The case for tall wood buildings

“The Case for Tall Wood Buildings”, a new 240-page report, examines the possibilities for multi-storey engineered wood structures in buildings up to 30 storeys. Commissioned by the Canadian Wood Council, the report looks at the possibilities of using cross-laminated timber (CLT) and other engineered wood in buildings ranging from 10-30 storeys high.

It introduces a new construction model for tall buildings using mass timber panels – called Finding the Forest Through the Trees (FFTT). FFTT is defined as a strong column weak beam balloon-frame approach using large format mass timber panels – either CLT, LSL or LVL – as the vertical structure, lateral shear walls and floor slabs. The “weak beam” component is made of steel beams bolted to the mass timber panels to provide ductility in the system.

The study encourages architects, engineers and designers to push the envelope of conventional thinking about wood construction and inspires them to expand the discussion so wood is positioned as the driving force behind a systematic change for the building industry.

The full report can be downloaded here.

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