NEW WAYS TO WORK WITH WOOD

摘要

Although wood is commonly used as a finish material in nonresidential buildings, more and more Building Teams are specifying wood as a structural material to accompany steel or concrete-or sometimes to be used entirely on its own. Recent studies show that wood offers such benefits as speed of construction, cost effectiveness, durability, and sustainability (see box, page 53). Structural wood products such as cross-laminated timber (CLT) and parallel strand lumber (PSL) are attracting the attention of architects, structural engineers, and contractors. Research by the National Science Foundation and other partners on the performance of wood buildings during seismic events-the so-called NEESWood Capstone tests (http://www.nsf.govews/ newsmediaeeswood/index.jsp) - is yielding promising results.