Obama Spending $1 Million to Fight Global Warming with Wooden Skyscrapers

Posted By Daniel Greenfield On March 20, 2014 @ 4:09 pm In The Point | No Comments

I’m still waiting for the press release on sustainable living by going back to the caves.

Environmentalism, like any leftist ideology, is so incoherent that it has gone straight from activists chaining themselves to trees to fight logging to promoting “emerging wood technologies” to fight Global Warming.

The White House launched a new campaign to sell its global warming agenda to rural America: “sustainable” buildings, including skyscrapers, made out of wood to lower carbon dioxide emissions.
The Agriculture Department (USDA) announced it was launching a new $1 million program to promote wood as a “green” building material to boost rural economies, as well as a $1 million competition “to demonstrate the architectural and commercial viability of using sustainable wood products in high-rise construction,” according to Department.
“Wood may be one of the world’s oldest building materials, but it is now also one of the most advanced,” said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. “Building stronger markets for innovative new wood products supports sustainable forestry, helps buffer reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and puts rural America at the forefront of an emerging industry.”

An emerging industry of… wood. I’m pretty sure carpentry has been around for a while. I don’t know how much time you have to spend in Washington to believe that building things out of wood is an emerging industry.

Emerging engineered wood technologies can be used in industrial building projects such as tall buildings and skyscrapers, as well as other projects. By some industry estimates, a 3-5 story building made from emerging wood technologies has the same emissions control as taking up to 550 cars of the road for one year.
But there are worries that have given cities some pause in adopting wooden high-rises. The Oregonian reports that “building codes that restrict wood construction for fear of structural weakness or vulnerability to fire.” Cross-laminated timber panels are combustible, but char and burn out without buckling, reports the Oregonian.
It’s also unclear if wooden panel high-rises and skyscrapers will have the durability of steel buildings and be as economical as steel. Wooden buildings also need to be treated for termites and can warp and twist over time. Steel does not suffer from such problems.

I’m sure it won’t be a problem. Mass death when a fire spreads across a city and takes down all its wooden skyscrapers will significantly reduce the carbon footprint of the human beings who have been turned into ash.

The only remaining question is what will environmental activists chain themselves to now?

Cripple, this is not solid sawn lumber we are discussing. I apologize for saying you did know what you were talking about

This is lumber veneer glued together with waterproof glues where the veneers are aligned at 90 degree angles and the defects(knots, wane, splits, etc.) have been removed. The glue is stronger than wood itself. It is like really thick plywood that could be manufactured to be 72’ or 80’ long.
The length limitation would be because those are the longest available A frame Flatcars available to the North American railroads. 100 years ago nobody used plywood when building. Fifty years ago nobody used OSB when building. Forty ago nobody used Laminated Veneer Lumber for a support beam. Thirty years ago nobody used wooden I-joists. I am sorry I got your dander up, that was not my intention FRiend. Who's sawmill did you work for?

“Are you suggesting you can replace the steel super-structure in even a 50 story bldg with laminate?”

Potentially, yes. PROBABLY not. It is more of a function of cost of one material versus another. I made the ridiculus statement in another post that you could build a 50 story building out of Kevlar or graphite and titanium. However, it would be way too expensive.

Actually, there have been prototype beams built with laminated veneer lumber, with graphite/Kevlar sandwiched between the veneers of wood. Adirondack baseball bat company tried this to keep baseball bats from breaking and becoming dangerous flying objects at your local MLB park. The same thing could be applied to give additional tensile strength to a beam that is 70’ long.

Thank you for bringing some expertise to the discussion.
I do not agree with the wacko greenie environmental driving the discussion. I have seen many friends affected by the wacko green environmental movement especially in the Pacific northwest. I have friends that lost their jobs, had to up root their families all because of the spotted owl, cut throat trout or whatever surrogate they could come up with to curtail logging.

I only agree IF it is economically feasible to replace steel/concrete with wood cellulose composites. Based on engineering principles, it is becoming possible. Based on cost, it may not something we see in the next few years.

Potentially, yes. PROBABLY not...there have been prototype beams built with laminated veneer lumber, with graphite/Kevlar sandwiched between the veneers of wood.

I think we're on the same page. And as you noted in your most recent reply to CC, there are "new" building material becoming "standard" on a regular basis.

My concern (and yours too I assume) with articles such as this, is that we'll move from govt funding to forced govt mandates - ala the incandescent light bulb.

Like other ideas, laminates - in all their flavors - will be used more and more as the market approves their worth. Just keep the d@mn govt out of it...

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