Advanced Wood-Based Solutions for Mid-Rise and High-Rise Construction: In-Situ Testing of the Origine 13-Storey Building for Vibration and Acoustic Performances
Serviceability performance studied covers three different performance attributes of a building. These attributes are 1) vibration of the whole building structure, 2) vibration of the floor system, typically in regards to motions in a localized area within the entire floor plate, and 3) sound insulation performance of the wall and floor assemblies. Serviceability performance of a building is important as it affects the comfort of its occupants and the functionality of sensitive equipment as well. Many physical factors influence these performances. Designers use various parameters to account for them in their designs and different criteria to manage these performances. Lack of data, knowledge and experience of sound and vibration performance of tall wood buildings is one of the issues related to design and construction of tall wood buildings.
In order to bridge the gaps in the data, knowledge, and experience of sound and vibration performance of tall wood buildings, FPInnovations conducted a three-phase performance testing on the Origine 13-storey CLT building of 40.9 m tall in Quebec city. It was the tallest wood building in Eastern Canada in 2017.
Three performance attributes of a building for serviceability performance are 1) vibration of the whole building structure, 2) vibration of the floor system, typically in regards to motions in a localized area within the entire floor plate, and 3) sound insulation performance of the wall and floor assemblies. Serviceability performance of a building is important as it affects the comfort of its occupants and the functionality of sensitive equipment as well. Many physical factors influence these performances. Designers use various parameters to account for them in their designs and different criteria to manage these performances.
The overall objectives of this stud were threefold:
1. The vibration performance tests were to experimentally determine the dynamic properties, e.g., natural frequencies (periods) and damping ratios of the WIDC building through ambient vibration testing on:
o the bare structure in 2014,
o the finished building upon completion of the construction with occupants in 2015, and
o the finished building after 3 years of service in 2017.
2. The floor vibration tests were to evaluate vibration performance of the innovative CLT floor based on the bare floor fundamental natural frequency, 1 kN static deflection, and subjective evaluation.
3. The sound transmission tests were to determine the Apparent Sound Transmision Class (ASTC) and Apparent Impact Insulation Class (AIIC) of selected innovative CLT floor assemblies.
Project contact is Jacob Mans at the University of Minnesota
Summary
As the acceptance of cross-laminated timber (CLT) grows among commercial and institutional clients, the hospitality industry, in general, has been hesitant to adopt CLT. This reluctance is linked to several real and perceived factors. One, the industry has fire safety and fire rating concerns with the construction system; these concerns have been largely addressed through independent research and building code updates. Two, the industry is concerned with the acoustic rating of standard CLT panels, which do not currently meet the elevated performance standards of the hospitality industry – specifically the sound transmission class (STC) rating -- and will require additional design research. Three, the industry is concerned with the aesthetics of the system and the dual challenges of exposing wood and simultaneously integrating Mechanical Electrical and Plumbing (MEP) systems. Image, brand identity, and indoor air quality are all key variables that factor into whether this rapidly-growing industry adopts CLT as a viable system for hotel construction. There is an opportunity to reframe these individual challenges as a collection of assets in order to provide a holistic solution that can will demonstrate the feasibility of CLT within the hospitality industry.
This grant will address these barriers and to facilitate the increased utilization of CLT within the hospitality industry. Such utilization has the potential to divert a substantial amount of fuel from federal forest and timber lands and to sequester its embedded carbon in buildings. Market analysis estimates that 715 hotels of 8 floors or lower (the target size for this project) will be built in the United States in 2020. If constructed out of CLT, this market represents approximately 94 million board feet of potential wood utilization through CLT per year (over 1 million metric tons of sequestered CO2). The opportunity to capture a fragment of this market warrants feasibility research to prove the viability of CLT for the hospitality industry.
The University of Minnesota and DLR Group will work with CLT manufactures and established hospitality partners to construct a modular hotel room prototype that can test acoustical and MEP systems integration strategies – as well as spark future research projects. This experimental apparatus will also double as a show unit to educate possible users and developers of the potential for a mass timber hotel. In addition to developing, constructing, and testing the prototype, the team will develop informational materials and a detailed cost analysis of the project that will encourage hospitality partners to implement these ideas with confidence.
This report documents apparent/field impact insulation class (AIIC/FIIC) ratings and apparent/field sound transmission class (ASTC/FSTC) ratings for a large number of light-frame wood-joisted floors, cross-laminated timber floors (CLT), massive glulam floors, and a wood-concrete composite floor. The report includes various construction details involving finishings, membranes under finishings, toppings, underlayment materials for toppings, and drywall ceilings. This report also documents ASTC/FSTC ratings for some light-frame wood stud walls and CLT walls.
The informal subjective evaluation of field floors and walls by FPInnovations staff, and by occupants, revealed that, if a FSTC or FIIC rating is below 45, occupants could clearly hear sound generated by their neighbor’s normal activities. If a FSTC or FIIC rating is above 50, occupants could still hear "muffled" sound generated by their neighbor’s normal activities, but do not hear it as clearly. If a FSTC or FIIC rating is above 60, occupants could not hear any sound generated by their neighbor’s activities, except when there is a lightweight floor with a carpet. In that case, low frequency footsteps could be heard even if the FIIC was above 60.
