I have been familiar with wood as a material for a long time. Like everything else in the world, it has its advantages and disadvantages. If you ask me which of the primary materials (glass, metal, concrete, wood, etc.) has more advantages compared to disadvantages, it is definitely wood! If one day the heavens were to open and we were deprived of one of our basic materials... I know it would be difficult without any of them, but I would certainly defend wood!
At one time, there was a belief that only artisanal and "rough" things could be built from wood, for example, log cabins. Well, well... When a person gets into a luxury car and sees wood trim on the dashboard, it is considered a sign of luxury. If we see and understand that the material (wood) and its use evolve alongside technology, many opportunities open up for us.
Wood is a very modern material! If we could combine the skills of our ancestors with modern technological capabilities, the results would be surprising.
Wood in Latvia is nothing new: if you live in a city, perhaps it is difficult to notice that there are many trees in Latvia?!
Driving home from work, on a short stretch of road, I can perfectly see the sovereign nature of the forest and its ability to regrow itself. All the meadows from the Soviet era are now greening into forests.
A society of myths and misconceptions that worries about the sound of an axe or a saw, a culture of chainsaw haters, is an example of very limited thinking... If you think in such categories, then out of mercy for potatoes, we should not dig them up in autumn, but let them remain in the ground and rot!
If you place the scales correctly, it is clear that nature creates balance perfectly well on its own. We can stop uselessly and senselessly exploiting its deeper layers! If we, when talking about resources, "stay on the surface and do not go deep", everything will be fine.
If we talk about the myth of the "fire hazard of wooden houses". We have a classic mindset: if a house is on fire, you must not break the windows, because that will cause a fire draft. In Germany, the thinking is: let the belongings burn to hell, but let the smoke flow away so that people can escape! The smoke created by burning wood is much less harmful than the burning of any household goods (curtains, carpets, furniture).
Regarding wood as a durable material, I will give an example: if we put a hot kettle on kitchen surfaces covered with plastic, it is ruined and lost. If we put the kettle on a wooden surface, we could sand down the "brown mark". Hopefully, with time, society will understand that in the event of a fire, the priority is to save people, not to think about how to "renovate after the fire"...
Wood and energy efficiency. At Riga Technical University, material science focuses on concrete and metal as primary materials. Consequently, about 10 academic hours are devoted to energy efficiency. This creates the impression that in the past, good brick houses were built, while now they are made of concrete with thick insulation. Wood as a material is effectively not mentioned. From an academic perspective, we are "in the grip of concrete and metal". It is just as well that no one is saying that wood is bad!
However, it must be admitted that, fortunately, in house construction, although still far too little, wood is being used more widely and freely, which, however, depends on the education level and wealth of the builder and the client. The desire for timber construction is growing among the more educated and knowledgeable part of society.