--- title: Wooden skyscrapers look cool — and they’re sustainable, too - The Hustle description: Wooden skyscrapers are coming. They look great, do well in earthquakes and fire, and reduce carbon emissions. image: https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/786983887-HS-News-Brief_2022-04-28T000941.943Z.webp --- # Wooden skyscrapers look cool — and they’re sustainable, too ![Juliet Bennett Rylah](https://53.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net/hubfs/53/assets/hubspot.com/web-team/WBZ/HubSpot%20Media/Blog%202021/Images/Nav/Optimized/TheHustle_Icon_Dark.svg) [Juliet Bennett Rylah](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/author/juliet-bennett-rylah) [Juliet Bennett Rylah Twitter profile ](https://twitter.com/JBRylah) Published: April 28, 2022 Updated: October 11, 2023 Wooden skyscrapers may at first sound a little impractical, like that time you had to build a tower out of balsa wood in high school. But apparently, they’re all the rage. ![Wooden skyscrapers look cool — and they’re sustainable, too](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hs-fs/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/786983887-HS-News-Brief_2022-04-28T000941.943Z.webp?width=595&height=400&name=786983887-HS-News-Brief_2022-04-28T000941.943Z.webp) #### **They’re made from “mass timber”** That’s when [pieces of wood](https://www.naturallywood.com/topics/mass-timber/) are combined using nails, screws, lamination, or glue to create layers, resulting in large structural posts, beams, or panels. Visual learners can check out an infographic of various styles [here](https://www.naturallywood.com/wp-content/uploads/What-is-mass-timber_infographic_naturallywood.pdf), or [this video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rK49UjDivWM) depicting how one of the most common forms — cross-laminated timber — is made. #### **Building with mass timber has several benefits:** - It’s strong, like concrete or steel, but lighter - It sequesters CO2 unlike concrete, which generates it, [per](https://www.fastcompany.com/90545929/mass-timber-is-the-future-of-architecture-but-can-it-survive-a-world-on-fire) *Fast Company* - It reduces construction time, labor, and waste, [per](https://www.vox.com/energy-and-environment/2020/1/15/21058051/climate-change-building-materials-mass-timber-cross-laminated-clt) *Vox* It also looks nice. For example, check out [this tower](https://www.archdaily.com/934374/mjostarnet-the-tower-of-lake-mjosa-voll-arkitekter) in Norway or [this house](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3aO39NrXiPs) in Australia. #### **Now, you might be thinking…** … about the little pig who built his house out of sticks, but mass timber has proven to be safe. It does well in earthquakes and high winds and, should damage occur, is easier to repair than concrete. It’s also much less of a fire hazard than you’d think. The outside layer [chars](https://www.thinkwood.com/blog/4-things-to-know-about-mass-timber), protecting the inside. #### **So why aren’t there more of them?** Mass timber was developed in Austria in the ‘90s and has been prevalent in Europe — just slow in the US. But in [2021](https://www.woodworks.org/resources/status-of-building-code-allowances-for-tall-mass-timber-in-the-ibc/), a change to the [International Building Code](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Building_Code) — which most US cities use — allowed mass timber structures up to 18 stories. That means more are coming, including a 25-story Mikwaukee apartment building that, [per](https://www.axios.com/wooden-skyscrapers-mass-timber-8fd9efd4-853f-471a-ab94-69a2f7fb876d.html) *Axios*, will become the tallest such structure in the world when complete. 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