this post was submitted on 11 May 2025
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Mass timer buildings are prefabricated structures made of (hopefully renewable) wood. The pieces are made in a factory and then able to be quickly constructed together on-site.

This can hopefully greatly reduce the amount of carbon in the atmosphere from producing a building. The cost of producing buildings in this method is also going down. Additionally, these mass timer buildings are typically more dense than single family homes, which can lead to more sustainable communities.

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[–] magnetosphere@fedia.io 17 points 1 week ago

Now all they need to do is build a robot to complain about inspections and permitting

[–] exasperation@lemm.ee 11 points 6 days ago (3 children)

Why aren't those windows aligned with each other, this is very upsetting.

[–] Treczoks@lemmy.world 6 points 6 days ago

Designed by AI? Remember the crazy hands? Maybe this is just the "house version" of the six-fingered hands.

[–] plz1@lemmy.world 6 points 6 days ago

I think it's because the building isn't actually a rectangle shape. It tapers outwards as the height goes up. Agreed thought, the windows not having symmetry is very annoying to look at.

[–] aka@lemm.ee 3 points 6 days ago

I didn't notice it before, but now I can't unsee. 😭

[–] Montreal_Metro@lemmy.ca 3 points 6 days ago

I don’t trust people to not burn it down.

[–] Olgratin_Magmatoe@slrpnk.net 3 points 1 week ago (1 children)

So psuedo commie blocks but slightly more eco friendly and capitalist.

[–] NoneOfUrBusiness@fedia.io 20 points 6 days ago (1 children)

I mean I guess? What's so bad about commie blocks?

[–] Olgratin_Magmatoe@slrpnk.net 12 points 6 days ago

I didn't mean it in a derogatory way. Commie blocks weren't perfect, but they were a massive success.

[–] NigelFrobisher@aussie.zone 1 points 6 days ago

It would be even quicker but for every robot doing the work you need six others holding clipboards to watch it.

[–] zipzoopaboop@lemmynsfw.com 0 points 6 days ago

Giant tinderbox. Fuck that shit

[–] Szewek@slrpnk.net 45 points 1 week ago (2 children)

*Robots and humans to build Canada's 9-storey timber tower together

[–] faythofdragons@slrpnk.net 7 points 6 days ago

They must have updated the title, because it now says "robots to help build..."

[–] UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world 20 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Mass timer buildings are prefabricated structures made of (hopefully renewable) wood. The pieces are made in a factory and then able to be quickly constructed together on-site.

I'm sure the factories are jobless as well. And the trucks that bring in the individual pieces. And nobody ask who is doing the safety inspecting or plumbing and electrical hookups, since they don't count, either.

Beginning to think all this talk of automation is a shell game.

[–] Tiresia@slrpnk.net 10 points 6 days ago

It's easier to make passenger jets now than in the bronze age. Automation reduces the necessary amount of labor even if it doesn't eliminate it entirely.

[–] Kaboom@reddthat.com 9 points 1 week ago (4 children)

Aren't buildings made of lumber limited to 4 stories? And for good reason? Is that like a US only rule?

[–] Olgratin_Magmatoe@slrpnk.net 13 points 6 days ago

It looks like they're still using I beams and steel for the structure. The wood is for panneling & walls.

[–] MDCCCLV@lemmy.ca 3 points 5 days ago (1 children)

Wood can do very well in compression and can do vertical loads quite strongly. This a 25 story wood building using the new mass timber method. You can't do that with just 2x4s from home Depot of course. https://www.dezeen.com/2022/08/03/ascent-tower-milwaukee-worlds-tallest-timber-building/

[–] Kaboom@reddthat.com 1 points 5 days ago

TIL about timber

[–] aka@lemm.ee 9 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago) (1 children)

Yes, though it really depends on the city. They all have different rules. It's interesting how zoning rules shape a lot of how North America looks.

One type of building that's becoming more common are "five over one", where you build one floor with concrete and then floors over with wood. These buildings have gathered criticism for being super generic. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/5-over-1

Mass timber is a new method of construction, so cities have been updating their laws to reflect it.

[–] pdqcp@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 points 6 days ago

Those 5 over 1 depicted look better than the concrete shoeboxes around here

[–] exasperation@lemm.ee 4 points 6 days ago

Not exactly. "Mass timber" is a newer construction material made from wood, but put together in a way suitable for tall buildings, including structural elements for skyscrapers. Currently, the tallest timber skyscraper is the 25-story Ascent MKE building in Milwaukee.

The fire safety challenges are real, though. It's just that timber as a building material has different characteristics. It's under a lot of study from fire safety researchers, as they work out the tradeoffs and how to best mitigate the weaknesses and vulnerabilities.

And it's not all bad. Timber is actually stronger than steel at high heat, and the beams don't contain voids that allow fire and flames to travel along the structural elements as steel or concrete elements might. So the key is that the engineers need to design things with the timber's properties in mind.