With code changes in place for the biggest cities in Canada, there is a resurgence of mid-rise and tall wood buildings being specified with gypsum protection. These changes mean significant savings in the framing process but do require some insightful design and specifications for the exterior wall systems. To keep the structure’s ‘bones’ strong, it is critical that architect’s specify ‘smarter’ skins.
What does that mean? The attached photo of an innovative 3-D printed gypsum model shows what architects and designers need to know to specify to keep up to triple “bones” strong:
- Gypsum wallboard designed for indoor air quality and moisture & mold resistance
- An intelligent vapour retardant that adapts to prevent structural moisture damage
- Sustainable fibre glass insulation that is ideal for fire-rated assemblies
- Exterior Sheathing Type X which is water and fire resistant
- Air barrier system that is CAN/ULC S741 approved for better energy performance
- Rain-screen cladding system for durability
This is a significant and much needed change to the building codes – one that the Canadian Wood Council has actively supported. With the goal to reduce the carbon footprint of buildings and improve affordability choices in our communities; the building code changes allow designers to return to a natural product that is renewable.
There have recently been announced some larger wood structure projects that raise Canada buildings to a new height. The University of British Columbia is constructing a student residence that will rank among the tallest wood buildings in Canada and, most recently, a 12-storey wood building was announced in Montreal by Le Presse.
I have attached a recent article that appeared in Construction Canada that takes a deeper dive into this topic.
If you would like to share your thoughts on these new and exciting developments, I would enjoy receiving them.
