Project contact is Weichiang Pang at Clemson University (United States)
Summary
The overall goal of this project is to enable the use of cross laminated timber (CLT) to construct commercial and other non-residential buildings in High Velocity Hurricane Zone (HVHZ). The 1992 Hurricane Andrew exposed the shortcomings of existing building codes. Recognizing this shortcomings, the Florida Building Code (FBC) incorporated new enhanced provisions which specifically require that the entire building envelope, including the wall and roof systems, must be impact resistant in HVHZ. Currently, CLT is not in the database of a list of building envelope products that comply with the HVHZ standard. The specific objectives of this project are (1) to qualify PRG-320 compliance CLT panels for HVHZ standard by conducting FBC debris impact and wind pressure cyclic tests; (2) to conduct education and outreach sessions to promote the use of CLT in HVHZ, and (3) to identify possible construction projects that may utilize CLT as the building envelope and promote the use of CLT in those projects. The test results generated in this project will be used specifically to gain HVHZ building code approval.