Governments Step Up with $1.53 Million Commitment to BIP
FPInnovations – Forintek Division, in concert with BC Wood Specialties Group and UBC’s Centre for Advanced Wood Processing, is preparing to launch the second phase of its Business Innovation Partnership (BIP) for BC companies involved in the production of value-added wood products, thanks in large part to a $1.53 million financial commitment supporting the program.
Project components of the BIP include: general workshops on issues faced by industry; sector-specific services, such as industry development projects with groups of companies; and, company-specific projects, such as working directly with companies to help them implement new processes, technologies or other manufacturing information.
Building Designers Discuss Connections for Mid-rise Heavy Timber Construction
A seminar on connections for multi-storey heavy timber construction attracted some 35 engineers and consultants, university, government and wood products industry representatives from Quebec and other Canadian provinces. Connections have been identified as one of the key issues when wood is used in mid-rise heavy timber constructions.
The seminar was organized by FPInnovations, in partnership with Quebec industry associations, to provide engineers and building designers with state-of-the art information on innovative timber connection systems developed in Japan, New Zealand and Europe.
FPInnovations Hosts PMRA Reps at Treated Wood Test Site
Representatives from the agency responsible for registering wood preservatives in Canada recently toured an FPInnovations – Forintek Division test site near Petawawa, Ontario, where preservative treated wood is tested for decay resistance. This site is part of the Petawawa Research Forest managed by the Canadian Wood Fibre Centre.
The purpose of the visit by Pest Management Regulatory Agency (PMRA) representatives was to improve their understanding of the methods used by FPInnovations for decay resistance tests for ground contact and above-ground applications of treated wood.
FPInnovations to Monitor Behaviour of 6-Storey Wood/Concrete Hybrid Building
FPInnovations research scientists are involved in the construction of a six-storey, wood/concrete hybrid building in Quebec City. The building uses a timber post-and-beam structure as the main gravity load system and concrete cores as a lateral load-resisting system. Construction is almost completed and FPInnovations scientists are busy installing a wide range of sensors to monitor various building behaviours.
In multi-storey construction, different materials are incorporated into a structural system. Even if used as the main construction material, wood interfaces with other materials. But combining wood and concrete, for example, raises questions regarding material compatibility in terms of differential shrinkage. The movement of wood components in such structures is commonly raised as an argument against the increased use of wood as a structural material in hybrid construction.
Moreover, the vibrations of tall (more than 4 storeys) wood-frame buildings exposed to high winds are another consideration. Current criteria and design methods to control wind-induced vibrations in tall buildings were initially developed for concrete and steel buildings. At present, the technical data and tools to determine and describe the dynamic performance of tall wood-frame buildings in high winds are lacking.
That is why the CSN-Fondaction building will be fitted out with instrumentation capable of monitoring the movements of major building components due to differential shrinkage and wind loads. Subsequent data collection and analysis will generate information that can be used by building codes’ authorities to revise design criteria and equations in such a way as to pave the way for increasing the use of wood in wood-frame and hybrid mid-rise buildings.
Hardwood Committee Holds its 19th Meeting
The FPInnovations Hardwood Processing Committee met on December 3, 2009 at Université Laval, in Quebec City.
The meeting generated discussion on a series of projects dealing with primary and secondary processing.
It also included the presentation of a working document on the development of a new FPInnovations HABITAT strategy, a cooperative project with the residential construction sector that will take into consideration products and materials, their function and their implementation.
$5.87M Wood Industry Development Agreement
FPInnovations has signed a two-year $5.87 million agreement with Quebec’s Ministère des Ressources naturelles et de la Faune to fund its participation in the implementation of the ministry’s strategy to support both the development of high value-added wood products and the wood products industry as a whole.
Part one of this program involves support to the wood products manufacturing sector through exploratory studies, technical expertise and innovative technical solutions. Part two will introduce a new mechanism to expedite the adoption of new products and technologies by the primary, secondary and tertiary wood processing sectors; the program will also be open to forest biomass processing for energy production. Part three focuses on special research projects designed specifically to foster the transformation of the hardwood products industry and to develop innovative manufacturing processes and technologies for Quebec wood product manufacturers.
Finally, the strategy focuses on increasing the use of wood in non-residential and multi-family dwellings, in partnership with various Quebec-based partners. FPInnovations’ work in this area will concentrate on R&D of alternate solutions to various provisions of the new National Building Code, on research support for the development of innovative construction materials, systems and processes, and on support to various university research chairs. |
