The wood technology mentioned in the article isn't particularly new, but has certainly been getting more attention recently in the push towards more sustainable construction practices. In the bay area, most new mid-rise (3-8 story) residential construction goes up as a concrete pedestal parking garage with a wood structure on top - wood has a great strength/weight ratio and so reduces the earthquake forces you have to design for.
The biggest issue in going taller and to other occupancy types is fire. Buildings over a certain height (related to the height of fire truck ladders) are designed to burn out entire floors completely[1] without collapsing[2]. This is easier with steel and concrete, which lose strength at temperature but don't actually add fuel to the fire. What's been found more recently is that if you put the right additives in engineered wood products and make it a stocky enough shape then the wood will burn itself out even in a very large fire. But that information is new, and building codes are necessarily conservative. These things can also get awfully political, considering that there are separate trade organizations for the wood, concrete, and steel industry who all have a vote and want the code to say that their material is the safest.
The biggest issue in going taller and to other occupancy types is fire. Buildings over a certain height (related to the height of fire truck ladders) are designed to burn out entire floors completely[1] without collapsing[2]. This is easier with steel and concrete, which lose strength at temperature but don't actually add fuel to the fire. What's been found more recently is that if you put the right additives in engineered wood products and make it a stocky enough shape then the wood will burn itself out even in a very large fire. But that information is new, and building codes are necessarily conservative. These things can also get awfully political, considering that there are separate trade organizations for the wood, concrete, and steel industry who all have a vote and want the code to say that their material is the safest.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_Meridian_Plaza
[2] http://ww2.kqed.org/news/2015/03/11/san-francisco-mission-ba...