With half of the world’s population now living in urban areas, the latest data show that the future’s smart, sustainable cities will have to shelter around 6 billion people by 2050. This is already changing the way urban areas are designed and built.
In an attempt to help cities to cut their carbon footprint, the wood industry is moving towards massive timber buildings fit for all purposes.
Reinforced wood, or cross-laminated timber (CLT), is an innovative approach to engineering the properties of timber. It makes wood even more resilient and lighter than steel and concrete so that it can be used in any buildings, no matter the size.
CLT is based on large, wooden panels made of planks placed on top of one another and glued together. The panels are then cut and resized using computer software in order to fit any measurements. Construction is much faster because the panels are prefabricated. And, besides being a good insulator, building with reinforced wood helps to reduce a city’s carbon footprint.
But, despite the gains it brings, existing technology has yet to break into the global market.
