Tide Turning In Favour Of Building With Wood
Prince George, BC – With the construction industry, particularly in the Western World, beginning to look once again at wood, the head of Forestry Innovation Investment Ltd says UNBC’s two new Masters of Engineering programs are timely and leading edge.
Ken Baker heads the Crown corporation that, for the past 10-years, has been tasked with working with the forest industry to develop new markets for BC forest products around the world, and new, innovative products that will support that demand, internationally.
"It’s been clear to us for years that there is a vacuum in our system in British Columbia and, in fact, there is really worldwide – that’s a little bit of an overstatement, but not much," says Baker, "In terms of post-secondary education for building bigger and taller structures with wood."
Baker says while concrete and steel have dominated construction for the last 50-years, it appears the tide is about to turn dramatically. "People throughout the Western World have become very sensitive to the fact that building with wood will have huge environmental benefits, provided it can be cost competitive."
The FII CEO says that cost competitiveness depends significantly on design and that implies good engineering expertise. "And so, for perhaps two generations now at least, none of the universities that we’re aware of had programs focused on designing and engineering and building with wood in modern ways, with modern innovative products," says Baker. "This is a major breakthrough here at UNBC to really take the lead."
The programs will be housed in the yet-to-be built 6.5-storey Wood Innovation and Design Centre in downtown Prince George. Baker points out the project architect, Michael Green, is a ‘rock star’ in the architectural community on the notion of going taller with wood.
"It’s an exciting, holistic approach that’s going on here in Prince George," says Baker. "This may sound trite, but to me, it’s kind of heart-warming that this kind of programming will unfold in a building that speaks to the whole objective, rather than a concrete structure."
"This is going to be leading the way and other jurisdictions will be watching this very closely – as they are BC’s whole Wood First Initiative."
Comments
“while concrete and steel have dominated construction for the last 50-years”
50 years? 1963?
So what about the skyscrapers of New York? Chicago?
Flatiron building in Chicago = 1903 = 110 years.
Or go back a bit earlier in Chicago, the Home Insurance Building = 1884 = 129 years …
Okay, I know, that was just a teaser ….
The Pantheon in Rome = 126AD = 1887 years ago …
It is the largest UNREINFORCED concrete dome in the world. It spans 142feet. And, unlike many of our buildings, and most certainly our wood buildings, it still stands today.
Wood is great for building formwork. ;-)
“This is going to be leading the way and other jurisdictions will be watching this very closely”
I am sure the Austrians are already shaking in their boots. They are the ones who designed the CLT panels used to build the 9 storey wood building in London England.
I think it is great we are getting this building and I think it is great we are getting a couple of Master programs in engineering, but I wish we could get rid of the embellishments which have little basis to those who know what is going on in the world of construction as well as wood construction.
There are some excellent universities in Europe which have programs specialize in wood science, engineering and product development. Not only that, but we have our own FPinnovations at UBC and in Quebec.
This is the link to their advanced building systems program. It would great if someone would explain the relationship the PG programs will have to that facility.
http://www.fpinnovations.ca/ResearchProgram/Pages/research-program-advanced-building-system.aspx
I think it would be cool if they could develop a one piece insert laminate arch for building supports like the Romans used for their aqueducts. This would be great for people bridges for pedestrians especially, but also door ways and windows as well as for facades on exterior balconies. Kind of like how we have manufactures now for roofing trusses where they ship them out pre-assembled to order specs.
One assumes that there will be wood available for all these projects, however it seems to me that we are facing a shortage of wood.
If we were to convince the Chinese to build houses out of wood, that would take all the lumber we could produce for many, many, years to come.
To me this is more of a feel good program that will costs millions of dollars over time, and at the end of the day produce little or no results.
Even the Wood Innovation buildings first two floors will be built on concrete, so in essence it is a four story building, not six.
If this catches on, who will get all the jobs for the laminated lumber etc??? Right now it seems to come from the Kelowna, Penticton, area.
If this catches on, who will get all the jobs for the laminated lumber etc???
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Like everything else that is considered a finished product, the wood will be shipped as raw logs to some other country and will come back as laminated lumber. That is how we do things in Canada unfortunately.
The age-old laminating plant in Penticton is now making the CLT panels. In my opinion, we need another one in PG designed to be a field lab for the masters in engineering programs. THAT sort of facility would lend the program more credibility than a wood building semi-high rise.
That plant is sending special laminations right across Canada and the USA. They are a well honed company.
http://www.structurlam.com/home
“Even the Wood Innovation buildings first two floors will be built on concrete, so in essence it is a four story building, not six.”
Where do you get that info from?
There are concrete foundations being formed around the elevator pit as well as some curved section in the front of the building. I expect there to be further pouring of foundations. There are driven sheet piles on part of the perimeter.
Your on the money Pal. But waite maybe Prince George of Cambridge will help is sell some wood building ideas.
Cheers
It amazes me that all of the same people who whine about our area not being diverse enough and whine about raw log exports are now still whining when someone takes a step in a different direction… Just like to whine I guess?
“I think it is great we are getting this building and I think it is great we are getting a couple of Master programs in engineering, but I wish we could get rid of the embellishments which have little basis to those who know what is going on in the world of construction as well as wood construction”
I think that about sums it up!
Regarding diversification, I don’t really see this project as contributing to that, at least not in the way I think PG needs it. It COULD help develop additional jobs and business opportunities, but it is still very much linked to forestry. It’s good to have diversification within a specific industry, but you also want to have diversification outside of the industry. With the exception of the public sector, PG is still very much reliant on resource based industries, especially forestry. This project doesn’t help move PG away from that, but it is obviously still welcomed.
“still whining when someone takes a step in a different direction”
I think NMG has expressed the opinion that this is really not a step in a different direction.
While one never knows with research when a eureka moment comes, or who it happens to, on a probability scale it is unlikely that the masters program will get a quick eureka moment which will be earth shattering.
I think the masters programs will start off relatively weak. If they get a very innovative and leading edge researcher to head up the science based program, we may luck out. But he/she will need a lot of funding to set up proper research labs both for himself and other profs as well as the students. I think those research labs will have to locate outside the building.
The Canadian government is a very poor funder of research, especially when it comes to implementing innovative ideas which have been prove to work. It is much easier for that talent to find implantation funding for a factory in the USA or Europe.
If one wants to get moving on making an impact in changing building technology, one needs to work with people like Michael Green who designed three buildings in this city by now. That, in itself, is an achievement.
He is a great promoter of using wood in buildings and what better person to move the technology to reality than a person like Michael Green. THAT is where more money needs to be spent to affect change.
[url]http://mg-architecture.ca/portfolio/widc[/url}
Take a close look at the building. Count the “floors” … 7 of them. I notice some are starting to call it a 6.5 storey building. Cute.
In reality, the bottom floor is the height of two storeys and it contains a mezzanine. With some specific characteristics of that mezzanine – that its floor area is not more than 40% of the floor area of the storey in which it contained and the lower level is visible from the mezzanine, and others – that storey that contains the second level mezzanine is counted as one rather than two storeys.
http://mg-architecture.ca/portfolio/widc
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