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?

I usually agree with Greenfield. However, he is not an engineer. Also, I do not think any of you are based on your comments.

Let me enlighten you. They are not talking about building with the 2x4’s and 2x10’s you can buy at Home Depot.
Laminated Veneer Lumber and cross laminated lumber can replace steel in many of the applications required for tensile strength beam and column applications. Imagine plywood that is 6-12” thick and 40’ long.

Lumber can also be made fire retardant and resistant to insects. This is no different than the bonded cellulose insulation that is blown into EVERY new construction house/building in North America. Bonded cellulose is ground up newspaper treated with a fire retardant. Also, unlike San Francisco and Chicago in the 1800’s, ALL commercial buildings now have sprinkler systems.

ALL modern houses, built in the last 10-20 years already have laminated veneer lumber(LVL) in them. These are the main carrying beams that typically support the center of the house. They replaced solid timber beams because they are STRONGER and lighter. They are also used as the header/carrying beam above your garage door opening. They allow you to have a clear span across much wider spans than traditional wood framing.

Lastly, ask a fire fighter is they would rather go into a wood framed building or a steel framed building that has caught fire. The wood will char and stay up longer than steel.

Concrete is a good building material but you do not see 100 story buildings being built out of concrete alone. That is because it shrinks and expands with changes in weather. It requires large expansion joints or it will buckle. When it shrinks it will crack. Also, it does not have the tensile strength of wood or steel. That is why there is so much rebar added to concrete. However, that rebar is subject to corrosion over time. It is difficult to gauge that corrosion when it is surrounded by 6” of concrete.

FYI, I have a BS in Wood Products Engineering from the SUNY/Syracuse Forestry College. This is Civil/Mechanical Engineering applied specifically to wood. I have also been a lumber broker for 28 years. I have also built/designed and remodeled four houses.

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