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A comment on Building future cities out of timber could save 100B tons of CO2 emissions. Parent comment

Re:Building future cities out of timber could save 100B tons... by abraae on Wednesday September 07, 2022 @02:54AM (#32747335)
My house was built in 1905, all wooden frame. The timber is in perfect shape and as long as there are no leaks, will last for another hundred at least. It becomes very hard though and difficult to nail into. I would imagine wood has more longevity under the right (dry) conditions than steel.
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Re:Building future cities out of timber could save 100B tons... by mellavora on Wednesday September 07, 2022 @04:00AM (#32747853)
Probably not the "right (dry) conditions" that you were thinking of, but...

If a wooden beam is exposed to fire, the outside chars yet it still retains almost its full structural strength.

A steel beam almost certainly needs to be replaced.

https://www.structuremag.org/?p=1129

https://www.edtengineers.com/blog-post/fire-effects-steel

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Re:Building future cities out of timber could save 100B tons... by mrpopo on Wednesday September 07, 2022 @04:48AM (#32748180)
When done properly, wood charring actually strengthens the wood by drawing out moisture. Charred wood is also more fire-resistant, repels insects and doesn't rot.

Of course all this can be achieved differently but charring usually lasts much longer than other surface treatments.

It used to be common in Japan (yakisugi) but I assume this must have been common throughout the world.

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Re:Building future cities out of timber could save 100B tons... by njarboe on Wednesday September 07, 2022 @11:31AM (#32751966)
My neighbors large barn in the gold country of California has support pillars under the floor that were treated by charing. Built around 1890 and they are still in good shape.
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Re:Building future cities out of timber could save 100B tons... by AstralStorm on Wednesday September 07, 2022 @09:07AM (#32750044)
Structurally modifying wood can be done even better than fire treatment, hence the mention of polymer enhanced wood. (And yes, biopolymers work for this.)
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