RE: Material use in other countries

After this weeks research paper workshop, I got a few insights on the issues I choose to write about which were

1. Why wood construction is frequently used for residential construction In the United states, and why it isn’t in other countries, and

2. Why houses typically built in african countries do not have basements.

One of my peers brought up an interesting question about the availability of lumber in african countries, so I decided to look into that.  My brief research on that question showed that Africa is not a top five producer of wood, and the United States was number one. Now this little info has changed my mind and thinking a little bit. It will make sense to maximize  the use of available material. In this case, there is abundant wood in this country so, it will definitely make sense to build out of woods. On the other hand, in the case of african countries, it will not make any sense to export wood from other countries to use for construction. It will make it very expensive and not ideal. African countries traditionally use bricks, cmu, etc for construction. This is because these materials are easily accessible and is not too expensive to them.

I am sure as I continue to write my paper and do some more reasearch, it will yield more questions and answers. However, I am excited for the discoveries I have made so far.