0:00

Hey, it's Jeff with

0:02

some big news. We've

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recently launched a new

0:06

podcast. It's called Essential

0:08

English Expressions. Season 1

0:10

is out now, and each

0:12

episode is all about how

0:15

to use one essential English

0:17

expression. If you like

0:19

plain English, you'll love our new

0:22

podcast, Essential English

0:24

Expressions. Click the link in

0:26

the show notes for more information. There's

0:30

a new material being used in tall

0:32

buildings. You may have heard of it.

0:34

It's wood. Hi there, everyone. It's Jeff.

0:36

Thanks for joining us for another episode

0:38

of Plain English, the fast version. Today's

0:41

Labor Day, for many of you, May

0:43

1st, 2025. And the story

0:45

we have today on this Labor Day

0:47

is about a new way to build

0:49

tall buildings with timber. Wood,

0:52

in other words. They're now able

0:54

to build tall, tall buildings with

0:56

wood frames. It's pretty interesting. So

0:58

that's today's story. It's on episode

1:00

771. So that means you can

1:03

find all the learning resources that

1:05

we have for you at plainenglish.com.

1:08

Before we

1:11

start today's story, I'd just like

1:13

to remind you that the podcast

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is just one part of how

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we can help you upgrade your

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English skills. At PlainEnglish.com,

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you can make faster

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become a better, more confident English

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to plainenglish.com to start your

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free 14 -day trial today.

1:56

Now, let's jump into today's

1:58

story. Like

2:06

many Americans, I grew up in a

2:08

house made of wood. A

2:10

wood frame house is cost -effective,

2:12

quick to build, and adaptable for

2:14

different designs. Most have

2:16

a concrete foundation. The floors are

2:19

made of wooden beams, called joists,

2:21

and the frame is made from

2:23

vertical 2x4 or 2x6 pieces of

2:26

lumber. This is the

2:28

standard for one and two -story homes

2:30

in the suburbs and small towns of

2:32

North America. Wood

2:34

used to be popular in big cities.

2:37

Buildings and even sidewalks in some

2:39

of America's biggest cities were made

2:41

of wood. But then,

2:43

several cities were hit with major

2:46

fires. Philadelphia in

2:48

1850, Chicago in

2:50

1871, Boston in 1872,

2:52

and San Francisco in

2:55

1906. Fire swept

2:57

quickly through wood buildings, destroying major

2:59

parts of those cities, and

3:01

that put an end to wood

3:03

construction in dense areas. Today,

3:06

most buildings in cities and

3:08

most commercial buildings are constructed

3:10

of brick concrete, or steel.

3:13

Many large cities prohibit wood construction

3:16

over about three stories, but recently

3:18

wood has been making a comeback.

3:21

When I say wood, I don't mean

3:23

the 2x4s that frame single -family homes

3:25

like the ones in my neighborhood growing

3:28

up. I'm talking about something called mass

3:30

timber. Mass timber refers to

3:32

wooden panels and beams that can

3:34

support tall buildings. Think

3:36

back to the last time you saw a

3:39

tall building under construction. You probably

3:41

saw tall concrete columns or even

3:43

steel beams. You may have

3:45

seen concrete slabs form the floors on

3:48

each story. In a

3:50

timber building, all that is made

3:52

with heavy solid wood panels and

3:54

beams. These are made

3:56

by gluing layers of lumber together,

3:58

either in the same direction or

4:00

perpendicular to each other. Panels

4:02

are several inches thick and can work

4:04

just as well as a thick concrete

4:06

slab. This new type

4:09

of material allows architects to build

4:11

much taller buildings with wood, think

4:13

8, 10, or even 20 stories

4:16

in the air. There

4:18

are several benefits to timber construction.

4:21

Ironically, the first is environmental.

4:24

So yes, to build a timber building, you

4:26

have to cut down trees, but trees are

4:28

a renewable resource. In a well

4:30

-managed forest, trees can be replanted and they

4:32

grow back to full size in about a

4:35

decade. And producing timber

4:37

requires much less pollution compared

4:39

to producing concrete or steel.

4:42

The timber also acts as a carbon

4:44

sink. That means it captures

4:46

and stores carbon, reducing greenhouse gases

4:48

in the atmosphere. So

4:50

that's one benefit. Another is efficiency.

4:53

Many of the components that go

4:56

into a mass timber building are

4:58

produced offsite in a factory. They're

5:00

then transported and assembled at the

5:02

construction site. That's more efficient than

5:04

pouring concrete on site. It's also

5:07

easier to control quality when more

5:09

parts are made in a central

5:11

location. There are fewer

5:13

days lost to bad weather and

5:15

fewer workers required on site, timber

5:17

is lighter than steel or concrete,

5:20

and cranes can more easily lift the pieces

5:22

into place. Those are

5:25

the practical benefits, but there are softer

5:27

ones too. People like being in

5:29

buildings and places that resemble nature. Exposed

5:32

wood interiors create a warm, natural

5:34

ambiance. A space feels cozy and

5:37

alive when there's exposed wood. Studies

5:40

have shown that being surrounded by

5:42

wood can lower stress, reduce blood

5:44

pressure, and improve comfort for occupants.

5:47

Still, you might be wondering,

5:49

wood? Really? If that's

5:52

what you're thinking, you're not alone.

5:54

There are drawbacks. Wood is organic,

5:56

so it's susceptible to decay, moisture,

5:58

and pests. The timber structure

6:00

has to be protected from water. That

6:03

means treating the wood with water

6:05

resistant seals or coatings. Many timber

6:07

building exteriors are wrapped in membranes

6:09

or covered in sidings like brick

6:11

to protect the wood from the

6:14

elements. What about fire?

6:16

The original reason wood buildings were

6:18

limited in big cities? The

6:20

new timber structures are more fire resistant

6:22

than before. In a fire,

6:25

the structural elements char on the

6:27

outside, which creates an insulating layer

6:29

that prevents the rapid spread of

6:31

a fire. Tests show that

6:33

timber framing can stay structurally sound

6:35

for several hours during a fire.

6:38

Cities are updating their fire codes to

6:40

allow for taller timber buildings. They

6:42

require sprinklers, fireproof coatings, and limits

6:44

on how much timber can be

6:47

exposed to the interior. So where

6:49

has this been done? Mass

6:51

timber construction is more popular in Europe than

6:53

it is in North America. In

6:55

Sweden, it's easy to produce mass

6:58

timber buildings because 70 % of

7:00

the country's land area is covered

7:02

in forest and they're not running

7:04

out of trees. Since 1903, the

7:06

country has required reforestation. So there's

7:08

more tree cover now than there

7:10

was a century ago. Stockholm

7:12

Wood City is a plan

7:15

to build 250 ,000 square

7:17

meters of timber -built commercial

7:19

and residential space across 25

7:21

city blocks in Sweden's capital.

7:24

That will include 2 ,000 homes,

7:27

space for 7 ,000 office workers,

7:29

plus shops and restaurants, essentially a

7:31

whole neighborhood made of wood. Groundbreaking

7:34

is expected this year 2025

7:36

with a target completion date

7:38

in 2027. There are

7:40

not many tall buildings in Brumendahl,

7:42

Norway, but there is one. Mirstarnet

7:45

is an 18 -story tower

7:48

completed in 2019. At

7:50

the time, it was the tallest wood

7:52

construction building in the world, and it

7:54

proved that new engineered timber is strong

7:57

enough to support a tall tower. It's

7:59

home to the aptly named

8:01

Wood Hotel. The city

8:04

of Haleftea, Sweden has a 20

8:06

-story timber building. It's a complex

8:08

with theaters, an art gallery, and

8:10

a library. Confusingly, it

8:12

also has a hotel called the Wood Hotel,

8:14

but it's not the same as the one

8:17

in Norway. The town also

8:19

has schools, bridges, and even parking garages

8:21

made of wood. Austria

8:23

is home to a 24 -story

8:25

wood tower that opened in 2017.

8:28

North America has been slower to

8:31

adopt modern timber construction, but Milwaukee,

8:33

Wisconsin boasts the world's largest timber

8:35

building. That is the Wood Hotel.

8:38

No, I'm just kidding. It's called

8:40

the Ascent Tower, a 25 story

8:42

apartment building, an 18 story student

8:45

residence hall was built in Vancouver,

8:47

Canada. In Australia, a

8:49

40 story hybrid skyscraper is expected

8:51

to be completed this year. It's

8:54

a hybrid because the exterior will

8:56

be steel and glass. but the

8:58

internal structures like the floors will

9:00

be timber. That is expected to

9:02

open in 2025 and will be

9:05

home to the software company Atlassian.

9:13

I must admit, I love old

9:16

industrial interiors. I love buildings that

9:18

have exposed timber beams in the

9:20

ceilings. Chicago has a lot of

9:22

old brick and timber buildings that

9:24

have been turned into apartments, offices

9:26

and stores. They're so interesting to

9:28

look at and to be in.

9:31

You know, those studies that say people

9:33

feel good, feel less stress when they're

9:35

surrounded by natural looking materials. I believe

9:37

them. I'd love to live in a

9:40

building with exposed timber on the inside.

9:42

but a whole building made of wood? I

9:44

wasn't sure what to think. At

9:46

first I pictured a log cabin on the

9:49

inside, but it really doesn't look

9:51

like that. Some of the designs do have exposed

9:53

wood, but a lot of the buildings have huge

9:55

windows, and in many buildings the wood is covered

9:57

up. You don't even see it on the outside

10:00

or the inside, so you might not even know

10:02

you're in a wood building. Well,

10:06

that's it for us here on Thursday,

10:08

May 1st, 2025. Happy Labor Day if

10:10

Labor Day is observed in your country

10:12

today as it is in many places.

10:15

Europe, Latin America, parts of Asia,

10:17

I think. So if you have

10:19

today off or maybe tomorrow off,

10:21

enjoy it, take a rest. You

10:23

deserve it. This was episode number

10:26

771 of Plain English. So if

10:28

you would like to labor a

10:30

little more in English, you can

10:32

do that at plainenglish.com/771. It doesn't

10:34

really feel like work. You guys

10:36

know that. Take the quiz, record

10:38

yourself reading in English, do the

10:40

listening challenge. There's lots of fun

10:42

stuff for you as there is

10:45

with every episode, plainenglish.com/771. We'll be

10:47

back with a new topic on

10:49

Monday. See you then. I

10:55

hope you enjoyed today's episode.

10:58

If you like listening to stories

11:00

in plain English, then you'll love

11:02

learning English expressions with us. We

11:05

have a brand new podcast

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called Essential English Expressions, and

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this one is seasonal, so

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we'll drop an entire season

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of expressions all at once.

11:18

The first season is already

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available. Ready for you

11:22

to start listening. That's

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14 special plain English

11:27

episodes altogether in a

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brand new podcast. Just

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search essential English expressions in

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your podcast player or click

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the link in the show

11:39

notes.