WHY WOODEN HOUSES DON’T FEAR THE EARTHQUAKE?

Well designed wooden houses can guarantee the most advanced levels of seismic safety and now it is a fact recognized internationally.

Why wood is preferred among the building materials to be used in seismic areas?

– wood is much lighter than other building materials; this means that the wooden buildings are subjected to a much lower destructive force of the earthquake
– the mechanical resistance of the wood is the best and the wooden structures are able to absorb even important forces and stresses without damage
– wood is elastic by its nature and therefore easily bears a slight deformation: during the action of the earthquake the lower stiffness of the construction allows it to better absorb the seismic wave
– the seismic safety of a wooden building also depends on the connections and their correct design. A wooden building is never a monolithic body, but is made up of different elements (walls and floors) joined together through joints or connections. These connections, if well designed and built, act as a further element in favor of the deformability of the building and help to dissipate the energy produced by the earthquake, thus avoiding the collapse of the structure
– in the event of an earthquake (or other destructive events such as fire), the wooden building is one of the most suitable for repair. By replacing the damaged parts and connections it is in some cases possible to recover its bearing capacity and make it habitable again, allowing the owners to recover part of the property destroyed by the natural event.