by Web Editor | Aug 4, 2017 | News
If Yugon Kim realizes his dream, the new office building or housing complex going up in your city may be made out of large hardwood panels called cross laminated timber (CLT). The technology behind CLT has been used for decades in Europe, and it is just beginning to take root in the United States with softwood CLT leading the way. Kim’s Boston-based, architectural design firm IKD just won a $250,000 grant from the Forest Service for designing, developing and constructing the first hardwood CLT demonstration project in the United States.
The aim is to take low-value hardwoods and turn them into a high-value CLT construction project as a proof of concept. Kim explained, “Over 50% of every hardwood log in the region goes to low-value materials like pallets and cants. Our idea is to utilize this material and to upcycle it.”
Kim along with his design partner Tomomi Itakura have created an outdoor CLT construction project that is titled the Conversation Plinth and will be integrated as circular discs that provide a platform for viewing a sculpture at the Cleo Rogers Memorial Library.
Kim suggested, “The ultimate goal is to construct buildings in the United States using hardwood CLT. Our research hopes to lead toward hardwood mass timbers being used for U.S construction projects.”
The Conversation Plinth was designed for Exhibit Columbus, the annual celebration of architecture, art, design and community in Columbus, Indiana. IKD’s design was selected to win an inaugural J. Irwin and Xenia S. Miller Prize as part of a national competition.
From Pallet Enterprise: https://palletenterprise.com/view_article/4927/Hardwood-CLT
by Web Editor | Jun 22, 2017 | News
A $250,000 grant from the U.S. Forest Service will help Freres Lumber Co. bring its veneer-based massive plywood panels to the market.
Announced late last year, Freres Lumber says its massive plywood panels (MPP) could be used for floors and walls in multi-story commercial buildings, and they could be made to order. Freres hopes its panels will revolutionize the construction industry.
“We were recently informed that our mass plywood plant was named the Forest Service’s top project in the U.S.,” Freres executive VP Rob Freres said. “This was a competitive process with 114 grant applications submitted for consideration.”
Designed to be an alternative to cross-laminated timber, Freres’ massive panels can be as much as 12 feet wide and 2 feet thick. Freres says there are many potential benefits.
Structures made of MPP could be made in days instead of months, says Freres, and use 20-30 percent less wood than cross-laminated timber. The lightweight nature of MPP could reduce truckload transport costs. Large format panels could be manufactured at a facility to include window, door, and all other required cut-outs – minimizing waste and labor on the job site.
From Woodworking Network: https://www.woodworkingnetwork.com/wood/panel-supply/freres-lumbers-massive-plywood-panels-receive-big-grant
by Web Editor | Apr 5, 2017 | News
The U.S. Forest Service is working to build markets for innovative forest products. One of these products, cross-laminated timber, also known as CLT, offers an opportunity for raising tall buildings with wood, opening up a completely new market for wood products.
And there’s tremendous opportunity to increase the market share for wood-based construction. Because of its high strength, CLT is an advantageous alternative to traditional building materials such as concrete, masonry, and steel. Because CLT panels resist compression, they are well-suited for building multistory structures, especially mid-rise buildings. Made from layers of dried lumber boards, stacked in alternating direction at 90-degree angles, glued and pressed to form solid panels, CLT has exceptional strength and stability and can be used as walls, roofs, and floors.
Additionally, CLT is highly resilient to fire, earthquakes, and even explosions. In fact in a recent series of live blast tests, CLT passed with flying colors. An examination of the results showed that the CLT structures suffered less degradation than expected and might outlast concrete and steel.
In terms of fire, CLT is like using a large log to start a campfire—it doesn’t ignite easily. And when it does burn, a char layer forms on the outside, protecting the inside and allowing the wood panel to maintain its structural integrity during fire scenarios.
Researchers have conducted extensive seismic testing on CLT and found that the panels perform exceptionally well in multi-story applications. When a seven-story CLT building was tested on the world’s largest shake table in Japan, it survived 14 consecutive earthquake simulations with almost no damage.
From the USDA: https://www.usda.gov/media/blog/2017/04/04/build-better-stronger-faster-clt
by Web Editor | Dec 19, 2016 | News
Videos are now available showing a series of live blast tests on three cross-laminated timber (CLT) structures at Tyndall Air Force Base, conducted by WoodWorks in cooperation with the US Forest Service and Softwood Lumber Board. Post-test observations were exciting. All structures remained intact and matched modeling predictions with acceptable levels of damage under significant explosive loading. The results of this testing will be used to further expand the use of wood solutions for Department of Defense applications and other blast-resistant construction. Watch the videos here: https://bit.ly/2hwVE1g
The CLT structures—each two-story, single-bay structure with anchorage to an existing concrete slab—were constructed in full by Lendlease over a period of eight days. Each structure was constructed using a different grade of CLT (i.e., grade designations V1, E1 and V4 per ANSI/APA PRG-320 provided by DR Johnson, Nordic and SmartLam, respectively) and included window and door openings (with doors provided by American Direct) consistent with an actual building. Self-drilling screws provided by MyTiCon and adhesive anchors provided by Hilti were utilized in concert with angle steel to connect the constituent panels of each structure.
Three shots were performed to demonstrate the effectiveness of CLT over a spectrum of blast loads. The first two shots were designed to stress the CLT structures to within their respective elastic limits. The third shot was designed to push the structures beyond their elastic limits such that post-peak response could be observed. Reflected pressure and peak deflections were recorded and will be used to thoroughly document the response of the structure in time, and support a design methodology for predicting elastic response of CLT under dynamic loads.
Initial observations deriving from these tests are positive. For the first two tests, peak recorded deflections were consistent with pre-test predictions, indicating the efficacy of the design assumptions and supporting design methodologies. Results from the third test indicated a controlled response in which localized panel rupture was observed but connection integrity and load carrying ability were not compromised for any of the three structures. Over the next couple months, WoodWorks will be working with Karagozian & Case, Inc. and the University of Maine to thoroughly post-process and analyze the results of these tests.
From Business Wire: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20161215005337/en/WoodWorks-Leads-Blast-Testing-Project-Cross-Laminated-Timber
by Web Editor | May 20, 2016 | News
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Forest Service Chief Tom Tidwell today announced over $8.5 million to expand and accelerate technologies and strategies that promote the use of wood in commercial construction, heat and power generation, and other wood product innovations that also benefit forest health. Federal funds will leverage more than $18 million in investments from 42 business, university, nonprofit and Tribal partners in 19 states, for a total investment of $27 million.
“We are looking for opportunities to reduce forest restoration costs and create more jobs through strong forest products markets,” said Chief Tidwell. “This funding supports improving forest health on the National Forest System lands and other forested lands and promotes the economic and environmental well being of rural communities.”
The awarded funds will stimulate the use of hazardous fuels from National Forest System lands and other forested lands to promote forest health while simultaneously generating rural jobs. This year, 77 proposals were received for the Forest Service’s Wood Innovations grant program, highlighting the expanding interest and use of wood as a renewable energy source and as an innovative building material.
Healthy markets for forest products help the nation’s forests mitigate some of the impacts of climate change. Research has demonstrated that wood products from responsibly managed forests outperform other building materials in measures of greenhouse gas intensity, air and water pollution and other environmental impacts. Responsibly-sourced forest products also provide income for private landowners that keep their land forested and supports needed investments in forest management to provide clean water, wildlife habitat, and other resources millions of Americans depend upon.
Today’s announcement supports USDA’s Building Blocks for Climate Smart Agriculture and Forestry-a comprehensive effort to provide America’s farmers, ranchers and forest landowners with the tools and resources they need to combat climate change. Through this work, USDA expects to reduce net emissions and enhance carbon sequestration in soils and forests by over 120 million metric tons of CO2 equivalent per year by 2025-the equivalent of taking 25 million cars off the road or offsetting the emissions produced by powering nearly 11 million homes each year.
From the USDA: https://www.usda.gov/wps/portal/usda/usdahome?contentid=2016/05/0115.xml&contentidonly=true
