Application of New Timber Structure Building Envelope in China’s Solar Buildings

Sustainable development could be seen as indispensable condition for survival of civilization. The development of timber products is a new paradigm in material and building science research in China, requiring the accounting for carbon emissions, carbon sequestration, material embodied energy, and material thermal properties for this renewable resource. This paper studies the application of the timber lattice wall in Chinese solar buildings. Firstly, it is analyzed timber structural form and mechanical property of the multi-ribbed composite wall, proving its high anti-seismic property and firmness by finite element modeling. Secondly, the timber structure filled with wheat straw brick contributes to low U-value of the wall, which is only 0.3 Watts per square meter per degree Celsius and far better than the code of Chinese building, greatly promoting building energy efficiency. Besides, the timber structure and straw brick are both “Cradle to Cradle” materials and reduce carbon emission compared to common building envelope. In the end, the paper is analyzed the promising market of the multi-ribbed composite wall for its competitive price and outstanding environmental performance.