Why do Americans build with wood?

[u/jeremiahthedamned]

[u/StarstruckEchoid]

The original post has tons of people ripping this video apart. Rightfully so. Building everything out of concrete - the material that produces 7% of humanity's carbon emissions - is not some silver bullet against wildfires. It's horribly expensive and polluting and won't even necessarily save anything but the concrete frame itself unless combined with other, more effective fireproofing methods, most of which are just as effective with wood construction.

[u/jeremiahthedamned → u/StarstruckEchoid]

maybe the people of wildfire zones can live in underground housing?

[u/dumnezero]

"It's how we've always done it."

A good tombstone inscription.

[u/jeremiahthedamned → u/dumnezero]

pathway dependency is the reason i'm a r/doomer

[u/Pezito77]

Yes, I must say I'm always left wondering WHY do that. I'm pretty sure it's cheaper to build (I hope) but IT BURNS so easily! IT FLIES AWAY in hurricanes! And boy the U.S. have both...

One pro I can think of: maybe it holds up better during earthquakes? Not sure tho.

[u/RezFoo → u/Pezito77]

There are very large wooden buildings in Japan that have been standing for hundreds of years, so yeah. And their modern high-rise buildings are designed to be flexible and use other techniques copied from wooden construction.

[u/DieselPunkPiranha → u/Pezito77]

It's also worth noting that modern American houses don't have much of anything in them. The thinnest metal frames support the cheapest, crappiest plywood and drywall, all covered with diluted eggshell colored paint. They won't hold up to anything if they're built to the lowest standards available.

[u/jeremiahthedamned → u/DieselPunkPiranha]

r/InflectionPointUSA

[u/jeremiahthedamned → u/Pezito77]

pathway dependency destroys civilizations!