Michael Green: Why we should build wooden skyscrapers

Translator: Juliana So Reviewer: Yawer Ijaz

This is my grandfather.

呢個係我祖父

And this is my son.

呢個係我個仔

My grandfather taught me to work with wood

細個嗰時，爺爺除咗教我木工

when I was a little boy,

and he also taught me the idea that

佢仲教我一個道理

if you cut down a tree to turn it into something,

如果你將樹砍落嚟變成一樣嘢

honor that tree's life and make it as beautiful

咁你就要盡力整出 最靚嘅嘢嚟榮耀棵樹

as you possibly can.

My little boy reminded me

而我個仔提醒咗我

that for all the technology and all the toys in the world,

全世界嘅科技產品同玩具

sometimes just a small block of wood,

有時候都比唔上一堆小木頭疊高 咁有啟發性

if you stack it up tall,

actually is an incredibly inspiring thing.

These are my buildings.

呢啲係我參與過嘅建築物

I build all around the world

我平時喺溫哥華同紐約嘅辦公室裡邊

out of our office in Vancouver and New York.

參與世界各地嘅建設項目

And we build buildings of different sizes and styles

視乎我哋喺邊度工作

我哋嘅建築有唔同大小 唔同風格、用唔同材料

and different materials, depending on where we are.

But wood is the material that I love the most,

但木頭一直係我最喜愛嘅材料

and I'm going to tell you the story about wood.

我會講一個木頭嘅故事畀你哋聽

And part of the reason I love it is that every time

我鍾意木頭，部分原因係因為

people go into my buildings that are wood,

每次人哋走入我設計嘅木製建築

I notice they react completely differently.

我發覺佢哋嘅反應完全唔一樣

I've never seen anybody walk into one of my buildings

我未見過有人 走入鋼筋水泥建築物去擁抱樁柱

and hug a steel or a concrete column,

but I've actually seen that happen in a wood building.

但我就喺木製建築裡面見到呢幕

I've actually seen how people touch the wood,

我睇到人哋點樣掂啲木

and I think there's a reason for it.

我相信呢個背後一定有原因

Just like snowflakes, no two pieces of wood

就好似雪花一樣 地球上冇兩塊木係一模一樣嘅

can ever be the same anywhere on Earth.

That's a wonderful thing.

所以木係好美妙嘅事

I like to think that wood

我鍾意將木諗成係

gives Mother Nature fingerprints in our buildings.

喺我哋建築物上留低嘅大自然足印

It's Mother Nature's fingerprints that make

係大自然嘅足印令建築物

our buildings connect us to nature in the built environment.

能夠將我哋同大自然連繫起嚟

Now, I live in Vancouver, near a forest

宜家我住喺溫哥華，好近一個森林

that grows to 33 stories tall.

嗰度嘅樹可以生到 33 層樓咁高

Down the coast here in California, the redwood forest

而喺加州海岸嘅紅木林

grows to 40 stories tall.

樹木可以生長到 40 層樓高

But the buildings that we think about in wood

但係大多數木建築都只有四層樓高

are only four stories tall in most places on Earth.

Even building codes actually limit the ability for us to build

喺好多地方，建築法例限制咗我哋

much taller than four stories in many places,

木製樓宇唔能夠高過四層樓

and that's true here in the United States.

包括美國

Now there are exceptions,

宜家已經有例外

but there needs to be some exceptions,

我覺得需要有例外嘅情況

and things are going to change, I'm hoping.

而且我希望法例會改

And the reason I think that way is that

我之所以咁諗係因為

today half of us live in cities,

今日世界一半嘅人口住喺城市

and that number is going to grow to 75 percent.

而呢數字仲會增長到 75%

Cities and density mean that our buildings

城市同人口密度代表 我哋嘅建築將會愈嚟愈大

are going to continue to be big,

and I think there's a role for wood to play in cities.

而木材會喺城市裏面扮演一個角色

And I feel that way because three billion people

我咁諗係因為世界有三十億人

in the world today, over the next 20 years,

會喺未來二十年需要一個新嘅家

will need a new home.

That's 40 percent of the world that are going to need

就啫係話，未來廿年

新嘅建築物需要興建 去迎合世界 40% 人口嘅需要

a new building built for them in the next 20 years.

Now, one in three people living in cities today

今日，城市裏邊每三個人 就有一個住喺貧民窟裡邊

actually live in a slum.

That's one billion people in the world live in slums.

全世界有十億人住緊喺貧民窟

A hundred million people in the world are homeless.

一億人無家可歸

The scale of the challenge for architects

建築師同社會面對嘅挑戰 就係要為呢啲人搵到棲身之所

and for society to deal with in building

is to find a solution to house these people.

But the challenge is, as we move to cities,

但問題在於，當我哋搬到城市

cities are built in these two materials,

而城市通常以兩種物料起成︰ 鋼筋同水泥

steel and concrete, and they're great materials.

呢兩種都係好好嘅材料

They're the materials of the last century.

但係佢哋係上世紀嘅建材

But they're also materials with very high energy

需要好多能源去生產佢哋

and very high greenhouse gas emissions in their process.

仲會喺生造過程中釋放大量溫室氣體

Steel represents about three percent

鋼材佔咗人類溫室氣體排放量嘅 3%

of man's greenhouse gas emissions,

and concrete is over five percent.

水泥就佔咗 5% 以上

So if you think about that, eight percent

所以諗諗，今日溫室氣體排放量嘅 8%

of our contribution to greenhouse gases today

comes from those two materials alone.

係嚟自呢兩種建材

We don't think about it a lot, and unfortunately,

我哋冇諗過呢樣嘢好多

we actually don't even think about buildings, I think,

我哋冇成日諗下建築究竟要點

as much as we should.

This is a U.S. statistic about the impact of greenhouse gases.

呢度係一份美國有關溫室氣體嘅統計

Almost half of our greenhouse gases are related to the building industry,

差唔多半數排放量嚟自建造業

and if we look at energy, it's the same story.

能源用量方面，情況都係差唔多

You'll notice that transportation's sort of second down that list,

我哋成日講交通，但係交通只係排第二

but that's the conversation we mostly hear about.

And although a lot of that is about energy,

雖然好多時啲嘢都係同能源問題有關

it's also so much about carbon.

但係碳排放同樣重要

The problem I see is that, ultimately,

我覺得問題最終係

the clash of how we solve that problem

我哋該點樣同時解決 三十億人嘅房屋需求

of serving those three billion people that need a home,

and climate change, are a head-on collision

而又關照到氣候

about to happen, or already happening.

其實呢個問題正喺度發生緊

That challenge means that we have to start thinking in new ways,

呢個問題代表我哋要創新

and I think wood is going to be part of that solution,

所以我會覺得木材將會係對策嘅一部分

and I'm going to tell you the story of why.

我會話畀你知點解

As an architect, wood is the only material,

作為一位建築師，木材係唯一一種

big material, that I can build with

我可以使用、兼靠太陽生成嘅大型建材

that's already grown by the power of the sun.

When a tree grows in the forest and gives off oxygen

森林裡面嘅樹生長 放出氧氣、吸入二氧化碳

and soaks up carbon dioxide,

and it dies and it falls to the forest floor,

當樹木死咗瞓喺地下時

it gives that carbon dioxide back to the atmosphere or into the ground.

佢哋會將二氧化碳釋放返去 大氣層或者泥土裏面

If it burns in a forest fire, it's going to give that carbon

如果樹木遇上山火

碳都會重新釋放到大氣層

back to the atmosphere as well.

But if you take that wood and you put it into a building

但如果你將木頭攞嚟起屋 或者做傢俬、玩具

or into a piece of furniture or into that wooden toy,

it actually has an amazing capacity

咁樣其實可以封存到好多碳

to store the carbon and provide us with a sequestration.

One cubic meter of wood will store

一立方米嘅木頭可以儲存一噸二氧化碳

one tonne of carbon dioxide.

Now our two solutions to climate are obviously

我哋控制氣候嘅兩個方法係

to reduce our emissions and find storage.

減少溫室氣體排放同搵碳嘅儲存空間

Wood is the only major material building material

木頭係主要唯一一種

能夠同時做到以上兩個方法嘅建材

I can build with that actually does both those two things.

So I believe that we have

以前，我哋一直相信地球 會製造我哋嘅食物

an ethic that the Earth grows our food,

and we need to move to an ethic in this century

今個世紀，我哋需要相信 地球會製造我哋嘅家

that the Earth should grow our homes.

Now, how are we going to do that

當城市化嘅速度係咁快

when we're urbanizing at this rate

而我哋慣性諗木建築 最多只有四層高時

and we think about wood buildings only at four stories?

我哋可以點做到用木起樓呢？

We need to reduce the concrete and steel and we need

我哋要減少鋼材同水泥嘅用量

to grow bigger, and what we've been working on

同時要興建更大嘅木建築

is 30-story tall buildings made of wood.

我哋正籌備緊起一啲三十層高嘅木大廈

We've been engineering them with an engineer

我哋同工程師 Eric Karsh 合作

named Eric Karsh who works with me on it,

and we've been doing this new work because

我哋合作做呢個項目係因為 我哋有新嘅木製品可以用

there are new wood products out there for us to use,

and we call them mass timber panels.

我哋叫呢啲做巨型木嵌板

These are panels made with young trees,

呢啲嵌板將年幼嘅樹 生得唔高嘅樹、細片嘅木

small growth trees, small pieces of wood

glued together to make panels that are enormous:

集合埋一齊變成咗大型嘅嵌板

eight feet wide, 64 feet long, and of various thicknesses.

八呎乘六十四呎，備有唔同厚度

The way I describe this best, I've found, is to say

要形容呢樣嘢最好嘅方式係咁：

that we're all used to two-by-four construction

我哋平時諗到嘅木都係 2X4 規格

when we think about wood.

於是大家好容易就會話木係 2X4

That's what people jump to as a conclusion.

Two-by-four construction is sort of like the little

2X4 規格似係細個 玩八個點嘅樂高積木

eight-dot bricks of Lego that we all played with as kids,

你可以用咁大嘅樂高積木 造出千變萬化有趣嘅嘢

and you can make all kinds of cool things out of Lego

at that size, and out of two-by-fours.

But do remember when you were a kid,

但你哋記得細路嗰時

and you kind of sifted through the pile in your basement,

你哋喺地牢摷嚟摷去

可能摷到一個有二十四點嘅積木

and you found that big 24-dot brick of Lego,

and you were kind of like,

你會諗︰

"Cool, this is awesome. I can build something really big,

「酷，咁我可以起一個好大嘅嘢𡀔，

and this is going to be great."

整咗出嚟一定好正。」

That's the change.

於是事情唔一樣

Mass timber panels are those 24-dot bricks.

巨型木嵌板就似嗰塊有廿四點嘅積木

They're changing the scale of what we can do,

佢改變咗我哋起樓嘅規模

and what we've developed is something we call FFTT,

我哋研發出一個叫 FFTT 嘅嘢

which is a Creative Commons solution

佢係一個開放部分使用權嘅產品

to building a very flexible system

可以用嚟起各式各樣嘅建築

of building with these large panels where we tilt up

我哋可以用呢啲大型木建材板

six stories at a time if we want to.

每次最多起六層樓

This animation shows you how the building goes together

呢個動畫顯示啲建築物 點樣好簡單嘅連埋一齊

in a very simple way, but these buildings are available

for architects and engineers now to build on

for different cultures in the world,

呢啲建築無論咩文化同建築風格都啱

different architectural styles and characters.

In order for us to build safely,

為咗起嘅時候安全

we've engineered these buildings, actually,

我哋特別設計令呢啲大廈 適合溫哥華嘅環境

to work in a Vancouver context,

where we're a high seismic zone,

就係即使有三十層樓高，都有抗震能力

even at 30 stories tall.

Now obviously, every time I bring this up,

當然，每次當我提起呢個

people even, you know, here at the conference, say,

人哋都會問︰

"Are you serious? Thirty stories? How's that going to happen?"

「你係認真嘅？三十層？點可能？」

And there's a lot of really good questions that are asked

啲人問咗好多好好、好重要嘅問題

and important questions that we spent quite a long time

我哋都花咗一段時間解答問題

working on the answers to as we put together

同埋將問題寫喺我哋嘅報告上面

our report and the peer reviewed report.

我只會講其中幾個問題

I'm just going to focus on a few of them,

and let's start with fire, because I think fire

先講下防火，因為我覺得

is probably the first one that you're all thinking about right now.

防火係大家第一個諗到嘅問題

呢個唔難理解

Fair enough.

And the way I describe it is this.

我會咁樣講

If I asked you to take a match and light it

如果我請你點著一枝火柴

and hold up a log and try to get that log to go on fire,

再將佢點著一轆木

it doesn't happen, right? We all know that.

轆木唔會著，啱唔啱？

But to build a fire, you kind of start with small pieces

我哋都知道唔會點著

但要點燃一樣嘢，你必須從細塊開始

of wood and you work your way up,

慢慢由細燒起

and eventually you can add the log to the fire,

最後至將大塊嘅加到火裏邊

and when you do add the log to the fire, of course,

所以當你放轆木去燒嘅時候

佢當然會燒啦，但係會燒得好慢

it burns, but it burns slowly.

Well, mass timber panels, these new products

而我哋用緊嘅呢個新產品，巨型木嵌板

that we're using, are much like the log.

就好似大塊嘅木咁，佢哋好難燃燒

It's hard to start them on fire, and when they do,

they actually burn extraordinarily predictably,

而且當佢哋燒起上嚟嘅時候 火勢會出奇地預測得到

and we can use fire science in order to predict

所以我哋可以用防火嘅科學知識 嚟預測火勢

and make these buildings as safe as concrete

並將木製大廈設計得 同水泥鋼材大廈一樣安全

and as safe as steel.

The next big issue, deforestation.

第二個大問題︰森林資源

Eighteen percent of our contribution

全球溫室氣體排放量嘅 18% 嚟自採伐森林

to greenhouse gas emissions worldwide

is the result of deforestation.

The last thing we want to do is cut down trees.

斬樹係我哋最後嘅方案

Or, the last thing we want to do is cut down the wrong trees.

應該咁講，我哋最後先至考慮斬樹

There are models for sustainable forestry

現今嘅幾種可持續嘅伐木模式 畀我哋有節制咁取得木材

that allow us to cut trees properly,

and those are the only trees appropriate

而斬得嘅樹都必須要適合呢套系統

to use for these kinds of systems.

Now I actually think that these ideas

我覺得呢啲諗法會改變伐木嘅經濟模式

will change the economics of deforestation.

In countries with deforestation issues,

喺受伐木問題困擾嘅國家

we need to find a way to provide

我哋需要畀到森林最大嘅價值

better value for the forest

and actually encourage people to make money

並鼓勵大家利用 樹木快速生長週期去賺錢

through very fast growth cycles --

10-, 12-, 15-year-old trees that make these products

十年、十二年、十五年嘅樹木 都可以用嚟製造呢啲嵌板

and allow us to build at this scale.

同畀我哋大規模咁起樓

We've calculated a 20-story building:

我哋計過一幢廿層嘅建築 只需要北美洲十三分鐘長出嘅木

We'll grow enough wood in North America every 13 minutes.

That's how much it takes.

我哋需要嘅就係咁多

The carbon story here is a really good one.

呢個就係好嘅碳故事

If we built a 20-story building out of cement and concrete,

但如果我哋起一幢 廿層高嘅鋼材水泥大廈

the process would result in the manufacturing

水泥生產過程將會排出 1,200 噸二氧化碳

of that cement and 1,200 tonnes of carbon dioxide.

If we did it in wood, in this solution,

如果我哋以木嚟起

我哋可以封存到 3,100 噸二氧化碳

we'd sequester about 3,100 tonnes,

for a net difference of 4,300 tonnes.

即係話，兩者嘅二氧化碳排放量 相差 4,300 噸

That's the equivalent of about 900 cars

差唔多等於 900 部車一年嘅排放量

removed from the road in one year.

Think back to that three billion people

諗諗嗰三十億需要新屋嘅人

that need a new home,

and maybe this is a contributor to reducing.

或者呢個方法可以減少碳排放

We're at the beginning of a revolution, I hope,

我希望我哋宜家會 喺建築革命嘅起步階段

in the way we build, because this is the first new way

因為呢個會係起摩天大廈嘅最新方法

to build a skyscraper in probably 100 years or more.

But the challenge is changing society's perception

但最大嘅考驗係嚟自社會 對於創新冒險嘅心態

of possibility, and it's a huge challenge.

而且呢個考驗好大

The engineering is, truthfully, the easy part of this.

工程嘅部分，老實講係好容易嘅

And the way I describe it is this.

我會咁講

The first skyscraper, technically --

摩天大廈最初技術上嘅定義 講你都唔相信︰

and the definition of a skyscraper is 10 stories tall, believe it or not —

凡係十層或以上高嘅樓都算係

but the first skyscraper was this one in Chicago,

呢座係芝加哥嘅第一座摩天大廈

當時人哋經過佢下面都會驚

and people were terrified to walk underneath this building.

But only four years after it was built,

但喺佢建成後嘅短短四年 艾菲爾起咗巴黎鐵塔

Gustave Eiffel was building the Eiffel Tower,

and as he built the Eiffel Tower,

而且佢起鐵塔嘅時候

he changed the skylines of the cities of the world,

佢改變咗全世界城市嘅天際線

changed and created a competition

促使好似紐約同芝加哥 咁嘅城市開始競爭

between places like New York City and Chicago,

where developers started building bigger and bigger buildings

開始起愈嚟愈大嘅建築

將天際線愈推愈高

and pushing the envelope up higher and higher

with better and better engineering.

亦令到工程學嘅知識 亦都愈嚟愈成熟

We built this model in New York, actually,

我哋喺紐約為明日一所理工大學嘅校園

as a theoretical model on the campus

整咗呢個建築模型

of a technical university soon to come,

and the reason we picked this site

我哋揀呢個項目做例子

to just show you what these buildings may look like,

等你可以睇到呢啲建築會係點嘅樣

because the exterior can change.

外觀可以改，所以我哋只係講佢嘅結構

It's really just the structure that we're talking about.

The reason we picked it is because this is a technical university,

我哋揀呢個嘅原因係 佢係一間理工大學

and I believe that wood is the most

而且我相信木材係最先進嘅材料

technologically advanced material I can build with.

It just happens to be that Mother Nature holds the patent,

因為只有大自然至擁有佢嘅專利

and we don't really feel comfortable with it.

但對於呢點我哋無法接受

But that's the way it should be,

但正因為咁

nature's fingerprints in the built environment.

我哋嘅建築裏面 應該要有大自然嘅痕跡

I'm looking for this opportunity

我正喺度搵緊一個機會 締造另一個「巴黎鐵塔時刻」

to create an Eiffel Tower moment, we call it.

Buildings are starting to go up around the world.

當世界各地嘅建築愈嚟愈高

There's a building in London that's nine stories,

倫敦有一幢九層高嘅木製樓

a new building that just finished in Australia

澳洲都有一座新嘅木製樓

that I believe is 10 or 11.

大概十至十一層樓高

We're starting to push the height up of these wood buildings,

呢一刻，我哋開始將木建築愈起愈高

and we're hoping, and I'm hoping,

我哋希望，我都希望

that my hometown of Vancouver actually potentially

我嘅城市溫哥華

可以喺不久嘅將來 起到二十層高嘅全球最高木建築

announces the world's tallest at around 20 stories

in the not-so-distant future.

That Eiffel Tower moment will break the ceiling,

下一個「巴黎鐵塔時刻」 會打破木建築以往嘅高度

these arbitrary ceilings of height,

and allow wood buildings to join the competition.

然後同水泥鋼筋大廈一齊比天高

And I believe the race is ultimately on.

我相信呢場競爭終有一日會開始

Thank you.

多謝

（掌聲）

(Applause)