“The sparkplug for change is what Mr. Green calls Mass Timber, large-scale wood panel products made from laminated lumber that allow massive solid beams to be forged from relatively small trees. Free of knots and imperfections, the beams are stronger even than the old-growth wood beams available to builders a century ago. ‘This is the first major alternative structural system in 100 years,’ said Mr. Green. The flexibility of Mass Timber makes it ideal for Vancouver’s tight seismic codes and it is also surprisingly fireproof thanks to ‘charring’: The fire chars the outer layer of a beam, insulating the interior of the wood from heat penetration.”

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