Adang Surahman
In Indonesia it grows more than 4,000 types of trees. The need for timber is increasing with the development of development in Indonesia. But the fact shows, the amount of forest destruction rate in Indonesia has caused the forestry industry to experience a raw material crisis. According to Skephi (Secretariat of the Indonesian Forest Conservation Cooperation) on the Condition of Forest in Indonesia Throughout 2007-2008, the manifestation of the destruction of Indonesian forests was proven by the discouraged record of the Guinnes World Record which stipulates Indonesia in 2007 as the fastest forest destruction country. Another problem faced is that the population of Indonesia is increasing which results in a lack of supply of wood in large quantities with its consequences. Physically interesting wood so that it becomes a choice is because of its artistic value. Wood mechanically becomes an option because of the strength of the tensile and strong sliding which is relatively higher than the strong pull and strong shear concrete so it is relatively safer if used as a component of building structure in the earthquake prone area, especially for residential homes. This condition must be anticipated by finding a substitute for wood use with other wooded materials that have quite large potential and can be utilized well and can replace the use of natural forest wood as construction materials and other material materials for human needs. For example, with the use of composite products such as laminated wood made from wood, fast wood growing and developing. This can be obtained on wood cultivated by community forests and or industrial plantations. This study concentrates to examine the potential for timber use to grow as a structural element in earthquake-resistant houses by laminates seen from the physical properties and mechanics of solid wood and laminated wood. This study is mainly aimed to overcome the scarcity of wood / wood sources from natural forests. The method used in this study is the selection of 5 types of fast growing wood, physical and mechanical properties of wood in the laboratory, making laminated wood. then continued with the physical and mechanical properties of laminated wood