Wood for buildings: ecologic, healthy, economic

Online, February 3, 2010 (Newswire.com) - The ecological theme in the late years is always more fervent: the ecological conscience is trying to emerge more and more, in every field: transports, building, cleaning, and much more, so you can hear about ecological detergents, ecological cars, energy saving houses, ecological materials...everything can have a version that respects nature and a more polluting one. And if, as it often happens, the ecological version coincides with the cheaper one, the choice becomes very easy; many times, in fact, to choose the ecological way you need to make an initial investment, but after that the way is easier: the initial expense is completely paid back with the savings that follow.

In some lucky cases though the initial expense could even be lower, for some aspects: think about the wooden buildings, that allow a saving of about 15% for the labour and afterwards they carry on with the savings policy, significantly lowering the expenses for heating and air-conditioning: wood, in fact, is a very good heath insulator, other than acoustic, that is to say that the conduction of the external temperature towards the inside is very limited in respect with other materials, in winter and summertime.
Building with wood means receiving a series of advantages that this material naturally possesses: it's elastic, hence resistant to earthquakes, which makes it very resistant and safe. It's a relatively light material in comparison, for example, with mass concrete or steel, and even if as everybody knows it's a combustible material, it's much more resistant to fire than the other two, which in the middle of a fire would collapse under their own weight, while wood resists and keeps the structure steady.

The ecological side of wood stays not only in the fact that it comes from controlled woods, whose trees are periodically replanted in order not to let them extinguish; even the simple fact of being a natural material, that is to say, it exists in nature, reduces a lot the pollution for its production: while to produce other materials it's necessary a laborious proceeding that includes the creation of the material, for wood the question only concerns the refining of the raw material, and its labouring to make it even more resistant than it naturally is. Moreover, wood wastes do not exist: while you have to dispose of mineral rubbles with expensive proceedings, wood can be entirely reused, transforming it into wood's derivates or into natural combustible material.

Moreover, the fact of being a very good humidity regulator is another characteristic that makes wood a perfect building material: it absorbs the exceeding humidity and gives it back when needed. The utility of this characteristic can be seen for example in the bathroom or in the kitchen, where the vapour is often abundant; the transpiration avoids the formation of mould and the degradation of the hygienic situation of the ambient, diminishing the maintenance expenses, if the construction followed the due techniques.

By Francesca Tessarollo with support from case in legno for any information, please visit casa prefabbricata or for more info visit progetto casa.