Decades of Durability

With hundreds of students under one roof, schools must be designed to withstand a high level of activity. Painted masonry is a durable choice, especially for corridors, but the look is often cold and institutional. A school's durability needs should be balanced with good design.

Wood framing is a versatile system and allows for a variety of affordable options in protecting and treating surfaces. Bruce Westerman, who was on the school board responsible for building the Fountain Lake Middle School in Arkansas, says the only legitimate hurdle they ran into regarding durability using wood was for interior corridors. “We worried about kids knocking holes in the gypsum wallboard,” he explains. “We easily overcame that by installing OSB over the wood studs and then covering it with impact-resistant gypsum to provide protection.”

Longevity of materials is a prime consideration. While numbers vary around the country, elementary schools typically have an expected lifespan of 50 or more years—though wood framing can help extend that number. HMC's Peterson witnessed wood's staying power in designing a new facility at a K-12 California school. “The existing historic wood-framed buildings on campus were testament to the durability of wood,” he says. “These buildings were built in 1906, have survived numerous large earthquakes, and remain in great condition both structurally and aesthetically. We have no doubt that in 100 years the new wood-framed buildings will still be standing right alongside their predecessors.”

At the same time, while durability is crucial to the design of any building, designers should be aware that many buildings are demolished before the end of their useful service lives. A survey of buildings torn down between 2000 and 2003 in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area demonstrated that buildings in North America often fail to make the 50-year mark, regardless of material, because of changing needs and increasing land values as opposed to performance issues.⁶ Overall, wood buildings in the study had the longest lifespans, showing that wood structural systems are fully capable of meeting a building's longevity expectations. However, when you consider the embodied energy in demolished buildings and the implications of material disposal, the fact that wood is adaptable—either through renovation or deconstruction and reuse—is a significant advantage.

The Learning Curve

Warm and enriching interiors, environmentally friendly materials, the potential for long-term energy savings, speedy construction, safe, and durable schools—wood provides many advantages for school districts seeking to maximize their facilities budgets. As a result, school districts and architects are increasingly putting wood to use in all types of educational settings. “The Duke School was the first use of wood structure by our firm in an educational project, and we'd certainly use wood structure again given the right project size,” says Sotolongo. “We see wood use in schools as a trend.”

ENDNOTES
1	For more information on the WoodWorks calculator, go to woodworks.org.
2	For additional details, refer to the WoodWorks information sheet, Wood and Building Codes, available at woodworks.org.
3	Lippke, B. and Edmonds, L., 2009, Environmental Improvement Opportunities for Alternative Wall and Floor Design, CORRIM Phase II Research Report, Fact Sheet 6; converted from kilograms
4	The calculator is available at woodworks.org
5	Sarthre, R. and J. O'Connor, 2010, A Synthesis of Research on Wood Products and Greenhouse Gas Impacts, FPInnovations; Bowyer, J., D. Briggs, B. Lippke, J. Perez-Garcia, J. Wilson, Life Cycle Environmental Performance of Renewable Building Materials in the Context of Building Construction, Consortium for Research on Renewable Industrial Materials, 2005
6	Estimated by the Wood Carbon Calculator for Buildings, based on research by Sarthre, R. and J. O'Connor, 2010, A Synthesis of Research on Wood Products and Greenhouse Gas Impacts, FPInnovations.
7	O'Connor, J., 2004, Survey on Actual Service Lives for North American Buildings, FPInnovations

 

	The reThink Wood initiative is a coalition of interests representing North America’s wood products industry and related stakeholders. We share a passion in wood and the forests they come from. Innovative new technologies and building systems have enabled longer wood spans, taller walls and higher buildings, and continue to expand the possibilities for wood use in construction. www.rethinkwood.com
	WoodWorks is an initiative of the Wood Products Council established to provide free one-on-one project support, education and resources related to the design of non-residential and multi-family wood buildings — including schools. This includes online training and events, CAD/REVIT drawings, cost and carbon calculators, case studies, span tables and more. www.woodworks.org