Comparing Concrete & Steel Structures with Wood Structures

CHARACTERISTIC CONCRETE & STEEL WOOD Non-combustible ·         Require less or no fire protection ·         Do not require water supply for sprinklers ·         Safer during storms or earthquakes ·         Have thermal mass for superior energy performance ·         Require less mechanical equipment for A/C ·         Recyclable ·         Better long-term structural strength ·         Better shape stability ·         Better durability ·         Demountable & reusable ·         Resistance to moisture ·         Resistance to mold ·         Resistance to insects ·         No indoor emissions from adhesives ·         Do not require cutting trees ·         Lower long-term maintenance cost ·         Lower initial cost  ·?           Require less energy to produce ·?

The Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing has recently amended the Ontario Building Code to allow the use of wood construction in apartment buildings of up to six storeys high, despite strong objections from numerous municipal fire and building officials, concerned about the safety implications.

This is a result of pressure from the lumber industry and a misguided government policy of facilitating northern development based on the exploitation of natural resources, especially timber.  From an environmental point of view, this policy is not different from the federal government’s support for the extraction of petroleum from Alberta’s oil sands.  Secondly, economically speaking, this policy continues the two-hundred year old colonial practice of exporting natural resources, which has prevented Canada from becoming a major industrial power.

The lumber industry has been promoting wood in construction based on what many believe as being its environmental advantage over concrete and steel.  This belief is misguided and based on distorted and incomplete facts.  Just by looking at the recent upsurge of clear cutting in some countries, such as Romania, triggered by an increase of the lumber demand on the world market, one can realize the catastrophic effects caused to the global environment.