APPLICABILITY OF CROSS-LAMINATED TIMBER IN THE TROPICS (CASE-STUDY MALAYSIAN FORESTRY)

Abstract

There has been an increase in the use of Cross Laminated Timber (CLT) as a construction material in the United States and the European countries. This trend is also starting to be witnessed in Asian countries such as Japan and Taiwan in the recent years. The use of CLT will be advantageous to the environment, provided that the timber used is sustainably sourced. The embodied energy used and amount of carbon emission from CLT is generally lesser as compared to the other conventional construction materials. Hence, using CLT as a main construction material will reduce the negative impact of global warming on the environment in the long run. In view of this, this paper proposes the study of tropical timber, so as to integrate it into the CLT technology, for tropical use. Regional countries will then be able to adopt the new feasible construction material to achieve individual spatial aims and requirements.