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The Wood Revolution

Inspiring Architecture With Innovative Structural Systems

Presented by Lisa Podesto, PE

Senior Technical Director

WoodWorks, an initiative of the Wood Products Council

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© The Wood Products Council 2013

I started noticing there was a movement in modern wood architecture in 2008, thought it’s clear now it started long before that. The Richmond Olympic Oval was completed in 2008 and is one of many iconic wood buildings that express structure in a modern and innovative way. The largest structure built for the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Games, it was designed to house the long track speed skating events and an audience of more than 8,000 spectators. The Oval features a 6-acre free spanning roof. The wood-steel arch system spans 310 feet – one of the longest clear spans in north America. The roof also features a unique “wood wave,” which I’ll talk about shortly.

Richmond Olympic Oval, Richmond, BC, Canada Design Team: Cannon Design Architecture, Fast + Epp, Glotman Simpson Photos: Stephanie Tracey, Craig Carmichael, Jon Pesochin, KK Law Creative, Ziggy Welsch

The Cathedral of Christ The Light in Oakland, California is the first cathedral commissioned by the Roman Catholic Diocese in the 21st century. Oakland is in a high seismic zone and the structure is designed both to last 300 years and to withstand a once-in-a-millennium earthquake. Architecturally stunning, the building features a space-frame structure comprised of a glulam and steel-rod skeleton veiled with a glass skin. The skeleton consist of 26 vertically arching Douglas fir glulam ribs vaulting 108 feet high and supporting glulam louvers. Sophisticated natural daylighting and convection systems were employed as major design element and led to the name, Cathedral of Christ The Light.

The Cathedral of Christ The Light, Oakland, CA, USA Design Team: Skidmore Owings & Merrill, Craig W. Harman, Webcore Builders Photos: Timothy Hursley, Cesar Rubio, and John Blaustein,

In 2009, the Stadthaus apartment building in the UK set the record for “tallest modern timber building,” with eight stories of wood over one story of concrete. It’s made from cross laminated timber (CLT), a mass timber product that’s popular in Europe and now also available in North America. It was the first building of its height to include load-bearing walls and floor slabs as well as an elevator core and stair shafts made entirely from wood. While you can see the appeal of exposed CLT, the developer wanted this building to look like others in the neighborhood. The interior finish is drywall and the exterior is clad with tiles made from wood pulp and cement which mimic the shadows on the site, thus providing texture without the use of brick.

Stadhaus, London, UK Architect: Waugh Thistleton Architects Photos: Waugh Thistleton Architects

The Centre Pompidou-Metz in Metz France was completed in 2010. An art exhibit center, it includes a 12,000-square-foot hexagon (1,200 m2) roof structured around a 245-foot (77-m) central spire. Three rectangular galleries protrude through the structure at different levels, with large windows angled toward Paris landmarks. The roof is made from glued laminated timber covered with a white fiberglass membrane and a coating of teflon.

Centre Pompidou Metz, Metz France Design Team: Shigeru Ban Architects, Jean de Gastines Architects, ARUP Photos: ARUP

The Metropol Parsol in Seville, Spain was completed in 2011. At 490 feet by 230 feet by 85 feet tall (150m by 70m by 26m), it is said to be the largest modern timber structure in the world. Rising up from the ground like giant mushrooms, six parasol structures house a farmers market, metro station and numerous bars. There is an elevated plaza where people can watch concerts or sporting events below. The project was intended to revitalize downtown Seville and the local population definitely think it has. Initially, the consessionaire/contractor had concerns about using wood because it isn’t widely used in the south of Spain. However, wood was the only material light enough to be accommodated by the foundation, which was already in place. I’ll talk a bit more about this project later as well.

Metropol Parasol, Seville, Spain Design Team: J. Mayer H. Architects, ARUP Consulting Engineers Photos: ARUP

When in history has there been so many examples of iconic wood structures? Before World War II, perhaps. The industrial revolution was marked by changes in agriculture, manufacturing, mining, transportation and technology, all of which had a profound effect on the use of wood in buildings. After that, wood’s role seemed to focus primarily on home construction while most non-residential and multi-family buildings were made from other materials. So what’s changing? To begin with … the climate.

While market research shows that sustainability is not the deciding factor in everyday construction here in the US, it is elsewhere. Design and building professionals—and governments—are recognizing that using wood from sustainably managed forests has real benefits from a carbon footprint perspective. Put briefly, growing trees absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. They release the oxygen and incorporate the carbon into their wood, roots, leaves or needles, and surrounding soil. One of three things then happens: • As trees mature and then die, they start to decay and slowly release the stored carbon back into the atmosphere. • The forest succumbs to wildfire, insects or disease and releases the stored carbon quickly. • The trees are harvested and manufactured into forest products, which continue to store the carbon. In the case of wood buildings, the carbon is kept out of the atmosphere for the lifetime of the structure—or longer if the wood is reclaimed and used elsewhere. In all of these cases, the cycle begins again as the forest regenerates and trees once again begin absorbing and storing carbon. This slide illustrates a carbon calculation for the Richmond Oval. In total, the wood products in this building are storing an estimated 2,917 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent, or CO2e. Another 6,207 metric tons of emissions were avoided by using wood instead of materials that require large amounts of fossil fuels as part of their manufacturing processes. According to the US EPA’s Greenhouse Gas Equivalencies Calculator, this equates to the annual emissions from more than 1,700 cars or the energy to operate an average home for 776 years. Source: Estimated by the Wood Carbon Calculator for Buildings, based on research by Sarthre, R. and J. O’Connor, 2010, A Synthesis of Research on Wood Products and Greenhouse Gas Impacts, FPInnovations. Note: CO2 on this chart refers to CO2 equivalent. The carbon calculator is a free tool that design professionals can use to estimate the carbon benefits of wood buildings. It is available at www.woodworks.org.

Volume of wood used 3,525 m3

Carbon sequestered and stored (CO2e)

2,917 metric tons

Avoided greenhouse gases (CO2e)

6,207 metric tons

Total potential carbon benefit (CO2e)

9,124 metric tons

Carbon savings from the choice of wood in this one building are equivalent to:

1,743 passenger vehicles off the road for a year

Enough energy to operate a home for 776 years

Richmond Olympic Oval, Richmond, BC, Canada Design Team: Cannon Design Architecture, Fast + Epp, Glotman Simpson Photo: Stephanie Tracey

In the UK there is a requirement to show carbon offsets for all construction projects. That is usually done in the form of on-site renewable energy. However, that can be quite costly for a building owner so the thought of not requiring carbon offsets at all was a big selling point. According to the architect, the amount of carbon stored in the Stadthaus was equal to reducing the energy consumption of the building by 10% for 210 years or 21 years of 100% savings. Source: Estimated by the Wood Carbon Calculator for Buildings, based on research by Sarthre, R. and J. O’Connor, 2010, A Synthesis of Research on Wood Products and Greenhouse Gas Impacts, FPInnovations. Note: CO2 on this chart refers to CO2 equivalent. The carbon calculator is a free tool that design professionals can use to estimate the carbon benefits of wood buildings. It is available at www.woodworks.org.

Stadhaus, London, UK Architect: Waugh Thistleton Architects Photo: Waugh Thistleton Architects

Volume of wood used 950 m3

Carbon sequestered and stored (CO2e)

659 metric tons

Avoided greenhouse gases (CO2e)

255 metric tons

Total potential carbon benefit (CO2e)

914 metric tons

Carbon savings from the choice of wood in this one building are equivalent to:

175 passenger vehicles off the road for a year

Enough energy to operate a home for 78 years

Deconstructability and life cycle assessment have received less focus than carbon but they’re growing in importance—and wood structural systems have advantages in both of these areas. In this project in Santiago, Chile, laminated Radiata Pine was used to create a fully deconstructable office building. Deconstructability involves screwed and bolted connections—which is more difficult than it sounds when you factor in lateral load resistance. It has benefits in terms of both economic value and reduced environmental impacts associated with future demolition. Life cycle assessment studies consider the environmental impacts of materials over their entire life cycle, from extraction or harvest of raw materials through manufacturing, transportation, installation, use, maintenance and disposal or recycling. These studies consistently show that wood is better for the environment than steel or concrete in terms of embodied energy, air and water pollution, and greenhouse gas emissions. Deconstructability contributes to reduced life cycle impacts, as does using exposed wood as an alternative to other finishes. The amazing part about the motivation to contribute to a healthier planet is that people are spending time working these things out and the rest of us are able to utilize their findings.

BIP Computers, Santiago, Chile Architect: Alberto Mozo Photos: Alberto Mozo

This three-story school in Norfolk, England is said to be the largest CLT project to date. Cross laminated timber is basically a solid wood panel with layers of laminated 1x or 2x dimensional lumber laid up at 90 degrees to one another. Norwich Open Academy is 102,257 square feet (9,500 m2). It includes 3,500 m3 of timber, which stores approximately 2,430 metric tons of CO2 equivalent. The structural engineer, Ramboll, estimates that the carbon stored offsets the building’s operational carbon for a period of 10 years. Speed of construction is a major advantage of CLT and this building took just 17 weeks to construct. It cost ₤20 million (approx ₤195/sf). Likewise, CLT offers advantages in terms of operational energy. CLT’s thermal performance is determined by its U-value, or coefficient of heat transfer, which relates to panel thickness. Thicker panels have lower U-values; they are better insulators and therefore require less insulation for the same performance. Since CLT panels can be manufactured using CNC equipment to precise tolerances, panel joints also fit tighter, which results in better energy efficiency for the structure. Because the panels are solid, there is little potential for airflow through the system. Source for carbon storage: Estimated by the Wood Carbon Calculator for Buildings, based on research by Sarthre, R. and J. O’Connor, 2010, A Synthesis of Research on Wood Products and Greenhouse Gas Impacts, FPInnovations. Note: CO2 on this chart refers to CO2 equivalent. The carbon calculator is a free tool that design professionals can use to estimate the carbon benefits of wood buildings. It is available at www.woodworks.org.

Norwich Open Academy, Norfolk England Design Team: Sheppard Robson, Romboll UK Photos: KLH

This school for mentally handicapped students in Germany demonstrates another advantage of wood: occupant environment. The architect made use of another mass timber system—known as ‘thermally modified timber’ or TMT—which is lumber that’s been transformed by heat into a condition of higher resistance and durability. After more than a decade in use, the building has performed spectacularly. Evidence suggests that the use of exposed wood can contribute to an individual’s sense of well-being. In an office or school, wood is thought to improve performance and productivity. In a hospital it may have a positive impact on patient recovery. However, in a school or hospital, architects who love the look and feel of wood may be challenged by the life safety aspects of building codes. Designing a 50,000-square-foot (5,000 m3) school for mentally disabled entirely out of wood was not an easy choice for the client, who assumed low durability, high maintenance costs and lots of fire gates restricting barrier-free movement. However, a schematic collaboration with the engineers demonstrated that mass wood products offer an advantage in a fire because they char on the outside while retaining strength, slowing combustion and allowing time to evacuate the building. Fire gates weren’t required and the surfaces have also needed much less maintenance than ordinary drywall or plastered walls.

School for Mentally Handicapped, Germany Architect: Despang Architecture Photos: Martin Despang

The Stadhaus, which I showed you earlier, is another example of new technology. Cross laminated timber is popular in Europe and elsewhere because it offers exceptional strength and dimensional stability with almost no shrinkage, and it’s now available to North American building designers. Panels are manufactured using CNC machines and prefabricated off-site. A few other points of note: • The Stadhaus is an infill project in London. • In addition to lower material costs, the building was projected to weigh four times less than a similar concrete building, which lowered transportation costs, allowed the design team to reduce the foundation by 70 percent and eliminated the need for a tower crane during construction. • It took four carpenters nine weeks to erect nine stories. They arrived every Tuesday with materials and completed a story on Thursday, and the entire building process was reduced from 72 weeks to 49.

Stadhaus, London, UK Architect: Waugh Thistleton Architects Photos: Waugh Thistleton Architects

In 2006, I came across several articles about the FMO Tapiola building, winner of Finland’s top wood design award. While not necessarily an example of modern architectural structure, it does illustrate factory prefabrication and modular construction techniques. The project team for this five-story office building had a steep learning curve both structurally and from a life safety perspective. A major achievement was convincing authorities that a wood building could meet strict European codes for fire. The primary architect was quoted as saying, "A modern wooden office building shows how wood can meet today's architectural demands for more 'human' and environmentally-friendly structures. I see a bright international future for such buildings as the wood renaissance continues.”

FMO Tapiola Building, Finland Architect: Helin & Co Architects Photos: Voitto Niemelä and Michael Perlmutter

Here are some other non-residential examples of innovative wood use. For this school renovation project, a combination of materials gave a modern feel to what is essentially a heavy timber structure. Notice the unique detailing with the steel connection at the center of the shaped glulam beams.

Stevenson London School, Richmond, BC, Canada Design Team: McFarland Architecture, Fast + Epp Structural Engineers Photos: Stephan Pasche

Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater is the first modern building of its size to use heavy timber components in Washington, DC. The design includes 18 parallel strand lumber (PSL) columns around the perimeter of the glass façade, each measuring 45 to 63 feet tall and supporting steel roof trusses. The columns are designed to brace the façade against wind loads and to carry roof loads up to 400,000 pounds, and have no internal steel support. Local code authorities were skeptical about allowing wood and about fire safety in particular, so the design team presented an in-depth fire report along with the results of a smoke study undertaken by a code consultant. They also did a char analysis, and showed DC code officials how char protects the interior of the wood.

Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater Design Team: Bing Thom Architects and Fast+Epp Structural Engineers Photos: Nic Lehoux

While timber is often the more economical choice for conventional stick-frame structures, you wouldn’t imagine the same could be said for the wood system used in the Cathedral of Christ The Light. However, the use of timber proved to be a pivotal economic advantage that actually won Skidmore Owings & Merrill the design contract for this $80-million project. Given the close proximity of fault lines and non-conformance of the design to a standard California Building Code lateral system, the City of Oakland hired a peer review committee to review SOM’s design for toughness and ductility. Engineers were able to achieve the appropriate structural strength and toughness by carefully defining ductility requirements for the structure, using 3-D computer models that simulate the entire structure’s nonlinear behavior, testing of critical components and verifying their installation.

The Cathedral of Christ The Light, Oakland, CA, USA Design Team: Skidmore Owings & Merrill Photos: Timothy Hursley, Cesar Rubio, and John Blaustein

The Raleigh-Durham airport terminal features an innovative timber roof system that’s the first of its kind in the US. Inspired by the rolling hills of North Carolina, designers envisioned a seamless rolling roof line, an overhang at the entrance that extended 100 feet over the road, and an interior without columns. To realize the design, a hybrid structural system was created featuring lenticular, long-span king post trusses built from glulam members, steel sections, and locked coil cable tension chords—a highly unusual combination.

Raleigh Durham Airport, North Carolina, USA Architect: Fentress Architects, ARUP Engineers Photos: Nick Merrick, Hedrich Blessing, Brady Lambert, Jason Knowles

It’s a common misconception that steel has a monopoly on the braced frame vertical lateral resisting system market, especially for projects located in high seismic areas. The Simpson Strong-Tie Materials Demonstration Lab at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo was one of the first Heavy Timber Brace Frame buildings designed and approved under the 2007 California Building Code and ASCE 7-05. The building serves the interactive teaching needs of all five departments in the College of Architecture and Environmental Design: Architecture, Architectural Engineering, City and Regional Planning, Construction Management, and Landscape Architecture. The design, engineering, and installation of different materials in the built environment is one of the key unifying subject areas that brings all five of these departments together. The project architect chose to showcase the structural materials in the design of the building envelope through the use of translucent panels over the structure.

Simpson Strong Tie Demonstration Lab, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo Campus, CA Design Team: Omn Images: Omni

As I showed earlier, the Richmond Oval is an incredible example of engineering … but it also demonstrates the trend in sophisticated prefabrication techniques. The use of materials to achieve the 330-foot span had to be very efficient. Two 5-foot-3-inch deep glulam beams are joined with a hollow steel frame that houses electrical, mechanical and sprinkler systems while creating a composite arch element. Between the arches are prefabricated WoodWave Structural Panels. These panels use 2x4 dimensional lumber sourced from standing deadwood from areas infested by the mountain pine beetle. The wave is a series of deep zigzags factory fabricated with a perforated pattern that was structurally efficient while contributing to acoustical performance and concealing the building services. The roof required 1 million board feet of SPF lumber and 19,000 sheets of plywood.

Richmond Olympic Oval, Richmond, BC, Canada Design Team: Cannon Design Architecture, Fast + Epp, Glotman Simpson Photos: Stephanie Tracey

Completed in 2011, this 50,000-square-foot school was viewed as an opportunity to promote sustainability and utilize the building itself as a teaching tool. Wood was used for the post-and-beam structure (which is visually expressed), wall framing, roof decking, millwork and interior doors, and protective wall panels. An undulating wood roof in the atrium is the signature architectural feature and demonstrates the beauty and structural capacity of dimension lumber. Prefabrication of the wood roof panels allowed an accelerated construction schedule with shop and field construction proceeding concurrently. Much of the wood was harvested from forests affected by the mountain pine beetle.

Samuel Bridghouse Elementary School, Richmond BC, Canada Design Team: Perkins + Will Canada, Fast + Epp Photos: Stephan Pasche

This two-storey, 3,050-m2 (33,000-ft2) project features the extensive use of wood, which is well suited to the demanding atmosphere found in swimming pools and ice rinks. Wood tolerates high humidity and is capable of absorbing and releasing water vapour without compromising its structural integrity. In the pool spaces, the roof structure features glulam beams, purlins and columns, which support a metal roof on a metal deck. The glulam beams provide long, clear spans over wish-bone shaped columns, giving a dramatic first impression when visitors enter the facility.

Aquatic Centre at Hillcrest Park, Design Team: Hughes Condon Marler Architects, Reed Jones Christoffersen Photos: Hubert Kang Photography

Motivated by the successful use of wood in previous projects, the architects of the Metropol Parasol decided on laminated veneer lumber with a polyurethane coating, which is less expensive than metal but still durable. The polyurethane coating protects the wood and allows it to breathe—a sort of natural air conditioning—and there are no hazardous fumes if it burns. The parasols are a composite structure, with a concrete base (used as skate park), massive wood members and epoxied pre-tensioned steel connections between the wood. Interior fountains and plants help to provide a cool climate during the intense summer heat. The coat of the structure is self cleaning, and only needs repainting every 20 to 25 years.

Metropol Parasol, Seville, Spain Design Team: J. Mayer H. Architects, ARUP Consulting Engineers Photo Credit: ARUP

This 1,230 sq. m. two-storey building provides laboratory, seminar and office space for a field research station on Vancouver Island. The ribs are a composite hybrid of concrete and glulam provide a flexible column-free space at the upper level. The solid wood floors are made from timber killed by the Mountain Pine Beetle.

Malaspina Centre for Shellfish Research, Deep Bay, BC, Canada Design Team: McFarland Marceau Architects, Fast + Epp Photo Credit: Michael Elkan, Stephan Pasche

The Yusohara Wooden Bridge Museum in Japan links two public buildings that were separated by a road. The bridge-like facility functions as a passage between the two buildings as well as an accommodation and workshop, ideal for artist-in-residence programs. The building includes a cantilever structure often employed in traditional architecture in Japan and China. It is a great example of sustainable design, as a large cantilever was achieved without large-sized materials.

Yusuhara Wooden Bridge Museum, Japan Architect: Kengo Kuma & Associates

Located on Chicago’s North Side, the South Pond Pavilion at the Lincoln Park Zoo is an open-air, wood and fiberglass structure that welcomes public learning opportunities and informal community gatherings. As part of Studio Gang’s larger work rehabilitating and restoring the once polluted South Pond to its original, natural state, the pavilion overlooks a pure example of reclaimed wetlands in the middle of a highly developed, urban environment. Functioning as part refuge, part outdoor classroom, the pavilion is integrated into an educational boardwalk sequence that teaches visitors about the pond’s ecosystem. Inspired by a tortoise shell, the laminated structure consists of prefabricated, bent wood members and a series of interconnected fiberglass pods that give the pavilion its organic form. The double curved beams test the limit of wood’s abilities while creating an inviting space for visitors.

Nature Boardwalk at Lincoln Park Zoo, Chicago, IL, USA Architect: Studio Gang Architects Photos: Beth Zacherle, Spirit of Space

Described as the greenest commercial building in the world, the Bullitt Center in Seattle, Washington pushes the envelope in urban sustainability. The 52,000-square-foot structure includes four stories of heavy timber framing over two stories of concrete and meets stringent requirements of the Living Building Challenge (LBC). One of the interesting aspects from a wood perspective is the use of dimension lumber to form solid wood floor panels, which allowed the design team to increase the height of the ceilings to 14 feet to maximize daylighting. According the architect, the general rule of thumb is that, for every additional one foot of height on the perimeter of the building, daylight penetration increases by two feet. So by getting an extra two feet in the floor-to-floor height, they got an extra four feet of daylight penetration. Relatively shallow floors—achieved by using solid 2x6 wood floor panels instead of deeper floor joists—allowed the team to increase the daylight penetration even further. Plus, the 2x6 deck easily spans the 10-feet 6 inch dimension, effectively eliminating the need for a perimeter beam. This allowed the windows to extend all the way to the bottom of the decking, improving daylighting even further.

Bullitt Center, Seattle, WA, USA Architect: Miller Hill Partnership Images: Miller Hull Partnership, John Stamets

The race to the top is one of the most interesting aspects of the wood revolution. Most countries have caps on how high you can build with combustible construction materials. However, these boundaries are being pushed in a very real way.

Mass timber goes beyond post and beam applications typical of heavy timber and introduces plate construction techniques that can be used for wood buildings. Mass timber plate elements offer less surface area to volume ratio than light-frame and heavy timber, which in turn offers improved fire performance characteristics. Another differentiating feature between heavy timber and mass timber Is the efficient utilization of smaller diameter trees. While glulam and other SCL products can be used in heavy timber construction, it is more common to use solid sawn members. Mass timber products use large prefabricated wood members such as CLT, LVL, LSL and glulam for wall, floor and roof construction. Also common in mass timber applications is the use of the mass timber element as both the lateral and vertical resisting system. In traditional post and beam construction, the heavy timber elements are only providing a load path for vertical loads.

What is mass timber?

• Plate construction techniques go beyond post-and-beam

• Excellent fire performance

• Provides load path for lateral and vertical loads

Internationally, this is where we are today. In Melbourne, Australia, a ten-story CLT apartment building was completed in 2012. The developer and contractor, Lend Lease, used a conventional platform-based CLT system to build the $11-million project, which includes 23 apartments and four townhouses. Speed of construction was a huge benefit. They began installing the CLT in May and completed the wood portion of the structure in August. The center image is the eight-story Life Cycle Tower (LCT) ONE in Austria. LCT is a wood-hybrid construction system developed by Cree GmbH. The timber-based construction system relies on a central stiffening core for the elevator, stairs and shafts. A prefabricated hybrid wood/concrete slab system is supported by the core on the interior and by glulam posts on the exterior. The UK is home to two of the tallest timber apartment buildings—the Stadthaus, which I showed you earlier and has eight stories of CLT over one story of concrete, and Bridport House on the right. When it was built in 2011, this five- and eight-story structure formed the largest timber apartment block in the world. The site required a lightweight structure because of the building’s location over a large storm sewer, making CLT an ideal solution.

Credits: Lend Lease; CREE GmbH; Karakusevic Carson Architects

Forté, Australia LCT ONE, Austria Bridport House, UK

Right now, designers of CLT buildings like the two-story Long Hall (shown) make of the alternate methods provision in the code and rely on the ANSI/APA Standard for Performance-Rated Cross-Laminated Timber published last year, which details manufacturing and performance requirements for qualification and quality assurance. In the next version of the code, recently approved changes will streamline the acceptance of CLT buildings. The 2015 IBC will recognize CLT products when they are manufactured according to the standard. In addition, CLT walls and floors will be permitted in all types of combustible construction, including Type IV buildings. Type IV wall provisions require the exterior side (only) of exterior CLT walls to be protected by FRTW sheathing, gypsum sheathing, or a noncombustible material; however, there are other requirements for the exterior wall, floors, roof, etc. Floors are required to be 4-in nominal minimum and roofs 3-in nominal minimum. While this code change will not go into effect officially until the 2015 IBC is adopted by a jurisdiction, this information could be used to simplify an alternative methods argument under current codes.

CLT in North America

• CLT buildings approved using “Alternate Methods” argument

• Designers rely on ANSI/APA Standard

• Recent code changes reflected in 2015 IBC

Conclusion: Evolving building codes recognize wood’s safety and structural performance capabilities and allow its use in a wide range of building applications. This hasn’t been lost on design professionals seeking to have it all—cost effectiveness, functionality, design flexibility, beauty and environmental performance—who, through their collective projects, are leading a revolution toward the greater use of wood. For more information or project support related to the design of non-residential or multi-family wood building, visit WoodWorks at www.woodworks.org. WoodWorks is an initiative of the Wood Products Council.

The Wood Revolution

Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater Design team: Bing Thom Architects, Fast+Epp Structural Engineers Photo Nic Lehoux

WoodWorks provides free one-on-one project support and technical resources related to the design of non-residential and multi-family wood buildings. woodworks.org