Seismic Resistance

1. The floor area of each storey shall not exceed 600 square meters, and the storey height shall not be more than 3.6 meters.

2. For seismic fortification intensity of degree 6 and degree 7 (0.10g), the height-width ratio of buildings shall not exceed 1.2; for seismic fortification intensity of degree 7 (0.15g) and degree 8 (0.20g), the height-width ratio shall not exceed 1.0.

This design specification clearly defines the size and spacing of seismic shear walls for wooden houses, ensuring the overall safety factor of buildings.

Wooden villas boast excellent safety performance in earthquakes. Built with tenon joints and interlaced main structures, they feature great stability. As a structural material, wood outperforms other materials in seismic performance. With light weight and high strength, wooden buildings bear less energy generated by ground acceleration. In addition, wood frame structures are superior in flexibility to absorb and dissipate seismic energy.

Such buildings adopt standard-sized compact wooden components. Most frames consist of vertical wall studs for wall frames, horizontal joists for floors, and rafters or trusses for roof support. When enclosed with diagonal bracing boards or lightweight wood-based panels, walls gain lateral resistance and form shear wall systems which are lightweight, high-strength and highly efficient in construction. All components work together to resist gravity, wind force and earthquakes.

Practice has proven that wooden structures maintain stable performance and structural integrity under extreme loads. Even if severely damaged earthquakes separate buildings from their foundations, the structures often remain intact. Featuring high toughness, wooden structures strongly resist instantaneous impact load and cyclic fatigue damage, ranking top in seismic resistance among all building structures, which has been fully verified in major earthquake zones. During the 1995 Kobe earthquake in Japan, most surviving buildings were wooden houses.

Durability

High-grade pine timber is adopted for wooden villas. Wood is natural, healthy and friendly to human beings. Prefabricated wooden houses are high-grade eco-friendly residences. Processed into various wall profiles with modern technologies according to architectural styles, the timber is further treated with fire retardant and anti-corrosion agents for higher firmness and durability. It presents outstanding stability against settlement stress, dry shrinkage and aging. Properly used, wood serves as a stable and long-lasting building material. Wood wax oil can be painted regularly to provide extra protection.

Fire Resistance

All structural timber of wooden villas is treated with water-based fire retardant agents with carbonization effect. When exposed to fire, a carbonized layer will form on wood surfaces. Its low thermal conductivity effectively blocks inward flame spread and protects the whole wooden structure from damage for a long time.

Moisture Resistance

It is widely misunderstood that water is harmful to wood. In fact, wooden buildings can maintain stable long-term service performance in rainy and humid areas, and the core lies in reasonable moisture control during design and construction. Generally speaking, only building envelopes especially roofs need complete waterproof treatment to ensure smooth drainage and water tightness during water accumulation.

If the exterior surface achieves good waterproof effect, other internal components do not require strict waterproof measures. Wooden houses can effectively avoid corrosion and dampness because all construction timber is kiln-dried to minimize volume change. The moisture content is reduced below 19%, making its moisture resistance nearly 10 times that of brick-concrete structures. Wood moisture content refers to the ratio of water weight to dry wood weight.

Timber with moisture content no higher than 19% is regarded as dry wood. The fiber saturation point of wood is around 28%, which is the critical standard for dry shrinkage and decay. Corrosion fungi hardly grow unless wood moisture content reaches or exceeds this point. Meanwhile, timber is impregnated with preservatives such as ACQ and BAC, and coated with natural plant oil on surfaces to prevent water erosion. Compared with other common building materials, wood is less likely to suffer permanent damage from occasional wetting, and wooden buildings can operate stably for decades in humid regions.

Eco-friendliness, Thermal Insulation & Energy Saving

Wood is natural, healthy and people-friendly, making wooden villas premium eco-friendly dwellings. It delivers excellent thermal insulation performance, saving over 40% more energy than ordinary brick-concrete houses. Its thermal insulation capacity is 400 times that of steel and 16 times that of concrete. Research shows that a 150mm-thick wooden wall provides the same insulation effect as a 610mm-thick brick wall. Wood is the preferred material for green buildings. In the era of depleting fossil fuels and rising costs, light wood structures have prominent advantages. The energy consumption of producing wooden building materials is far lower than that of steel and concrete which require high-temperature processing.

Built with solid wood, wooden houses are known as "breathable houses". The indoor air is rich in phytoncide and negative ions known as air vitamins. Popular among forest bath lovers, these substances can kill airborne bacteria, prevent diseases and boost immunity, and also help refresh the mind, improve concentration, lower blood pressure and soothe nerves. Wooden houses release extremely low radon radiation harmless to human bodies, and wood has minimal negative impact on energy consumption, air pollution, water pollution and greenhouse gas emission.

According to research by the Institute of Building Environment and Equipment Engineering, Tsinghua University, wooden buildings save 5.3% more energy than light steel structures and 8.1% more than concrete structures, cutting about 6% of operating costs compared with ordinary concrete roofs over the whole service life. Light wood structures can greatly reduce heating and cooling expenses during residential use. The natural pores inside wood endow wooden houses with superior thermal insulation. The gaps inside light wood frames can be filled with thermal insulation materials to cut energy consumption of fossil fuels and maintain comfortable indoor temperature in an economical way.