I would also be interested in seeing pictures of the finished buildings!

Love how you mention that it’s earthquake-proof. Haha, seems that everyone thinks that we get quakes all the time now, when in actual fact there hadn’t been one in over a decade previous to Wenchuan. The insulation though, is important, as it’s freezing cold over there EVERY year.

Diane, do you have any pics of the finished building? Wanna include one in this post? I’m quite curious to see what it looks like.

A proper “building envelope” needs to be created to finish this building system whether you use OSB or ply-wood. Painting is not a good option for either material. In this case, the building was wrapped with a weather-proof membrane called Tyvek, and then a stucco coating was applied.

When the exterior is finished with stucco you can’t actually tell that it is a wood frame building. It doesn’t matter if you use stucco or cedar siding on the exterior, this building will perform very well in an earthquake and it is well insulated, which will be appreciated during the cold Shanxi winters.

Maybe it is high-density fibreboard?

From Wikipedia:

Particleboard is cheaper, denser and more uniform than conventional wood and plywood and is substituted for them when appearance and strength are less important than cost. However, particleboard can be made more attractive by painting or the use of wood veneers that are glued onto surfaces that will be visible. Though it is denser than conventional wood, it is the lightest and weakest type of fiberboard, except for insulation board. Medium-density fibreboard and hardboard, also called high-density fiberboard, are stronger and denser than particleboard.

A major disadvantage of particleboard is that it is very prone to expansion and discoloration due to moisture, particularly when it is not covered with paint or another sealer. Therefore, it is rarely used outdoors or places that have high levels of moisture, with the exception of some bathrooms, kitchens and laundries, where it is commonly used as an underlayment beneath a continuous sheet of vinyl floor covering. In such an installation the edges must be properly covered upward against the wall and joints and non-covered edges must be properly sealed against moisture penetration. A higher quality material not subject to expansion is underlayment-grade plywood, which is constructed without interior voids in its layers to better resist the high local pressure from objects such as stiletto heels.

Still, it’s a fine lookin’ building, and I’m sure it’ll be put to good use.