Barns may be out, but their wood is in
With trendy, urban designers calling for “salvaged” wood, barns across the U.S. are being deconstructed and turned into brewery bars and kitchen tables, says NPR. Large-scale farmers rarely use the historic barns anymore, since they’re too small to house massive combines and 5,000 milk cows. Instead farmers are selling the tumble-down buildings to deconstruction crews, who turn around and hawk the wood for $5-$10 a square foot.
Contest aims to prove viability of wooden highrises
Development teams in New York City and Portland, Oregon, each won $1.5 million "to showcase the safe application, practicality and sustainability of a minimum 80-foot structure that uses mass timber, composite wood technologies and innovative building techniques."