FPInnovations has numerous resources for professionals working in the area of wood building construction. Read on for more information.
Technical Guide for the Design and Construction of Tall Wood Buildings in Canada, 2nd edition
The definitive guide for the mass timber design and construction of tall buildings has been updated to align with changes to national codes and standards. It builds on 12-storey mass timber gravity systems as an Acceptable Solution in the 2020 edition of the National Building Code, and targets supporting Alternative Solutions that will enable wood to be used beyond 12 storeys.
The 2022 update of the Technical Guide for the Design and Construction of Tall Wood Buildings in Canada replaces the first edition, which was developed to support the Natural Resources Canada Tall Wood Building Demonstration Initiative. This multi-disciplinary, peer-reviewed guide has gained national and worldwide recognition as one of the most credible documents that has introduced the terms “mass timber construction” and “hybrid tall wood buildings” to the design and construction community, and to authorities having jurisdiction.
This updated guide brings together, under one cover, the experience gained from recently built tall wood projects, highlights from the most recent building codes and standards, and research findings to help achieve the best environmental, structural, fire, and durability performance of mass timber products and systems, including their health benefits.
Copies of the guide are available at web.fpinnovations.ca/tallwood.
Canadian CLT Handbook, 2nd edition
Cross-laminated timber (CLT) is increasingly used in the sustainable construction of tall buildings and has a firm footing in the mass-timber-building global movement. FPInnovations and its partners are leading the knowledge transfer of the most up-to-date CLT technical information to the design and construction communities.
FPInnovations and its partners first delivered the Canadian and U.S. versions of the handbooks in 2011 and 2013, respectively. Since then, new research and regulations made a revised comprehensive how-to handbook essential. The 2019 edition of the Canadian CLT Handbook includes the new CLT provisions in the CSA Group standard in Engineering Design in Wood. An extra chapter provides a state-of-the-art design prototype of an eight-storey mass-timber building.
Copies of the handbook are available at clt.fpinnovations.ca.
Design Guide for Timber-Concrete Composite Floors in Canada
Mass timber is increasingly being used in construction as the advantages of this material are constantly being highlighted. The many health benefits of wood have well been proven, not to mention its environmental benefits in the context of the fight against climate change.
Extensive research on the many properties of wood in construction, including through the use of CLT, has led to the development of design details to facilitate the increased and safe use of this material in various construction projects. They have also opened the door to hybrid uses aimed at a better response from innovative building systems.
As part of its research work on wood buildings, FPInnovations published a Design Guide for Timber-Concrete Composite Floors in Canada in 2020. This technique, far from being new, could prove to be a cost-competitive solution for floors with longer-span since the mechanical properties of the two materials act in complementarity.
Obtain your copy of the guide at web.fpinnovations.ca/tcc/.
Mid-rise wood-frame construction handbook
Wood-frame construction is the dominant building construction in low-rise buildings. The growth in the urban population and the need to meet sustainability objectives will mean having to allow taller buildings in areas that were traditionally low-rise construction. The Mid-rise Wood-Frame Construction Handbook, published in 2015, consists of ten multi-disciplinary chapters which were prepared to facilitate the design and construction of mid-rise wood-frame construction in Canada. Building on the information that formed the basis of Engineers and Geoscientists of British Columbia (EGBC) Bulletin and the Régie du bâtiment du Québec (RBQ) guide, this handbook covers broad design and construction topics and provides practical solutions by making use of technical and research information. The handbook was prepared to assist architects, engineers, code consultants, developers, building owners, and Authorities Having Jurisdiction (AHJ).
Obtain your copy of the handbook here.
Illustrated Guide for Designing Wood-Frame Buildings in Alberta to Meet the National Energy Code of Canada for Buildings
With funding from the Alberta Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, FPInnovations released a how-to energy guide in 2019 for the design and construction of wood-frame and mass-timber buildings in Alberta.
The 40-page colour guide provides solutions for the building envelope of both light-wood frame and mass-timber buildings. It covers a range of wood‐based exterior wall and roof assemblies, as well as various thermal insulation materials. It also addresses key considerations for designing a building envelope with long‐term durability in Alberta’s varied climate.
View or download the guide here.
Guide for designing energy-efficient building enclosures for wood-frame multi-unit residential buildings in marine to cold climate zones in North America
This guide was developed in 2013 in response to the rapidly changing energy-efficiency requirements for buildings across Canada and the United States. Its goal is to assist architects, engineers, designers and builders in improving the thermal performance of building enclosures of wood multi-unit residential buildings (MURBs), in response to the increasingly stringent requirements for the energy efficiency of buildings in the marine to cold climate zones in North America (U.S. DOE/ASHRAE and NECB Climate Zones 5 through 7 and parts of Zone 4). It also aims to advance MURB design practices, construction practices, and material use based on best knowledge, in order to ensure the durable performance of wood-frame building enclosures that are insulated to higher levels than traditional wood-frame construction.
View or download the guide here.
Modelling Guide for Timber Structures — coming soon!
Computer modelling is essential for analyzing and designing mid- and high-rise buildings and long-span structures where traditional engineering hand calculations or spreadsheets typically adopted by designers for low-rise timber buildings are not adequate. It is also a valuable tool for optimizing wood-based products, connections, and systems that improve structural performance.
This guide will help engineers apply computer modelling concepts to the design of timber constructions, enrich researchers’ resources for advanced computer modelling of timber systems, and assist software companies in identifying the gaps and upgrading programs accordingly to accommodate advanced computer modelling of timber structures.
The information in this guide complements the overview of the analysis and design of tall wood buildings in the Technical Guide for the Design and Construction of Tall Wood Buildings in Canada and the fundamental information and knowledge related to timber system modelling in the Canadian Wood Council’s Wood Design Manual (in press).
Best Practice Guide for Vibration Control of Wood Floors — coming soon!
Floor vibration due to walking has long been a subject of interest to designers, builders, and manufacturers. FPInnovations has been studying this subject for several decades and has worked with researchers, practitioners, manufacturers, and occupants to create a large knowledge database. The research results are now incorporated into the latest versions of the National Building Code and CSA O86:19 Engineering Design in Wood.
This guide provides an overview on walking-induced vibrations with wood-frame and CLT mass timber floors based on typical North American construction. It presents the fundamental principles of floor vibration induced by normal walking and introduces a strategy on how to control vibration. It explains in detail the effects of the parameters of wood-frame and CLT floors and introduces the CSA O86 design methods. The guide also discusses a new approach to timber-concrete-composite design and presents design examples.
Visit FPInnovations’ online research library for more resources!
