07-01-2018, 11:53 AM
(07-01-2018, 10:16 AM)jamincan Wrote: I'm pretty sure metric units are universally used in health care already. I suspect wider adoption in certain industries is impeded by metric not being used in the US in those industries. Having metric lumber cut specially for the Canadian market would increase the cost of lumber.
I’m not actually big on changing our lumber dimensions. For one thing, the actual dimensions of a 2x4, to take the most widespread example, aren’t 2” by 4”, and the current size works fine. For another, changing the actual size of sheets of plywood, drywall, etc., and the normal stud spacing, would be a pain. But in normal construction, the sizes of rooms and all the other dimensions of a building are normally based on what is needed, and the boards are just cut to size. There are a few exceptions — for example, I think 8’ ceilings are quite common, and are achieved with 8’ length lumber — but for the most part there isn’t a direct connection between the sizes of the components and the dimensions of the completed construction. So it’s reasonable to say that instead of specifying a 12’ square room, we might specify a 3650mm square room.
As to health care, I’m not so sure. I’m pretty sure I’ve seen birth weights measured in imperial, although it’s possible I was actually seeing a translation from an initial SI measurement.