As Vancouver's Wood-Framed Buildings Get Taller, So Do the World's

Vancouver urbanists are calling for the city to make greater use of wood in high-rise buildings.

An article by Leyland Cecco chooses a prominent example to kick of an examination of the potential benefits of wood high rises:

Already, Vancouver’s 18-storey Brock Commons tower stands as a testament to the vast possibilities of wood. Once the world’s tallest timber building, it was built cheaper, faster and with less environmental impact than a comparable steel and concrete structure would have been – offsetting an estimated 2,432 metric tonnes of carbon.

Vancouver's province, British Columbia, has changed the provincial building codes to double the height limit for wood-frame buildings. Now the maximum height for a wood-framed building is 12 stories. The Canadian government could soon follow suite and set the same building height nationwide.

Vancouver isn't stopping at 12 stories, however. Cecco explains the next step in the evolution of wood-framed high rises:

Vancouver is now pushing even those limits by unveiling plans for the Canada Earth Tower, an ambitious 40-storey tower that would be the world’s tallest wooden building. The design includes around 200 homes, with an outdoor garden for every three floors as well as premium office space and retail.

The innovations occurring in Vancouver are also having a ripple effect around the world, according to the article.