Wood, an excellent material for construction

Some functional reason for wood:

The wooden houses provide a pleasant feeling of comfort to its inhabitants already that this material:

-Maintains the hygroscopic equilibrium with the environment, taking or giving moisture. For this reason, the presence of wood in a housing regularized the humidity of the internal environment.

-Thanks to its porosity and elasticity, it presents a good absorption of acoustic waves, resulting in a reduction of the reverberation of the sound waves and an improvement of the internal acoustic comfort of the buildings.

-It is a good thermal insulator, which reduces the consumption of energy, to moderate thermal fluctuations of the interior.

A study carried out recently by the Institute of biotechnology of Valencia (BV) Centre arranged of the Polytechnic University of Valencia (UPV), for the project 'Live with wood' has brought to light many scientific evidence that allowing demonstrate the homes with wood in its interior and structure to contribute effectively to improve the health of the inhabitants to the optimize internal weather (regulation weather inland (regulation of temperature and relative humidity), acoustic (to reduce the reverb) and even psychological of the inhabitants (derived from the sense of contact with natural products, absorption of electromagnetic radiation, etc.).)

Biodegradable, from sustainable sources of supply, attractive and technically advanced.

With a design and implementation work correct, the constructive solutions with wood can become very durable. This is easily provable through the observation of the numerous work, with hundreds of years old to their backs, they have come to the present day in perfect state of preservation. On the other hand, the wood is a material resistant to the action of a large number of chemical compounds, introducing a better performance than iron and normal steels to the action of acids and salts of the acid solutions. In these environments, the wood is an excellent construction material that prevents the always expensive industrial maintenance. This fact, by itself alone, explains the dramatic increase in use in swimming pools and sports centres covered in industrial premises (for example, stores of salt and other gaseous chemical products) and even, more recently, in commercial venues.

Although the wood is a combustible and flammable material, it has the virtue of having a predictable throughout the development of fire behaviour, since the loss of section cannot be constant in time. When the wood or any material derived from it are subject to a widespread fire, the surface exposed to the same ignites quickly creating an insulating cokes layer which increases its protection natural (charcoal is a large thermal insulator). Wood is a poor conductor of heat, the transmission to the interior of the high temperatures is very low, so it cannot be that wood which has not been carbonized remains resistant characteristics in normal conditionsweighs to the action of fire. This behavior is based on a remarkable structural fire resistance.

It is a light material with high resistance and weight value. This reaction, traction and compression parallel to the fibers, is similar to the steel but higher, in the case of traction, the concrete. On the other hand, it presents high resistance to parallel the traction and compression, as well as a high capacity to absorb energy, which makes wooden structures to support effectively the earthquakes and impact loads.

-Adaptability. It adapts to virtually any style, allowing and encouraging the originality of designs. You can save big lights, the opening of large gaps, adaptation to the environment and a wide variety of textures, shapes and colors. Choice, as exterior finish, between various types of treated wood and boards multiplies its possibilities.

- Assembly time. Its light weight and easy adjustment of work, wooden structures can reduce the set-up with regard to other material times. Employment of standardized structural elements and the prefabrication workshop can drastically reduce the time of execution of the work. Also the use of constructive systems with wood leads the dry construction, which reduces the problems associated with the presence of water and the runtimes.

The adaptability and versatility of wood as a raw material, and also of their products, make it an ideal material for the new designs and requirements of the current Habitat.

This text is excerpted from the dossier, presented at Construmat, of Confemadera and 'Build with wood' that also include economic and environmental aspects that we will collect in another article.