In a report released today, Skidmore, Owings & Merrill discussed the results of the Timber Tower Research Project: an examination of whether a viable 400-ft, 42-story building could be created with timber framing. The prototype created by SOM incolves a combination of mass timber, concrete, and steel and was sponsored by the Softwood Lumber Board. Benchmarked against Chicago's DeWitt Chestnut Apartments—a concrete-framed facility considered revolutionary when SOM designed it in 1965—the Timber Tower represents a carbon-footprint reduction of 65% to 75%.
Tall buildings that embody conventional concrete and steel structural design usually have a higher carbon footprint than low-rise buildings, on a square-foot basis. SOM's experiment explores whether tall wood-framed buildings are feasible, justfying changes in contemporary building codes that generally limit the height of such buildings. "Building tall creates desirable urban density, but this solution helps us achieve this result with a much smaller carbon footprint," says SOM Structural and Civil Engineering Partner William F. Baker, PE, Se, FASCE, FIStructE.
SOM staff predict further developments, including possible building code adjustments, based on the research.
(http://archinect.com/news/article/74511379/som-releases-timber-tower-research-project)
Related Stories
| Oct 4, 2022
Rental property owners want access to utility usage data for whole properties
As pressure from investors for ESG reporting mounts, owners of multifamily properties increasingly look to collect whole-building utility usage data.
| Oct 4, 2022
In dire need of affordable housing, Aspen, Colo. will get a development that provides 277 affordable homes
A few miles from downtown Aspen, Colo., a development will provide 277 new affordable homes for an area experiencing a dire affordable housing crisis.
Green | Oct 3, 2022
California regulators move to ban gas heaters for existing buildings
California regulators voted unanimously recently on a series of measures that include a ban on the sale of natural gas-powered heating and hot water systems beginning in 2030.
| Oct 3, 2022
The College of the Holy Cross completes a $110 million performing arts center
In Worcester, Mass., a one-hour drive from Boston, the College of the Holy Cross has completed its $110 million Prior Performing Arts Center.
Resiliency | Sep 30, 2022
Designing buildings for wildfire defensibility
Wold Architects and Engineers' Senior Planner Ryan Downs, AIA, talks about how to make structures and communities more fire-resistant.
| Sep 30, 2022
Manley Spangler Smith Architects partners with PBK in strategic merger
Manley Spangler Smith Architects (MSSA), a Georgia-based, full-service architectural firm specializing in educational and municipal facilities, announced today a significant development aimed at increasing its capabilities, expertise, and suite of services.
| Sep 30, 2022
Lab-grown bricks offer potential low-carbon building material
A team of students at the University of Waterloo in Canada have developed a process to grow bricks using bacteria.
| Sep 29, 2022
FitzGerald establishes Denver office
The new location bolsters FitzGerald’s nationwide reach and capitalizes on local expertise and boots-on-the-ground to serve new and existing clients seeking to do business in Denver and the Front Range, as well as the Southwest United States, California, and Texas.
| Sep 28, 2022
New digital platform to foster construction supply chains free of forced labor
Design for Freedom by Grace Farms and the U.S. Coalition on Sustainability formed a partnership to advance shared goals regarding sustainable and ethical building material supply chains that are free of forced labor.
| Sep 27, 2022
New Buildings Institute released the Existing Building Decarbonization Code
New Buildings Institute (NBI) has released the Existing Building Decarbonization Code.
