrete buildings are fireproof, that the risk of dying is much lower. That you could actually stay in them and still live the day to talk about you experience. We were also told that getting rid of paper bags would save trees. Speed up to 2020. Now paper bags are good and would buildings are safe. Civilization has just taken a back seat.
I'm a product designer and I'm big fan of Timber Construction and similar sustainable practices, Evolving engineering in sustainable way is the only future.
@@herman7880 Nice! 20 years? Just in time for those CAT3 Hurricanes to start hitting with the global warming (climate change or whatever). Wood buildings are also super fun in the US when it's fire season or 4th of July (fireworks 🔥).
Your not wrong about that especially with all the standing timber and industrial forestry land in the US. Right now mass timber in still in its early adoption phase here in the USA. In Europe they already have the manufacturing capacity for it since they have been building with it for decades. Eventuality component will be built in the US
Okay, how does it hold up against flooding? What if there is a flood that submerges the basement and ground floor? Would the wooden support beams absorb the moisture? Would the structural stability be compromised? How would you replace a beem? Can it be replaced?
One benefit as well that wasn't mentioned is that CLT and Glulam construction sites are much quieter which improves a city's living quality, and less truckloads are needed so improvements to traffic come with it as well.
Fun fact, they closed off a whole lane of traffic (of a main road, downtown) and prevented the changeover of said main road (from 2 lanes to 1, for safety) for another 2 blocks north of the development...to their new project which just started. Just reopened after over a year. It was a nightmare.
Important to mention is that the reason we will see timber way more nowadays is to combat climate change. Trees take up carbon dioxide from the air and store carbon in their body. They release the oxigen. In that way they store up to 1000 kg CO2 in a cubic meter. Building with timber will reduce the carbon emissions from the construction industry. But getting the timber from another continent doesn’t make sense at all. Local sourcing is way more environmental friendly and perfectly possible with forests of Canada and USA.
Would be interesting with comparisons to prefabricated concrete buildings as well! I got the impression they were only comparing with cast-in-place concrete.
It's amazing how for centuries, the evolution of construction from organic materials (wood) to non-organic (stone, brick, concrete, plastics) has been seen as a way forward. The interviewers in the video conveniently fail to mention where the wood comes from and how it impacts the environment.
North America is really dragging its feet creating the infrastructure to mass produce mass timber. The fact that it's cheaper and more readily available if shipped across the Atlantic is ridiculous. Canada has an abundant sustainable forest industry and can supply this continent with ease.
This is one of those times that I'd like a love button, not a tiny like button... Yes, ok, this is new tech, but there sounds like there is a lot less waste, and potentially a lot less pollution
Wow as a general contractor I am only familiar with stick framing for small structures and PT slabs for large structures. This is fascinating but as an Estimator, I cannot imagine this being anywhere close to as price efficient as concrete. Also, subcontractors would not be familiar with this type of building and would require extra training and additional costs.
It might be cheaper though. Mass timber buildings are 25% faster to build than concrete and steel ones. This could lead to significant labor cost savings.
I don't know any english sources but wood is a lot more porous than concrete so the insulation is way better. I think it's similar for sound as in the sound waves get trapped in all the little channels. That should improve the acoustics in a room but I don't know if it also helps to keep the sound inside or outside. As for the weather proofing: have you ever seen old wooden beams when the outer layer becomes grey? This grey layer acts as a protective layer and while it doesn't look as nice after a while the wood won't rot away for a long time. Theres wooden buildings in Europe that are hundreds of years old. As long as you don't waterproof the outside of the building and the moisture from inside can still escape wooden beams and walls will last a long time.
@@leoh5405 Wood works similar to Plastic foams in terms of acoustics. Wood (Balsa specifically) is used in a lot of acoustical applications due to it. Dried wood has a lot of porous areas where when the tree was alive water/nutrients would flow. Same reason why water proofing or sealing the wood is important. If the wood is properly covered to prevent water/mold growth/pests it can last for hundreds of years. In load situations wood actually lasts a lot longer than steel/metals as well.
@@leoh5405 Thanks! Yea, I've seen wood-based massive buildings in Japan and Sweden. And good to know about the sound-proofing properties. From what I've read, it could be as strong or even stronger than concrete. And even IF it's not, I guess some buildings don't really need to last that long in a constantly evolving world? It's great to have different options (read that stone is an excellent choice too), depending on the projects and contexts. Seems like nowadays people just care about efficiency, so they never take the time to consider other options. Build, build, build, build, concrete, concrete, concrete. Glad that some people have been questioning lately. For smaller buildings, perhaps we can also learn from traditional nail-free buildings in East Asia.
When wrapped in glass, you've created a drum head... This is located downtown, near a street car, main bus route, main thoroughfare, as well as a public square/homeless resource place.
Really I m so glad to see this successfully build by wood. .I love n big fan of wooden work .truely come from my heart hugly respected all the members including this project . This is bring another level of wooden products on human history.
Depends on the climate but there are five-storey temples built in Japan that have lasted for over a thousand years. Worth keeping in mind that concrete and steel also degrade over time, like that condo tower in miami.
It's weird to think that timber is such an old technology and yet here we are in 2022 learning that it could have been the material all out iconic buildings were made of.
Aside from fire the other question is termites and other bugs that live in wood, wouldn't the transport of the material also have a huge carbon footprint?
Luckily termites aren't common in Wisconsin, so that's not as big of an issue as it would be in other states. Carbon footprint might be higher than that of wood from within the country, but I could see it being lower than concrete which has high energy demands to produce and isn't renewable.
Shipping by water and rail has a minimal carbon footprint, especially compared to manufacturing then shipping concrete and steel, epoxy-coated rebar. Pests could be an issue - you'd want regular inspections and you'd probably want to use treated wood. But then the same can be said for concrete and steel construction. Just look at what happened last year in Florida when water intruded into the concrete, a common occurrence, leading to the collapse of an entire condo tower.
@@sunspot42 From what I remember, multiple inspections came back with reports of spalling and cracks, but it seems that no one did anything about it for years on end
They laminate the wood to make it fire resistant. There's no way they'd spend all that money on this tower and not think about fire. Common sense almost
This is so cool. I did research on this back in 2016. If you guys are interested, Japan has released a lot of research on this as a lot of their buildings are wooden based due to earthquakes
Fire rating is to do with how long a column retains its strength. In some cases timber (specifically glulam) can actually hold its strength longer than concrete due to charring.
They are different. Concrete is a sacrificial fire barrier; as it slowly degrades, it actually releases water when heated. Wood, on the other hand, feeds the fire as long as some wood is exposed. When it chars over, it burns more slowly, but under the right conditions (eg. a campfire) all of it will burn. I'm skeptical of materials used in a critical application being chosen based on best-case-scenario tests. A building this size is only as good as it will be on its worst day.
We are building our house out of CLT as owners/architects and I can say it is a pleasure to work with mass timber and really connects designers with the material and craft of buildings as you really need to focus and resolve every concievable detail. Great piece on one of the more important technologies for our decarbonized future.
I wouldn't want to live in a wood high rise. After living in a wood condo, the transference of noise through wood is tremendous. Someone blasting the base on their speakers on the bottom floor could be heard on the top floor. No thanks. There's a reason pianos are made of wood and not steel and concrete.
My thoughts exactly. I love old homes with wooden floors and details, but as an avid music listener I want to be able to blast speakers and have people over without bothering anybody around me. Even with beams that thick, I don’t see wood faring well in that regard
Yeah I do not at all trust the fire safety of these 10+ storey wood structures. The coated wood products used are most often certified to only resist one hour of burning safely before they start to fail. Those on the top floors may not have time to safely escape if a fire starts at night on a lower floor. We saw what happened less than 10 years ago with the Grenville tower, hundreds of people died because of inadequate fire proofing on the outer siding. Even when these wood products have fire retardant chemical coatings, that isnt ideal for safety either. Our most potent fire retardants are also strong carcinogens, which is not something we should be coating all of our internal walls, floors, ceilings and other surfaces.
What's your point? Greenville Tower was made of concrete and bricks. You're basically stating that fire can happen in any building, then how it change your choice in selecting wood timber instead of concrete?
![Seungmin "그렇게, 천천히, 우리(As we are)" | [Stray Kids : SKZ-PLAYER]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/kAzmhLHePqU/mqdefault.jpg)
The next big test for mass timber? A ride on UCSD’s shake table - a giant table that’ll shake a 10-story mass timber building. See more about that project here: nheri.ucsd.edu/projects/2022-tallwood/
-Phil
Try it in humid asia?
Yeah, since the base structure is concrete and what looks like as much as 8 stories this is not close to being the tallest timber building in the world. The Mjøs Tower in Norway (Mjøstrånet) has a 100% timber structure and stands at 85,6 meters tall and si much more impressive than this hybrid building!
How's the weather down there? EU? Are local pidors going to survive the winter?
Ok what about weathering and termites
If Termite will eat up this wooden building will builder will again make this wooden building again for survivor?
mass timber being fire resistant is pretty counterintuitive to the layman. i'm glad the video included details about the tests
Why did they say welding is a fire hazard then?
@@Ryan1Twice commenting to learn the answer for the same
@@Ryan1Twice @Vishank The building will stay standing, but if a fire gets started it will cause damage meaning that piece has to be replaced
The other questions are mould and termites. I wonder how well a mass timbre building would hold up in the tropics...
@@korakys google is a free resource
I think it's strange that Canada and the USA have a big timber industry, but instead the timber comes from all over the world. It looks to me like a big selling point if you can say you worked with (relatively) local sourced wood. Also from an environmentally view.
since mass timber is catching on, I'm sure there would be a market to open a north American factory to make it out of local lumbar and supply it to building projects here instead of having to go all the way to austria.
Unless there is sufficient demand to justify it, opening a local factory for mass timber production it's actually worse for the planet.
I think this goes back to the regulators and the manufacturing of wood. The Austrian wood was certified that it could withstand 3 hours of fire. Maybe the CANUS wood doesnt have the same properties.
it more has to do with the glulam and CLT having to be processed and made. The raw wood is made in the US and Canada, but it is not refined into the proper building materials here. I would hope these sorts of factories can be built up in the US and Canada to cut down on the possible logistical bottlenecks and bring down the carbon footprint, but that of course will take time and the expansion of the mass timber market.
Difference is the factories and regulations, for years Timber wasn't allowed to go above a certain height, so the US and Canada doesn't have factories with machines to make CLT. Things are changing now of course, but it really starts with building code first.
Making this happen in the African continent is the next big thing with locally grown commercial forests. We at BuildX Studio are proud to be among the first to do this in Nairobi Kenya.
I know those buildings stays warm better in winter that insulating property should apply in hot climate too right, How does it compare in summer? Does it keep heat & radiation out better?
@@whatever_12 probably depends on the designs employed too, you might have longer awnings for shade and higher ceilings or regular vents for better airflow. hopefully it'd be a push to more locally suited architecture
Hello.. I run a startup designing modular multi-family apartments for the African Market using CLT to be manufactured at scale. We could talk if you don't mind
Immediately following💯
@Zaydan Naufal dimakanin pejabat duit nya
My parents actually have a hybrid house like that. Obviously smaller, a family home, but it is built similarly. While it is great to see that buildings are built from wood, it is important to note that timber production has significant ecological and environmental problems as well. For one you can't think of wood plantations as ecologically valuable forrests. They are devoid of ecological diversity due to the use of only one crop, planted so tightly that nothing can grow under it, so they aren't habitats for animals or plants. They are also primarily spruce or pine, so conifers, which are really drought sensitive so not resilient in the face of climate change and prone to burning. these are problems we should be concerned about as well as the impact of importing or exporting plant pathogens through global trade
@@Student0Toucher I think he made good points and you should be nicer sir.
Very true. However. The world also needs to figure out the sand issue for the concrete structures. The mass development of concrete structures has put a huge strain on the natural river beds and ocean sides alike. You have sand mafias the steal sand for concrete production in India. Chinese helped drive that but still, something has to happen to reduce the dependency on concrete. One thing that worries me is the furthering of reduction to labor. What is the world going to do with all the extra humans and no actual work to do or means to make a living?
@@RomanNardone loool💯
Really, we need to change most of industry and agriculture to use native or noninvasive plants and in a way that allows for an ecology to form and maintain itself and maybe benefit from our presence for once. If we as a species were to begin to tailor farms to be polycultures incorporated into the ecosystem then it would undo a lot of the harm done by modern agriculture and the history leading up to this. It can be done if you know what you're doing, there's enough energy hitting the ground and it's just a matter of figuring out how and getting people on board.
We could theoretically grow wood in a smarter way, I'm no expert but maybe allowing some underbrush to grow and harvesting half the trees at a time in rows only big enough to get the equipment through would allow for at least some diversity to persist. It shouldn't even effect production in a negative way if it's well planned out, you can harvest the same number of trees just with half the yield each time, they would sequester even more carbon, and maybe grow faster too since the soil would actually be healthy.
@@Student0Toucher Can I ask when anyone said they'd care if you commented
I saw a few of these mass timber buildings rise here in Helsinki, two ~10 story apartment buildings and one similarly sized office building next to them. Very interesting technology.
With the buildings are there visible signs that they are built using timber and if so are they more aesthetically pleasing than normal apartments?
I'm guessing another benifet of mass timber would be better for keeping heat in colder climates like Helsinki.
@@Infernus25 definitely yes to both questions.
They built a condo out of this in Canada, it burned to the ground.
@@Idontwantahandle6669when
was it built?
The interviews were fantastic. Kudos to Vox for sourcing all these experts who made the story so much more colorful!
It's also worth mentioning that lumber is essentially stranded carbon foam, so a wood-framed building is TECHNICALLY a form of carbon sequestration, which makes it a sink and not a carbon generator like concrete.
Wonder if that still holds true if you ship the stuff around the globe.
@@waaduu6189 thankfully wood grows all over the place, as opposed to concrete, which relies on minerals only found in certain parts of the world
@@waaduu6189 shipping isn't that bad if you compare it to the green house gases produced by concrete and steel production
It's no longer a sink once it leaves the soil. It only stores old carbon which is still released fyi
@mind fornication basic ecology my friend you are incorrect
I got to visit the ascent while it was under construction. It's so wild being up 300 ft in the air and all you see around you is wood. Messes with your brain. Feels like it shouldn't work but it does.
Also shout out to the developer New Enterprise. They are doing something that has never been done before for and taking a huge risk just to prove it's possible
New Enterprise "Most revolutionary construction concepts, most basic name for a company- _You think it won't work, but it does!_ Is our motto!"
Also shout out to the developer New Enterprise. They are doing something that has never been done before for and taking a huge risk just to prove it's possible
Ancient Chinese carpenter am i joke to you?
It has been done plenty of times, just not in the modern times
🎯 Key Takeaways for quick navigation:
00:00 🏢 *Ascent Milwaukee is a 25-story, 284-foot-high wood skyscraper with wood slabs, beams, and columns as structural elements.*
01:10 🪵 *Mass timber, like glue-laminated timber (gluelam) and cross-laminated timber (CLT), is becoming popular in construction due to its strength, environmental benefits, and aesthetic appeal.*
03:17 🏗️ *Mass timber construction involves extensive planning, digital modeling (BIM), and coordination to ensure precision, as mistakes can lead to significant delays.*
05:13 🔥 *Mass timber undergoes fire resistance testing, and its char layer can protect its structural integrity, making it safe for use in tall buildings.*
07:20 🚚 *Sourcing mass timber involves transporting large pieces worldwide, requiring careful logistics and considerations for cost and wood grade.*
09:21 🧼 *Mass timber construction results in cleaner working conditions for laborers compared to traditional concrete and steel construction.*
10:53 🏗️ *Mass timber construction reduces the need for a large workforce on-site, with more work done in factories, promoting efficiency and waste reduction in building construction.*
Made with HARPA AI
I'm a fire protection engineer who's currently work as a consultant; gotta say, it's fascinating to see how this suddenly reaches mainstream discussion. Mass timber is awesome. It used to take more work to get project with it approved, but thankfully the code just changed in my state (CA) to address them. I'm guessing this will accelerate things.
then how do you deal with termite attack?????????
@@erics7219 Infused toxic pesticides
The fact that the timber building looks like any other condo on the continent just goes to show how rigid the building codes are that even when you use a novel material like compressed timber, you get the same result aesthetically
Columns usually are the same not because of codes but because of physics.
It's actually a good thing. Here in Brazil, buildings are a dismorfic mess.
Ye its a shame, even globally, all major cities are creating buildings that are so similar. No longer can you travel to another major city and see design styles unique to that area or region.
@Zaydan Naufal Maximum profit comes first in Jakarta👍
Building codes aren't the problem to design, designers are. As long as the building is sound, inspectors don't care and more aesthetically pleasing designs only add value to the cities but designing the building requires accepting what the market wants. Architects have this problem internationally when they want to explore more of a country's culture but are limited by the client to look more modern and "western". That building was built to sell units, not to make a statement and a building that looks like what's trending is more of a sure sell.
ty for the tutorial, ima try it out.
this needs to be pinned
Just gotta contact my bank for a small loan of 50 million, no big deal.
It's a neat building. It's right in my neighborhood, so I've watched it rise during its entire construction process. It's awesome to see it complete.
A friend of mine got an apartment in the building. It's a really nice apartment complex, lots of amenities, and the exposed wood beaming is super cool.
@Zaydan Naufal New Condo with new building technology in this economy? Millions of dollars of course.
Great video, another benefit of mass timber building, is that it can be paired with sustainable wood production and greatly reduce overall pollution and in my opinion, improve mood and mental health
How Sustainable is OIL (Clue [2:13])?
@@one_under_all I've got bad news for you about concrete, pal.
Kinda funny you kept showing Jenga which is inherently a game about instability to talk about how stable these wooden buildings are
Very good point hahaha
The people who built the Titanic bragged that it was unsinkable... I guess... After they've put enough in cities around the world to squish the population-we'll see if they stand the test of time ...😊
I think using wood/tiber as a main construction material would be the most efficient in low or mid-rise buildings. It would still help with reducing local pollution in construction and demand for labor.
It really depends on the design criteria and cost at the end of the day. Every material has its place. It's those extremists who insist that one material is the best for all applications that are the problem.
US : what's a "mid-rise"?
Most mid rise residential buildings are already wood framed. The shift here is really how tall we can go now.
This is already how the most popular mid-rise structures are built. Frequently referred to as the "5 over 1", they are a single story of concrete with 5 stories of a wooden structure built on top. I live in a 5 over 1 building now with several flanking the Greenway in my city.
Y’all for that wood come from tress and tress have to grow
Those wooden beams come from a little town in austria where I live. Amazing to see that they are used overseas. Thanks for this cool report👍
I'm Curious, how do you know it's from your place?
I would wonder about rot, and I'm sure there's thousands of other issues. I'd like to see a follow up, even if it's just an article, about the older buildings and how they're fairing, especially around the foundations
There are wooden buildings that are hundreds of years old…
I assume for rot they have measures like pressure treating and coating the wood to prevent rot
wood lasts longer than reinforced concrete
I believe it is coated with as special kind of paint on the outside
My grandma has a wooden hut which we stay in every holiday in austria and half of it consists of ~175 year old wooden beams. The surface isn't that even anymore and there are a lot of visible paths from woodworms, but they still hold up nicely.
I'm curious on how the overall cost of the building would be as compared to traditional construction.
Our CLT home originally was calculated to be 2% more expensive than a traditional brick home. However, due to the corona pandemic and increase in wood prices (Americans started buying up all european wood) it ended up more like 5% more expensive. However, one Russian invasion later, European energy prices are so high that the manufacture of bricks became a lot more expensive as well. I didn't know where the prices ended up, but I imagine it's a lot closer now again.
I imagine it's not a very fair comparison at this point. This is quite a new process, which means it isn't as optimized as it could be.
When talking about a skyscraper/mid rise building, it’s actually cheaper because of the lower labor costs. Concrete is cheaper than CLT, but the fact that you can build with CLT like big legos makes it much faster and simpler to build. Steel is more expensive than both of them so that is irrelevant.
this is what I study at OSU in architectural engineering! you basically just summed up four of my classes haha
Love when vox comes to town! I recognized the building straight away in the thumbnail. I did a report on this for the school that actually is right on that road.
This is so exciting for me as this is a dive into the industry I work in!
For anyone asking why we don't produce in North America, the answer is we do, but we just don't have as many manufacturers of Mass timber products. We really need more large manufacturers. We are notoriously bad at creating jobs for the amount of timber harvested.
The lead times for projects with Canadian/US companies are longer than the shipping times from Europe. We have a great availability of Douglas Fir, which can result in a higher quality slower burning Glulam than European Spruce, but we just don't have enough large manufacturers.
I'm doing a residential project for my 4th year and this video was really insightful, thanks
We say its a wooden skyscraper but a big part is Oil, the Glue (makes this structures feasible [2:14]), which is from Exon or Shell. This is just replacing a environmentally bad product (concrete) with another environmentally bad product (Oil).
The real problem isn’t Concrete it’s Skyscrapers, city planning, and the missing middle.
What's so bad about the wood glue?
Yeah, because by volume and mass, you'd use as much glue as concrete which is basically the worst material on Earth if we talk about emissions of CO2.
CLOWN. You can only complain just for the sake of it, not because you care.
You know it's possible to join wood together without using glue or nails etc, take a look at how Japanese homes are built
Lots of different types of glue. I’m in school for forestry and work in the school’s construction lab. New technology is being developed to make petroleum free polyurethane glue. That being said the carbon footprint of mass timber is still significantly lower then traditional construction.
@Zaydan Naufal A high speed train would be nice in some locations, but due to some of the highest population concentrations in the world, there's more pressure for it in Japan.
In Kathmandu Nepal there is one wooden building constructed atleast 300 years ago which is 9 storied tall. It's part of a palace. It has gone through 4-5 mega earthquake and still stands tall. It's part of a museum now, I reached the top floor about 30 years ago and was soooo soo frightened 🙏🙏
Thank you for creating and uploading this Vox. I'm all for more people appreciating the amount of work and effort it takes for any building to be constructed.
They never explained the effect of weather on this wood structure. This intrigued me because from where i'm come from ,its tropic and humidity is at most high.
The lamination process stabilizes the timber a lot
It's most likely laminated wood.
You protect all of it from the weather, also this is Wisconsin, so no not super humid either.
laminate wood against 500 mph winds
Those are treated timber. They didn't just chop it down, cut it in shape and ship it out. Beside, wooden house is still common in tropical country. Before concrete becomes very common.
I'm less concerned with the engineering, instead more about corner cutting of the developer and incompetent/corrupted inspector.
I'd NEVER live in this!!
F'n DANGEROUS!!
I lived in both mass timber hybrid and almost pure concrete condos that is built in the last 10ish years in Toronto. There have pretty much the same price point when adjusted for location.
The concrete one is significantly quieter. In the wood one, I know when my upstair is having a large gathering and when my neighbour who is a nurse that wakes up at 5AM for work... I meant in the concrete one, I can still hear noise when my neighbour is having a party, but it is nowhere compared to the wood one.
I am also concerned about the water and moisture when using mass timber, especially when it is unprotected and used as a crucial support column right next to the kitchen, like the one at 8:16.
I live in a mass timber hybrid and can hardly hear my upstairs neighbors. The builder did have to adhere to Dutch building codes for noise isolation between floors, which are rather stringent. The floor packaged got rather complex with several several sound decoupling layers between floor layers and between the floor and the walls.
@@julescoret that sounds so nice, wish we had such codes in America..I can hear my upstairs neighbor drop a pin 🙃
@1:12 your post-tensioning cable is draped the wrong way. The cable is higher at the ends and lower in the middle, so that tensioning it creates a camber in the beam - with the center bowed upwards. Your sketch would be a disastrous situation, it would pre-weaken the beam!
How is this better against fire?
The outer layer of the wood carbonizes, so the wood protects itself from the fire.
@@bitume Wood beams might endure fire long enough for firefighters to put it out, but in the end, it's getting torn down afterward.
If you watched the video, perhaps you wouldn't need to ask the question. :)
@@aredditor4272 Same case with a concrete or steel building. The only job of the building in a large fire is not to collapse. Large amounts of damage are expected.
@@AC-im4hi I know, One Meridian had to be torn down, but it didn't collapse.
That ending is great, I love it. The guy looks genuinely happy to be working with timber.
All my life I’ve been told how terrible Milwaukee is….
I finally explored the city a few weeks ago and I was extremely impressed. It seems everything in and around downtown is either brand new or remodeled. It’s definitely on my short list of favorite cities now and I recommend everyone should check it out. Kenosha was another surprise… absolutely beautiful small city. Racine needs some work but I’m sure it’s not far behind.
Wait really? Everything I've heard from Milwaukee has been positive
Everything I heard from Milwaukee was negative.
Phil Edwards is one of the best investments Vox has made.
Milwaukee ! Let’s go. It was a bizarre building to see getting built.
The Edison, another mass timber building, is also starting construction in Milwaukee soon. Even taller than the Ascent.
Phil is slowly but surely turning into a real estate developer and I'm here for it.
Back in the 1970, we were told that because concrete buildings are fireproof, that the risk of dying is much lower. That you could actually stay in them and still live the day to talk about you experience. We were also told that getting rid of paper bags would save trees.
Speed up to 2020. Now paper bags are good and would buildings are safe.
Civilization has just taken a back seat.
The last brick at the end is genius (11:22). A true film design masterpiece.
I'm a product designer and I'm big fan of Timber Construction and similar sustainable practices, Evolving engineering in sustainable way is the only future.
Love this idea both for aesthetics (skyscrapers are so often bland and sterile) and for the environmental & sustainability aspects. Its a win win
Yeah, just wait until it comes crumbling down. A win win for sure!
@@Shadow__133 It's common practice in Norway. Just wait 20 years. Every year CLT buildings increase.
@@herman7880 Nice! 20 years? Just in time for those CAT3 Hurricanes to start hitting with the global warming (climate change or whatever). Wood buildings are also super fun in the US when it's fire season or 4th of July (fireworks 🔥).
@@Shadow__133 Ok doomer, we don't have thoose problems in CLT buildings though.
that wood is just so beautiful, I would love to live in a building like that
Shipping timber from Austria to the USA is so very ecological ...
Your not wrong about that especially with all the standing timber and industrial forestry land in the US. Right now mass timber in still in its early adoption phase here in the USA. In Europe they already have the manufacturing capacity for it since they have been building with it for decades. Eventuality component will be built in the US
yes... but luckily we can balance that by hiring fewer skilled workers on the site ¯\_( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)_/¯
Yes, in european countries like austria its very normal to have houses made of wood, which is why most of the production is there
Just a matter of time..
With wider adoption there will be more locally produced materials.
Okay, how does it hold up against flooding? What if there is a flood that submerges the basement and ground floor? Would the wooden support beams absorb the moisture? Would the structural stability be compromised? How would you replace a beem? Can it be replaced?
The lower floors are concrete. No wood is exposed to the elements.
One benefit as well that wasn't mentioned is that CLT and Glulam construction sites are much quieter which improves a city's living quality, and less truckloads are needed so improvements to traffic come with it as well.
Fun fact, they closed off a whole lane of traffic (of a main road, downtown) and prevented the changeover of said main road (from 2 lanes to 1, for safety) for another 2 blocks north of the development...to their new project which just started.
Just reopened after over a year. It was a nightmare.
would be really cool to see this type of construction take off. might help address housing shortages while reducing impact on climate change
So glad I clicked on this! I’m from Milwaukee but I never knew or have heard about this. So neat.
Me and my two buddies were on the roofing crew that rubbered and ballasted this building and its decks
great chicago fire 2
And I’m watching this on the bus on my way into the city, saw the building from the highway and it was cool!
Norway had a Gluelam wooden bridge collapse under load. Def in the starting stage, but important for the environment.
Important to mention is that the reason we will see timber way more nowadays is to combat climate change. Trees take up carbon dioxide from the air and store carbon in their body. They release the oxigen. In that way they store up to 1000 kg CO2 in a cubic meter. Building with timber will reduce the carbon emissions from the construction industry. But getting the timber from another continent doesn’t make sense at all. Local sourcing is way more environmental friendly and perfectly possible with forests of Canada and USA.
another fascinating topic I wouldn't have sought to learn about were it not for this video
1:59 “In the US”
*Shows Ontario*
Would be interesting with comparisons to prefabricated concrete buildings as well! I got the impression they were only comparing with cast-in-place concrete.
Termites: im about to destroy this man’s whole career
"Using wood was an aesthetic choice" proceeds to build the most boring building imaginable
It's amazing how for centuries, the evolution of construction from organic materials (wood) to non-organic (stone, brick, concrete, plastics) has been seen as a way forward. The interviewers in the video conveniently fail to mention where the wood comes from and how it impacts the environment.
this is not a wood skyscraper, its core structure is made out of reinforced concrete (first floors and elevator core).
YES!
Know about this for a few years excited to see vox make a video on it and get back in touch with its content roots
your last anecdote would be enough for me, why i would use wood in any construction. Just the smell.
Oh, the next Burning Man wood stack.
North America is really dragging its feet creating the infrastructure to mass produce mass timber. The fact that it's cheaper and more readily available if shipped across the Atlantic is ridiculous. Canada has an abundant sustainable forest industry and can supply this continent with ease.
Soon no more Tress and no more Oxygen
I appreciate that you outlined the positive as well as the negative aspects of working with mass timber. Great video!
I really liked this episode, both interesting content and editing was done well.
This is one of those times that I'd like a love button, not a tiny like button... Yes, ok, this is new tech, but there sounds like there is a lot less waste, and potentially a lot less pollution
I’m skeptical of that holding up long-term. Wood framed buildings deform over time.
Wow as a general contractor I am only familiar with stick framing for small structures and PT slabs for large structures. This is fascinating but as an Estimator, I cannot imagine this being anywhere close to as price efficient as concrete. Also, subcontractors would not be familiar with this type of building and would require extra training and additional costs.
It might be cheaper though. Mass timber buildings are 25% faster to build than concrete and steel ones. This could lead to significant labor cost savings.
How about sound-proofing compared to concrete? Equal, better/worse?
And durability over time?
I don't know any english sources but wood is a lot more porous than concrete so the insulation is way better. I think it's similar for sound as in the sound waves get trapped in all the little channels. That should improve the acoustics in a room but I don't know if it also helps to keep the sound inside or outside. As for the weather proofing: have you ever seen old wooden beams when the outer layer becomes grey? This grey layer acts as a protective layer and while it doesn't look as nice after a while the wood won't rot away for a long time. Theres wooden buildings in Europe that are hundreds of years old. As long as you don't waterproof the outside of the building and the moisture from inside can still escape wooden beams and walls will last a long time.
@@leoh5405 Wood works similar to Plastic foams in terms of acoustics. Wood (Balsa specifically) is used in a lot of acoustical applications due to it. Dried wood has a lot of porous areas where when the tree was alive water/nutrients would flow. Same reason why water proofing or sealing the wood is important. If the wood is properly covered to prevent water/mold growth/pests it can last for hundreds of years. In load situations wood actually lasts a lot longer than steel/metals as well.
@@leoh5405 Thanks! Yea, I've seen wood-based massive buildings in Japan and Sweden.
And good to know about the sound-proofing properties.
From what I've read, it could be as strong or even stronger than concrete. And even IF it's not, I guess some buildings don't really need to last that long in a constantly evolving world? It's great to have different options (read that stone is an excellent choice too), depending on the projects and contexts. Seems like nowadays people just care about efficiency, so they never take the time to consider other options. Build, build, build, build, concrete, concrete, concrete. Glad that some people have been questioning lately.
For smaller buildings, perhaps we can also learn from traditional nail-free buildings in East Asia.
When wrapped in glass, you've created a drum head... This is located downtown, near a street car, main bus route, main thoroughfare, as well as a public square/homeless resource place.
Really I m so glad to see this successfully build by wood. .I love n big fan of wooden work .truely come from my heart hugly respected all the members including this project . This is bring another level of wooden products on human history.
Won’t long term maintenance be harder, having to watch out for termite’s and stuff?
Depends on the climate but there are five-storey temples built in Japan that have lasted for over a thousand years. Worth keeping in mind that concrete and steel also degrade over time, like that condo tower in miami.
Going green and save the trees just went out the window. Funny how that changed in 20 years
My woman's skyscrapers are also huge pieces of wood.
I love Milwaukee
they are just playing extreme jenga
It's weird to think that timber is such an old technology and yet here we are in 2022 learning that it could have been the material all out iconic buildings were made of.
Aside from fire the other question is termites and other bugs that live in wood, wouldn't the transport of the material also have a huge carbon footprint?
Luckily termites aren't common in Wisconsin, so that's not as big of an issue as it would be in other states. Carbon footprint might be higher than that of wood from within the country, but I could see it being lower than concrete which has high energy demands to produce and isn't renewable.
Shipping by water and rail has a minimal carbon footprint, especially compared to manufacturing then shipping concrete and steel, epoxy-coated rebar.
Pests could be an issue - you'd want regular inspections and you'd probably want to use treated wood.
But then the same can be said for concrete and steel construction. Just look at what happened last year in Florida when water intruded into the concrete, a common occurrence, leading to the collapse of an entire condo tower.
@@sunspot42 From what I remember, multiple inspections came back with reports of spalling and cracks, but it seems that no one did anything about it for years on end
Would be curious to know how sound my travel through these buildings.
Its just the fire hardzard I would worry about. Lots of Japanese wooden antique buildings are 500 years old.
I'm sure it's fire treated. The building code requires a certain fire code regardless of building material. No different from a steel skyscraper.
They laminate the wood to make it fire resistant. There's no way they'd spend all that money on this tower and not think about fire. Common sense almost
@@seanthe100 yeah, I know. I just wonder how they do it.
think about trying to start a fire with a log instead of sticks. It would be enormously difficult to light one of those large glulam columns on fire
How about moisture and rotting? Probably treated. But how often you need to re-apply treatments?
Really fascinating! Great video! In Hong Kong they are building skycrappers with bamboo!
lol they don't
Is the glue water proof? I'm imagining the sprinklers going off and loosening the bonds.
This is so cool. I did research on this back in 2016. If you guys are interested, Japan has released a lot of research on this as a lot of their buildings are wooden based due to earthquakes
Jinx
I just gave a presentation on timber buildings last week
I am a civil engineer in progress so cant wait to contribute to the society
PT Slab sounds like a font
*Finally a property that cost a lot and depreciate in value!*
Can it take a plane?
9/11
Structural timber meet termites the bane of southern living
I’m not expert but I do not think wood is more resilient to fire than concrete
Well you said it. Not an expert.
Fire rating is to do with how long a column retains its strength. In some cases timber (specifically glulam) can actually hold its strength longer than concrete due to charring.
They are different. Concrete is a sacrificial fire barrier; as it slowly degrades, it actually releases water when heated. Wood, on the other hand, feeds the fire as long as some wood is exposed. When it chars over, it burns more slowly, but under the right conditions (eg. a campfire) all of it will burn. I'm skeptical of materials used in a critical application being chosen based on best-case-scenario tests. A building this size is only as good as it will be on its worst day.
We are building our house out of CLT as owners/architects and I can say it is a pleasure to work with mass timber and really connects designers with the material and craft of buildings as you really need to focus and resolve every concievable detail. Great piece on one of the more important technologies for our decarbonized future.
3D printed high rise is coming
Former Iron Worker/Handyman
Roaches LOVE glue in 90% of products 😉💢🥸
That's a termites perfect skyscraper
I wouldn't want to live in a wood high rise. After living in a wood condo, the transference of noise through wood is tremendous. Someone blasting the base on their speakers on the bottom floor could be heard on the top floor. No thanks. There's a reason pianos are made of wood and not steel and concrete.
My thoughts exactly. I love old homes with wooden floors and details, but as an avid music listener I want to be able to blast speakers and have people over without bothering anybody around me. Even with beams that thick, I don’t see wood faring well in that regard
I live in a concrete building and sound travels beautifully here too. I think it's more about specific soundproofing techniques than material.
I think this is cool. I can't get over the fact that many of the people championing this are the same folk who used to scream save the forests lol.
Yeah I do not at all trust the fire safety of these 10+ storey wood structures. The coated wood products used are most often certified to only resist one hour of burning safely before they start to fail. Those on the top floors may not have time to safely escape if a fire starts at night on a lower floor.
We saw what happened less than 10 years ago with the Grenville tower, hundreds of people died because of inadequate fire proofing on the outer siding.
Even when these wood products have fire retardant chemical coatings, that isnt ideal for safety either. Our most potent fire retardants are also strong carcinogens, which is not something we should be coating all of our internal walls, floors, ceilings and other surfaces.
What's your point? Greenville Tower was made of concrete and bricks.
You're basically stating that fire can happen in any building, then how it change your choice in selecting wood timber instead of concrete?
A 1 hour of fire rating would certainly not meet the building code. At least in the US.
Grenfell tower was a concrete building with a timber facade. Much of what you have said is a misunderstanding of how timber buildings work.
Excited to move in later this year
i just know its going to be the coolest building in the summer heat
Great sustanability btw. They just moved materials from Austria and Asia to US, so eco-friendly!