The CLT Handbook provides vital “How to” information on CLT for the design and construction community, and is a great source of information for regulatory authorities, fire services and others. The CLT Handbook is also a good textbook for university level timber engineering courses. In summary, the Canadian CLT Handbook will remain the most comprehensive reference for sharing the latest technical information on North American CLT.
The Canadian edition of the CLT Handbook, first published in 2011 under the Transformative Technologies Program of the Natural Resources Canada, played an imperative role in accelerating the use and acceptance of CLT in North America. Its introduction subsequently led to the publication of the US Edition. The Canadian Edition supported the early use of CLT products from Canadian manufacturers in many small to large projects across Canada and the US, and paved the way for CLT and other wood products to be used in new applications like tall and large buildings, and bridges.
Since then, additional research has taken place globally and substantial regulatory changes have occurred enabling more wood to be used in construction. Those developments highlighted a need for the CLT Handbook to be updated. The 2019 Edition of the CLT Handbook, for example, augments the recently developed CLT provisions in CSA Standard in Engineering Design in Wood and it includes a design example of an 8-storey CLT building. It helps expand the knowledge base of the designers about CLT enabling them to develop alternative solutions for taller and larger buildings that are beyond the boundaries of the acceptable solutions in building codes.