Why We Should Be Building More Out Of Timber

I came across an interesting article a little while ago about a new tower in South Perth which will be the tallest hybrid timber tower in the world (coming in at 183 metres tall).

So what is a hybrid timber tower, and why should we be proud to have one in backyard?

We've been building with timber for millennia, but its usually been restricted to a few storeys high. This is mostly due to the fact that, while relatively inexpensive and easy to work with, timber couldn't compete with steel and concrete for large structural loads. So timber couldn't measure up against steel and concrete in larger buildings like skyscrapers.

However, over the past few decades there has been a lot of research into the structural capabilities of timber.  Increasingly, architects, developers and engineers are turning to timber to build larger structures.

This is a good thing. The design of our buildings has a big bearing on the amount of energy we consume (good insulation, solar orientation and dense neighbourhoods reduce our use of energy). But the amount of energy we use in creating those buildings should also be considered.  The construction industry is responsible for a large percentage of greenhouse gas emissions (up to 30%). One good measure is the embodied energy in a material. This is basically the amount of energy required to source the natural resource, convert it into a usable building material and get it to site. Concrete and steel have a high level of processing and therefore have a much higher measure of embodied energy than timber. You can learn more about it here if you're super keen.

Residential towers of say 4-10 storeys have become increasingly popular. But larger structures like this are popping up.  Murdoch university will soon have its very own - this one with robots. While 183 metres, still pales in comparison to really large structures (the world's tallest building is over 800m), it is encouraging.