Project contact is Erol Karacabeyli at FPInnovations
Summary
To support NRCan's Tall Wood Building Demonstration Initiative, FPInnovations developed and published the 2014 Edition of Technical Guide for the Design and Construction of Tall Wood Buildings in Canada. More than 80 technical professionals comprised of design consultants and experts from FPInnovations, the National Research Council, the Canadian Wood Council and universities were involved in its development. The Guide has gained national and worldwide reputation as one of the most complete and credible documents helping to introduce to the design and construction community, and Authorities Having Jurisdiction the terms "Mass Timber Construction" and "Hybrid Tall Wood Buildings".
Since the publication of the First Edition, a number of tall wood buildings have been designed and constructed. Substantial regulatory changes are expected to happen based on the experience obtained from the demonstration initiative and the extensive research that has taken place domestically and internationally since the publication of the First Edition. These developments highlight a need for the Guide to be updated so that it aligns with efforts currently underway nationally and provincially and continues to lead in providing the design and construction community technical insight into new opportunities for building in wood.
The First Edition of the Guide helped to focus the efforts of the early adopters who participated in NRCan's Tall Wood Building Demonstration Initiative. Updating and aligning the Guide with the release of the new National Building Code of Canada and the Canadian wood design standard (CSA O86), and sharing the experiences gained from tall wood buildings built since the First Edition, will not only continue to expand the base of early adopters, but also help to move aspects of mass timber and hybrid wood buildings into the mainstream.
The growing diffusion of cross-laminated timber structures (CLT) has been accompanied by extensive research on the peculiar characteristics of this construction system, mainly concerning its economic and environmental benefits, lifecycle, structural design, resistance to seismic actions, fire protection, and energy efficiency. Nevertheless, some aspects have not yet been fully analysed. These include both the knowledge of noise protection that CLT systems are able to offer in relation to the possible applications and combinations of building elements, and the definition of calculation methods necessary to support the acoustic design. This review focuses on the main acoustic features of CLT systems and investigate on the results of the most relevant research aimed to provide key information on the application of acoustic modelling in CLT buildings. The vibro-acoustic behaviour of the basic component of this system and their interaction through the joints has been addressed, as well as the possible ways to manage acoustic information for calculation accuracy improvement by calibration with data from on-site measurements during the construction phase. This study further suggests the opportunity to improve measurement standards with specific reference curves for the bare CLT building elements, in order to compare different acoustic linings and assemblies on the same base. In addition, this study allows to identify some topics in the literature that are not yet fully clarified, providing some insights on possible future developments in research and for the optimization of these products.
Timber provides attractive earthquake performance characteristics for regions of high seismic risk, particularly its high strength-to-weight ratio; however, current timber structural systems are associated with relatively low design force reduction factors due to their low inherent ductility when compared to high-performance concrete and steel...
The following topics in the field of seismic analysis and design of mid-rise (5- and 6-storey) wood-frame buildings are included in this paper: Determination of the building period, linear dynamic analysis of wood-frame structures, deflections of stacked multi-storey shearwalls, diaphragm classification, capacity-based design for woodframe...
Airborne sound insulation performance of wall assemblies is a critical aspect which is directly associated with the comfort level of the occupants, which in turn affects the market acceptance. In single-family and low-rise residential buildings, the partition walls, whether loadbearing or non-loadbearing, are commonly framed with studs of solid sawn lumber of 2x4, 2x6, and 2x8. In commercial buildings and multi-storey residential buildings, the partition walls are commonly framed using light-gauge steel studs.
The shortcomings of solid sawn lumber studs form the motivation for this project to develop wood studs that would address these shortcomings to promote greater wood use in partition walls.
The conceptual design and fabrication work and the preliminary test results have shown that are partition-wall stud made out of composite wood material could have the same or better airborne sound insulation performance as compared to the 25 gauge steel stud. The concept is promising, with a manufacturing process and fabrication that would work and be practical.
Lack of research and design information for the seismic performance of balloon-type CLT shear walls prevents CLT from being used as an acceptable solution to resist seismic loads in balloon-type mass-timber buildings. To quantify the performance of balloon-type CLT structures subjected to lateral loads and create the research background for future code implementation of balloon-type CLT systems in CSA O86 and NBCC, FPInnovations initiated a project to determine the behaviour of balloon-type CLT construction. A series of tests on balloon-type CLT walls and connections used in these walls were conducted. Analytical models were developed based on engineering principles and basic mechanics to predict the deflection and resistance of the balloon-type CLT shear walls. This report covers the work related to development of the analytical models and the tests on balloon-type CLT walls that the models were verified against.
