| The main problem is the environmental damage. The concrete industry is the third largest producer of carbon dioxide emissions in the world. It also represents a third of all landfill waste. Reinforced concrete is incredibly expensive to repair and maintain. Because of the dozen different ways it can rust and spall, you need to inspect it frequently. The longer you wait to repair it, the more costly it is. A great deal of our reinforced concrete bridges are now structurally unsound. And recycling it is expensive, difficult, and reduces its strength. Roman concrete lasted centuries, even millennia. But it's very difficult for us to produce concrete of a sufficient quality to last a very long time, as there are many ways to introduce defects. Many of our modern concrete structures wouldn't last a century without significant expensive maintenance. On the other hand, wood buildings can actually be deconstructed easier, recycled easier, composted easier, don't have a gigantic burden on the environment, and can be made quite strong, as well as lasting for centuries. They're also much easier and cheaper to repair and replace. I live in the northeast, where 100+ year old wooden homes litter the landscape. The biggest problem with old homes isn't the wood - it's their dated construction methods. My girlfriend lives in what was essentially a wooden barn converted into a house. It wasn't designed or maintained properly, so it's slowly shifting and falling into disrepair. But a well-designed, modern wooden home can last a century or more with maintenance without falling apart. |